Sea of Shadow
core novel 1992 The Twelve Kingdoms
Record
| First published | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  JA |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.23 (3,057 ratings, collected 2026-08-30) |
| Page count | 464 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781598169461 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Youko Nakajima is an unhappy high school student in Japan who is unexpectedly transported to another world by a mysterious man who insists on pledging his allegiance to her. After fighting off demon-like creatures that attack them upon arrival, she finds herself in an alternate realm where her appearance shifts and she gains the ability to understand the local language. As a Kaikyaku, a person summoned from Earth, Youko becomes a hunted fugitive with no clear allies, forced to survive on her own while slowly learning why she was brought to this land of twelve kingdoms and what role she may be expected to play in it.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Twelve Kingdoms
- Series: The Twelve Kingdoms Novels core; position 1 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Fuyumi Ono
Notes
- From the series record (The Twelve Kingdoms Novels): Fuyumi Ono's ongoing Japanese-language high fantasy sequence, originally published as prose novels (1992-2019, still ongoing); an anime adaptation exists but is not the source medium. A sixth title once catalogued here, "The Book of the Blue Phoenix," was removed 2026-08-31: no real Twelve Kingdoms volume under this or any similar title exists in the series' actual bibliography, English or Japanese.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Twelve Kingdoms Novels: position 1 of 5: next Sea of Wind (1993)
Sources
← The Twelve Kingdoms dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.