Finally, the first original Twelve kingdoms novel.

Yes. A novel.

The book tells the story of Yoko Nakajima who suddenly finds herself transported to a different, magical world. Standard story, you might think, but no, think again :). The world of the Twelve Kingdoms is so unique and has such depth, that it will suck you in no matter what. What I particularly like about the book (and the anime as well) is the information you get about the world itself. The Twelve kingdoms is a world of (duh) 12 kingdoms. These kingdoms are ruled by kings or queens, who are chosen by magical creatures called Kirin. During the story, you learn more and more about the world and the depth in which it was created will really captivate you.

The book gives a different view than the anime. When you read it you will find some things seriously differ from the anime (no Sugimoto or Asano), but never in an annoying or "not-finished" way. On the contrary, the book gave me an entire different view of Yoko and explained some things that the anime never got to.

It really is an extremely captivating story for those with a love for fantasy. The book's size is in between a normal book and a pocket, making it a bit clumsy to handle at times. The book looks nice and the text is varried with a few drawings. The language might seem a bit excessively at first, but the more you read the less you notice it. This book is a must-have for anyone who's loved the anime, but also if you haven't seen the anime it's definately worth considering.