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David Kudler

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David Kudler

Goodreads Author


Born
in Sausalito, California, The United States
Website

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Member Since
April 2009

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David Kudler is a writer and editor living just north of the Golden Gate Bridge with his wife, actress, teacher, and author Maura Vaughn, their author-to-be daughters, and their (apparently) non-literary cats.

His award-winning novel Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale , a young-adult historical adventure novel set in sixteenth century Japan, serves as the first book in the Seasons of the Sword series. The sequel, Bright Eyes , hit the shelves on May 5, 2022. He's now hard at work on Book 3 ( Kano ).

He served as managing editor for the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editing Pathways to Bliss, Myths of Light, and Campbell's Asian Journals) in addition to managing the publication of over a hundred other print, ebook, print, audio, and video
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Popular Answered Questions

David Kudler Yasamin, I apologize that I didn't see your question sooner! I'm glad that you enjoyed Risuko — and sorry to make you wait for the next book.

I'm curre…more
Yasamin, I apologize that I didn't see your question sooner! I'm glad that you enjoyed Risuko — and sorry to make you wait for the next book.

I'm currently working on Bright-Eyes, the second volume in the Seasons of the Sword series. My hope is to have it finished in time for release in 2017. If you'd like to be among the first to read it by serving as a beta reader, you can sign up at risuko.net/risuko-beta-team(less)
David Kudler Hey, Steve! What a great question! Kee Sun is one of my favorite characters.

So I knew I wanted to have at least one non-Japanese character in the book…more
Hey, Steve! What a great question! Kee Sun is one of my favorite characters.

So I knew I wanted to have at least one non-Japanese character in the book — Japan wasn't as cut off from the rest of the world during this period as it would become in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. Japan and Korea had regularly tried to invade each other throughout much of their history, and so the idea that the late Lord Mochizuki brought back a Korean cook from a campaign there appealed to me.

Once I'd decided that Kee Sun was Korean, I had to figure out how a Korean would sound to Japanese people. I reached out to a friend of a friend, S. Jae-Jones, a wonderful author who happens to be Korean-American. She kindly talked to me about the dynamics of the Korean accent, and we discussed what it might sound like to the Japanese characters. Japanese speakers tend to speak in a fairly narrow band of tones. Sarah felt that Korean would sound much earthier and energetic to a Japanese ear. When we searched for an equivalent accent to the American ear, the two that we came up with were Italian and Scottish.

Now, I didn't want Kee Sun sounding like Mario from the Nintendo games. But I thought that basing his accent on a kind of toned down "dog Scottish" (in the same sense that JK Rowling calls the Latin in her books "dog Latin") would give me what I was looking for. (Which is to say, Sarah is in no way responsible for Kee Sun or how he sounds — but I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her insight.)

As I wrote and rewrote the book, I found a distinctive voice for the cook that wasn't particularly Scottish — but that I felt worked for him and for the novel. If you listen to the audiobook, the narrator (my daughter Julia) uses a Scottish accent for Kee Sun.(less)
Average rating: 4.25 · 6,215 ratings · 636 reviews · 58 distinct worksSimilar authors
Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Se...

3.70 avg rating — 569 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions
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Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale

3.98 avg rating — 58 ratings6 editions
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The Seven Gods of Luck

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 1997 — 6 editions
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White Robes: An Interesting...

3.89 avg rating — 37 ratings3 editions
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Kano: A Kunoichi Tale

4.28 avg rating — 18 ratings5 editions
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Silk & Service: A Kunoichi ...

4.40 avg rating — 15 ratings2 editions
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Ghost: A Dream of Murder (S...

4.67 avg rating — 12 ratings2 editions
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Wild Mushrooms: Meeting Ete...

4.17 avg rating — 12 ratings
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Waiting for Kuniko: A Chanc...

4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings2 editions
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Murasaki: A Kunoichi Tale

3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings4 editions
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Loved MURASAKI? 📚⚔

If you’ve finished Murasaki, the final book in the Seasons of the Sword series, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could leave a review!

Reviews help readers discover the series and mean the world to authors like me. The book has been out six weeks and the response has been fantastic, but I’d love to hear what you think.

Choose your favorite platform:

Amazon: risuko.net/amazon-murasaki Goodreads: ri Read more of this blog post »
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Published on November 09, 2025 10:16
Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale Kano: A Kunoichi Tale Murasaki: A Kunoichi Tale
(4 books)
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3.79 avg rating — 736 ratings

The Seven Gods of Luck Shlomo Travels to Warsaw: A... How Raven Brought Back the ...
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4.05 avg rating — 55 ratings

David’s Recent Updates

David Kudler wrote a new blog post

Loved MURASAKI? 📚⚔

If you’ve finished Murasaki, the final book in the Seasons of the Sword series, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could leave a review! Reviews help r Read more of this blog post »
David answered Richard Ferguson's question: David Kudler
I do not, alas.

I have had to research every word and phrase and have it checked by a copyeditor. One of the things I learned an editor is always to look it up--even when you are sure you know it's correct.

Japanese is a wonderful language, very diffe See Full Answer
Murasaki by David Kudler
"This is the 4th book in a quartet and I've not read the previous ones. There are a lot of characters introduced in these pages and I did struggle to remember who's who (did we need all of them for the story to work?). The basic premise is that our he" Read more of this review »
Murasaki by David Kudler
" Hikari, thank you so much for reading and reviewing Murasaki!

As it happens, the third book in the series (Kano) plays around with the origins of the n
...more "
Risuko by David Kudler
"Risuko offers a captivating glimpse into Japanese history through the eyes of its young protagonist, Risuko. I found the narrative both engaging and educational, providing a fresh perspective on a culture and time period that I was not familiar with." Read more of this review »
David and 1 other person liked Justice's review of Kano: A Kunoichi Tale:
Kano by David Kudler
"An excellent addition to the series. So many lovely twists, turns, revelations I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for the next one!"
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Dana by K.D. West
Dana: Thing of Beauty
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Bright Eyes by David Kudler
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Quotes by David Kudler  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The blossoms fall just once each winter, yet in our memories, they fall every day.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“I tell yeh, Bright-eyes. Men and women? A bloody mess. Every time.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“A kunoichi is married to her duty, and to death.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

Topics Mentioning This Author

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2025 & 2026 Readi...: February Challenge: Times Gone By 155 415 Mar 04, 2016 03:58PM  
Fiction Fanatics: May POINTS Challenge 2016 19 39 May 31, 2016 10:20PM  
YA Buddy Readers'...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Seasons of the Sword #1) ARC by David Kudler - Starting May 8th 2016 94 155 Jun 02, 2016 09:06AM  
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Nothing But Readi...: Caron's Challenges 19 213 Jan 29, 2018 08:37AM  
“But there are times — my favorite climbs — when it doesn’t feel as if I’m climbing. Instead, the cliff or tree or wall seems to be lifting me, higher and higher.”
David Kudler, Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale

“The blossoms fall just once each winter, yet in our memories, they fall every day.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“I tell yeh, Bright-eyes. Men and women? A bloody mess. Every time.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“No harm," he said as he danced on, cutting the air. Only now, the snowflakes began to bleed as he cut them. Battle of white and scarlet...
"Oto-san, what can I do?" I wept in the dream, my tears freezing to my cheeks.
"Dance," he said, his face still and calm, his blade whistling through the air. Blood flew from the tip of the sword, painting characters of death and disaster across the white ground.
Dancing.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“Be swift as the wind,
silent as the forest,
fierce as fire,
steady as a mountain.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

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