“It's strange, but once you learn to fight, you seem to attract enemies...Sooner or later, those who master the art of combat must end up fighting.”

Moribito by Nahoko Uehashi

Summary: Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire. Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river -- and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy -- the Prince Chagum -- on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find themselves hunted by two deadly enemies: the egg-eating monster Rarunga . . . and the prince's own father. 

I didn't think I would enjoy this book at first. A female warrior usually ends badly for me. Not that I have anything against woman warriors, they just tend to be tough and act like men are stupid. I like female warriors who still have a human side to them.

I picked up this book after months of just glancing at it. Seeing it was translated from Japanese I decided to give it a chance and I am so glad I did. Balsa is an endearing heroine who has a determination to save as many lives as she can, including the life of the boy prince she comes in contact with through fate.

The characters in this book were lifelike and wonderful. I loved each and every one of them by the end of the book and only wanted to spend even more time with them. Which is why I bought the second book and the anime series. I would have bought the manga as well if it weren't only in Japanese.

Though it has some mysticalness to it I still highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy. It is well written and the plot is exciting and fast paced with still enough time to get to know the characters.