**edited 11/28/13 
 Daughter of the Sword is not your standard urban fantasy. It is free from snarky, trenchcoat-wearing protagonists, twisted fairy tales, and supernaturally steamy love triangles. There are no vampires. There are no werewolves. In fact, supernatural creatures of all varieties are entirely absent. There's not even all that much magic. Instead, Daughter of the Sword is the story of a modern-day Tokyo policewoman dealing with modern-day crime in the modern-day world when suddenly confronted with ancient swords that have the mysterious ability to slice through fate itself. The story is steeped in legend and weaves its way between past and present, interspersing policewoman Mariko's story with that of individuals throughout Japan's history who have borne one of the fated blades. 
 Due to my disapproval of GR's new and rather subjective review deletion policy, 
 The rest of my (rather verbose) review is posted over here at Booklikes.