The Deer King ~Survivors~ by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano (Yen On) ~Ernie Hoyt

Nahoko Uehashi is a Japanese writer of fantasy fiction. Her two books in The Beast Player series - The Beast Player (Asia by the Book, May 2023) and The Beast Warrior (Asia by the Book, (Asia by the Book, August 2023) were translated into English and were published by Pushkin Press.

The Deer King ~Survivors~ is the first book in her new series, The Deer King. It was originally published in the Japanese language as 鹿の王：生き残った者 (Shika no O : Iki Nokotta Mono). The English title is a direct translation of the Japanese title. It was published by Kadokawa in 2014. 

The story is set on a fictional world and comprises three main regions. The largest being the Empire of Zol. To the west of the Empire of Zol is the former Kingdom of Aquafa. Their king pleaded allegiance to the Zolian Empire and is now under the rule of Zol. Far to the west of Zol, lies the Kingdom of Mukonia. The Mukonians also want to expand their kingdom into Aquafa, however Aquafa is protected by the Toga Mountain range. 

The main character is Van. He is the leader and sole survivor of the Lone Antlers, a band of warriors who resisted the Zolian invasion. He was captured and sent to be a slave at a salt mine in Aquafa. It had been two months since he was sent to this mine where the survival rate for slaves was three months at the most. This wouldn’t be the first time Van would face his mortality and it also wouldn’t be his last. 

Mine slaves “toiled like ants, descending deep into the earth to fill their baskets with rock salt. Then they trudged back to the surface with the load biting into their shoulders, continuing the process all day. At night, they slept shackled to iron pegs buried deep in the rock wall. Come morning, the routine began again.”

However, this morning would be different. He heard a scream from somewhere in the mine. It appears an ossam had entered the mine. An ossam being a vicious mountain dog, indigenous to Van’s home. It wasn’t just one ossam. A pack of black beasts with golden eyes were in the mine. 

The slave next to Van was speaking quickly but Van couldn’t understand a word he said. Van appeared to be the only Aquafaese that was imprisoned here. All the others were either Zolians sentenced to death or slaves from other conquered lands to the south.

The mountain dogs had bitten and attacked everyone in the salt mine. Even Van was bitten. Afterwards, they left as suddenly as they appeared. But why? Van was familiar with the habits of ossam and wolves. He knew they would only attack people if they were starving or to protect their young. 

One week after the attack, the slave chained next to him was silent and his body was cold. The following morning, four more slaves lay dead. As he was made to go to work, Van noticed that there were even more corpses spread throughout the mine. Van surmised that a fatal disease was spreading. 

On the eighth day after Van was bitten, he suddenly had a massive headache, his body shivered from chills and his teeth chattered. His fever continued to rise and he started to have a nightmare and was experiencing excruciating pain. 

Van awoke to a world of silence. Everywhere around him were corpses. He tried to get up and run only to find his foot still bound to a chain stuck in the rock. Van does not know where he found the strength but he managed to pull the chain from the rock wall. Then he started running. 

Once Van climbed out the mine, he discovered there wasn’t anyone about. He thought back to the black beasts and wondered what kind of animal they were. They bit each slave as if ordered to do so. Van was beginning to wonder if they were really wild or if someone had trained them. 

Before leaving the mine, Van heard a cry from inside an oven in a now abandoned kitchen. He found a small girl there. He couldn’t leave her on her own so decides to take her with him. He names her Yuna. Van and Yuna decide to head for Kazan, a large trading center and the former capital of the Kingdom of Aquafa. It now seats the Zolian governor who rules Aquafa. 

On their travels, Van and Yuna meet an injured man named Tohma. They help him back to his home. Van and Yuna are welcomed into the community. Van hopes that he and Yuna will be able to lead a peaceful life. However, the disease the animals brought to the salt mine are spreading throughout the land. 

The book closes with unknown forces kidnapping Yuna, forcing Van to follow them. He has no idea why they took her. He also wonders about the sudden appearance of those same animals he saw in the salt mine. He had no doubt in his mind - they were trained to do what they did…but why.

This is another exciting fantasy epic by Nahoko Uehashi who has a great imagination for creating new worlds and the people who populate it. It is a strange coincidence that the corona pandemic started only five years after her book was published. Fortunately, the corona virus wasn’t used as a weapon as the virus for “black wolf fever” is in this tale. Let’s hope something like that never comes to pass.