Welcome to my stop on The Fifth Knight blog tour hosted by Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours.  Click HERE to see the rest of the blog tour schedule!

A lush, exquisitely rendered meditation on war, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment tells the story of several families, American and Japanese, their loves and infidelities, their dreams and losses, and how they are all connected by one of the most devastating acts of war in human history.

In this evocative and thrilling epic novel, fifteen-year-old Yoshi Kobayashi, child of Japan’s New Empire, daughter of an ardent expansionist and a mother with a haunting past, is on her way home on a March night when American bombers shower her city with napalm—an attack that leaves one hundred thousand dead within hours and half the city in ashen ruins. In the days that follow, Yoshi’s old life will blur beyond recognition, leading her to a new world marked by destruction and shaped by those considered the enemy: Cam, a downed bomber pilot taken prisoner by the Imperial Japanese Army; Anton, a gifted architect who helped modernize Tokyo’s prewar skyline but is now charged with destroying it; and Billy, an Occupation soldier who arrives in the blackened city with a dark secret of his own. Directly or indirectly, each will shape Yoshi’s journey as she seeks safety, love, and redemption.

The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is an unflinching look at the human component of war. Cody Epstein does a phenomenal job of showcasing how different people, in different places of their life,  with different belief systems, are all affected by war.  She doesn’t just show the obvious aftermaths, i.e. loosing everyone you know and love, she also a belief in something, or someone, can be drastically altered.

I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to spend more time with each character. Based off the synopsis I thought Cam’s section would be larger than it was. Yes, in the long run his story does intertwine and have a lasting effect on Yoshi but I pretty much saw that coming from a mile away. It’s pretty obvious how he will play a role once you find out what happens to him. As for the other characters, they grow as characters but a lot of the growth is off stage. Because the time and space jumps the reader just pops in on a character’s life for a few moments and then moves on to the next character. By the time the story cycles back to the the first character, years have passed and the growth they depict now can be attributed to the fact that they are older. While that’s neither here nor there, the characters are intriguing enough to make you want to read more about them, it really hinders the ability to relate to the characters.

Regardless, the world the Cody Epstein built is captivating. I found myself trying to figure out how all the people, and all the story lines, were going to intersect in Yoshi’s life. One thing to note is that Yoshi doesn’t become a major part of the story until about halfway. I actually forgot that the overarching plot was supposed to be about her but that fact didn’t draw me out of the story. The writing is that good. Cody Epstein did her research and put in just enough to flesh out the story and keep it engaging without bogging it down with minute details.

Jennifer Cody Epstein is the author of The Gods of Heavenly Punishment and the international bestseller The Painter from Shanghai. She has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Self, Mademoiselle and NBC, and has worked in Hong Kong, Japan and Bangkok, Thailand.

Jennifer lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, two daughters and especially needy Springer Spaniel.

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