The Market of 100 Fortunes is the third Legend of Five Rings game world book by Brennan. They follow
Isao Ryotora and Asako Sekken, two samurais of Rokugan Empire, a priest and
a scholar who are drawn into dangerous supernatural situations. I’ve read
them back-to-back and have liked them all, but this was perhaps the weakest one.
Ryotora and
Sekken are preparing to travel to the Dragon Clan’s lands together to marry
there, when an urgent request from Sayashi, the cat spirit who has been their
reluctant helper in both cases, calls them to Crane Clan lands. But when they
arrive there, she’s disappeared.
She may be in the market of 100 fortunes, a place no one believes exists.
The men start to investigate with the help of a Scorpion magistrate who may
have an agenda of her own, and a little orphan girl. Turns out, finding the
market is easy. Getting out of there less so.
This was slightly
less interesting read than before. In the earlier books, the men had full
chapters in their point of view, which gave a lot of space for character
development. Here, the point of view changes in the middle of the chapter,
leaving less room for the characters, as the plot dominates the pace. It would’ve
required more drama early on to keep a reader’s interest. Now it took a bit too
long before anything happened.
There are
also a couple of chapters from Sayashi’s point of view. She wasn’t quite as interesting
as I’d hoped, and I felt they didn’t really add anything worthwhile. At the
very least, the reason for her actions should’ve been brought up earlier on to
make the great revelation at the end work better. Now it came a bit out of blue
and didn’t have the impact it could’ve had.
Nevertheless,
once the mystery got going, it was intriguing. Again, the solution wasn’t easy,
requiring great sacrifices. The men worked on their peculiar connection, coming
to terms with it, and their relationship remained the best part of the book.
The ending was good, and gave a notion that this is the last book. If that’s the case,
I’m happy with where the men ended up. But I’d really like to read more.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Legend of 100 Candles is the second Legend of the Five Rings novel by Brennan that I’ve read, and I like it even better than the first. Two years have passed since the events of the first book, and Ryotora and Sekken have spent most of it apart. Both are still suffering from the consequences of Sekken’s sacrifice, but true to their natures, neither has told the other about it.
Now Ryotora has come to Sekken’s home town to negotiate about the fate of the shrine that they’ve saved. Court intrigue isn’t Ryotora’s strong suit, but he has Sekken there to help him. And then things start to go wrong when an evening of story-telling leads to a strange sleeping curse. It’s time for the men to investigate.
This was a great story. Both men struggle with their feelings, their duty as samurais, and their health. And when they figure out the reason for their poor health, things become even more muddled. The romance doesn’t have much room to grow; rather, the men figure out what they need to do to uphold their duty and feelings on their own. The end result is satisfying, if brief.
The mystery, once it presents itself at 30% mark, is intriguing and difficult to solve, made more difficult by politics and family demands. And once again, Ryotora saves the day.
This was fairly different in style and pace from the first book, the focus on characters rather than the mystery. I like where it took both men, individually and together. Side characters were interesting and multi-dimensional. The end for the men was left rather open, and I absolutely must read more.
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.
The Waking of Angantyr is based on an old Norsk saga the author had come across during her
academic studies and found lacking in excitement, so much so that she decided
to give the story a new spin. She does it with a well-researched historical
setting (not reflected by the cover) and a lot of goriness.
Hervor is a
bondmaid, a person forced to work in the service of a jarl’s household until
she earns her freedom. Only, she knows she’ll never be allowed to do so. That’s
not even her biggest grief. She can hear dead people and the residents in the village
think she’s cursed. Turns out, she’s a berserker. Pain can turn her into a
bloodthirsty warrior no one can stop.
After an
incident where Hervor kills a man, a blood witch tells her she can silence the
voices and sends her on a quest through the land for a person who knows best.
It’s not an easy journey; she’s an escaped bondmaid hunted by everyone. But she
has occasional help, like from a group of Vikings who teach her how to fight
and eventually help her to the source of the voices in her head.
They are
Angantyr and his twelve sons, berserkers who have been killed in what was
outwardly an honest duel. Foul play behind the duel has kept the spirits from
moving on though, and it’s up to Hervor to avenge them. In order to manage it,
she’s given Angantyr’s cursed sword with dire warnings that she ignores. She
shouldn’t have.
This was an
excellent book. From a gloomy and hopeless start, Hervor forges herself a path
through a violent society to do what she needs to do in order to live in peace.
She leaves behind a trail of bodies, most of them unintentional when her berserker
side takes over. There aren’t really any good things in her life, and the brief
respites are always followed by more pain.
The story
is set in a pre-Christian Norsk society with a set hierarchy, strict laws, and
its own pantheon that doesn’t utilize the overused Odin’s. People and settings
weren’t described much though, and I relied on my own knowledge of the era to
bring it alive. From a relatively realistic beginning, the story gradually
evolves towards more fantastical, but so naturally it doesn’t seem like a shift
in the genre.
Hervor was
a formidable character, but while I rooted for her, I’m not sure I liked her
very much. The ending is good and conclusive, but Hervor had to sacrifice so
much for it, I’m not sure I’d call it a happy ending as such. But I’m satisfied
with it.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
M.A. Carrick is a pseudonym for authors Marie Brennan and
Alyc Helms, and The Mask of Mirrors is their first book together. It’s high
fantasy set in a world with magic, and it starts the Rook and Rose series. I received a free review copy
from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The book is written by two anthropologists and it shows.
Tremendous work has gone to creating a world with hundreds of details ranging
from directions (earthwise/sunwise) and times of day (sun hours and earth
hours) to rules of card games and duels. The various peoples living in the city
of Nadežra
have their unique cultures with different clothing, deities and even funeral
habits, from nobility to street gangs. None of it is explained to the reader;
there are no info dumps and the reader is left to learn everything as they go.
Mostly it works well—much of it is intuitive and none of it is vital for
following the story—but there was so much of it that it was exhausting at
times. There is a map and a glossary, but they’re not very easy to use in an
ebook.
Nadežra is a city ruled by conquerors, and the peace between
the ruling (white) people and the (Romani-type) tribes whose holy town is
occupied, is tenuous at best. No one is happy with the situation, and there are
elements on both sides that have decided to do something about it—at the same
time.
In the middle of this arrives Ren with her sister Tess.
They are former street urchins who have escaped from their cruel gang lord
several years earlier, and have now returned to Nadežra with a bold plan to
infiltrate a noble family and get rich. It’s a long con based on Ren’s skills
at pretence and lying and her knowledge about the family she’s about to dupe.
Things start very well and Ren makes a splash in the
society. But in order to maintain her con, she is drawn into the affairs of nobility
and crime lords alike. The only way out is forward and Ren isn’t about to give up.
Not even when she realises that the entire city is at risk and she might be the
person to destroy it.
The book is divided into four parts. The first two are
mostly a set-up for the latter two, and they are very slow to read. There’s a
lot going on, but no plot to follow. The narrative doesn’t carry the reader
forward, and it’s difficult to figure out what is important to pay attention
to. The chapters don’t have an action-sequence pattern, and often when a
chapter ends with a call to action, nothing comes of it, or the action happens
where the reader cannot see, making them feel let down. This applies to all the
point of view characters. They show up at random intervals to do something that
seems random, or their chapters exist only to introduce the character. Tess,
for example, doesn’t have a plot-influencing role, but she has her own chapters.
This changes after the half point. The latter two parts have
a coherent plot that sweeps the reader with it and doesn’t let go. Ren
discovers several schemes to destroy the city, and instead of working on her
con, she finds herself trying to save Nadežra. The reader is kept guessing to
the end if and how she might be able to do it.
This is a book that relies very much on Ren’s character. She’s
a survivor who is willing to do pretty much anything to keep herself and Tess
safe. Her morals are questionable from the start, but she changes along the way.
The con becomes less important after she comes to like the people she’s trying
to dupe, and saving the town becomes a priority over the con—though she’s also
doing it to save herself.
There are several other characters too, none of which are
easy to get a hang of. Are they good or bad, love-interests or backstabbers, and
will they play any role in the final? Some people that we spend a lot of time with
in the first half disappear completely, making them a waste of reader’s time,
and we never get to know the baddies. But the characters with their POV
chapters are all interesting, with secrets that aren’t revealed in this first
book—but at least we learn the biggest one, the identity of the Rook. I would’ve
been really annoyed if I’d had to wait for that any longer than I did.
All in all, this was a very mixed reading experience. I was
ready to give up several times during the first half, as the story didn’t seem
to go anywhere. But then I read the latter half in two days. And I’m glad I
persevered, as the pay-off was satisfying, and there were a couple of interesting twists saved for the last. It just didn’t need the almost
seven hundred pages to get there. Ren ends up in a new place in life and it’ll
be interesting to read where she’ll take her con from here.
