(Originally published in 1999.) I enjoyed this a lot, though the prose feels flat. (That may be a translation issue.) Anyway, Balsa is a wonderful strong woman character, and her adventure here benefits from being tied much more closely to her personal history than the one in Guardian of the Spirit. I hope Scholastic continues to publish translations of this series.

true crime is the fact that the rest of these books haven’t been, and will probably not be, translated *cries*

Balsa is back, and she heads to her native Kanbal hoping to lay rest her personal demons of guilt regarding her foster father Jiguro and her past. What she finds is a brain-pretzel of a political plot involving Jiguro, and the stories spread to discredit him. Balsa quickly discovers that not only is her life in danger, but the whole of Kanbal is in jeopardy. In this story, the reader finds out more about Balsa's past and her family. Balsa is a wonderful heroine -- tough, smart and human. The boo...

My thoughts on this one are pretty similar to the last - its strengths and weaknesses are much the same. Prose is smooth but flat, world building is astounding - although in this one I did think Uehashi got a little carried away with the food. (Food is good! And oft-neglected in fantasy worlds! But geez.) This book had even more political intrigue than the last one, and I was totally hooked by it - for the second half of the story I barely came up for air.I missed Tanda and I hope he'll be in th...

A female heroine who is strong, tough, and will not let anything get in her way who is well written and not #edgy???? With a proper backstory???? Who would've thought????It's tragic that they never bothered to finish translating this series. The writing, action, and characters were so nicely developed, and I appreciate this was so effortleesly a 'feminist' series WITHOUT trying to be so. (Curse the Spanish. At least the remaining series got translated for THEM)

This book could be read by a girl or boy in the grade 6 and up. This book is about a young girl, by the name of Balsa, who almost got killed by an evil king when she was 6 years old. Eight assassins pursued her in the long flight that followed. But her mentor, Jiguro, protected her until his death, and then she became a bodyguard herself has she was getting older. Balsa was helping other people survive the challenges they faced when she was being their bodyguard.Batchelder Award winners 2010

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK, just as much, if not more than the first book! In the first book, Balsa mentions her foster father and her homeland several times. In this book, we're finally able to unravel Balsa's mysterious past. Even though we meet completely new characters and and follow a completely different plot, this book still felt like a perfect continuation of the first. I loved all the different characters we meet, and the different characters whose perspective we read from. I love th...

This one resembled the story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, but an eastern variation of it. Hyoulu, interestingly, is what in Persian is called Hayoula. I wonder if the author knew of this. Apperantly the other books of the series are not yet translated into English and me learning how to read Japanese would take a decade.

Fantastic! I enjoyed this book better than the first. Balsa is once again shown to not only be mentally competent but her physical prowess is incredible. I especially enjoyed that none of the characters seemed like idiots. Some characters were smart to realize the villain's story didn't make sense. Though it seemed like everyone was a bit too readily eager to help Balsa, I prefer it over them being completely dense. As far as the Japanese I feel like this was also easier to read than the first.

I am honestly being so slow in reading these because only two volumes are available in English from Scholastic, a kind soul translated the third volume by himself, but I'm not keeping my hopes up for the rest of the series, I can't stand the heartache. ───────────────────This time we go to Kanbal, Balsa's birth place and learn more about that side of herself. I do think that because it picks up immediately after the first book, there is some sense in continuity to the story, even when each book

The second entry in Moribito, a low fantasy/adventure series starring the feisty spear wielder, Balsa. It has a few call-backs to the events in Guardian of the Spirit, taking place immediately after the first book's ending; but it can also function as a stand-alone narrative that's independent of the previous story. In Guardian of the Darkness, Balsa takes a trip to her hometown of Kanbal, a place rich of customs, values, and folklore..... as well as bloody past, bitter memories, and a pile of l...

I liked this book even better than the first one! There was a lot more intrigue and mystery, and fewer fighting scenes. The Japanese-style world and the mythic creatures give the story a charm all its own.I adore the main character, Balsa, because she is ornery and crotchety and suspicious, but with a generous and compassionate heart. A wonderfully complex character that grows even more in this second book!The plot is twisting and intense with plenty of surprises. Love it so much!

Initially, Moribito II is disappointing. The first book is a swashbuckling yet sensitive adventure with characters that you grow to like and feel for. The second, it seems, is more of the same. Balsa, the spear wielding mercenary heroine in the first book, is returning to her hometown to put some ghosts to rest. We begin with a tense action scene, Balsa rescuing some foolhardy kids from a mysterious attacker, and then accompany Balsa on her return, arriving at her aunt's house of healing. We get...

4.5/5After recently finishing her latest guardian job, Balsa the spearwoman returned to Kanbal, her homeland and birthplace. Intending to clear up the wronged past of Jiguro; her late foster father, teacher, and benefactor; Balsa quickly found herself once again tangled with sinister conspiration from the past, the very same that cost her father's life and forced her to escape Kanbal in the first place.After 25 years away, Balsa found herself a stranger in her own birthplace, and she needed to r...

The anime adaptation of the first Moribito novel was a very exciting discovery for me. It is by leaps and bounds the most ecologically-oriented fantasy I've found, and in all the ways I like--integrated with anthropology, folklore, history, imperialism, science, epistemology, climate, agriculture, entomology, etc. But it's also just a low fantasy with storytelling and worldbuilding very much calculated to my taste: low-key, character-driven, context-heavy, thoughtful about violence, and morally