"Prophecy" by Ellen Oh

Again, low expectations led to a nice surprise.  With echoes of Mulan, Cinder, Xena, and a host of other warrior women stories, this "newbie author" has jumped on the woman-power wagon, but with enough originality to make it a fresh tale.  Kira is a soldier in a mythical Korean time.  She fights demons (by hacking off their heads -- and then black ooze comes out) but struggles with her identity as a female in a society that has certain expectations as to her role.  There is, of course, a prophecy, which is typically ambiguous but is easy to guess from the title and cover art.  In general, this is not a book of subtleties.  Nonetheless, I learned a lot about Korean culture without the book being too didactic, and there is real authenticity in the tone, which is fairly formal throughout.  It is that tone which can make the narrative seem stiff from time to time.  I didn't take issue with it -- but the language of the book did not "flow" as much as it had hard stops and starts.  One device I wasn't fond of were the repeated efforts to jump into Kira's dreams and not have the reader realize they were reading a dream sequence.  It didn't work since the events were clearly part of a dream, and it made transitions clunky.  Other than that, it was enjoyable, and had a good bit of action -- enough to entertain your basic online gamer.  What with the decapitations, archery and occasional groin kick (yes, the "good guys" deal these out from time to time ... unusual) it is the kind of story that should grab and hold readers who like their fiction visceral.  We will see the author, a local, in December.  I look forward to meeting her.