The Game of 100 Candles

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and I’m thrilled to report that it’s just as enjoyable as it’s predecessor but in different and great ways.

Brennans first novel was a supernatural horror with two intriguing characters. This novel is fundamentally a tale of two men which happens to take place in the midst of supernatural events. The relationship between Sekken and Ryotora is the center of this novel, its very heart, and there it shines. The supernatural stuff is fine, great even, but I love these two character so much and I wa so invested in their journey that it paled next to them.

Really a great addition to aconytes l5r works

***Received an eARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Contains minor spoilers***

Finally, Asako Sekken and Isao Ryotora, heroes of The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons novel, are back in a new adventure! I have been excited to read this since Aconyte revealed it, and was lucky enough to get an eARC copy thnaks to NetGalley.

The story continues roughly a year and a half later following the conclusion of the previous book. After a brief time together, Sekken and Ryotora go back to their respective homeland to heal from the wounds caused by the events of Seibo Mura. Their path crosses again once Ryotora, the Dragon clan's representative is invited to participate at the Winter Court in Phoenix lands, in Sekken's hometown. The joy of reunion is overshadowed by social expectations, as both clans have their own agenda with Winter Court. The pragmatic, courtly way of things gets suddenly disrupted by a strange supernatural event - attendants of the storytelling event of the Winter Court called "The Game of 100 Candles" start to get affected by a neverending dream coined as "sleeping curse". As the curse seems to be caused by supernatural forces, Ryotora and Sekken, being experts in the field, start to investigate it, with the help of both humans and yokai.

The relatively simple plot summarized above presented in an absolutely stunning way, and I can assure you that it will force you to binge-read it as much as possible. Author Marie Brennan kept the changing Point of View structure for the chapters, meaning that in odd chapters we can see events unfold from Sekken's PoV, while even chapters from Ryotora's PoV. It worked great in the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, and it works even better here due to the increased social aspects of the plot. Being a huge fan of Phoenix clan in the L5R role, I overly enjoyed this novel as it takes place in a Phoenix town, where we are introduced to several families of the clan and see how the politics work on a Phoenix level (minor spoiler: still non-forgiving, but nowhere near Crane or Scorpion level ruthless). Mentioning families, this is a key theme of this novel - what the value of family is in our lives, how they can support us, and even how they can pressure us in our decisions. I also liked how the perception about Sekken's family changed over the plot, how they became likeable characters in the end.

Even though the story can be seen as a standalone one and the number of recurring characters is relatively low, the events of the the previous book is heavily referenced in The Game of 100 Candles, thus I recommend for everyone interested in it to first start with The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons novel and then read this one. A much better and fuller experience. It a must read for all L5R fans, but I believe readers interested in Asian-style fantasy will enjoy it as well, and fans of the Supernatural show will also find the adventures of Sekken and Ryotora interesting.

Overall, a solid 4.5 stars for me, and I will label this one as the best L5R novel published by Aconyte so far. Can't wait to see a sequel to it by Marie.