Thank you NetGaley and Aconyte Books for a free eARC of "The Market of 100 Fortunes".
Initialy I was not aware that this novel was part of the series "Legend of the Five Rings", but that did not afected me at the beginning of the story. I enjoyed the Japanesse setting and the atmosphere.
But as I got deeper into the plot I unfortunately started to get lost.
I might return to this nivel if I manage to get with the rest of the novels from this series.

I've only had the briefest experience with Legend of the Five Rings world, having read a few of the books before, and I didn't realise going into The Market of 100 Fortunes that this particular novel was one of a series, with the main characters having been used in previous books. Despite this, Marie Brennan makes this latest entry in the franchise feel incredibly accessible to new readers, and it was easy to slip into this world and these characters stories as we get taken on a story of mystery and adventure.

Having read the second book in this series, The Game of 100 Candles, it was easy to slip into this story as it picks up directly following those events. Even though I had a small amount of experience with Sekken and Ryotora, Brennan makes the beginning of the book easy to get into, and much of the details from the first two books is given over when needed in order to catch people up and to introduce things to new readers. There was a lot of stuff that I wasn't completely sure of that was from the first book, but I found that I never got lost once as I re-joined these two characters for their latest tale as they prepare to marry in the Dragon Lands.

After the events of the last book our two heroes seem to be looking for something of a quiet life, and things seem to be going well for them until Sayashi, an old friend of theirs, writes to them asking for help in the distant Crane Lands. Knowing that they cannot leave their ally alone and in trouble, they head off, leaving their wedding behind and travel to the distant Market of 100 Fortunes.

As with previous entries in this series, the book is filled with mystery, and Ryotora and Sekken are forced to search for clues and work alongside new allies as they try to help their friend find the entrance to a supernatural market. The book blends the world of the ordinary, filled with rigid tradition and order, with that of the supernatural well, and our two leads definitely feel like they're trapped between the two; forced to go against their leaders in order to help out a friend and ally in their hour of need not because it's the proper thing to do, but because it's the right thing to do.

The story also evolves the relationship of the two leads in some new and interesting ways. At the end of the last book the two of them found themselves with a new connection, one that means they're bonded in ways in which most people wouldn't understand. This book sees them exploring that connection, figuring out what it means for their relationship, and tests them in ways that neither of them would first expect. However, it helps that they have both new and old allies along for the journey to keep things running smoothly.

Brennan does a fantastic job with the setting, and the melding of historical inspired setting with the fantastical is something that she has done well across her career in several novels; and she certainly brings it to The Market of 100 Fortunes in spades. Even those who have no experience with this series and this game world but have a love for Japanese history and mythology would enjoy the world that Brennan has brought to life here. It feels like something familiar, yet also something with a fresh and interesting twist on it at the same time; and if you're like me you'll come away from the book wanting to learn more about the world of Legend of the Five Rings.

I love the Legend of the Five Rings world, and Marie Brennan takes everything I love and writes beautiful and memorable stories. I love our main characters, and getting to follow them on this journey was rewarding and exciting. I also loved that we got to see an old friend reappear and explore a new interesting part of this world. While this was a satisfying conclusion, I would still read a million books in this series. Highly recommended for anyone who knows of the Legend of the Five Rings lore, but also for those who enjoy Japanese mythology or a unique fantasy story (start with book one in the series, of course).

Having saved all of Rokugan and stopped a dream yokai from spreading a sleeping curse throughout the attendants of a storytelling game, Asako Sekken and Agasha no Isao Ryotora have more than earned their chance at marriage and a life in Dragon Clan territory. But the bakeneko who has seen them through their previous adventures, Sayashi, has stuck her whiskers where they were not meant to be and found herself indebted to an unimaginably dangerous being. If the two hope to save their companion they will have to find the entrance to a market that exists within the Spirit Realms and, more worryingly, put their trust in a tricky Emerald Magistrate from the infamous Scorpion clan. It will take all they have and more to rescue Sayashi but they can do no less.

With The Market of 100 Fortunes we get a solid return to Marie Brennan’s series of Legend of the Five Rings novels. Sekken and Ryotora have managed to find a way to balance their condition so that both can live full lives without endangering the other. They are, as much as two people can be, in balance. So, of course, they find themselves on a quest that will test that balance and their bond.

The ways that our heroes’ bond gets tested are interesting. It is everything from not agreeing on how to handle the Emerald Magistrate helping them being from the Scorpion Clan, and thus assumed to be baseline untrustworthy, to lies by omission made to try and keep the other safe to major supernatural threats to just little differences in their skillsets that could cause a degree of envy. For the most part this all worked for me, the whole point of Ryotora and Sekken’s bond is that they are two halves of one whole, that they share their burdens and challenges as well as their joys. Ryotora cutting in when Sekken gets on a roll questioning Kuzu, their guide through Brittle Flower City, to avoid panicking this peasant child, that was really good. It balanced his awareness of how a peasant might react to a samurai interrogating them with Sekken’s much more academic mindset, he is having ideas and working through them faster than Kuzu can keep up with and does not realize it.

The place where this breaks down for me is Bayushi Meirō, the Jade Magistrate who agrees to hire them on to accompany her to Brittle Flower City in the first place. Sekken is suspicious because here is a member of the Scorpion Clan helping them for no obvious reason, even trying to ensure that their condition is taken into account once she is told about it. The level of suspicion feels overplayed though. This is, of course, from the perspective of a reader who knows from the blurb that the antagonist is a forgotten deity rather than a scheming Magistrate. I also, as a reader, trust Brennan enough to figure that she would not do the same plot again this quickly. But Sekken and Ryotora cannot know any of that, and so there is what feels like a lot of page space given to their misgivings towards Meirō and her intentions. I have to admit, it mostly left me wanting to see Brennan write a series with her as the protagonist. I really like this weirdly honest Scorpion and want to see more of her and how she fits in the setting.

The market itself is fantastic, both the mystery of if it exists and how to reach it and the location itself. The various tsukumogami, objects that have taken on a life of their own, were fascinating and I enjoyed seeing how the human characters reacted to them. There is a fascinating bit of horror to the Market of One Hundred Fortunes, the way the tsukumogami react to seeing people, the way they talk around the Lady of the Market when she is brought up, there is this oppressive wrongness to it that contrasts the friendly denizens. The whole place is amazing and feels really well thought out and, again, I would not mind seeing Brennan come back to it in another book or with other protagonists. It feels really solid.

Ultimately, The Market of 100 Fortunes is a really solid continuation of Sekken and Ryotora’s story and a further exploration of their relationship and the way their shared nature effects them both. It follows up on Sayashi’s character growth in a way that really appealed to me, she is still just as selfish and catlike and bad at communicating with people as in the previous two books but the whole crux of the novel is that she is trying to be better, to be more than she has been. The bits that we see of her are a mix of frustration and concern and a certain degree of snappishness that emphasizes everything. Meirō delights me and I want to see more of her. Brennan does a really good job with this one. The Market of 100 Fortunes gets a five out of five from me.

The Market of 100 Fortunes is a beautifully engaging fantasy mystery by Marie Brennan set in the multi-author sandbox Five Rings world. Released 20th Feb 2024 by Aconite, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The Legend of the Five Rings world is a re-imagined "sandbox" setting with multiple authors and tie-ins, based on a roughly Feudal era Japan with the addition of dragons, magic, and political fantasy. Besides the fiction, the original setting was used for fantasy RPG, collectible card game, and even LARPing. There was also a D&D tie-in published as part of the third edition rules, called Oriental Adventures, which is now out of print.

That has, more or less, nothing whatever to do with this mystery. Despite being the third mystery featuring these main characters, it works perfectly well as a standalone, and despite a large cast of characters, it's relatively easy to keep them all straight. The writing and especially the characterizations are beautifully rendered and three dimensional. The setting is organic and smooth and with literally thousands of pages of canon, it's as much a main theme of the book as the primary characters.

Four stars. Readers who want to do a deep dive will never run out of background reading material. Conversely, readers who just want to enjoy a well written mystery will find themselves richly rewarded here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

It was amazing like usual with Marie Brennan and I'll read more of this serie in the future.
If you don't know the author, you HAVE TO try it. She's amazing, The plot is very intriguing and the characters are very specials

Ever since I read the early books focusing on Ryotora and Sekken, I've been looking forward to more stories that focused on them. This book didn't disappoint me. This book isn't a standalone. Though Brennan's style of writing makes it easy to understand what's going on, it's best to read the previous books to fully enjoy the story.

Like the previous ones - the atmosphere, the attention to details and the character interactions have been wonderful. There mystery and the creatures were really intriguing, The resolution wasn't as easy as one would expect but required a good deal of sacrifice. The best part was still the relationship between our two main leads.

There's some parts that were a bit slow but when everything got going, it's really hard to put this down.

I recommend giving this book and the others that came before this one a try.

4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

A fitting conclusion for the trilogy! I loved how the plotlines of our two samurai leads dovetailed together, and was genuinely taken aback at the revelation of the connection between their Bayushi ally and Sayashi. I'll be sad to no longer experience Sekken's and Ryotora's adventures alongside them, but I'm happy to see them earn their happy ending.

A fitting end to the story of Sekken and Ryotora, The Market of 100 Fortunes brings the soon-to-be-married couple to Brittle Flower City to answer a plea for assistance from Sayashi. When the arrive, the bakeneko is missing, along with quite a few townspeople. They must bring balance to the spirits in the Market of 100 Fortunes, while adjusting to life together and their shared chronic illness. A true expression of tiny love, that relationship that isn't about grand moments but built of shared tea and helping each other through the day.

I’m going to start this review with a warning: please don’t make the same mistake that I did. When I requested The Market of 100 Fortunes on NetGalley, I had no idea this was part of a trilogy. Actually, this is the third book of a trilogy. I only realized when I started reading and dug a bit deeper than a glance at its GR page. I picked this book up because 1) the blurb intrigued me and I really want to read more books based on Japanese culture, 2) I’ve been meaning to read one of Marie Brennan‘s books since forever and 3) I thought it was a standalone which was set to be published on my birthday (the date since changed) and it seemed like this was meant to be. So, if you want to read these books in order, please start with The Night Parade of 100 Demons. Also, be warned that this review might contain unintentional mild spoilers.

I also need to add that these books are part of the Legend of Five Rings universe, including games, books, etc. I never played with the game (didn’t even hear about it until now, but that’s not surprising since I’m not a gamer), but I don’t think you need any previous knowledge to enjoy Brennan’s trilogy.

You could ask why I continued reading once I realized what’s going on. Well, the answer is that because I wanted to get a review ready in time of the release date which was supposed to be February 6th but recently was moved to the 20th. And also because I was hooked on the story, and didn’t want to put it down. And while I was – understandably – confused by some things in the first 10% or so, missing the context between the characters and the references to previous events, The Market of 100 Fortunes more or less works as a standalone. Brennan writes in a way that it’s easy to grasp what’s going on. Having that layer of knowledge would have been great, but there was enough incorporated into the writing that I could put together things and rarely felt lost in the world and in the relationships. In a way, it was fun having an already established couple as the main characters, and I’ll make sure to go back and read about their journey to this point.

Sekken and Ryotora are about to journey to Ryotora’s homeland where they can marry and start their lives. From the sound of it, they do need a little peace for sure. But it’s bittersweet for Sekken as he has to leave his home and family behind. For him, the future is uncertain. And so, Sayashi’s letter comes as a divine intervention that can delay the inevitable. Sayashi is a friend of theirs, a bakeneko (a shapeshifter that can take both cat and human forms), who needs their help in Brittle Flower City.

“The bakeneko had insisted, though, scoffing at the notion that “a pure-hearted priest and a scholar with ink for brains” could manage without her help.”

Sayashi is on a personal mission, searching for the entrance to the supernatural market that’s “below” the one the city is famous for. Sekken and Ryotora have no idea what’s going on, but they still decide to disobey Ryotora’s daimyo and head to the Crane lands in search of Sayashi. On their way, they are aided by an Emerald Magistrate of the Scorpions (Emerald Magistrates work for the Emperor, and they can come from any of the clans – btw, I love the idea of the different clans with their characteristics, though we don’t get to know much about them, I guess the games and other books based on it has a deeper lore), and whom they don’t trust at all. Especially since she seems way too eager to help without asking anything in return.

There are a lot of mysteries afoot both with their companion, the city, and the market of 100 fortunes itself. Sekken, being a scholar can’t help himself in wanting to discover it all, even if it sometimes leads to danger. But he is also loyal to his friends, and he wouldn’t consider leaving Sayashi behind, not after they discover her disappearance. Their only lead is a little orphan girl, Kuzu, who knew some of the doings of Sayashi while in the city. I think out of the characters Ryotaro was my favorite, he was the one I could relate to the most. He is anxious, more cautious than Sekken, and generally, he really complements Sekken in every way.

“The only way to find out was to wake him and question him, and Sekken wasn’t ready to be that profoundly stupid.”

I loved the Japanese-like setting (duh), but I think my favorite thing about this book was the market of 100 fortunes and all the creatures (and ideas, because come on, who would have thought there are as many as 100 types of fortunes?). I actively wanted to visit that place just to get a glimpse of them. I love the imagination behind this – based on the author’s notes, a lot of these were based on real Japanese folklore, and man, I really need to get a better look at the Japanese culture. The idea of the tea service is kit *chef’s kiss* I also would have liked to discover more about the fortunes themselves, and thus making me wish that this book was a much longer one – not a complaint I usually have.

The Market of 100 Fortunes was a book I didn’t know I needed, as it seems to have brought back my reading mojo that had been lost to me for a few months. There could have been a bit more meat on the main plot maybe, but the characters just made up for that. I have no idea why is this trilogy not more widely known, but if you love Japanese mythology, or the game on which this world is based, then please, please give these books a go! The Market of 100 Fortunes hooked me from page 1 and it never let go. It’s fun, it’s charming and it makes me long for more. I had an excellent time reading it.

I adore Japanese mythology and folklore and as such love the Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) games and tie in novels. Brennan’s stories have been some of my favourites for how she uses her love and knowledge of folklore and anthropology to bring the world to life vividly and ties with proper folklore and myth. On top of this we have two male samurai from different clans, Asako Sekken of the Phoenix and Agasha No Isao Ryotora of the Dragon who are in a relationship and indeed soon to be married.


Once again their tale is firmly fixed in the supernatural and phantasmagorical. I have adored seeing their relationship grow alongside their supernatural adventures. This time they have to find and search out a repeated minor character, Sayashi, who is a bakeneko (and honestly my favourite yokai because we doesn’t love demonic cats?). Slowly they have to try and survive the market of a 100 fortunes wondering who they can trust and if they can make it out alive.


Now I don’t like spoilers but I will say for me the thing I adore about this trilogy is the characters and writing. The research and originality match and meter out in a story that become believable and enjoyable. Brennan takes myths and ideas, such as once an object becomes old enough it may get its own soul, and creates some interesting Yokai for us to meet. But the main thing I love is the characters and namely relationship between Sekken and Ryotora. I have adored seeing their relationship blossom and how they counter and complete each other perfectly. No spoilers but that ending was just perfection as well!


If you enjoy L5R or Japanese folklore, particularly of the supernatural, you will adore this. But if you are just a fan of supernatural or beautifully told love stories you will also get a series of stories that will stay with you. The writing is beautiful, the characters memorable and

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on February 6, 2024 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

The Market of 100 Fortunes is the third and final book in Marie Brennan's Legend of the 5 Rings tie-in trilogy, which began in The Night Parade of 100 Demons and features her romantic pair of gay samurai Asako Sekken of the Phoenix Clan and Agasha no Isao Ryōtora of the Dragon Clan. Book 1 of the trilogy featured the two samurai concealing their own secrets (Sekken's supernatural dog Tanshu and his witch ancestor; Ryōtora's clan's weakness and need to adopt peasant-born individuals like him into its Samurai ranks) as they investigated supernatural phenomena and fell slowly in love. Book 2 featured the two samurai coming together again and facing their love for each other, the political issues involving it as well as their own physical weaknesses, and another supernatural occurence, which all led to the two of them becoming publicly engaged. Both of those books were tremendous fun even if you had no L5R foreknowledge (like me) and the growing romance between Sekken and Ryōtora was just so incredibly lovely and enjoyable.

With Book 3, Sekken and Ryōtora's relationship is more secure than ever, but there's still plenty for their relationship to develop further through a new plot, this time involving repeated minor character Sayashi, the bakeneko (cat-demon) who had gotten involved in both of their prior adventures, as Sayashi begs them for help and invokes Sekken's prior promise to help her see the value of humanity in the process. And so we once again get a new supernatural mystery, a bunch of new minor characters - most notably a Scorpion Clan magistrate whose trustworthiness they have to constantly question - who are pretty solid and a nice resolution and conclusion to the romance that has carried this series. It's not the best book in the trilogy, but it's still another very enjoyable installment that will please anyone who started the series, and just makes me definitely willing to endorse the series to those looking for queer romantic fantasy.

Plot Summary:
Asako Sekken of the Phoenix Clan and Agasha no Isao Ryōtora of the Dragon Clan are to be married, with the two soon to depart for Dragon Clan lands where they will be able to make their new home (with Sekken adopted into the Dragon Clan to ensure their numbers). It's a new future that carries its own hopes and worries for the two of them, but it's theirs and they will face it together soon. Or so they expect, until Sekken receives a missive from the most unexpected source: Sayashi, the Bakeneko, who is asking for their help with a spiritual matter. Believing that they owe Sayashi for her prior help, and that their help could enable the bakaneko to go through the final stage of spiritual growth needed for a better reincarnation, the two seek to help her: there's just one problem, Sayashi is summoning them to Brittle Flower City in Crane lands, but their own duties carry them in pretty much the opposite direction.

To get to Crane territory, Sekken and Ryōtora are forced to seek the aid of an Emerald Magistrate...but the magistrate they find is of the Scorpion Clan, known for its duplicity and underhanded dealing, and Sekken and Ryōtora are forced to question what price they may be forced to pay for her aid. Yet even that fear is nothing compared to the confusing situation they find in Brittle Flower City: where they find a market dedicated to 100 of the sometimes most bizarre minor deities (the Fortunes) that they could ever have heard of....a market that legendarily conceals a more supernatural market, where Sayashi has found herself lost. To get into the supernatural market, help Sayashi, and to get out again will require Sekken and Ryōtora to interact with the supernatural in a way completely unlike anything they have done before...and to right a wrong that has long been forgotten....

The Market of 100 Fortunes is our third book with Sekken and Ryōtora, and thankfully, the pining and hidden wants of the two of them is largely over and unneeded - both Ryōtora and Sekken are publicly engaged to be married and they can maintain their relationship in full public view, so there's no need for shame or hiding or refusal. This doesn't mean however that the two have everything settled between them. Their public relationship has of course resulted in sacrifices from both of them, especially Sekken who is leaving his own people behind and has had to deal with the awkward process of siring an heir on a surrogate for both their clan's purposes. And then there's the magical tethering between them that leaves one weakened when the other uses too much energy, which has resulted in Ryōtora drawing back his use of his spiritual powers...something he's afraid to tell Sekken about. And well, the two remain incredibly charming in their interests (Sekken's curiosity about language and histories, Ryōtora's spiritual interests) and their relationship, so it's a joy to see them work out these minor new facets to their relationship...and even one more about their future that I'm deliberately not spoiling here.

At the same time, the fact that the relationship between Sekken and Ryōtora is so solid at this point does put more pressure on the supernatural plotline (the mystery of what happened to Sayashi and the possibility of a supernatural market) and the new side characters to add tension and conflict and interesting ideas to this book, and honestly it's probably the least interesting plot/combination of the above of the three books...not that that's a major problem. The conflict in the market is interesting but solved rather easily, and new side character Bayushi Meiro, scorpion emerald magistrate, is a solid addition but not one who really adds too much on her own (there's a bit of a conflict over whether the characters can trust her due to her clan as well as a conflict in whether the characters' mistrust of her is unfair prejudice that gets a good bit of play and is generally done well, but gets sidelined in the final act). There really isn't the joy I guess of first discovering our main duo in book 1 and then meeting Sekken's absolutely wonderful family in book 2 here - and that's not really a problem with this book as much as a complaint about how good the first two books are here. What we have here instead is still a story that draws you in and keeps you interested, with themes of destiny, fate, and power to some extent, and combine that with our two main characters' excellent relationship, you still have a pretty enjoyable book that does not outstay its welcome.

In short, even if it doesn't measure up to the first two books in this trilogy, I really enjoyed The Market of 100 Fortunes and would totally read more featuring Sekken and Ryōtora if Brennan ever wanted to come back to these characters. Just so much fun and a joy to read, with their relationship being so lovely in the end, and I hope others will pick these books up and discover them too, even if they've never had any interest before in L5R.

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I was ,as happens so many times ,enchanted by the cover art and then hooked by the blurb. I am not a player of L5R so I don't know very much about the world of Rokugan.

That was a bit daunting and I had to consult with friends who knew more every now and again but the story was no less captivating and breath taking for that.

I loved getting to know this amazing world a little better. To hear about it's clans and samurai as well as it's spirits . It was amazing.

The Market of 100 Fortunes is the third Legend of Five Rings game world book by Brennan. They follow Isao Ryotora and Asako Sekken, two samurais of Rokugan Empire, a priest and a scholar who are drawn into dangerous supernatural situations. I’ve read them back-to-back and have liked them all, but this was perhaps the weakest one.

Ryotora and Sekken are preparing to travel to the Dragon Clan’s lands together to marry there, when an urgent request from Sayashi, the cat spirit who has been their reluctant helper in both cases, calls them to Crane Clan lands. But when they arrive there, she’s disappeared.

She may be in the market of 100 fortunes, a place no one believes exists. The men start to investigate with the help of a Scorpion magistrate who may have an agenda of her own, and a little orphan girl. Turns out, finding the market is easy. Getting out of there less so.

This was slightly less interesting read than before. In the earlier books, the men had full chapters in their point of view, which gave a lot of space for character development. Here, the point of view changes in the middle of the chapter, leaving less room for the characters, as the plot dominates the pace. It would’ve required more drama early on to keep a reader’s interest. Now it took a bit too long before anything happened.

There are also a couple of chapters from Sayashi’s point of view. She wasn’t quite as interesting as I’d hoped, and I felt they didn’t really add anything worthwhile. At the very least, the reason for her actions should’ve been brought up earlier on to make the great revelation at the end work better. Now it came a bit out of blue and didn’t have the impact it could’ve had.

Nevertheless, once the mystery got going, it was intriguing. Again, the solution wasn’t easy, requiring great sacrifices. The men worked on their peculiar connection, coming to terms with it, and their relationship remained the best part of the book. The ending was good, and gave a notion that this is the last book. If that’s the case, I’m happy with where the men ended up. But I’d really like to read more.

Marie Brennan writes excellent fantasy and this an intriguing and well plotted novel that mixes fantasy and mystery
I had fun and thoroughly enjoyed this novel
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Warning: THIS IS NOT A STANDALONE.
3.5 stars. We all came for Marie Brennan when requesting this ARC, but what wasn't clear was that this is the third book in a series. Without the previous books knowledge there was a lot of details that were confusing or missing. So definitely read the first two! Like example being it was a little difficult due to the formality of the relationship to immediately tell if the main characters were getting married out of affection or necessity/political reasons.
However, I did enjoy the writing. Marie Brennan has a fantastic way with words that feels so formal yet easy to read. I definitely felt that if I had been along for the ride since the beginning I would have felt a satisfying conclusion. Though again as a person reading only this one I would have liked a bit faster movement to the plot. Definitely an intricate world.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher's for allowing me to read this ARC upon release.
The phoenix scholar was my favourite that is something I have to say first.

The book was interesting enough but i lost the plot halfway through. Which resulted me into feeling 'lost' and confused for a while.
Note: This volume belongs in a series of books so that might be the reason as to why some acts were difficult for me to understand.
I hadn't expected the japanese setting and vibes it had but it gave some things character.

The Market of 100 Fortunes is part of a series and should be read as such. I started with this book and admit that at times I felt a little lost. When a friend is in need, Asako Sekken and Agasha no Isao Ryotora postpone their marriage to find their friend and give her help. Magical creatures and mystical markets pit out heroes against ghosts and ancient mythical beings in a paranormal adventure full of action and loyal friends. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

4.5
Prolific fantasy author Marie Brennan adds another book to the series and world of The Legend of the Five Rings. I read my first one in 2000 (by another author) when the first volume was published and was in love with the world, the clans, the characters, and the mythology/supernatural elements ever since.

Perfect for fans of anime, historical shows, and Asian mythology including yokai, horror, and elements usually part of the famous Night Parade, but the approach is very light. Good for those who don't know much about Japanese mythology.

It's appropriate for younger readers. The relationships are very respectful and there is no gore or violence. It is more humorous and cozy.

Even if you never read the series, you can still enjoy each volume as a standalone because each book is an isolated episode and we get the characters well and their relationship. In this volume, the story starts around chapter seven that's when you stop feeling like you're catching up.
The authors are careful to give us an insight into previous books or adventures and that will just make you curious enough to want to collect the rest.

In this volume, Sekken (my favorite intellectual samurai/witch gay character of this series who sometimes has a temper... ) goes to a small town with his fiancé in search of Bakeneko Sayashi who has gone missing, she is not the only one missing and they find themselves again in a magical world where humans don't rule. There are other side quests as well.

These are easy to read, light, and cozy, like the trend nowadays, you'll enjoy them if you like light novels. It's always nostalgic to return to these so I don't mind, but if you are a hardcore fan of L5R you'll end up wanting more depth.

I love these covers.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC.

(Instagram post will be scheduled closer to pub month, blog post sooner)

I love Marie Brennan, she is a Master of her craft and when I saw her name I auto-requested xD. Turns out that this is the third of a series of tie novels, however it is testament to Brennan’s writing that I never felt like because I hadn’t read the earlier instalments of this delightfully queer samurai series I never felt lost, nor were the references back to early events some thing that bogged the narrative down, just simply part of the way the character’s reasoned through their current predicament.
Despite no familiarity with the card game that inspired the universe, I enjoyed the Feudal Japanese inspired setting and the incorporation of Japanese mythological elements as the adventure unfolded through both terrestrial and spiritual realms. I absolutely loved the relationship between the two leads who are in an established relationship and are working out the problems after happy ever after including the shared life bond that means they easily fatigue and it was nice to see two heroes going about their business adjusting to their new normal and whilst struggling with their limitations but accepting and adapting to it and more beautifully the way those around them accepted and made adjustments for accessibility. Also Cat yokai will ensure I will read your book always.
It’s such a positive cozy read even for the uninitiated, I will most definitely be going back for the other two books