EMILY LAU AND THE PLUM BLOSSOM SWORD

In this debut YA fantasy, a teenager inherits a sword and begins a new life fighting monsters.

Emily Lau wants to be a hero, the kind that she reads about in the books she peruses whenever there’s an extra moment in class. But the closest the high school freshman gets to combat is in her karate lessons at the local dojo. One day, her favorite aunt, Elaine, shows up to take Emily to her lesson and insists on sparring with her—a highly irregular occurrence. Afterward, Elaine gives Emily a gift: a silver ring. The ring is engraved with a plum blossom, the symbol of perseverance and hope. But it’s not just any ring, as Emily learns soon after putting it on: “Emily twisted her hand and closed it on the empty air. Then her hand was full. A weight pulled her arm down and Emily couldn’t believe her eyes. There, in her hand, was a sword.” It turns out that Emily is descended from a long line of warriors who protect humanity from monsters and pass the sword to a successor. Elaine has chosen Emily and will now train her in the martial arts. Emily’s other trainer will be the sword itself, Meihua, whose female spirit speaks to the teen telepathically, becoming an omnipresent mentor and guide. She’s nice to have as company, especially since Emily can’t tell any of her friends about her new role as a magical warrior. Emily’s selection as successor is not without controversy, though, and strange new relatives appear to challenge her for Meihua. Additionally, the monsters she’s meant to fight turn out to be quite a bit scarier—and trickier—than the ones in her fantasy novels. Does Emily really have what it takes to wield the ancient sword against the forces of darkness? Or is she already in over her head?

Stone’s fluid prose expands to fit the needs of the story. He can write chatty high school scenes as easily as he can describe the fearsome, metamorphosing monsters that Emily is forced to fight: “Its golden yellow eyes began to glow in the night. The coyote’s body shuddered, and then impossibly, it began to grow. It grew and grew until it was the size of a horse. It scowled down at the two of them with malice in its golden eyes and let out another howl.” The basic plot—a regular teen finds out that she has a preordained magical purpose—will be familiar to YA readers, and Stone does not do much to break the mold besides adding a martial arts element. Though the author isn’t interested in reinventing the wheel, he provides a wholly enjoyable work for fans of the genre. He doesn’t take his mythology so seriously that there isn’t room for humor, and the supporting characters are often surprising and memorable. The plot moves quickly, and the novel’s 300-plus pages breeze by. If Emily and Meihua return for further adventures in the future, there will be an audience waiting to read them.

A satisfying fantasy with an indelible cast.