Though I will admit that the first nine chapters were sort of slow with not much happening other than serious info dumping. I didn't understand all the Japanese terms but it didn't really matter in the long run. Once the thunder tiger was found, the action kicked up a few notches and everything started happening. I loved Yukiko and Buruu and absolutely hated Yoritomo who is one of those terrible dictators you read about who does whatever he wants without thought to anyone other than himself and desperately needs to be assassinated. Luckily there were lots of people willing to fulfill that desire. I can't wait to see where Kristoff takes this series next though it sucks to wait until September for the sequel.Lucky for me, I don't know the ins and outs of Japanese culture so I didn't find anything remotely offensive or annoying about this book.
