I was fortunate enough to get a review copy of the novel. If you are so inclined, you can find my (spoiler-free) review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3383923940
Edited by Mon no OniCurse of Honor, by David Annandale REVIEW
Thank you for the good review.
It's a hard perspective for any of us to see, but in your opinion Mon no Oni is this novel a good introduction. Could you hand it to someone after their first game of L5R? Does it take prior knowledge or does it try and introduce a new reader into the setting?
I think so. Maybe it's more generic and bland that we, who follow the current soap opera, would like. But that's a benefit to a new reader who could otherwise be overwhelmed with the amount of who-is-who and ongoing plots. This presents you a minor Crab Clan fortress, its governing vassal family (the Kakeguchi), internal conflict, battle with the Shadowlands, etc, and doesn't require you to know anything else in the same way that the novellas do, for instance.
Edited by Mon no OniSounds good. I like David's Black Library books, so will have to give this a try.
Does the book claim the Hiruma are Hida Vassals, or Vassals of the Clan Champion (who is currently a Hida)? There's a slight difference between the two, I guess.
Nice to see the Kakeguchi pop up, too. One thing I do like is when the L5R RPG pushes vassal families and minor clans into the spotlight; because you can have clans and families destroyed, resurrected and have huge dramatic events* without 'disturbing' the story at the level the LCG tends to work at.
* In the case of the Hare clan, all of the above.
The book puts the Hiruma and the Kakeguchi as vassals in the same sentence, if that helps you.
On 6/16/2020 at 8:10 PM, phillos said:It's a hard perspective for any of us to see, but in your opinion Mon no Oni is this novel a good introduction. Could you hand it to someone after their first game of L5R? Does it take prior knowledge or does it try and introduce a new reader into the setting?
I also got my hands on a review copy, although I'm waiting to put the review up a little closer to the release date.
This book is the perfect one to give to someone with no idea about L5R. It takes place in an isolated part of Crab lands so you only have to worry about a small pool of characters. It doesn't dumb down the setting, but feeds it to you in small doses. Early on you get some insight into how the honor focused society weighs down on those in it. Later you get to see more of the struggles between personal desires and honor for the characters. The enemy they face is also truely terrifying and the author did a great job of making it more than a 'monster of the day'. So it's a really good story that introduces concepts without totally swamping you.
It's not out until October, but as an L5R fan I loved it and I think it'll make the perfect stepping stone for a new reader who knows nothing about L5R. They'll enjoy the gripping story, will learn some of the basics of the setting, but won't be weighed down by all the stuff you have to know.
Aconyte might be one of the best things to happen to L5R yet.
16 hours ago, Bazleebub said:Aconyte might be one of the best things to happen to L5R yet.
That's encouraging because more than the card game it's the setting that I think is worth exploring, and I feel like FFG has been kinda gun shy on it until now. I hope the books do well enough to see more announced. I can't wait for there to be more fiction out there in the wild for us to consume in this continuity.
Edited by phillosOn 7/22/2020 at 2:39 PM, Mon no Oni said:The book puts the Hiruma and the Kakeguchi as vassals in the same sentence, if that helps you.
Which in regards to the Hida is perfectly cromulent.
The Court Games podcast interviewed David Annandale yesterday morning, so wait for that in an upcoming episode.
Here's our interview with the author, David Annandale, for Curse of Honor:
The Curse of Honor hasn't arrived the Netherlands (yet) and in the new interview with Annandale, they mentioned that the UK will receive this book next month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4dZ6YzBcRY&ab_channel=AconyteBooks
Finished the other day. Nice stuff. Plenty gruesome.
1 hour ago, Kiso said:The Curse of Honor hasn't arrived the Netherlands (yet) and in the new interview with Annandale, they mentioned that the UK will receive this book next month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4dZ6YzBcRY&ab_channel=AconyteBooks
Yep, I got 26/11 as the date from my local genre fiction bookshop.
Finally got the time to have a read. Really highlights how profoundly devastating the Shadowlands are. In terms of both the emotional burdens it causes, and how much damage a single tainted creature can do.
I have finished reading the book. I would give it a 6/10, because sometimes it feels like the story doesn't have to set in Rokugan. The writing quality is great and most chapters are page turners. The cover art gives you an image of the city and I like that . However I think that the text on the back of the book gives too much away about the story. Also why is Haru named Hida Haru while in the book he is called Hida no Kakeguchi Haru or Kakeguchi Haru. I would have though they would gone with the first option.
The "Hiruma are Hida vassals" does bother me, but I don't blame the author for this. He is after all new to the setting (which you can feel through out the book), no I would blame the person in charge of finding lore errors, Katrina Ostrander.
While the Kakeguchi family has a castle of their own, they are some charges with managing another castle in the recent century. They share this burden with an army of Hiruma samurai. I like this idea, though I would loved to know who were managing the castle before the Kakeguchi and why they left. But placing parts of the Hiruma family in the castles of other clan families, provides the Hiruma family with large numbers, while providing them with food and shelter, without the need for owning much lands.
So none of the old scrolls within the castle mentions the confusing patterns in City of Night's Hunger (nice name btw). This would have me believe that the oni came after the last people found the city. The oni must have been bored after being summoned and began a new hobby of her, crafting patterns that would make a humans have trouble with determining distances and make them dizzy. Interesting hobby.
In one part of the story they were guessing who was the oni disguised as a human. Why didn't they use their jade fingers? Not only are they part of the Crab clan, but they story also tells us that they have them. This rubs me the wrong way. They same goes for some characters that forget that 'Honor is stranger than steel' or behave as if they do not belong in Crab clan at all. Looking at you Haru. Haru seem to have been sick when standard Crab tactics were taught.
They whole political tension felt a little bit weird, but it was something I could accept.
Also when they oni tries to kill the two Hiruma bushi's scene is impossible now that we know it was Ochiba. Because the oni has to walk outside through the door (Japanese castles don't have the same windows as we have them today, they can't be used to go outside through them. Second, a servant would probably have seen Ochiba walking past them. Third, the windows are broken (silently) with a patrol checking (and thus listening for sound), without them hearing anything. Than the oni is simultaneously on the roof, mimicking Haru's voice and being present on the floor to kill the two bushi's. It can destroy walls without giving off any sounds. Sure.... Then the oni is super quick (and silent), entrance back into Ochiba's room, such that Barako can wake up mere seconds later and see that all is well with Ochiba, who hasn't been seem running through the castle. I only noticed how dumb this part was with the reveal of Ochiba being the disguised oni. How quick the oni can be with destroying (silently) walls and skin people, while still having enough to carve some patterns, annoys me.
I wish we would have a few pages about the aftermath of the battle. Because I was wondering, if I would implement this story into my L5R campaign, then who would be the new daimyo of String Dawn Castle? Probably not Barako, probably another Kakeguchi member. Or maybe the Kakeguchi family daimyo will sent a new daimyo candidate for the castle?
Overall, I would recommend the book. Sometimes I couldn't put the book down, other times it was a drag. But that maybe because I'm hardcore L5R fan and this book couldn't scratch the full itch for me. The author has a great writing style and the book would be great for people who aren't familiar with the setting too.