Book Review - Prophecy

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Prophecy sucked me into the world of ancient Korea and the fight against invading body-sucking demons right from page one. I was pulled inside Kang Kira's existence, and knew almost before she did that her deepest wish was to just be accepted by her community. But she is different, with yellow tiger-eyes, and the fact that she is just not the normal seventeen-year-old girl. Like many outcasts, she pretends she doesn't care, emitting an aura of disdain that only makes people dislike and fear her more.

Kira has the love of her family: General Kang who accepted her wish to be trained as the first female warrior, her mother, the queen's sister, her two older brothers, her uncle and the twelve-year-old crown prince, her cousin. Ten years earlier, the then seven-year-old Kira saved prince Taejo from a demon attack, earning her the name Demon Slayer.

But that was then.

Now people have forgotten, and her yellow eyes and determination to be the only female warrior lead to rumors that she is a kumiho or demon herself.

Ellen Oh pulls readers into this world and Kira's life from the very first page. She deftly weaves the land's history and Kira's backstory into her present, a time when demons are once again after the young prince because of a prophecy. One interpretation of this prophecy is that he will unite the seven kingdoms and defeat the demons. But there are other interpretations.

Kira knows her job is to protect her cousin, and that takes her on a quest across the kingdoms and forces her to deal with two young men. Jaewon, a mysterious traveler with a tortured past that leaves him almost as alone as Kira; and Shin Bo Hyun, a young man who teased her as a child, but never ignored her or feared her, and now seems by their court-ordered betrothal.

This is not your ordinary love triangle. Kira sees Jaewon as her first, and only, real friend. Shin Bo Hyun is actively, albeit reluctantly, working for the enemy out to capture the prince.

I believe many readers will care for all three characters, along with Prince Taejo, as they search for answers to the prophecy and work to save their world from the demon invasion.

Everything fits together, the world, the people, the quest. And the ending left me hungry for the next chapter in this trilogy.



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