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Fated Blades
Streaming Dawn
The riveting story of a legendary magic sword, two rivals for a seat in a warlord's court, and a ninja who must use her own magic blade to complete her mission and keep herself alive. Brimming with rich historical details, Streaming Dawn places the reader deep into ancient Japan, when warriors fought with deadly sharp weapons - and even sharper wits - in their quests for power.
Lord Itsumi Akiyama is in trouble. He was a conspirator in the murder of Oda Nobunaga, Japan's most powerful warlord in 1582. Worse, he is responsible for the death of a disciple of the Wind, Japan’s deadliest ninja clan. Enter Kaida, the Wind’s most dangerous agent. She seeks to avenge her fallen protégé, but there is a complication: once she kills Akiyama, the Wind must figure out how to replace him. He occupies a key position in the inner circle of Oda’s successor, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who is set to conquer all of Japan. The Wind wants a puppet next to Hideyoshi, and Kaida is tasked with putting that puppet in place.
Kaida resents her assignment. The chosen puppet is Itsumi Kyusaku, brother and successor to Akiyama. Kyusaku took part in the murder of Kaida’s protégé, and so Kaida wants him dead. But his only rival for the position in Hideyoshi’s council is Okuma Tetsurō, a samurai with a bounty on his head—a bounty placed by the Wind. Kaida respects Okuma and has no desire to kill him. Moreover, she’s not even sure she can. His sword, Glorious Victory Unsought, is a legendary Inazuma blade. With it, Okuma is undefeatable.
But Kaida has a blade of her own. Streaming Dawn can fend off death itself, though at a bitter cost. It might even defend her from Glorious Victory Unsought, if she and Okuma should cross swords. So armed, she takes on the most difficult mission of her career. She cannot allow Kyusaku to come to power, but if she allows Okuma to rise in his stead, it will be Kaida’s head on the chopping block.
Since she cannot choose Kyusaku and she cannot choose Okuma, Kaida has no choice but to do what she does best: achieve the impossible, proving herself once again to be the Wind’s canniest, deadliest ninja.
This companion novella to the Fated Blades series finds beloved characters from those novels in a new and dangerous adventure set in medieval Japan. Bein's talent for combining rich historic detail with powerful action and magic is yet again on display in this intriguing historical fantasy read. Fans of the Fated Blades series will enjoy revisiting their favorite characters, and for those new to the series, it's the perfect place to dive into centuries of intrigue, magic, honor, and swordplay.
Lord Itsumi Akiyama is in trouble. He was a conspirator in the murder of Oda Nobunaga, Japan's most powerful warlord in 1582. Worse, he is responsible for the death of a disciple of the Wind, Japan’s deadliest ninja clan. Enter Kaida, the Wind’s most dangerous agent. She seeks to avenge her fallen protégé, but there is a complication: once she kills Akiyama, the Wind must figure out how to replace him. He occupies a key position in the inner circle of Oda’s successor, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who is set to conquer all of Japan. The Wind wants a puppet next to Hideyoshi, and Kaida is tasked with putting that puppet in place.
Kaida resents her assignment. The chosen puppet is Itsumi Kyusaku, brother and successor to Akiyama. Kyusaku took part in the murder of Kaida’s protégé, and so Kaida wants him dead. But his only rival for the position in Hideyoshi’s council is Okuma Tetsurō, a samurai with a bounty on his head—a bounty placed by the Wind. Kaida respects Okuma and has no desire to kill him. Moreover, she’s not even sure she can. His sword, Glorious Victory Unsought, is a legendary Inazuma blade. With it, Okuma is undefeatable.
But Kaida has a blade of her own. Streaming Dawn can fend off death itself, though at a bitter cost. It might even defend her from Glorious Victory Unsought, if she and Okuma should cross swords. So armed, she takes on the most difficult mission of her career. She cannot allow Kyusaku to come to power, but if she allows Okuma to rise in his stead, it will be Kaida’s head on the chopping block.
Since she cannot choose Kyusaku and she cannot choose Okuma, Kaida has no choice but to do what she does best: achieve the impossible, proving herself once again to be the Wind’s canniest, deadliest ninja.
This companion novella to the Fated Blades series finds beloved characters from those novels in a new and dangerous adventure set in medieval Japan. Bein's talent for combining rich historic detail with powerful action and magic is yet again on display in this intriguing historical fantasy read. Fans of the Fated Blades series will enjoy revisiting their favorite characters, and for those new to the series, it's the perfect place to dive into centuries of intrigue, magic, honor, and swordplay.
89 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 19, 2016
3.5 stars
While I enjoyed this Fated Blades novella, I did not like Kaida, the main character. She's a shinobi, and part of the secretive Wind organization that carefully sets events in motion to control the rulers of feudal Japan. I loved the setting, and that an old woman could be such a fearsome opponent, but I didn't like her. Kaida is near the end of her career as an assassin, and she's determined to avenge the death of one of her students, in direct opposition of her current assignment, before she's killed.
My favorite character was Okuma, probably because he's the only one who truly believed in and followed the bushido code.
While part of the Fated Blades series, this can be read by itself. I love the concept of cursed swords created by a master swordsmith, and I like reading the background stories of the swords. The flashbacks were my favorite part of Daughter of the Sword, and I highly recommend that book if you haven't read it yet.
While I enjoyed this Fated Blades novella, I did not like Kaida, the main character. She's a shinobi, and part of the secretive Wind organization that carefully sets events in motion to control the rulers of feudal Japan. I loved the setting, and that an old woman could be such a fearsome opponent, but I didn't like her. Kaida is near the end of her career as an assassin, and she's determined to avenge the death of one of her students, in direct opposition of her current assignment, before she's killed.
My favorite character was Okuma, probably because he's the only one who truly believed in and followed the bushido code.
While part of the Fated Blades series, this can be read by itself. I love the concept of cursed swords created by a master swordsmith, and I like reading the background stories of the swords. The flashbacks were my favorite part of Daughter of the Sword, and I highly recommend that book if you haven't read it yet.
April 18, 2018
I'm glad I found this on Scribd. I was pretty desperate for anything related to the series. I love everything about this series in general except for Kaida, I couldn't take her. However, it's nice to read about an Okuma again. Nice story for those who enjoyed the books.
February 24, 2020
Streaming Dawn is a novella from the Fated Blades series written by Steve Bein, which centers on Kaida – the world's most dangerous agent within the Disciples of the Wind. This novella takes place before Daughter of the Sword, but should be read after it.
The story is set in 1582 and Oda Nobunaga is murdered and Lord Itsumi Akyama is implicated with it. Furthermore, Akiyama is also responsible for the death of a member of the Disciple of the Wind – Japan’s deadliest ninja clan. Enter Kaida – the most dangerous agent within the Disciple of the Wind to get revenge for her protégé. However, getting vengeance may be more difficult than she thought as Akyama holds quite political powers.
Streaming Dawn is written rather well. The novella is a wonderful companion piece to the core series and complements the series rather well. Bein's takes the reader into a world wherein ninjas are samurai were quite active and common placed. Bein fleshes out and completes a third parallel story, which was dropped during the core series and finished here and gives more background story to the infamous blades he writes about.
All in all, Streaming Dawn is a wonderfully written novella about the sword's history and gives a wonderful backstory to the core series. It is also a worthy addition to the Fated Blades universe – enriching it just a tad more.
The story is set in 1582 and Oda Nobunaga is murdered and Lord Itsumi Akyama is implicated with it. Furthermore, Akiyama is also responsible for the death of a member of the Disciple of the Wind – Japan’s deadliest ninja clan. Enter Kaida – the most dangerous agent within the Disciple of the Wind to get revenge for her protégé. However, getting vengeance may be more difficult than she thought as Akyama holds quite political powers.
Streaming Dawn is written rather well. The novella is a wonderful companion piece to the core series and complements the series rather well. Bein's takes the reader into a world wherein ninjas are samurai were quite active and common placed. Bein fleshes out and completes a third parallel story, which was dropped during the core series and finished here and gives more background story to the infamous blades he writes about.
All in all, Streaming Dawn is a wonderfully written novella about the sword's history and gives a wonderful backstory to the core series. It is also a worthy addition to the Fated Blades universe – enriching it just a tad more.
November 25, 2025
Fun little novella that fills in a lot of gaps in the third Fated Blades book, and provides context I wish had been kept in. Kaida is such an incredibly fun character and POV - this seemingly-wizened old shinobi lady effortlessly outwitting everybody. Still the immersive setting Bein expertly crafts. One last visit into this universe and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The scene with Kaida, Itsumi, Shichio, and the castle guards was peak comedy.
The scene with Kaida, Itsumi, Shichio, and the castle guards was peak comedy.
January 9, 2026
I'm just now seeing, as of 01/09/26, that the author is calling "Streaming Dawn" the final chapter/book of the Fated Blades series, per his website.........
This doesn't make any sense - it was not originally called this, and even the blurb says nothing about it being the final book. I even recall either reaching out to the author myself via email (I can't find it anywhere so can't confirm I'm not hallucinating this, but I did speak to him via email at least once a long time ago), or reading somewhere that he wasn't sure anymore if he planned on completing the series. I don't remember if it was because he was too busy (last I recall he was a professor at a school in Texas) or just lost interest. I guess that, because this was the last book released by him for Fated Blades and he's decided to abandon it, he is now calling it the "final book"... This is extremely disappointing, as Streaming Dawn does not give any further conclusion to the story (it's about a completely different set of characters), so this just feels like a cop out...and this is coming from someone who was absolutely in love with the series. This makes me genuinely sad.
This doesn't make any sense - it was not originally called this, and even the blurb says nothing about it being the final book. I even recall either reaching out to the author myself via email (I can't find it anywhere so can't confirm I'm not hallucinating this, but I did speak to him via email at least once a long time ago), or reading somewhere that he wasn't sure anymore if he planned on completing the series. I don't remember if it was because he was too busy (last I recall he was a professor at a school in Texas) or just lost interest. I guess that, because this was the last book released by him for Fated Blades and he's decided to abandon it, he is now calling it the "final book"... This is extremely disappointing, as Streaming Dawn does not give any further conclusion to the story (it's about a completely different set of characters), so this just feels like a cop out...and this is coming from someone who was absolutely in love with the series. This makes me genuinely sad.
October 19, 2015
Great Characters!
I just recently discovered Steve Bein's books and I'm really looking forward to reading them all.
It's usually difficult to for me to follow foreign names of characters, but Steve builds the characters into such real people that it is easy to differentiate them from one another without having to keep notes on who is who.
I didn't want the book to end because the story and all its layers were fascinating, the action doesn't stop and I care about what happens to Kaida.
I just recently discovered Steve Bein's books and I'm really looking forward to reading them all.
It's usually difficult to for me to follow foreign names of characters, but Steve builds the characters into such real people that it is easy to differentiate them from one another without having to keep notes on who is who.
I didn't want the book to end because the story and all its layers were fascinating, the action doesn't stop and I care about what happens to Kaida.
February 7, 2016
Excelente historia sobre una vieja shinobi y el
afán de estos por controlar quien es quién en el Imperio Japonés. Sigue una historia del segundo libro de esta serie, que debería haber salido en el tercero, pero como ese se le fue de madre, quitó todo lo que se refiere a la vieja de la espada protagonista del tercer libro y la hapublicado como novella independiente, aunque no lo sea. Buen uso del honor y el deber japonés y cómo se manipula al personal a través de la tradición samurai. A
afán de estos por controlar quien es quién en el Imperio Japonés. Sigue una historia del segundo libro de esta serie, que debería haber salido en el tercero, pero como ese se le fue de madre, quitó todo lo que se refiere a la vieja de la espada protagonista del tercer libro y la hapublicado como novella independiente, aunque no lo sea. Buen uso del honor y el deber japonés y cómo se manipula al personal a través de la tradición samurai. A
March 28, 2016
Read these!
Steve Bein is one good story teller who also happens to know Martial Arts and a bit about Japan. All elements are shaken well together, not stirred, into one great story after another.
Steve Bein is one good story teller who also happens to know Martial Arts and a bit about Japan. All elements are shaken well together, not stirred, into one great story after another.
August 9, 2015
Interesting ninja/samurai action... Makes me want to reread Disciple of the Wind to see how this fits into that story.
May 6, 2016
I'm hooked on these. The author is a Japan scholar and the descriptions of 13th century samurai politics is intriguing.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews