Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (Manga), Vol. 6 by Mikage Sawamura & Toji Aio
Manga editions catch up
with the light novels out in English so far (five volumes)here. According to
the author and the manga artist, there’s a pause in the adaptations after this
one, but both express a hope that there will be more manga after this, as the
story continues in light novels.
This is a turning point
in the story. Professor Takatsuki and Naoya return to the festival of the dead
where Naoya gained his ability to hear lies. They’re not welcome to the village
though, especially after an old neighbour of his grandmother’s discovers that
Naoya can hear lies.
The men go to investigate
anyway, and stumble on a real supernatural event for the first time, landing in
the realm of the dead. Problem is, Naoya isn’t meant to escape it for a second
time. Luckily, they have unexpected help.
During their time in the
spirit world, both Naoya and the professor remember things from their past. In
his case, the professor remembers what happened when he was spirited away.
Unfortunately, his mind refuses to retain the memory, and it wipes away the
entire visit to the spirit world too. He remains philosophical though. He’ll
just have to keep Naoya around to remember for him.
This was a good recap of
the events in the light novel vol 5, though very much compacted. It’s always
interesting to see a visualisation of complicated events. This is a good place
to end the manga, even if it doesn’t resolve anything. But I hope there will be
more adaptations, even if Goodreads only lists the six volumes so far. At least
there are more light novels to come (there are eight in Japanese.) Looking
forward to reading them all.
This is the second book in the Shadow of
the Leviathan series. It’s set in a wonderfully unique secondary world where
the centuries old emperor, the last remnant of the original people, rule over a
population modified with blood from humongous sea creatures who once a year
make to the land, destroying everything. The entire empire is harnessed to
either fight the leviathans or to make use of them.
This time, we follow the investigative duo,
Dinios Kol, the narrator, and his superior officer in the law department, Ana
Dolabra, outside the empire to Yarrowdale, a small seaside kingdom that the
empire has rented for a century for its practical geography. The dead
leviathans are floated there to The Shroud, a secret facility where everything
useful is extracted of them. It’s dangerous work, as the leviathan blood
mutates everything around it instantly, but necessary. Now the century is up
and the empire is trying to negotiate a new contract with the king.
One of the negotiators has been killed in a
bizarre fashion and the body disappeared from inside a locked, upper-floor
room. Ana and Din have arrived to investigate. Well, Din investigates and Ana
stays in her room to avoid overpowering herself with too much stimulus like
always. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take her long to figure out how it was done.
That turns out to be the easiest part of the case.
A conspiracy against the empire seems to be
afoot, and the perpetrator is not only capable of changing their appearances,
but highly intelligent too, thanks to illegal modifications. Poor Din has his
hands full as he hunts the killer through swamps to king’s court and even to
The Shroud itself, all the while risking his life to instant mutation by
leviathan blood stolen by the killer who has made it into a weapon.
Even Ana seems stumped, her behaviour
turning more bizarre by the day. But nothing escapes her, and in the end, the truth
turns out to be fairly simple and, as she says, banal. She’s very disappointed.
Reader is less so. I sort of guessed where the case was headed to, but allowed
myself to be distracted by the false leads. And even if the killer’s
motivations were fairly simple in the end, the case was entertaining.
Murder wasn’t the only crime committed. Ana
learns that the officers working for the empire at the Shroud have misused
their power and illegally modified the workers. All in the name of greater
good. In the end, the only arrest she’s able to make are these people. But it’s
a lesson for Din as well, about the importance of the work they’re doing for
the empire and the meaning of justice.
The greatness of the series is in the
characters. Din, the engraver with perfect memory, thanks to his mods, has
personal troubles. His father’s debts are his to pay, and the bank is doubling
the payments, now that he’s working in such a high-risk area. He has difficulty
sleeping, so he finds willing bed-fellows, men and women, where ever he goes to
avoid his own bed. He dreams of joining the legion to fight the leviathans, and
returning to the man he left behind, but he knows that the bank will never
allow that.
With the amount of sleep he got in this
book, it’s a wonder he’s able to function through it, let alone have several
sword fights. But he’s ever curious and able to detect the smallest details,
thanks to his modifications. And in the end, after several talks with Ana, he’s
even able to make up his mind about the legion.
There was maybe a character discrepancy with
the previous book though. I don’t remember well, but I seem to recall Din had
trouble reading, which was only once referenced to in this book when letters
danced in his eyes. Yet he seemed to be able to read well throughout the book. Maybe
I misremember, but it caught my eye.
Din was joined in his investigation by a
new side-kick, Malo. She’s a warden, a local working for the empire with a modified
sense of smell and sight. Her job is to track and fight smugglers in the swamps.
She’s a fun, rough character and not a love-interest or bed-fellow, which I
found refreshing. The end saw her needing to change her life, and maybe we’ll
see her in later books too.
The most interesting character is, like before,
Ana. She starts as her usual cantankerous, highly intelligent, and easily
distracted self. But as the case progresses, she morphs into something else,
and some of it is clearly deliberate. Din doesn’t know what to make of it, and
she won’t talk. It could even be that she can’t talk about what kinds of modifications
she has. She can hint though, and what Din learns through his investigation is
so mind-boggling he refuses to believe it.
This was another great book. It retained
the cozy feel despite the gruesome mutations and sword fights, the world
remained intriguing, even if this one didn’t have mushroom houses, and the
case, despite the banal ending, was good. I’m very eager to read more of Din
and Ana’s investigations.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
The Tainted Cup starts the Shadow of the Leviathan series of fantasy mysteries. As always,
Jackson Bennet has created a wonderfully innovative world that isn’t a mere
backdrop but an integral part of the story, and characters that the reader can
root for.
The story
is set in a vast empire lined by the sea at one edge, where each wet season
huge leviathans try to enter the land, kept at bay by a wall. All the efforts
of the empire, especially the military, is directed at protecting the people
from these creatures. But they’re useful too, as their blood is used for
modifying and genetically manipulating everything from people to animals and plants.
Dinios Kol
is an engraver, a person whose brain has been altered to remember absolutely
everything. He’s been assigned as an assistant to Ana Dolabra, a criminal
investigator banished to a tiny village near the sea. She’s susceptible to
outward stimulus and goes blindfolded most of the time. And she never visits
the crime scenes herself. That’s why she has Kol.
A puzzling
murder has happened in a manor of one of the most influential families in the
empire. A tree has burst from inside a visiting military officer. The crime
doesn’t take Dolabra long to figure out, but then there turns out to be more of
these murders, which takes the pair to the town nearest to the seawall where
the military is preparing for the wet season.
This was an
excellent book and an intriguing mystery. Told from the point of view of Dinios
Kol, the mystery deepens and its scope widens at every turn. He’s the perfect protagonist
for the story, curious, single-minded and persistent. With his ability to
remember everything, he conducts a steady investigation. But solving the crime is
left for his boss. She’s a Sherlock Holmes type of person who makes huge deductive
leaps that leave others puzzled, the reader included. But she definitely finds
the truth in the end.
It's also a
warning about the human manipulation of nature. At every turn, the story relies
on the consequences of altering the people and the nature, and the toll of the
endless war against the leviathans. I have a notion they’ll turn out to be both
more important and less destructive than the people believe.
Despite the
gruesome nature of the murders, the story has a cozy feel to it. Kol goes about
his investigation, making friends and finding new things about himself and his
abilities. There’s even a bit of romance for him, if too briefly. The ending sends
the pair for more adventures. I hope there will be an entire series of the two
solving crimes around the empire.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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.
Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture vol. 2 Mikage Sawamura
The second book was as delightful as the first. It continues a month or so after the first, and again Naoya Fukamachi, a student at a Tokyo university, helps Professor Takatsuki, his folklore teacher, solve three cases that seem supernatural. All are interesting, but they all fail in what the professor finds most important: no real ghosts are involved. The last one is most heartbreaking and it brushes the professor’s past.
Naoya is still a very reserved charcter and difficult to get a hang of, even though the narrative is from his point of view. It’s difficult for him to let people close, even when he needs help. But when a bad flu makes him lose his ability to hear lies, he realises he doesn’t know how to be ordinary either. Professor Takatsuki is as delightful as ever, but the tragedy behind his cheerful exterior is starting to unravel. I’ll have to read more to learn everything.
Three Oaths
is the fourth Daidoji Shin mystery
set in the Legend of Five Rings game world. It’s an Asia inspired historical world
where same sex marriages are allowed and women can become army generals,
samurais, and sumo wrestlers. Like with the earlier books, knowledge of the
game isn’t at all necessary, as the game doesn’t play any role in the series. There is some continuity between the books, and the characters and settings will be more interesting if one has read the earlier books, but it’s not entirely necessary.
The powerful Lion
clan in the City of the Rich Frog is preparing for a wedding. But Lady Minami
(whom we met in the first book) believes the groom isn’t who he claims to be,
and she asks Shin, the no-good trade envoy of the Crane clan turned theatre
owner to investigate. He agrees, on a condition that he’s allowed to plan the
wedding too. She’s more than happy to let him.
The mystery reminded
me of The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davies, a true 16th century
account of a man convincing the entire family and village of his presumed wife that
he was the husband who had abandoned her ten years earlier, only to be thwarted
by the return of the real husband. Here, Itagawa Mosu has been taken captive by
the pirates, only to return as a broken and altered man to claim his role as
the groom to the powerful Akodo family. Some people are happy to believe he is
who he claims to be, others are less so.
Shin soon discovers
that there is more to the mystery than the true identity of the groom. There is
a conspiracy afoot, but by whom and to what end. This and the wedding
preparations keep him, his bodyguard Kasami, and manservant Kitano busy. Like
before, the solution isn’t so much about justice as it is about compassion and
avoiding a clan war.
This was again a slow
and meandering mystery where the people Shin encounters are at front. Most of
the book is from Shin’s point of view, with some chapters by Kasami and Kitano,
but we don’t get the other players’ points of view this time round, which was for the better. Shin and
Kasami spent most of the book in different locations, so we were robbed of
their banter, but a bodyguard borrowed by Lady Minami proved to be a suitable
replacement.
The wedding
preparations are easily as diverting as the mystery itself, and on top of it,
there’s personal trouble brewing for Shin in the form of the accountant sent by
his powerful grandfather. It may be that Shin’s carefree days as a bachelor are
over. I’m looking forward to finding out how he wiggles himself out of it this
time, or if he is saddled with a wife or a husband. I’m hoping for a handsome Dragon
lord myself.
I received a free
copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de
Bodard’s Dragons and Blades is a spin-off mystery series set in the world of
her Dominion of the Fallen series, and Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances is the
second book. It’s a short novella that despite its length contains a nice
little story. I haven’t read the first book, but I’m familiar with the world
and was able to enjoy this one.
Thuan the
dragon prince and his fallen angel husband Asmodeus are visiting the underwater
world of Thuan’s dragon family. For some odd reason, in a palace full of
servants, they’re made to look after a bunch of children. All goes well, until
a ghost of a child joins in their play.
The child
leads them to a body of a murdered woman. Asmodeus and Thuan want to investigate,
but before they can even start, they’re attacked. Forced to flee, they seek out
allies who can help with the investigation, and with the ghost child they’re
now in charge of.
Alongside
the mystery, Thuan and Asmodeus go through a marital crisis. Theirs is an
arranged marriage that has grown to a real partnership, but things aren’t
always easy. In the end, the relationship drama dominates the story, and the
mystery is solved behind the scenes by a secondary character. The final
showdown helps Thuan and Asmodeus work out their crisis too.
If you like
charming little fantasy stories where the world and characters are at the
front, this is for you, but don’t expect a great mystery. However, I recommend getting
familiar with the world before picking this one up. You can read it as a
stand-alone, but you’ll enjoy it more if you already know the setting.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden
starts Ghosted Cozy Mysteries series. It’s set in New Orleans and stars Paige Harrington who suddenly finds herself being called to investigate
a murder—by the ghost of the victim.
It’s a closed room murder, with a limited
number of suspects. But since it was dark, the ghost has no idea who killed
him, so no easy solution there. Paige sets out to investigate, but she can’t
exactly tell the police where she gets her information from, not even when her
good friend is framed for the murder.
She isn’t alone though. She’s helped by her
ex-boyfriend who suddenly returns to town after disappearing four years earlier
with only a goodbye note. His leaving has left Paige with self-confidence
issues, and now that he’s back, old romantic feelings resurface too. It makes
working together difficult.
This was a quirky and fun book, but not a
terribly good mystery. Paige ignores obvious questions that would lead to
solving the mystery faster, random people show up just so they can offer
helpful information that she then ignores, and in the end the killer reveals themselves
before she even suspects them. The killer’s motivation is bizarre, to say the
least. (spoiler) I mean, why would a secret society that does ritual killings be
so concerned with representation that more old-fashioned members would feel it
necessary to act to stop it? (end spoiler)
But what truly irked me and lowered the
rating was the deus ex machina solution. I dislike them in general, and here it
removed Paige’s agency completely. Instead of being the main actor of her story,
someone who rises to the occasion despite being the underdog, she was forced to
look from the sidelines as others handle the difficult parts for her. For someone
already dealing with self-confidence issues, this should’ve been the worst kind
of outcome. Yet she doesn’t even notice.
I had some smaller issues too. Paige took
to becoming a ghost PI a bit too easily; not even a token question about why it
happened. Character info was repeated several times, as if for the first time;
random character facts sprang out of nowhere, and important info was omitted
completely. For example, I thought Paige was showing unseemly interest in a
married man, only to learn towards the end of the book that he’s divorced. The
cast of characters was slightly too large, and not everyone was necessary for
the story. But in general, the characters were nice and interesting (Auguste the
talking hedgehog was my favourite) and they will carry the series onwards.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
