'Two samurai risk their hearts, souls, and their very existence to stop an occult phantom from destroying the world, in this stunning supernatural fantasy from Legend of the Five Rings.
'The demon-vanquishing samurai, Asako Sekken and Agasha no Isao Ryotora are summoned to Winter Court. Their exploits with the Spirit Realms have taken a toll on the pair and the cut and thrust of Rokugani politics proves challenging. After being urged to share their tales of adventure, the Winter Court guests begin to fall into a deep sleep from which they cannot wake. Fearing foul play, the Phoenix demand retribution, but Sekken and Ryotora uncover the hand of a supernatural trickster seeking entry to the mortal realm. The path to victory will risk their lives and the strange bond between them. But they must succeed, lest something awful escape into Rokugan.'
My experience with Legend of the Five Rings has been fairly small so far, with this only being the second book set in this particular universe that I've read. But upon learning that the book would be written by Marie Brennan, an author who'd impressed me in the past, and would be featuring Yokai and that Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai (A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales) would be featuring my interest was definitely grabbed. I'd enjoyed Brennan's previous work, and having seen this particular piece of Japanese history and folklore used before, in the film Yokai Monsters: One Hundred Monsters, I was excited to see what would be done here.
This story is actually a sequel to Brennan's previous Legend of the Five Rings novel, The Night Parade of 100 Demons, and sees the return of samurai Agasha no Isao Ryotora and Asako Sekken more than a year after those events. Having fought against the forces of evil at Seibo Mura, in which Ryotora's life had to be saved by Sekken giving over a part of himself, the two heroes have spent the last dozen or more months resting and recuperating. We soon learn that ever since using his essence to return Ryotora to life, Sekken has been dealing with bouts of extreme fatigue and tiredness, and never knows when he's going to be healthy. His family have been helping him to keep the secret from the rest of the court, so as to avoid any embarrassment.
However, when Ryotora arrives in court as part of the Dragon Clan's petition to have their people be granted stewardship of Siebo Mura, Sekken realises that he's going to have to try to hide his new condition form him too. Despite their months apart the two men still deeply care for each other, and are having to find a way of navigating around each other due to the complexities of court politics, familial expectations, and illness. In the middle of all of this, in the days after the Game of 100 Candles is played, various members of the court begin to appear in strange places, trapped in a deep sleep that they can't be awoken from. Believing that a powerful Yokai might be behind things, the two men set out to try to solve the mystery.
I guess one of the first questions that needs to be answered, do you need to have read the first book to enjoy this one? Probably not. I haven't read Night Parade of 100 Demons yet (but am absolutely going to), but was still very much able to enjoy this book. Brennan is aware that people come to series mid-way through, and that the book needed to be able to accommodate those readers. As such, there is plenty of important information given to the reader across the early chapters that it never feels like you're being left behind. The book doesn't info-dump you though, it manages to give you just enough when you need to in order fully understand, in in ways that feel natural for the narrative. For those who have read the first book though, it's sure to be an even more rewarding experience thanks to already having that firmly established relationship to build upon.
Whilst I haven't read the first entry in this series the descriptions of the book do make it sound quite action-packed, like our two heroes were having to fight a fair few monsters in order to survive. In comparison to that, this book is definitely more of a supernatural mystery than any kind of action or horror story. The focus is the question of how and why people are falling into comas, and what can be done to save them. But even so, much of the focus in on our two leads and their relationship with each other. Thanks to their backgrounds, and the rules of political society, the two of them can't just be together; and as such their forbidden love becomes a big part of proceedings. Those interested in frowned upon romance and unusual mystery stories will definitely enjoy what's on offer here.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about this story as a disabled person with chronic fatigue issues is that Brennan actually really captured what it's like to live with those conditions. Never knowing when your regular day is going to come to a crashing halt because your energy is suddenly gone, having to carefully plan out everything that you do so that you can meet the absolute minimum expected social interaction quota so that people don't bug you for more of your time, exploring different diagnosis and treatment with experts who don't really know how to help you. It all rang very true to many of my experiences. Not only that, but I got to see a novel where the heroes of the story are disabled. How often do you get disabled characters not just being the lead, but being the people who end up saving the day and beating the villains? It was a genuine delight to get to see that in print.
The Game of 100 Candles is filled with court politics, romance, mystery, and draws from a setting inspired by the history and mythology of Japan. The book is a delightfully engrossing read, one that goes in some unexpected directions, and puts the characters and their struggles at the fore of everything. If you like character focused stories in beautiful settings, this is absolutely a book you're going to want to pick up.
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