Twelve... years? More?

Confused and a bit annoyed.
I looked online to find translations of the Twelve kingdoms books that weren't released in America. I found one site that hadn't finished translating the next book in the set (which I believe is about the girl queen that Shoukei had to serve). I'll have to look around to see if anyone else finished translating that one. There's also a book about Taiki as he's stuck in Japan. Apparently it was writting before the rest of Twilve Kingdoms. Sounds Interesting. I'll have to fish it out.
Earlier today, I finished reading a web translation of The Shore at Twilight, The Sky at Daybreak. It's about (minor spoilers) Risai traveling to Kei to beg Youko to help Tai. Because, as is shown in the anime, Tai has lost both Taiki and Gyousou. Youko convinces the kirin from several other kingdoms to travel to her world to search for Taiki.
So, first of all what confuses me. I don't like reading stuff on the computer, because it makes my eyes feel funny after a while. And yet I kept returning to read this book. Why? There wasn't much action in this book. It was almost entirely people talking and explaining what had happened. A lot of the parts that could have been made really exciting weren't even given a lot of detail. A lot of stuff was explained by the characters, as opposed to being directly experienced by the reader.
So... why? Even though I kept thinking of this throughout the book, I still couldn't get away from it.
Sure, there was that whole element about "where's Taiki?" And I'm sure that contributed.
But I think they could also get away with it because all of the characters had been well established already. So instead of listening to random people ramble on, I was following characters that I was already involved with.
And another reason. One of the things I really admire about Twelve Kingdoms is the world-building. The author obviously spent a lot of time figuring out how people in this strange place would live and behave. And she definitely spent a lot of time on the government. She also doesn't let characters get away with stuff. For example (spoilers for this book) Youko fills her court with a lot of the people we met in Skies of Dawn (the one with Shoukei and Suzu). Which makes perfect sense to me. These were people that she trusted, that helped her and had her back without even knowing who she was. They were people that she was willing to trust her life to. Yet these people were commoners. Half-beasts. Rebels, even. Imagine what the existing court thought of the empress elevating so many commoners to be her closest companions? Honestly, I didn't give that much thought. But some of Youko's court were pretty mad about that.
Also, Twelve Kingdoms takes things that seem overdone, and treats them with more depth. For example, a girl is spirited away to some strange land. She has no idea why. And - gasp - what do you know? She's really the queen!
OK... so ordinary girl... spirited away... secretly royalty. Those two things have been done to death. But these things present so many problems that most books skim over, or just don't address. For example, language barriers and disease. Well, there's a reason those aren't an issue, and it's clearly explained. And while at the end the queen is finally able to achieve her throne, her problems sure aren't over. For a girl with no experience, even of the basic rules of this strange new world, ruling a country ain't no picnic.

So, why have I been eating these books? Because the characters are so believable, and because the world-building is really helpful to me, as I build my own worlds.
This world is so... believable.


And now on to part two. Why I'm frustrated.
Because this book came out in 2001! She left us with (spoilers again) Taiki and Risai flying off to the broken-down and dangerous land of Tai, with each of them completely helpless! Risai is wanted, which will make it difficult for her to go anywhere civilized. Not to mention the place is swarming with demons. Risai only has one arm, so she can't even fight. Taiki's horn is still sealed, so he can't use any of his magic. And Sanshi and Gohran still can't appear. We don't even know if the two of them are continuing to go crazy.
And isn't Hou's kirin missing? And isn't Ryuu in the process of falling?
HOW CAN YOU MAKE US WAIT FOR OVER A DECADE to find out whether or not they find Gyousou? If Taiki is able to become a kirin again? If Gyousou is able to restore the court, of which most of the loyal ones have been killed?
What happens to Tai?
TELL MEEEEE!
TT^TT

Fact of the day: Burrowing owls don't burrow. They use burrows that were made by other animals, such as the California ground squirrel.