Having recently finished book 3 of the Guin Saga, I decided to share a little about the books here. Originally written by Kaoru Kurimoto (a nom de plume), in Japanese, the books were brought to English and American readers through translators Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander. Since I don’t think giving books “ratings” is fair, I’ll only post my comments about certain elements (in alphabetical order):

Characters: Character design is one of the most important aspect in a fantasy book. The Guin Saga has a diverse cast, from leopard headed warriors, to two frail children, to a battle hardend mercenary; which is a breath of fresh air to those who are sick of the staple “unlikely band of heroes”, which is very common in fantasy books.

Dialog: Excellent dialog lets you feel like you really are reading a book about the middle ages; and each character has their own unique style of speach, be it more “fancy” or even a jumbled mess of words. In my opinion, Kurimoto’s books’ dialogs are rivaled by only one author’s: Tolkien.

Setting: Set in the middle ages era, although on a different planet, in a different universe, the era is very familiar to anyone who has ever read a fantasy book. The first book takes place in a monster infested forest; the second in a demon possed tower, controlled by the protagainist’s enemies; and the third in the vast wastelands of Nospherus.

Story: The story begins with the fall of Parros, and the escape of the “pearls of Parros”, the youngest in the royal house, Rinda and Remus, twins. The story moves to the forest when they are accidently transported there, instead of getting to their aunt’s kingdom. This is where they meet Guin, a man cured with the head of a leopard, the man the story is named after. Guin posseses a vast knowledge of almost everything, except for his own identity; with only the word “Guin” in his mind, the books then continue on with Guin’s search for truth, and his identity.

Conclusion: All in all, an excellent book series, that I recommend to anyone looking for something different than the mainstream fantasy books.