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The Twelve Kingdoms book cover
The Twelve Kingdoms
The Vast Spread of the Seas
1994
First Published
4.29
Average Rating
344
Number of Pages

Part of Series

When only an eggfruit, the kirin of the En Kingdom, Rokuta, was transported to Japan for his own protection. But he was abandoned soon after birth by his surrogate parents, left to fend for himself in the mountains. It just so happened that at the same time, a young boy in the En Kingdom named Koya was also abandoned by his own parents, after which he was raised by demon beasts. Their similar circumstances aren't the only thing to bind these two boys, though. Twenty years after their abandonment, their destinies intersect, with potentially disastrous consequences for the En Kingdom.
Avg Rating
4.29
Number of Ratings
1,205
5 STARS
47%
4 STARS
38%
3 STARS
14%
2 STARS
1%
1 STARS
0%
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Author

Fuyumi Ono
Fuyumi Ono
Author · 37 books

Kanji Name: 小野 不由美. Fuyumi Ono (小野 不由美, Ono Fuyumi) is a Japanese novelist who is best known for writing the Twelve Kingdoms (十二国記, Juuni Kokuki) series, on which a popular anime is based. Her name after marriage is Fuyumi Uchida (内田不由美, Uchida Fuyumi), but she writes under her maiden name. Ono was born in Nakatsu, Ōita, Kyūshū in 1960. She graduated from Ōtani University in Kyōto with a degree in Buddhist Studies, and in 1988 was employed by the publisher Kōdansha. Her debut story is titled Sleepless on Birthday Eve. Ono is married to Naoyuki Uchida (内田直行, Uchida Naoyuki), a mystery novelist who writes under the pseudonym Yukito Ayatsuji (綾辻行人, Ayatsuji Yukito). Before she started work on Twelve Kingdoms, Fuyumi Ono wrote The Demonic Child (魔性の子), a horror novel about a boy from another world. She later worked certain events from this novel into the Twelve Kingdoms series. Short stories set in the various kingdoms include: Kasho, Toei, Shokan, Kizan and Jogetsu. In February, 2008, the first new Twelve Kingdoms short story, Hisho no Tori (丕緒の鳥) was published in Shinchosha's Yomyom magazine. According to an interview at the Anime News Network, she is "currently rewriting a girls' horror series (she) wrote long ago."

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