Back of Book: 

Young boy Hatsukoi leaves his village to become a monk, only to find monastic life incredibly boring. With a new-found name and a new-found friend, Hatsukoi travels the countryside and plays tricks at the expense of corrupt, irate, greedy, and ignorant people. Nobles of all ranks—from petty governors to crown princes—fall victim to the boy’s wit and cunning.

As his tricks evolve from childhood frolics to elaborate cons, Hatsukoi grows as well. He learns not only the craft of his trade, but also its higher purpose.

Join Hatsukoi’s journey, laugh at his exploits, and learn with him.

Book Number: One 

Genre: Middle Grade | Fantasy 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The start of an epic trilogy starring a young trickster and his mischievous fox companion. 

After one too many pranks, young Hatsukoi is sent away from his village and banished to the life of a monk. Despite his family's expectations, this doesn't stop his devilish ways—Hatsukoi starts tricking the monks left and right until he is granted a new name, Takuan, after the stone marten Ta-Guan who always found herself getting into trouble in the Celestial Palace in the Heavens Above. Takuan soon finds himself embarking from his newfound home with his trusty fox sidekick at his side in which the world is their oyster to trick and bamboozle. 

This story is unlike anything I've ever read before. It's told in a fable/fairy tale-esque type vibe, but it more so reads as if you are watching an old adventure show. Personally, it reminds me of the old Zorro show, especially with the way that each chapter ends with something like, "Figure out what happens in the next chapter of Takuan's story!" Many would probably find this cheesy, but it really only brings back fond memories for me and gives the book a unique storytelling flavor. 

The beginning is a bit dull, but it acts as a bit of backstory for how Takuan gets his name. And hopefully Ta-Guan, the stone marten, will show up in later installments of this series. Once it got into Hatsukoi's point of view, the story really picks up quickly. It is fun to read about his childhood tomfoolery, his discontent with monastery life, and his evolution into Takuan the trickster who goes on to steal from the greedy, selfish, and cruel. 

This book most definitely is meant to warn the reader against greed, envy, and other negative attributes. The best part is, Takuan isn't immune to these either and gets a taste of his own medicine in the end. I find reading about morally gray trickster characters to be a blast and I'm excited to consume more of Takuan's chaos in the future. 

I also have to mention Takuan's stalwart companion, Jin the fox. He not only is a cutie, but he is imperative to Takuan. Jin has helped this crazy boy out of many tough scrapes and Takuan wouldn't be in one piece without his trusty fox. I'm interested to see a bit of lore on this guy in the next volumes as well. 

Overall, I found "Prince of Blue Flowers" to be a great introduction into this Asian world of fantasy, trickery, and mischief. I like both Takuan and Jin as characters and I am very intrigued to see where their journey takes them in the next two books! 

Back of Book: 

A temple monk, a wandering warrior, and a mischievous swindler walk into a tavern... Come next morning, the warrior finds himself with a headache, the monk finds himself robbed, and the swindler is nowhere to be found.

The monk named Soliang travels the country on a secret mission from the Goddess of the West. On his journey, he meets evil sorcerers and their demons, wandering warriors and monks, soothsayers, thieves, and robbers. Making enemies, Soliang makes friends as well; friends who will help him to fulfil his sacred mission.

Join Soliang’s journey... But what about the swindler? Was it the young Takuan whom we already know?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Book Number: Two 

Genre: Middle Grade | Fantasy 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The mischievous swindler and his loyal fox companion are back and this time, they are accompanied by some unlikely companions.

A holy monk by the name of Soliang is on a sacred quest from Xiwanmu, the Goddess of the West. But the aspiring sorcerer Bricabrac is after the same holy artifact. And once the troublesome Takuan learns of this emerald necklace's existence, he can't help but join the hunt too. In a daring quest of who can outswindle the swindler, three parties intersect and fight a couple demons along the way.

This installment is much more ones typical fantasy quest. A certain god gives the party an assignment and the group has to try to fulfill said assignment without being eaten by demons or meeting some other untimely end. Soliang and Bricabrac's parties are going head to head nearly the entire book, with Takuan simultaneously being on both there teams and on nobody's team (he is a trickster, after all).

I think the biggest things that I want to note about this one is that the boring stuff that happened at the beginning of book one was paramount for this book's story plot, making it all seem more relevant in the end. Ta-Guan, the stone marten, does return and has direct contact with our main character Takuan, so this made it feel like less of a waste of time getting to know her in the first installment.

Secondly, they all would be screwed without Jin. This fox is truly an unshakable companion that everyone forgets about until he just pops out of a bush and saves the day. I know we're supposed to like Jin because he is the animal companion, but I think it is just important to point out how wicked smart this fox in and how often he saves Takuan from some very sticky situations.

This book did introduce a ton of new characters, but they all have pretty different tropes, which helped in trying to keep them all straight. I'm not sure which ones are going to remain important into the next installment but I'm sure that the people traveling with Takuan (or I guess Sung-Guan at the end) will be there at the beginning of the final installment at the very least. Which means we have Soliang the chosen monk, Wang-Zhu Leizu the wandering warrior, Zaemon the silent monk, and Jin, the trustworthy fox at the very least. I'm sure Bricabrac will also retain his importance and I would be concerned if Ta-Guan doesn't come back at some point.

Overall, I enjoyed "Hunters of Weredemons" and all of the adventures that it delivered. Personally, I found it less unique than the first installment, but it was certainly a fine follow up. I'm still excited to see what happen to Takuan in the last volume, so I believe that the author is doing their job well. Onto the next one to finish up the quest!

Back of Book: 

When gods give a mission to jump, mortals jump. Powerful sorcerer Alastar receives a visit from the Under Lord himself. He travels to a different side of the world and brings along Bricabrac, a lesser able man. Desperate in their lust for power, the two sorcerers hunt anyone who has even a smallest magical implement.

We won't join their journey. Or will we? The Goddess of the West gives her envoys new tasks. Soliang brings his learnings to the mountain monasteries. The monk's magical powers are passed to his most devoted student, who leads the sacred quest.

It is the end where all journeys meet.

Book Number: Three (Last Book) 

Genre: Middle Grade | Fantasy 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A fun conclusion to an Asian fantasy trilogy full of magic, mischief, and a couple of rogue demons. 

After taking over as the leader of the monk Soliang's quest bestowed by the Goddess of the West, Sung-Guan (also known as Takuan) must face the demons of his past. Previous deeds of devious origin will now come back to haunt Takuan as he makes his way towards the final destination of his party's quest. 

This book once again starts off with about three chapters of pre-knowledge that sets up the story to come before Takuan's name even crosses the page. In this volume, we are reacquainted with Bricabrac, Prince Danian (the Prince of Blue Flowers), and Duke Bao-Zhu. Takuan has wronged all three of these men in the past, so I could just feel the karma that was coming to get Takuan as I read the beginning of this book. It was nice to tie up some loose ends with these antagonists and once again show that Takuan is not immune to the consequences of his schemes. 

I'm glad to say that Ta-Guan, the stone marten, also makes her reappearance, though she isn't that important. Some secrets about our trustworthy fox friend Jin are revealed at the end of this book, which was certainly something I looked forward to the entire saga. Takuan's family also plays an important role in this story, which was nice. 

I really enjoyed the vast array of characters in this series, but I wish there would have been any female representation that didn't rub me the wrong way. Qingbao literally shows up and the book just calls her "pretty" and "beautiful" over and over again without her contributing much of anything to the plot. This is such a toxic representation of women, and I was greatly saddened to see this. The only other girls in this series are Takuan's mother (she's a cookie-cutter mom), Takuan's sister (who pretty much values beauty above all else), the goddess Xiwanmu (who makes others do all the work for her), and Ruo Lian (who literally shows up to play love interest). It makes me sad that all of these women are petty, selfish, and can't seem to lift a finger for themselves. This didn't take away from the overall story too much, but it just nagged on my brain the entire time. 

The very end of this story was very entertaining. A battle of wits is always fun to witness, so it was great seeing Takuan go head to head with the evil sorcerer, Bing Lieu. It may not have been much of a competition, but I thought it was funny to experience Bing Lieu trying to outwit the trickster. 

Overall, "Envoys of Celestials" was a great conclusion to a fun, adventurous romp of a series. It may have wrapped up the main conflict a tad quickly and dwelt more on the consequences of Takuan's devious ways, but I honestly appreciate this. It felt nice that this series was more about Takuan's character than some heroic quest that the god's needed the characters to complete. Obviously, that was still a huge chunk of it, but dwelling on our main character's life was much more entertaining to consume, at least in my opinion. I would be interested to see what the author plans on doing next if they so decide to return to this world. The mythology is complex, there are many characters to touch back on, and there are many plot lines I could see a future adventure taking. If one is willing to read a semi-cheesy adventure story featuring a tricky trickster, a deft fox, and a bunch of bizarre demons, I think it's safe to say that "The Adventures of Takuan from Koto" might be worth checking out (especially if you are a fan of Asian fantasy).