Can one girl win a war? Kano Murasaki, called Risuko (Squirrel), is a young fatherless girl, more comfortable climbing trees than down on the ground. Yet she finds herself enmeshed in a game where the board is the whole nation of Japan, where the pieces are armies, moved by scheming lords, and a single girl couldn’t possibly have the power to change the outcome. Or could she? (Historical adventure fiction appropriate for teen readers)

Seasons of the Sword

Series Order
Newest Title Rating
Deadly Blossoms: Kunoichi Companion Tales 1–6 by
Series: Seasons of the Sword. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 19,520. Language: English. Published: April 8, 2022 by Stillpoint Digital Press. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Historical » Medieval
After a century of brutal civil war, Lady Mochizuki Chiyome gathers together the most unlikely army imaginable to unite the empire and bring an end to the bloodshed: an army of girls clad in the red and white garb of miko, shrine maidens. An army of kunoichi. Together, these girls work as spies, as bodyguards, as assassins — going where no soldier could go, doing what no soldier could do.
Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Teen Historical Adventure) by
Series: Seasons of the Sword. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 74,790. Language: American English. Published: June 15, 2016 by Stillpoint Digital Press. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Adventure, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Historical
Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan — or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems. (YA Historical Adventure)
Kano: A Kunoichi Tale by
Series: Seasons of the Sword. Pre-release—available April 30, 2024. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 67,170. Language: English. Published by Stillpoint Digital Press. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Historical, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Adventure
Can one girl save a nation? In this thrilling third book in the Seasons of the Sword, through raging battles and deadly court intrigue, Risuko must follow a path narrower and less stable than any pine branch. And the consequences should she fail are sharp and hard as rocks below. The red-and-white disguise of the kunoichi awaits. Is Risuko ready?