Katanagatari, 2: Sword Tale, Hardcover/Nisioisin

Description Long ago the masterful swordsmith Shikizaki Kiki crafted 1000 blades, though his twelve final works, the legendary deviant blades were prime among the rest. All with uniquely defined traits, these swords are among the greatest in Japan. Shichika Yasuri, the seventh generational head of the Kyoto-ryu school of martial arts in medieval Japan. He and his older sister Nanami live on an isolated island, until a military advisor named Togame tells him of the final 12 swords forged by a legendary swordsmith. At Togame's bidding, Shichika embarks on a journey to find all 12 of the swords. Set in Sengoku-era Japan, Katanagatari tells a story of Shichika Yasuri--seventh-generation head of the Kyoto-ryu martial arts school who lives with his sister Nanami on the isolated Fusho Island. His journey begins when he embarks on a quest to find the final 12 swords forged by a legendary swordsmith About the author There are few authors in Japan who have reached the heights of success as NisiOisin. Born in 1981, Nisio dropped out of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, to pursue a career in story-telling. Initially he had ambitions to be a comic artist, but when he realized his art was not up to snuff, he began to focus on his writing, eventually winning the 23rd Mephisto Prize, for Decapitation (Vertical) recognizing his talents as a mystery writer, at the age of 20. Since his debut in 2002 Nisio has penned more than 50 novels and a number of comics. And he has quickly become one of Japan's top selling author's in recent memory with more than 5 million units sold since 2009. In 2014, as in 2012, he was the top selling author in Japan (outselling Haruki Murakami by more than half a million units). Nishio's works often cover themes of youth, but are framed in genres that are familiar to the masses. His works tend to mix mystery with comedy and touches or romance and/or the supernatural. He is a modern author in every sense, sometimes even experiementing with the Japanese language itself. Many of his works have been adapted into animated television series and films. His best known works are the Monogatari series and Katanagatari.