The Leopard Mask (The Guin Saga, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Kaoru Kurimoto (Author), Alexander O. Smith (Translator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Guin Saga

The Guin Saga is epic heroic fantasy in the smae vein as Robert E. Howard's Conan, the Barbarian. More than a hundred books strong and growing, the saga has sold more than twenty-five million copies in Japan. Vertical will publish the first five installments that comprise "The Marches Episode" arc.

In a single day and night of fierce fighting, the Archduchy of Mongaul has overrun its elegant neighbor, Parros. The lost priest kindgom's surviving royalty, the young twins Rinda and Remus, hide in a forest in the forbidding wil marches. There they are saved by a mysterious creature with a man's body and a leopard's heas, who has emerged from a deep sleep and remembers only his name. Guin.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in 1979 and the first of a planned 100 books in the series (87 of which have already appeared in Japan), Kurimoto's fantasy provides plenty of straightforward action and adventure. Guin, a man with no memory, has the highly trained body of a warrior, the reflexes and fighting style of a large cat and, mysteriously, the mask of a leopard firmly fixed over his head. After the duchy of Mongaul invades the kingdom of Palos, Guin rescues the regal preteen "twins of Parros," Rinda and Remus, from a Mongaul patrol pursuing them through the Forest of Rood. Guin and the headstrong twins band together to fight their mutual enemies, but Janos, the weaver of fate, has other plans for them. They end up as prisoners of Count Vanon of Stafolos Keep, who has a curious wasting disease and an evil miasma about him. Kurimoto has launched a rousing tale of intrepid heroes, horrid villains and wicked supernatural creatures. A fast read with hardly any internal reflection on the characters' part, this book will probably appeal most to young adults.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A rousing tale of intrepid heroes, horrid villains and wicked supernatural creatures.” –Publishers Weekly

“The Guin Saga was the most [inspiration for Berserk]. I started reading it in junior high and I’m still reading the new volume every month.” –Berserk creator Kentaro Miura

“This is classic fantasy at its best.” –Book Sense (Fall 2003 Science Fiction and Fantasy Top Ten)

“Readers should be warned that once you start this journey, it will be nearly impossible to leave it unfinished.” – SFRevu

“Japan’s answer to The Lord of the Rings.” –The Globe and Mail

“Kaoru Kurimoto manages the flurry of situations being set up and resolved like the trick of a putting a hand on a table with fingers spread out, then stabbing a blade between the outstretched digits. The speed and coordination is that amazing.” –Scott Green, Ain’t It Cool News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 231 pages
• Publisher: Vertical; 1st US Ed edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932234519
• ISBN-13: 978-1932234510
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #858,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guin's search for his identity and destiny, August 9, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Leopard Mask (The Guin Saga, Book 1) (Hardcover)

The Guin Saga Book One: The Leopard Mask By Kaoru Kurimoto is a disturbing and dramatic fantasy of a deadly war between ancient kingdoms. The only surviving royalty of the losing kingdom are rescued by a creature with a man's body and a leopard's head, a being who remembers nothing of his past except for his name - Guin. It is Guin's search for his identity and destiny that leads to an exciting political intrigue and an evolving, exhilarating journey of discovery.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good start, July 3, 2003

By 

"root668" (Tokyo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Leopard Mask (The Guin Saga, Book 1) (Hardcover)

I've read the first book and it's really moving along well. I found it very readable, and a good revitalization of the Japanese, which was pretty dated. The first five books in the series form a complete story, and I have a feeling that is all they will translate. Hopefully they can avoid the problems later on in the series that way!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sword and Sorcery at Its Finest, November 25, 2003

By 

Elizabeth ", Zumaya Publications LLC" (Austin, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Leopard Mask (The Guin Saga, Book 1) (Hardcover)

In 1979, Kaoru Kurimoto wrote the first of what was planned as a 100-episode fantasy series. Now, with 86 of those in print, the Guin Saga is a Japanese bestsller, and thanks to Vertical Publishing US fans will be able to find out what the excitement is about.

Anyone partial to heroic sword-and-sorcery is a shoo-in to like THE LEOPARD MASK, the first of five books in the saga to be reprinted. However, there is a richness of both story and world-building that sets this book above simple action adventure and leaves the reader eager for the next installment.

Fourteen-year-old royal twins Rinda and Remus are hiding in a dangerous haunted marsh from the minions of the evil Vlad, Duke of Mongauli. Vlad has destroyed their own country and exterminated their family, but the valiant Rinda is determined she and her brother will one day regain what they've lost.

They are rescued from a patrol of Vlad's soldiers by a mysterious and powerful warrior whose head is eerily encased in a metal mask shaped like a leopard. Other than his name-Guin-he remembers nothing, not where he comes from or how he acquired the mask. When, despite his efforts, he and the twins become prisoners in Vlad's fortress, they discover there is a greater evil behind the savage warlord than they could ever have imagined.

One might describe this book as literary anime, for it contains many of the elements of both that and manga. It has the feisty young heroine, a thoroughly perverse villain and a mighty hero who vanquishes overwhelming odds despite his own troubles. The complex plot, which hints at difficulties to come, never goes beyond the boundaries of disbelief, and the dangers the twins and their protector face are as often psychological as physical.

There is nothing simplistic about the characters, either. Although her brother is the heir, it is Rinda who has all the mystical powers that are supposed to go with that position, and Remus is understandably jealous of that despite his clear devotion to her. Worse, he perceives his lack of ability as weakness, and shrinks from danger his sister confronts headlong.

As for Guin, he is no mindless mass of muscle. There are emotional depths to him that are barely skimmed in this first book but which are clear nevertheless. It is the process of unearthing them, along with his missing history, that makes it difficult to wait for the second episode.

This same economy of revelation applies to the world Ms. Kurimoto has created, a richly modeled place full of demons and ghosts, gods and monsters, dark towers and hidden treasures. She implies an underlying complex mythology, tastes of which she doles out just often enough to whet the appetite.

Suitable for anyone old enough to read and appreciate a terrific imagination, THE LEOPARD MASK is a marvelous introduction to a series that has swept Japan like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series has the US-and for far better reason. This is basic storytelling at its finest, and could even give Harry Potter a run for his wand.