The Soul of Iuchiban

A Legend of the Five Rings Novel

By: Evan Dicken

Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab

Heroic samurai must defeat an ancient evil unleashed upon the world, before its malign power destroys the realm of Rokugan in this epic Legend of the Five Rings fantasy adventure

The Emerald Empire stands on the brink of destruction. The dark sorcerer Iuchiban has escaped his tomb, and desires dominion over all. Unicorn samurai Iuchi Qadan has been welcomed home and celebrated for her part in destroying the Blood-speaker rebellion. Yet she is not herself . . . Possessed by Iuchiban, Qadan can do nothing but watch as the undying sorcerer lord draws tight the noose he has wrapped around the throat of an unsuspecting empire. And hope that someone will realize she is not who she seems. But the other survivors of Iuchiban's tomb are few, and made speechless by the horrors they've endured. To stop Iuchiban's evil, new alliances between old enemies must be formed. They will be brittle, untested, and marred by mistrust. Should these alliances fail, there will be no Rokugan.

©2023 Fantasy Flight Games (P)2023 Tantor

A great sequel

Glad to see another good entry into the L5R world. We've been eating good the past few years 🙏

Weak story

I think there is a good story here, but this isn't it.

There are too many viewpoint characters who are not sufficiently separated by the author, the characters spend too much of their time wandering aimlessly (and separately, only joining together in the last 30% of the book, or so), and have too little agency in the vast majority of the story.

I am a long-time fan of Rokugan, but this duology doesn't provide much support or development to that world.

I can't recommend either this book or the duology.