The Game of 100 Candles

Legend of Five Rings Series

By: Marie Brennan

Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab

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.

©2023 Fantasy Flight Games (P)2023 Tantor

Engrossing story with touching drama.

This series really does a great job of making you care about the protagonists while illustrating their character and qualities.

Great read

This is a nice continuation of her first story well done. I am looking forward to future stories of these two.

Entertaining

3.5 stars.

After the events of "The Night Parade of 100 Demons", Sekken and Ryotora are suffering the costs of their sacrifices. While looking individually for cures, they participate in an elaborate ceremony that has unexpected and dire consequences.

Very interesting world building and excellent character development, but the plot isn't as compelling as that in the previous book. In part, this is a consequence of the form their suffering takes, so it's thematically appropriate, but it does reduce my engagement with the story.

Still very good and the series is definitely recommended.

A pale shadow of what came before

Maybe I shouldn't compare this to older L5R novels but I can't help it. I read the Clan War series from The Scorpion to The Lion a few years ago.I wanted to buy those on audiobook which is what brought me here. Everything that gave those books personality seem to have been filed down. Rokugan has been sterilized and dumbed down to an even more Westernized take on Eastern fantasy. And with the filing off of anything unique comes the corporate DEI checklists. This is a weak imitation of what was an incredible setting with clear top down direction that has nothing to do with telling good stories but with signaling ESG scores.