Curious One? I hope you are here still, because I remain a bit speechless still. I was prepared to read another story line based on a 17 year-old girl gaining a power and learning control. What I stepped into though with Born of Aether? Whoa…
Book #4, Born of Aether by A.L. Knorr just…it just blew my mind.
(I will be discussing each book in the series. Skip down to the Release Schedule!)
Something’s Foxy…
First off, the prologue was extremely descriptive and detailed. I enjoyed every word and it felt like I was actually there, walking with the fox.
It began with a black fox wandering a battlefield as soldiers were dying around her. She drinks the blood of a dying samurai and you are teleported to many years later where she is old and withering away from age. She curls up to die, only to be reborn again because the spirit of the warrior whose blood she drank gave her an extended life and purpose. It changed her. Let me quote the book here real quick…
“On any normal day with any normal fox, those ribs would not rise again. But life gives way to life, and as the earthly fox dies, the spirit of the samurai warrior awakens, and the ribs do rise again.”
That about sums it up. The tone of this book was different from the very start – as you can tell. As the story begins, we are introduced, finally, to the ever mysterious Akiko. Turns out, she is not 17 and she is not living with her grandfather and she is not human. Whoa…
As it happens, Akiko is actually an Akuna Hanta (demon hunter) who is over 100 years old. She was kidnapped from her family at a young age, before she fully matured and gained the Akuna Hanta sight. The story in Born of Aether is actually really heartbreaking.
The Purest Determination
Before she was born, her parents adopted a young girl who they named Aimi – she was a Kitsune (now, there are two types of Kitsune who came from the spirits of warriors; the Zenko, who were benevolent, healed the sick and gave wealth and good fortune to those around them including influencing events to help them along and then you have the Nogitsune, who were malevolent, tricked and trapped people around them, bringing nothing but misfortune and pain).
Aimi could turn into a beautiful black fox with piercing green eyes. Her new parents knew she was Kitsune and their fortune greatly improved. Years later, they had another child named Akiko. While in the womb, Aimi blessed Akiko with a tamashi. A tamashi is the spiritual heart from a creature of the Aethers. They are always good and can bring no harm to others. During her birth, Akiko also turned into an Akuna Hanta (this was because her heart was so pure that it chose that path for itself). She can transform into any bird at choosing and is a pure soul through and through.
Now comes the heartbreaking part. As they grew up, it was noticed that they were attracted to the same stunning man, Toshi. Akiko loved him with all her heart and Aimi could make his life better. Toshi’s father chose Akiko, because he wanted pure love and unconditional support for his son. So they got engaged. This obviously hurt Aimi a bit, being the eldest who is supposed to marry first, and they went through some time of ignoring each other. Remember, they were inseparable prior to the engagement.
One day, Aimi and Akiko forgave each other and went for a run. It was a familiar game. Aimi was showing Akiko a skill with her tamashi and grabbed it from her in a bout of fun. Don’t forget that the tamashi is her spirit. Aimi ran off with it and barreled right into an older man; she dropped it. Recognizing it for what it was, he picked it up and swallowed it before they could get it back, therefore forcing Akiko to do as he asks, no way of getting around any request.
Born of Aether’s Deep Twist
His name, was Daichi – who her friends thought was her grandfather. He kidnaps her and Akiko is left with the feeling of betrayal, believing Aimi to be a Nogitsune, tricking them all. She believed this for a century.
Daichi forced her to remain in her bird form, travelling around the world until he finally let her be human for the last 10 years or so. He needed her as a translator and errand runner, you see, so he allowed her to attend school under his restricted requirements.
Out of nowhere, he asks her of a final task in Born of Aether. If she can steal a specific Wakizashi (a short, katana style sword) for him, he will give her the freedom she deserves. She takes the deal and heads to Japan on a mission. She is, of course, a creature from the Aether so she travels to Japan via the Aether, which is located high up in the sky.
The sword was supposed to be in a museum, but it was taken back by the owner. She meets a janitor who was a high member of the “gang” Yakuza. I say “gang” when this group of ruthless businessmen dealt in anything that was advancement. From financial crimes to drugs and prostitution; they owned or manipulated every largest corporation in Japan. This janitor helps give her information on where to find the sword and a little bit of information about the Akuna Hanta; he had been saved by one.
The Hanta, like I said above, are demon hunters. The demons are called Oni’s. Now, the Oni cannot be killed by a Hanta, only unseated. Which means that a Hanta essentially saves the human souls that are ready to be free of the demon possession.
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Infiltration
In order to get the sword, she has to travel to an isolated island and sneak in. The Yakuza are having a massive party where she sneaks in and dresses similar to a Geisha. You are described the beauty and elegance of the Geisha which was a remarkable quick break from the intensity of the plot. Akiko runs into the leader of the Yakuza and witnesses a man cutting off his fingertip to prove his loyalty, as well as a swordfight with the boss. She finds the sword in the room of the fight, but gets discovered before she can escape with the sword. She turns into various birds and finally grasps the sword and gets away. Storing the sword in her room, she contacts Daichi and he makes sure she remains there until he gets there.
As Akiko is waiting on Daichi, she encounters another Hanta and asks him millions of questions. The frustrating part is that she cannot be told how to be a Hanta. If she is, she becomes faithless and that defeats the whole purpose of being an Akuna Hanta. It would be better to be dead than to be a faithless Hanta. This new Hanta friend of hers helps her out of a couple hard places and helps her understand as much as she can about who she is, without taking away her faith.
Daichi shows up and his story is revealed. It was heart wrenching and I will leave you with some curiosity (read Born of Aether to figure out why he did what he did). He leaves this world in the honorable way of a samurai and her tamashi leaves his body. However, before she can grab a hold of it, the leader of the Yakuza shows up! He steals her tamashi and commands her to be quiet and not move.
I think I forgot to mention that the leader was possessed by a handful on Oni, which is why he knew what she was and how to deal with her.
The Big Return
A beautiful tragedy is revealed to Akiko at this point. Toshi comes to her rescue. Yes, Curious One – he is alive!!! He battles the Yakuza leader and triumphs. She finds out that her sister, Aimi, had given Toshi her tamashi in order for him to remain alive for 100 years to search for Akiko and save her. Finally completing his mission, he dies of his wounds from the battle and the black fox returns. Since Aimi was only a Kitsune, not an Akuna Hanta, she couldn’t transform without her tamashi. She had been living these last 100 years as a fox.
Akiko feels her power growing and realized that it was the vision her friend was talking about. She witnesses and takes 5 (?) Oni from the Yakuza leaders body, hauling them down through the Aethers as far as she could go; trapping them without oxygen and a way to be free to possess any other willing humans again.
Daichi had left all his possessions and the house they were living in to her and she returns to Saltford a new woman. She even contemplates telling the truth and opening up to all her friends. Her sister remains in Japan to handle the fallout of Toshi dying.
The style of the writing was pretty normal, which that itself was a unique view.
After Born of Aether
I really enjoyed how even though Akiko was over 100 years old, she responded and acted like a mature 17 year-old. She had been sheltered literally her whole life until her last decade. Naturally, this is what caused the misconnection in her knowledge and maturity level; making her seem more like a mature teenager. I love it! She wasn’t suddenly a wise, all-knowing immortal just because she regained her spirit; she stayed true to herself and was just restarting her life as a 17 year-old in the present time. Her pain and past was simple and heartbreaking, just like it would have been back then. I cannot emphasize again how much I enjoy the complete realistic storyline and plot of this entire series. A.L. Knorr keeps knocking them out of the park while they just get better and better.
I feel a bit repetitive with my conclusions on these Curiosities I have discovered, but really, this series is so amazing. So far, I would read them all again. The best thing about re-reading novels is that you pick more things up. I may just wish sometimes that I could read a novel two or even three times before putting my thoughts down, but that would take time that I don’t always have.
Anyways, keep updated with these curiosities as I move to the next book in the Elemental Origins series.
…it’s time for another book…
Curiosity Release Schedule for Elemental Origins Series
Book 1: Born of Water – August 30th, 2020
Novella 1: The Wreck of Sybellen – September 1st, 2020
Book 2: Born of Fire – September 4th, 2020
Novella 2: Pyro: A Fire Novella – September 6th, 2020
Book 3: Born of Earth – September 9th, 2020
Book 4: Born of Aether – September 12th, 2020
Book 5: Born of Air – September 15th, 2020
Book 6: The Elementals – September 18th, 2020
I really hope you follow me along my journey of curiosity with the Elemental Series by A.L Knorr. I loved it and I hope to see some other curious faces visit my thoughts.
Make sure to visit A.L. Knorr’s website or her Twitter @ALKnorrBooks!
My next discussion will begin with the fifth book of the Elemental Origins Series, Born of Air. I’d love to see you there, Curious One!
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