The Night Parade of 100 Demons by Marie Brennan: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Night Parade of 100 Demons by Marie Brennan

The Night Parade of 100 Demons is set in the Legend of the Five Rings game world, but the game or its events don’t feature in any way. This is the second series I’ve read and I’m still so ignorant about the game that I don’t even know what the five rings of the legend are. The books work fine without.

The stories take place in an Asia-inspired, pre-industrial empire that is divided into smaller vassal territories ruled by clans that are fairly independent and culturally diverse. The Asian elements work very well, even though neither author that I’ve read is Asian. There are enough modern elements in the mix, like the equality of genders and acceptance of same sex relationships, that the reader doesn’t really question the authenticity of the details that might be authors’ inventions.

This is a supernatural mystery that takes place in a remote mountain village of Seibo Mura in the Dragon Clan’s lands near the border to the Phoenix Clan. For two full moons, a horde of evil spirits have descended on the village, killing people and destroying everything. The villagers have asked for help and the nearest official has sent a samurai to investigate.

Agasha no Isao Ryotora is an itinerant samurai of the Dragon Clan and of fairly low standing among samurais. He’s not a warrior but a priest capable of communicating with spirits. When he arrives, he discovers that another samurai is already there, an aristocratic Asako Sekken of the Phoenix Clan. He’s not a warrior either but a scholar. Combining their knowledge of the spirit world, they set out to investigate.

It’s not an easy investigation, as all the people who might know about the lore and spirits of the village are dead. It’s a trial and error, and it’s made more difficult because both men are keeping secrets from one another.

Ryotora’s secret is that he’s been adopted to a samurai family from that village. He’s already lost a lover when he confessed his low birth status, and he’s not about to face the same humiliation. Sekken’s secret is that he’s not there by accident. He’s been haunted by a spirit dog and it’s lured him there. Of the two secrets, Sekken’s turn out to be more important for solving the problem.

This was a rather slow-paced mystery told in both men’s point of view. There are no great highs and lows along the way, but the investigation never stalls and something is constantly happening. Along the way, the men become friends and develop deeper feelings too, but neither of them is about to bring it up, mostly for the secrets they keep. It’s very slow burn, but their feelings have a crucial role in saving the village, so it’s well-woven in the story anyway.

The book is rich in Japanese mythology of evil spirits. Brennan is an anthropologist and she’s done a thorough research. None of the creatures—or other special Japanese words—are explained in the narrative, and while I didn’t know any of them, it didn’t mar my enjoyment. However, there’s a glossary of the creatures at the back for those who need to know.

Otherwise, the descriptions are sparse. I don’t know the ages of the main characters—I barely know what they look like—and the village remained vague to the end. But the narrative flows so well I didn’t miss the detailed descriptions all that much. I like the world, and I liked both Ryotora and Sekken. I have the next two books in the series waiting and I’ll definitely read on.