Colonyside by Michael Mammay

On January 31, 2021August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller13 Comments

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 29 December 2020)

Series: Planetside – Book Three

Length: 10 hours and 4 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the most impressive rising stars in science fiction, Michael Mammay, returns with the third entry in his outstanding Planetside series, Colonyside, a captivating science fiction thriller that sees Colonel Carl Butler return for another epic adventure.

After blowing up a second alien planet, former war hero and current “disgrace” Colonel Carl Butler is living a quiet life as a recluse on a remote planet. While Butler is more than happy to be left alone by everyone, he knows that it is only a matter of time before the government or the military attempt to draft him into another crazy adventure. This time, a powerful and rich CEO wants the maverick Butler to head up an investigation into the disappearance of his estranged daughter on a newly formed colony.

Knowing the pain of losing a daughter, Butler reluctantly accepts the job and takes the next ship to Eccasis. Working with old associates Mac and Ganos, as well as a new government-assigned aide, Captain Fader, Butler soon finds himself leading an investigation in a controversial colony where a dangerous and lethal jungle environment lurks just outside the bio-dome. The missing woman, a talented biologist, disappeared whilst on a routine research mission for her father’s company out in the jungle. While most people believe that her disappearance can be blamed on the planet’s predatory megafauna, her father believes that there is more to the case.

While everything initially seems on the level, Butler soon becomes convinced that something more is afoot when someone tries to blow him up. As he begins his investigation in earnest, Butler is forced to contend with corrupt and incompetent local politicians, a hamstrung military presence, a militant environmental organisation and a greedy corporation determined to cover themselves. Once more caught in the crosshairs of dangerous people with sinister agendas, Butler is forced to bend all the rules to have a chance of surviving. But has Butler finally found a problem that even he cannot blow his way out of?

Colonyside is the latest awesome science fiction thriller from exciting author Michael Mammay. I am a major fan of Mammay, having deeply enjoyed his 2018 debut, Planetside, which followed Carl Butler as he attempted to find a missing soldier, only to find himself in the midst of an alien conspiracy. Planetside was an incredible novel with an impressively shocking and explosive ending, and it was not only one of my favourite books of 2018 but it is also one of my favourite debut novels of all time. Mammay followed this outstanding debut with a fantastic sequel in 2019 with Spaceside, which saw the protagonist get involved in another conspiracy, this one revolving around military contractors, which proved to be another amazing read and one of the best novels of 2019. Due to how much I enjoyed the first two Planetside novels, I have been looking forward to seeing how the series would continue in the future and I was extremely excited when I saw that the third novel, Colonyside, was coming out (especially as it had the cool cover above). My strong anticipation for this novel was not in vain, as Colonyside proved to be another exceptional read that gets a full five-star rating from me.

This outstanding novel contains an epic and addictive narrative that sets its unconventional protagonists on the path to uncover a massive and sinister conspiracy. Like the previous entries in this series, Mammay brings several genres together in this book, with Colonyside blending science fiction, military fiction and thriller elements into one fantastic story. This mixture of genres works extremely well together as the protagonist, a former soldier with a penchant for investigation, finds himself attempting to find the final fate of a missing person who disappeared from the jungle of an alien planet. This awesome premise leads into a clever and compelling narrative as the protagonist attempts to uncover and disrupt a massive conspiracy with galaxy-wide implications while also ensuring his own survival from a range of deadly opponents. Mammay comes up with a really impressive story here, and I loved all the complex twists and fantastic reveals throughout the novel as the protagonist builds up his case and then deals with the consequences of his discoveries. While I did find the start of the story a tad slow, it does not take long for the story to heat up and you find yourself getting more and more drawn into the compelling web of lies, intrigue, politics, and the occasional firefight. I particularly enjoyed the fantastic connections that Colonyside had to the previous entries in the series, as the motivations of the antagonists are directly tied into Butler’s prior actions and their dramatic consequences. While readers can easily start the Planetside series here with the third book, those readers familiar with Mammay’s prior two novels will really appreciate the way in which the story becomes linked, and I felt that it was a clever bit of storytelling. All of this leads up to an amazing and exciting conclusion that contains both an incredibly deadly scenario for the protagonists and a series of final reveals, many of which were very well set up and quite enjoyable to uncover. This makes for an impressive overall narrative that becomes very addictive as you just cannot wait to get to the bottom of the story.

One of the best things about Colonyside was the fact that it once again follows the adventures of the retired maverick solider, Colonel Carl Butler, who serves as the novel’s protagonist and point-of-view character. Butler is a clever, damaged and calculating military figure who knows that sometimes the only way to get things done is to break the rules and go off book, even if it costs him. This amazing character has gone through a lot of stuff over the course of the first two entries in the Planetside series, including nuking two separate alien planets. While he did have good reasons for his actions, Butler is now unsurprisingly an incredibly infamous figure in the galaxy, with a huge number of enemies across the political and social spectrum (it takes skill to be simultaneously hated by both environmentalists and big corporations). While he has committed some atrocities, Butler is still an incredibly likeable character, mainly because deep down he is a good person who is mainly trying to do the right thing, no matter the consequences. Butler proves to be a fun character to follow, especially as he as a very smart-assed way to him, producing a number of entertaining moments. The character is also a competent investigator and a surprisingly effective master manipulator, especially of military personal. I also quite liked the way in which the character has grown and evolved since the start of the series, and there are several examples throughout the book which show him learning from his mistakes in the earlier novels. He also has a much greater appreciation for all sorts of people and various forms of life within the universe, particularly after his experiences with sentient alien life forms, and these new insights have helped to turn him into a much more well-rounded protagonist. As a result, you really want for him to survive and succeed throughout the course of the novel, and your heart breaks a little each time he finds himself in danger or he is forced to compromise his morals for the greater good.

While there are a range of intriguing aspects to Butler’s character and portrayal, easily the most distinctive part of his inclusion in this novel is his unique narration. Butler provides a first-person narration for the entire novel, which results in the reader being privy to all his thoughts and feelings. While this may seem like typical first-person narration fare, it is actually pretty distinctive in Colonyside as Butler is constantly analysing everything that he says, does or hears and immediately relaying that back to the reader. This includes in some cases evaluating each sentence that another character utters, and then thinking hard about how he wants to respond before uttering his next bit of dialogue. While this way of writing the character’s thoughts and perceptions does take a little getting used to and may seem a little excessive at times, you soon grow to appreciate all the character’s valuable insights and opinions about the people he is dealing with. Not only is it refreshing to hear a protagonist admit when he is in the wrong or just being an arse (both of which happen frequently), but hearing his thoughts on the other characters and events occurring in front of him gives you additional insights into the complex investigation and makes the overall investigation even more intriguing. I also loved the way in which the protagonist plans out how he is going to manipulate or outmanoeuvre his various opponents throughout the novel, especially when he is talking to them, and it is entertaining to see his schemes unfold, whether they succeed or fail. All of this helps to turn Butler into a unique and enjoyable protagonist to follow and I cannot wait to see what happens to him in his next adventure.

Colonyside is also filled with a great range of side characters who add a lot to the story. The other three main characters are Butler’s team of Mac, Ganos and Captain Fader, all three of whom have some intriguing and enjoyable interactions with the protagonist. Mac, Butler’s personal bodyguard, who previously appeared in Planetside, is a solid and incredibly likeable non-commissioned soldier who loyally serves Butler and tries to keep him safe, even from his own stupid decisions. Despite being outranked by Butler, Mac does not take any crap from him, and the two characters have a fantastic and enjoyable bond throughout the book. The other recurring character is Ganos, the tough, anti-authoritarian hacker who helped Butler in Spaceside. Ganos starts the novel off having some major issues with Butler, especially after the fallout from their escapades in the second novel. This requires Butler to try and rebuild her trust in him throughout the novel, and their struggling friendship becomes a dramatic and enjoyable plot point throughout Colonyside. This team is joined by new member, Captain Fader, a by-the-book officer who has been assigned to Butler as his aid, while also being ordered to report on his actions. Fader, an extremely efficient, organised and bright individual, becomes a key part of the protagonist’s investigation, and she serves as a useful sounding board for Butler’s various theories about the disappearance and overarching conspiracy. The clash of styles between the two characters becomes an intriguing part of the novel, as Fader struggles to deal with Butler’s rule breaking. Nonetheless, Butler and Fader form a great mentor relationship throughout the course of the novel, and it was great to see the various ways in which Butler influenced the younger officer. Aside from these three excellent written comrades for Butler, Colonyside is also filled with a range of compelling side characters, including some figures from the previous novels, as well as the various inhabitants of the colony. Mammay does a great job introducing the fantastic range of extra characters featured in the book and many of them become key suspects in the novel’s overarching mystery. This complex collection of suspects adds some great layers to the main story, and it proved to be quite entertaining to see Butler attempt to interact with them to get his way.

The great story and fantastic characters are backed up by an outstanding and unique science fiction setting that serves as the perfect backdrop to this amazing novel. The settlement of Eccasis is large bio-dome surrounded by a planet of harsh and inhospitable jungle. The jungle is full of dangers, including dangerous megafauna, poisonous insects and all manner of bacteria that makes going outside without a suit an unbelievably bad idea. Naturally, the protagonist spends a great deal of time out in this hostile environment and there are some great scenes set out there. While the jungle is extremely dangerous in its own way, it turns out to be a cakewalk compared to the main setting inside the colony’s dome. The inhabitable interior of the Eccasis settlement is a political powder keg filled with all manner of competing interests: greedy corporations, a radical environmental group, a corrupt civilian government and an understaffed military attempting to keep the peace despite their lack of equipment and manpower. This diverse group of competing personalities helps to enhance the intriguing story and it proved to be very compelling to see the protagonist attempt to get to the bottom of their various motivations and agendas. It was also intriguing to see how Butler’s previous actions have impacted the overarching universe that the series is set in. After his prior adventures where he nuked two separate planets with the intention of killing aliens, a series of strict environmental laws have been passed, limiting expansion and corporate interest. This leads to a bunch of clever storylines within the novel, and I really enjoyed seeing some fallout from the events of the earlier books, especially because it has such a major impact on this third book’s plot. There is also a real anti-corporation theme to this novel, mainly because the protagonist is a lot more suspicious of corporate organisations after the events of Spaceside, and it will be interesting to see if this will be a recurring theme in future books. I had a lot of fun with this cool science fiction setting and I really enjoyed the way in which the author worked into the plot, helping to create an excellent story.

I ended up listening to the audiobook format of Colonyside, which proved to be an excellent and fantastic treat. This format of Colonyside has a reasonable run time of just over 10 hours, making it an easy audiobook to get through quickly, especially when you get caught up in its intrigue-laden story. I found that this epic novel flew by for me in this format and I felt that I absorbed a lot more about the setting and characters while listening to it. Probably the main reason that I liked this format was the fact that the audiobook is narrated by the very talented R. C. Bray, who previously narrated Planetside and Spaceside. Bray, who has an impressive selection of science fiction and thriller narrations to his resume, has an awesome, deep voice that perfectly fits the protagonist, Carl Butler. I really liked the authoritative and confident tone that Bray used for this central character, and the listener ended up with a fantastic sense of who Butler is and what his emotional state is throughout the audiobook. While I did occasionally find it hard to differentiate between the protagonist’s dialogue and inner thoughts in this format, this was a particularly minor issue and I still had an incredible time listening to this book and I would strongly recommend the audiobook version for anyone interested in checking out Colonyside.

Colonyside by Michael Mammay is an incredible and deeply captivating read that pits an outstanding and enjoyable protagonist on a high-stakes, mysterious adventure. This latest novel from Mammay is an amazing third entry in one of the best science fiction thriller series out there, and I love the clever and addictive plot contained within this book. A highly recommended read, I cannot wait to see how the next entry in this fantastic series turns out.

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Film Review – Batman: Soul of the Dragon

On January 30, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Animation, Comics/Manga, Superhero1 Comment

Studio: Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment

Series: DC Universe Animated Original Movies – Film 40

Director: Sam Liu

Producer: Bruce Timm

Writer: Jeremy Adams

Length: 82 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Prepare to dive into an intense and addictive DC Comics martial arts adventure with the latest entry in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies range, Batman: Soul of the Dragon, an outstanding and deeply enjoyable film that explores several amazing DC characters in a very unique way.

While The Unseen Library is primarily dedicated to providing book and comic reviews, I have in the last year been experimenting with reviews and articles about another great passion of mine, animated superhero films. I have always had a lot of fondness for this genre and I started focusing on it more last year when I reviewed Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and even further when I did an extended Top Ten Tuesday article listing my favourite superhero animated films, which primarily featured DC Universe Animated Original Movies. DC continues their domination of the animation market with the very awesome Soul of the Dragon film, which serves as the 40^th entry in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies range. I had an outstanding time watching this latest animated offering and it is definitely a new favourite film of mine.

Bruce Wayne, Richard Dragon, Shiva and Ben Turner are four of the best martial artists on the planet, utilising their skills and training to become truly elite fighters. While each of these renowned warriors are now on their own different paths, they shared a similar start on their journey as students at the secret monastery of Nanda Parbat. Training under the legendary O-Sensei, these four, along with other notable students, not only learned the martial techniques that allowed them to become the fighters they are today but also became a close-knit family, until one terrible night changed everything for them.

Now their paths are about to cross again when Richard Dragon discovers that a fanatical organisation, the Cult of the Kobra, have stolen an ancient and dangerous artefact that Dragon and his fellow former students are intimately and tragically familiar with. Travelling to Gotham City, Dragon recruits Bruce Wayne, who now fights criminals as the vigilante Batman, to help him stop Kobra and save the entire world. Attempting to recover another artefact guarded by Shiva, now a feared Gotham crime boss, they soon discover just how long and deadly Kobra’s reach is.

With Shiva and Ben in tow, the four former disciples of O-Sensei prepare for the battle of their lives as they attempt to infiltrate Kobra’s island base. However, nothing will prepare them for the dangers they will encounter, nor the horrors unleashed from their past. Can these four dangerous fighters work together to save the world or will an ancient and deadly force be unleashed?

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is an excellent and amazing animated comic book film that proved to be an absolute treat to watch. This is a standalone film which is directed by Sam Liu, written by Jeremy Adams and featuring Bruce Timm as an executive producer, and together these talented people have produced a fantastic and powerful feature. Liu and Timm are the genius behind some of the best animated comic films that are out there, including Justice League vs. Teen Titans, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay and the incredible The Death of Superman, and they have once again done an outstanding job with Soul of the Dragon, creating a unique and entertaining comic book tale. Making excellent use of an exceptional narrative, a great group of characters and a very distinctive vibe, Soul of the Dragon is an outstanding and wonderful film that is really worth watching.

Soul of the Dragon has a particularly awesome and captivating narrative that follows its four iconic central protagonists on an epic quest to right the wrongs of their collective past. This movie contains an original tale set in the 1970s that draws heavily from classic DC martial arts comics to create a fantastic film that not only dives into the origins of some amazing DC characters but which also presents an exciting character-driven adventure. This movie starts off with a captivating bang with Richard Dragon discovering a sinister plot with ties to his time as a student. The story then quickly starts to reunite the four major characters, with several impressive action set-pieces dominating the early part of this movie, all of which were a real treat to watch. The story than takes the protagonists to an island fortress where they must face their enemy before he can unleash a terrible force of destruction.

Interspersed with the main story are a series of compelling flashbacks that follow the protagonists’ training under O-Sensei, which provide some excellent context to the main story. I thought that the flashbacks were a particularly impressive part of the movie and I liked they expertly tied together main narrative with the past, creating a richer overall story. I also felt that the narrative did an excellent job of introducing each of the characters while also highlighting the differences between their modern appearances and their former lives as students. I did think that the main story was a little rushed and could have potentially used a little more plot in between the protagonists’ reunion and their arrival at the antagonists’ island. Still, this did not impact my enjoyment of the movie too much, and the last third of the film is so damn epic and emotionally charged that you forget about this slight misstep of pacing. All of this wraps up with a memorable and interesting ultimate conclusion, which will leave you wondering about what, if anything, is going to happen next.

Thanks to the standalone nature of this movie, potential viewers do not need to have watched any prior DC animated features to enjoy Soul of the Dragon, and indeed minimal knowledge of the various characters and comic elements is needed to follow along, as the narrative provides a fantastic and detailed introduction to all the relevant parts of the plot. All of this makes for an epic and just plain awesome story that honours some classic DC characters and comics while also introducing them to a new generation of DC fans with this fantastic adventure.

In addition to the first-rate story, I was also impressed with how well this cool movie was put together. It contains some outstanding animation, especially when it comes to the impressively exciting action scenes, with a particularly well-put-together car chase halfway through the film being an amazing example. This proves to be a very action-heavy film, with a huge number of fluid combat sequences that perfectly captures the skill of the combatants and which successfully translates the style of the original martial arts comic. Parents should be warned that this is not an animated feature for younger children, thanks to some of its over-the-top content, but everyone else is going to love seeing all the exciting fast-paced scenes unfold. I particularly liked how this animated movie had such a distinctive and entertaining style to it, which really enhanced my enjoyment of the film. As the story is set in to the 1970s, the creators attempted to replicate the feel and tone of the era in a number of different ways, such as the technology, locations and the animated appearances of the characters. The creative team also made sure to include a ton of appropriate slang (you haven’t seen anything till you’ve seen Batman say: “Let’s get it on”) and an excellent instrumental musical score that is not only very 70s in its sound but which perfectly fits the movie’s distinctive narrative and tone. Soul of the Dragon draws a lot of inspiration from classic kung fu films, especially those featuring Bruce Lee, and you can really feel the creators’ love of the genre with all the little details they chuck in. There are also a number of fantastic allusions to classic James Bond films, including several very familiar musical themes, some entertaining lines from certain characters and even a dangerous car chase with a gadget-laden car that ends with a vehicle getting whisked away on an electromagnet attached to a helicopter (a very fun call-back to You Only Live Twice). I absolutely loved how well this film came together, and all the exceptional animation and clever tonal shifts combine perfectly with the great story to produce an enthralling and memorable viewing experience.

In addition to have an amazing and entertaining narrative, Soul of the Dragon is backed up by a fantastic roster of characters from across the DC Comics canon, voiced by an exceptional and talented collection of actors. While this movie contains several great supporting characters, the story is mostly set around Bruce Wayne, Richard Dragon, Shiva and Ben Turner, each of whom are heavily featured in both the main narrative and the flashbacks. While all four of these main characters are great in their own right, a lot of their appeal lies in fantastic connection they have with each other and with their master, O-Sensei. These great protagonists have an excellent rapport, and it proved to be really great to see them interact with each other throughout the film.

The lead of the film is probably Batman, who is voiced by David Giuntoli of Grimm fame, who provides a fantastic take on the character with his voice work. I liked how there were two versions of Batman: the vigilante who featured in the main story and the younger student in Nanda Parbat. This proved to be an interesting portrayal of this iconic character, as the writers attempt to explore Bruce’s determination, even as a young man, to do the impossible and fight evil no matter the cost. It was also great to see him evolve from the student in the flashbacks to the vigilante in the main story, and there are some fun scenes that showcase him becoming a more focused and terrifying fighter when he puts on the mask.

While Soul of the Dragon is nominally a Batman movie, Bruce is somewhat overshadowed by some of the other main protagonists. This is no fault of the character’s portrayal or characterisation; it is just because the other protagonists are just a little more exciting and enjoyable. Part of the reason why this is the case is that Batman is the least skilled martial artist in what is essentially a kung fu movie, as it is established that his fellow students are better fighters than him (this is true in both the film and in the comics). While this does mean that some of the other characters’ action sequences are a little more visually impressive, you instead get to see Batman fight in different ways. There is a great focus on how Batman utilises trickery and fear to supplement his weaker fighting abilities, and there are some excellent scenes around this, including a key one towards the end of the film where he uses a combination of his gadgets, cunning, and even his own cape to defeat a superior foe. I did think that the version of the character was a bit blasé about keeping his identity secret with his friends, and he didn’t seemed as opposed to people using lethal force as you would expect, but this was an outstanding take on Batman and I really enjoyed his appearance in this film.

One major character who was a true highlight of this movie was Richard Dragon, an iconic character who is widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the DC canon. Despite his popularity in DC’s martial arts comics, this is the character’s first appearance outside of the comics (the Richard Dragon featured in Arrow is a different character altogether) and he voiced by The Chairman himself, Mark Dacascos. Depicted as Asian in the film (the comic character is traditionally a red-haired Caucasian), this character looks a lot like Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and is portrayed as an international super spy. Despite this being a Batman film, in many ways Richard is just as much the main character of this movie, with much of the story revolving around him. Richard grabs focus right from the start, where he engages in some amusing spy antics, which include outwitting a James Bond-esque character in a fancy casino, effortlessly and stylishly fighting off some goons, and parachuting onto a boat filled with beautiful women (a scene very reminiscent of The Living Daylights, Bond music included), before identifying himself as “Dragon, Richard Dragon”. Each of Dragon’s subsequent scenes are really fantastic, from the fluid and exceptional action sequences to the fun interactions he has with other characters, including an entertaining scene with a pompous bouncer. Dacascos does an exceptional job voicing this character and he provides Richard with a confident, intelligent and generally calm air that proves to be extremely easy to enjoy, while also including some vulnerability in several amazing scenes. All of this helps to produce an exceptional character and I am extremely glad that the introduction of Richard Dragon to a wider media went so well.

The next major character in the movie is the dangerous and delightful Shiva, who was voiced by the talented Kelly Hu. Lady Shiva, as she is better known, is one of the deadliest assassins and martial artists in the DC canon. I felt the creative team did an outstanding job showcasing Shiva in Soul of the Dragon, as she is portrayed as a merciless killing machine and living weapon able to destroy her opponents with minimal effort and nothing but her bare hands. The character has some of the most brutal combat sequences, which were not only beautifully animated but which proved to be extremely entertaining to watch. I felt that Shiva went through some fantastic character development throughout the film as she transforms from a dedicated student to a ruthless crime lord who even Batman is afraid to deal with: “I’m working up to it…” I also really loved the choice of voice actor for this character as Kelly Hu does a sensational job bringing Shiva to life. Hu, who is known for her comic book roles in both animation (as Cheshire in Young Justice and Karai in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and live action (as Lady Deathstrike in X-Men 2 and China White in Arrow), has previously voiced Lady Shiva in the Batman: Arkham Origins video game, and it was great to see her return to this fantastic character. She gives this version of Shiva a particularly deadly air; you can tell with every sentence just how confident she is in her own ability and lethal potential. Not only does Shiva have some of the best fight scenes in the movie but she also has some of the best lines, such as when she chooses her opponent in one of the big boss fights: “I’ll take the girl, her look offends me!” I also absolutely loved one scene which saw the voice of Karai from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles face off against three green-clad ninjas respectfully wielding sai, nunchaku and a bo staff. The character’s casual comment of “You know how to use those?” followed by her effortlessly taking all three out was just perfect and it has me laughing pretty heavily. I think that Shiva was probably my favourite character in the entire movie and I am really impressed with how she was written and portrayed.

The final member of the main four characters is Ben Turner, the angry and dangerous African-American fighter better known as Bronze Tiger. Bronze Tiger is a major martial artist in the DC canon who is probably best known for his run in the Suicide Squad comics. Bronze Tiger is voiced by Michael Jai White, who recently portrayed the live-action version of the character in Arrow. I really liked Bronze Tiger throughout Soul of the Dragon, as the film captures a lot of his essence from his original comic appearances and subsequently turn him into a fantastic character in this movie. Part of the reason why is that he goes through the most development out of all the main characters, especially as several flashbacks bridge the gap between his student days and his current character, showing several pivotal events in his life. I absolutely loved his look in this movie, as they made the decision to model him on African-American actor and martial artist, Jim Kelly, with some elements of other 70s African-American characters like Shaft and Luke Cage thrown in. There is a particularly fun joke around this character when Richard misremembers the character’s codename as Black Samurai, a reference to the Jim Kelly movie of the same name, and the subsequent approval of the team at his actual codename of Bronze Tiger was very entertaining. White does some excellent voice work for Bronze Tiger in this film and he successfully showcases the character’s intense anger at the start of the story before evolving it into a more zen-like persona towards the end. I would say that Bronze Tiger was a little overshadowed by the three other protagonists, but he was still a great addition to the movie and is a fun character to follow.

Aside from the main four characters, there is a particular focus on the mentor character of O-Sensei, who is voiced in this film by the legendary James Hong. O-Sensei is a fantastic character with an intriguing history in DC Comics, being a major figure in the lives of Richard Dragon, Shiva and Bronze Tiger. This is actually O-Sensei’s first named appearance outside of the comics, and he proves to be a fantastic and fun addition to the movie’s narrative. Hong portrays the character as a wise but humorous kung fu master, offering deep insights and amusing jokes in equal measure to the younger characters, while also forming them into a close family. O-Sensei proves to be an extremely likeable character, with some deep and powerful moments that ensure that the viewer appreciates and enjoys him. I particularly loved Hong’s voice work throughout the movie and I felt that he really dived into the character and made him stand out, especially in some later scenes in the movie where there are some intriguing twists around him. An overall outstanding and exceptional part of the cast, I am extremely glad they got Hong for this movie.

No comic book movie will be complete without some villains, and to my mind this is where Soul of the Dragon falls a little flat. The antagonists of this film are the members of the Cult of the Kobra (essentially DC’s version of Hydra, both of which were created by Jack Kirby). Kobra are led by their prophet, Jeffrey Burr (voiced by Josh Keaton), backed up by his henchmen Schlangenfaust (Robin Atkin Downes), Lady Eve (Grey Griffin) and King Snake (Patrick Seitz). While all of these characters are voiced perfectly and have some cool moments throughout the movie, such as Burr’s creepy introduction, his belief in his prophesised destiny and Schlangenfaust’s hidden abilities, I honestly found each of these villains to be a little underwhelming. None of them (with the possible exception of Schlangenfaust) really stood out to me and they were all very generic sort of villains to the story. That being said, Soul of the Dragon did feature two hidden antagonists at different points of film who add some major twists to the tale. Both of these villains were rather good and moved the story along in some intriguing and entertaining directions. I particularly loved the appearance of one antagonistic character towards the end of the movie, and while his appearance was slightly predictable, it proved to be a major highlight of the film, resulting in some outstanding scenes. As a result, it was rather easy for me to forgive some of the downsides of the Kobra villains as the overall antagonists of this film turned out to be extremely good.

Overall, I think that Batman: Soul of the Dragon was an exceptional animated film that was a heck of a lot of fun to watch. Thanks to its combination of an epic story, captivating and well-written characters and a tone that is a fun nod to classic and campy kung fu movies, this movie gets a full five stars from me. This is definitely a movie I will watch multiple times in the future, and it comes highly recommended. I very much looking forward to seeing the next entries in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies range (there is a Justice Society movie and an adaption of Batman: The Long Halloween coming out later this year), and I will have to have a go at reviewing them when they come out.

WWW Wednesday – 27 January 2021

On January 27, 2021January 27, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday5 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (Trade Paperback)

I finally got around to starting The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, which was one of the most highly regarded fantasy debuts of 2020. I am only about 50 pages into this novel at the moment but so far I am really enjoying this book with its weird bone magic, Eastern influenced setting and sinking islands. The Bone Shard Daughter looks set to be an awesome read and I am really glad that I’ve begun reading it.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Audiobook)

I have made some substantial progress on this latest Star Wars novel. Light of the Jedi is a fantastic and compelling new addition to the canon set hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga during the period known as The High Republic. An awesome and exciting read, I should finish this off in the next few days.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Return by Harry Sidebottom (Trade Paperback)

Colonyside by Michael Mammay (Audiobook)

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson (Trade Paperback)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Waiting on Wednesday – Gamora & Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzi Lee

On January 27, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Superhero, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday, Young Adult7 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this latest Waiting on Wednesday article, I take a look at a very cool upcoming young adult novel that follows two captivating and popular members of the Marvel Comics universe with Gamora & Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzi Lee.

Gamora and Nebula - Sisters in Arms Cover

Mackenzi Lee is a bestselling author who has produced a wide range of intriguing and powerful novels in her impressive career. Lee is probably best known for her Montague Siblings series, which follows a cad and his sister as they explore some of the insanities of historical Europe. I personally know Lee best for her recent series of young adult tie-in novels based around characters from Marvel Comics. Lee is currently working on a cool trilogy of novels that follows teenage versions of iconic Marvel antiheroes as they embark in complex and exciting adventures. This series started back in 2019 with the very enjoyable Loki: Where Mischief Lies, which set the titular trickster god on an emotionally harrowing adventure in Victorian London. I very much enjoyed this cool novel about a young, insecure Loki, and I have been really looking forward to seeing which fantastic character Lee focuses her next book on.

The wait is over as I finally have some solid details about the second book in this young adult superhero series, Gamora & Nebula: Sisters in Arms, which is currently set for release on 1 June 2021. As the name suggests, this upcoming book will follow the siblings Gamora and Nebula, daughters of the ruthless tyrant Thanos, as they engage in a dangerous game of life and death on a desolate, western-inspired planet. A number of details about this book have already been released, and I have pulled together the following synopsis from a couple of sites to highlight what is going to happen in the book.

Synopsis:

The relationship between teenage adopted sisters Gamora and Nebula is as volatile as ever. When they end up on a deteriorating planet being mined for its valuable resources, the two sisters are faced with a series of events that force them to explore the source of their rivalry-and where their loyalty truly lies. This action-packed yet sincere story will tug on the heartstrings of anyone who has ever had to learn how deeply weird and changeable trust can be.

Gamora arrives on Torndune—a once-lush planet that has been strip-mined for the power source beneath its surface—with a mission: collect the heart of the planet. She doesn’t know who sent her, why they want it, or even what the heart of a planet looks like. But as the daughter of Thanos, the right hand of her father, and one of the galaxy’s most legendary warriors, her job is not to ask questions. Her job is to do what she’s told, no matter the cost.

What she doesn’t know is that her sister Nebula is in hot pursuit. Nebula has followed Gamora to Torndune in hopes of claiming the planet’s heart first and shaming her sister as vengeance for the part she played in Nebula losing her arm. While Gamora falls in with a group of miners attempting to overthrow the tyrannical mining corporation that controls their lives, Nebula allies herself with the Universal Church of Truth, whose missionaries wait on every street corner to recruit more followers and tithes for the Matriarch. Both sisters hope their alliance will give them access to one of the massive diggers capable of drilling to the center of the planet.

But they closer they get to the heart of the planet—and to each other—the closer they get to uncovering the truth of what brought them there and the role they may unknowingly be playing in a twisted competition with galactic consequences. A competition they can never win . . . unless they learn to trust each other.

And trust is the biggest lie in the galaxy.

Now this sounds like it is going to be an intense and amazing novel, and I cannot wait to see what cool magic Lee weaves together in her latest book. The entire premise of these two deadly siblings fighting to be the one to claim a mysterious object (which is probably going to be an Infinity Stone) has a lot of potential for action, excitement and manipulation, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out. It also sounds like Lee is going to dive into some interesting aspects of the cosmic-based Marvel Comics. Not only will Thanos, Gamora and Nebula be featured but the author is also going to look at somewhat obscure groups like the Universal Church of Truth, an old-school Guardians of the Galaxy antagonist. This should add some intriguing elements to the narrative of this book, and I will be curious to see what other characters and organisations make an appearance throughout Sisters in Arms.

While the plot of this book sounds very impressive, it looks like a great deal of this novel’s focus will be on the relationship between Gamora and Nebula. From what I understand, Sisters in Arms will be set in a period when Gamora is still loyal to her father, who regularly pits her against Nebula, resulting in her sister losing her arm, and probably more. As a result, the two characters will start off as bitter rivals and the novel will spend substantial time examining the complex relationship between the two warriors. This should prove to be an intriguing and compelling heart of Sisters in Arms, and I am very curious to see how deeply Lee dives into the hearts and minds of these fantastic characters. I felt that Lee did a fantastic job examining and exploring the true Loki in her previous novel, and I am anticipating some more great character work in this second book. It will be interesting to see how this turns out and I am hopeful it will turn out to be an impressive highlight of the novel.

Based on everything I heard above, and because of her awesome work with Loki: Where Mischief Lies, I think that this new upcoming novel from Lee is going to be extremely enjoyable. I really like the sound of the incredible story that is going to be featured in Gamora & Nebula: Sisters at Arms and I am very excited to see more of these two beloved comic characters. I really do believe that this upcoming book will be an awesome read and I am looking forward to it.

Top Ten Tuesday – Australian Books of 2020

On January 26, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, List18 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants were supposed to list their top new-to-me authors that they read in 2020, however, I am going to do something a little differently here at The Unseen Library. I have actually already completed and published this list a few weeks ago as I knew in advance that I would be doing an alternate list today. The reason for this is because 26 January is Australia Day, so I thought that I would take this opportunity to highlight some of the top pieces of fiction written by Australian authors that I read in 2020.

Each of year talented Australian authors produce an impressive and exciting range of amazing fiction from across the various genres, many of which I am lucky enough to get copies of from the local publishers. As a result, I tend to read and review a ton of novels by Australian authors, most of which turn out to be some outstanding reads that I deeply enjoy. While I have previously listed my absolute favourite pieces of Australian authored fiction, I thought that this year I would change it up and examine which Australian novels were the best in 2020.

To qualify for this list, a novel had to be released in 2020 and written by an Australian author, which I am defining as anyone born in Australia or who currently lives here (Australia is very good at adopting talented people as our own). This resulted in a surprisingly long list, including several novels that I considered to be some of the best reads of last year. I was eventually able to whittle this novel down to the absolute cream of the crop and came up with a fantastic top ten list (with my typical generous honourable mentions). I really enjoyed how this list turned out, especially as it features novels from a range of different genres, all of which ended up being very awesome Australian novels.

Honourable Mentions:

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Cover

Finding Eadie by Caroline Beecham

Finding Eadie Cover

Last Survivor by Tony Park

Last Survivor Cover

Where Fortune Lies by Mary-Anne O’Connor

Where Fortune Lies

Top Ten List:

Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke

Hollow Empire Cover 2

Let us start this list on a very high note with Hollow Empire by Canberran author Sam Hawke. Hollow Empire was the exciting and much-anticipated sequel to Hawke’s epic fantasy debut, City of Lies, which continued the fantastic adventures of two poison-eating siblings as they attempt to save their city from war and intrigue. This second novel was an exciting and deeply compelling read filled with new dangers, new enemies and an amazing selection of clever twists and reveals. A deeply enjoyable novel that was one of the best fantasy novels of the year, I cannot talk up Hollow Empire enough.

A Testament of Character by Sulari Gentill

A Testament of Character Cover

The second entry on this list is the 10^th historical murder mystery book in Gentill’s long-running Rowland Sinclair series, A Testament of Character. This fantastic novel sent the titular protagonist and his bohemian friends on a captivating adventure in 1930’s America as they attempt to find out who killed an old associate of theirs. I always have a great deal of fun when I read the Rowland Sinclair novels, and A Testament of Character turned out to be an impressive and highly enjoyable entry in the series which I deeply enjoyed.

Stormblood by Jeremy Szal

Stormblood Cover

Next up we have the exciting and creative science fiction debut, Stormblood, by brilliant new author Jeremy Szal. This great new novel serves as the impressive first entry in a bold new series that follows a former soldier who was purposely infected by alien biological enhancements as he attempted to uncover a massive conspiracy on an elaborate space station. Stormblood was an excellent and amazing read that perfectly sets up this cool series and which is really worth reading. A sequel, Blindspace, is set for release later this year, and I am rather looking forward to it.

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

Either Side of Midnight Cover

I only recently finished off this dramatic and compelling Australian murder mystery, but I had to include it on this list due to its clever mystery and complex characters. A fantastic sequel to 2018’s Greenlight, this is Australian crime fiction at its best and comes highly recommended.

The Erasure Initiative by Lili Wilkinson

The Erasure Initiative Cover

One of the most unusual but extremely captivating pieces of Australian fiction this year was The Erasure Initiative by the infinitely talented Lili Wilkinson. Wilkinson, who previously wrote the exceptional After the Lights Go Out, produced another high-concept and darkly creative young adult science fiction thriller that sees several strangers will no memories of their past locked in a bus by someone with a strange and lethal agenda. Clever, intense and highly addictive, The Erasure Initiative was just amazing, and I ended up really loving it.

The Queen’s Captain by Peter Watt

The Queen's Captain Cover

One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Peter Watt, finished off his action-packed Colonial series on a high note with the amazing The Queen’s Captain. Serving as a great conclusion to the story featured in The Queen’s Colonial and The Queen’s Tiger, this latest novel took the protagonist on another set of deadly adventures in the Victorian empire and was a very awesome book to read.

Hideout by Jack Heath

Hideout Cover

I had to include the fantastically fun and incredibly exciting Hideout by another Canberran author, Jack Heath. This was the third novel in Heath’s fantastic Timothy Blake series. It follows a cannibalistic protagonist as he attempts to kill and eat a house full of sociopathic killers. An excellent read that you can really sink your teeth into, this is an awesome one to check out.

Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Burning Cover

If you are in the mood for an exceedingly fast-paced science fiction read, you need to check out the latest outstanding young adult read from the dream team of Australian authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. The epic sequel to 2019’s Aurora Rising, this latest novel continues an impressive tale that follows several cool teen protagonists on a wild adventure in space with the entire universe gunning for them. Thanks to the epic cliffhanger at the end, I will have to grab the third entry in this series when it comes out, and I cannot wait to see how it ends.

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold

The Last Smile in Sunder City

The Last Smile in Sunder City is a sensational fantasy thriller that follows a depressed private investigator as he attempts to find a missing girl in a city tragically devastated by the destruction of all magic. Arnold’s debut was pretty damn awesome, and he has already followed it up with a sequel, Dead Man in a Ditch. A clever and inventive read from a fantastic new author, this is a great book to check out.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

The Night Swim Cover

Last, but certainly not least, was the moving and dramatic thriller The Night Swim, by acclaimed up and coming Australian author Megan Goldin. Goldin is a talented and dramatic writer who previously wrote the bestselling thriller The Escape Room. This latest novel from Goldin was a clever and powerful read that examined two haunting crimes taking place over two generations. The Night Swim was an impressive novel, and I cannot wait to see what Goldin will come up with next.

Well, that is the end of this latest list and I am really happy that I got a chance to highlight some of the cool Australian releases of 2020. The above books represent an outstanding collection of fiction from talented Australian authors, and each of them comes highly recommended by me. I had a lot of fun coming up with this list and I plan to examine my favourite Australian novels of 2021 this time next year. Until then, stay tuned for more epic reviews and lists, and make sure you let me know who your favourite Australian authors are in the comments below.

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

On January 26, 2021May 17, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery7 Comments

Either Side of Midnight Cover

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 1 September 2020)

Series: Jack Quick – Book Two

Length: 327 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Following his outstanding 2018 debut, up and coming Australian crime fiction author Benjamin Stevenson returns with an excellent and exciting new novel, Either Side of Midnight.

Sam Midford is a man who seems to have it all. The host of a popular current affairs program, Midnight Tonight, Sam routinely provides fun and insightful jokes to the Australian public. But his latest show is about to deliver something very different for the audience, as a nervous Sam pulls out a gun on live television and shoots himself in the head. The resulting video is seen by millions, and the entirety of the country is shocked by his actions, believing it to be the tragic suicide of a secretly disturbed and haunted individual.

However, there is one person who is convinced that Sam’s death was something very different from suicide: his twin brother, Harry. Harry believes that Sam was murdered, but with incontrovertible evidence of his suicide seen by a multitude of witnesses, how can this possibly be the case? Determined to prove that there is more to his brother’s death, Harry seeks the help of someone who is almost as notorious as his dead brother, disgraced former television producer and true crime documentary maker Jack Quick.

Following the infamous and deadly conclusion to his documentary series, Jack is currently serving time in prison for tampering with evidence in a murder investigation. In the final days of his sentence, Jack is approached by Harry, who believes that he is the only person capable of finding out the real truth behind Sam’s death. In desperate need of money to support his family, Jack reluctantly accepts the case, believing that all he will uncover is proof that Sam committed suicide. However, he soon discovers several inconsistencies in Sam’s death as well as evidence that connects his suicide to that of a young girl in the brothers’ past. Diving deeper, Jack begins to think that there is a sinister killer at work, using subtle and deadly methods to murder their victims. There is more than one way to kill someone, and Jack is about to discover just how dangerous his new obsession is.

Either Side of Midnight is a fantastic and outstanding read from one of the rising stars of Australian fiction, Benjamin Stevenson. Stevenson is a Canberra-born comedian and musician who recently made the jump to crime fiction author with his debut novel, Greenlight (which was subsequently released as Trust Me When I Lie and She Lies in the Vines outside of Australia). Greenlight was a compelling and intriguing novel that followed a guilt-ridden true crime documentary maker who suddenly became convinced that the man his show released from prison was actually guilty. Set amongst the distinctive scenery of Australia’s wine country, Greenlight was a deeply impressive debut that provided the reader with a dark and clever murder mystery. Either Side of Midnight is the sequel to Greenlight and is set 18 months after the events of the first book, with the same protagonist engaging in another sinister investigation.

Either Side of Midnight contains an outstanding story that presents the reader with another captivating and intense investigation told through the eyes of the series’ damaged and dark protagonist. Stevenson has come up with a very clever story for this novel which forces the characters to investigate a murder that appears to be a very public suicide. I really liked this cool plot premise when I first heard about it and I was glad that Stevenson was able to work it into such a captivating and cohesive narrative. The investigation starts off quick and fast and does not slow down throughout the entire book, as the author comes up with some excellent twists and dark turns to throw the reader on an emotional rollercoaster, and I was deeply surprised with the final reveals of this mystery. The entire premise of how the victim is killed is extremely clever and topical, and while I cannot talk about it without spoiling the plot, I felt that Stevenson came up with a great story around it and did a fantastic job tying it into real-world events. I also really enjoyed Either Side of Midnight’s intense and impressive ending, not only because of the eventual reveal of the true perpetrator of the murder was extremely clever and perfectly set up, but also because of the thrilling and deadly confrontation with the protagonist, which includes the villain setting up extraordinarily evil and extremely memorable means of taking Jack out.

Either Side of Midnight also serves as an excellent sequel to Stevenson’s first novel and I felt that the story elements from Greenlight flowed really well into the plot of this second novel. This fantastic mystery can also be easily read as a standalone novel, as the author does a great job of revisiting some of the key plot elements from the previous entry. This ended up being a fantastic read, and I really appreciated the very dark edge that Stevenson gave to the story, which allowed for an extremely compelling and dangerously addictive tale. I do need to point out that this book is probably best avoided by readers who are triggered by mentions of suicide, as there are some rather graphic scenes and discussions, so be warned about that. That being said, I had an amazing time reading this new novel from Stevenson and I ended up powering through this intense story in less than a day.

You cannot talk about Either Side of Midnight without discussing the compellingly damaged main protagonist, Jack Quick, who returns for another harrowing adventure. When we last left Jack, he had been sentenced to two years in prison for manipulating evidence to ensure the success of his true crime documentary. Jack, who was extremely emotionally and mentally strained in the first book, has started to recover somewhat since the events of Greenlight, having finally started to get help with his bulimia and having confessed his darkest secret to his father. But life once again gets substantially complicated for Jack when he is reluctantly drawn back into the triggering world of lies, murder and television production due to his family obligations. I liked Stevenson’s portrayal of Jack in this novel; the events of the first book have made him a little more responsible and compassionate and less of a dick than before. However, he is still a clever and somewhat manipulative person who manages to BS his way towards the truth and proves to be an entertaining protagonist to follow. Stevenson continues to examine Jack’s battle with bulimia, a particularly distinctive character trait for a male crime fiction protagonist, in a realistic manner and I really appreciated the way in which the author dives into the psychology of the disorder. There is also a fantastic continuation of the storyline from the first novel around Jack’s older brother Liam who, after an accident Jack witnessed as a child, has been in a permanent vegetative state. The fate of Liam and the guilt that Jack feels for his condition is a major part of the protagonist’s character arc in Either Side of Midnight, especially as Jack and his father are forced to discuss ending his care, and it proved to be an excellent and touching part of the novel’s plot. I really enjoy Stevenson’s outstanding portrayal of this complex character and the examination of his various battles and issues was an essential part of Either Side of Midnight’s outstanding plot.

While the obvious focus of Either Side of Midnight is Jack, Stevenson has also loaded up his second novel with several other damaged and distinctive characters, each of whom add some intriguing angles to this great story. The most significant of these characters are the Milford twins, Sam and Harry, who serve as the victim and main driving force of the novel respectfully. The Milford twins, also known as the Midnight Twins, are a former comedy duo who split apart several years earlier, when Sam went on to host his television show and Harry vanished into obscurity. The author really dives into the background and psyche of these two characters. Sam was haunted by the guilt over his lost girlfriend, who died while the two twins were trapped on a Ferris wheel. Harry, the younger twin, is filled with regret and sadness over how their partnership ended, and their relationship soured. Both characters ended up being complex and damaged individuals, and their struggles have major impacts on Either Side of Midnight’s narrative. Stevenson did a fantastic job with these characters, and I really appreciated the intriguing storylines that he weaved around them. It was also interesting to see Benjamin Stevenson portray a set of twin comedy entertainers, as he himself is a member of a comedy duo, known as The Stevenson Experience, with his twin brother James. You have to assume that Stevenson used a lot of his own experiences to build up these characters and their comedy routine, and I felt this was a fantastic part of the novel, although I’m going to avoid reading too much into the author killing off one of the twins. I also really enjoyed some of the other damaged characters featured throughout the book, and the protagonist is forced to examine several compelling and tragic backstories to get to the truth of this case. There is a particular focus on loss and the impacts it has on relatives of the deceased that I particularly appreciated, especially as three major characters (Jack, Harry and side character Ryan) each survived a great tragedy that impacted an older sibling. I had an incredible time getting to know the broken and bereaved characters in this novel, and it turned out to be a significant part of this fantastic narrative.

One of the other cool features of this book was the author’s excellent use of the rugged Australian setting, which was also one of the most distinctive features of the first entry in the series. While this book does not spend as much time in the rough countryside as Greenlight did, with most of Either Side of Midnight taking place in urban Sydney, a good part of the plot does take place in a small coastal town. I really liked the parts of the novel set within this small-town environment as it proved to be an isolated and at times dark setting for this excellent mystery. The author did a fantastic job of bringing a distinctively Australian rundown town to life in a way that is very realistic to anyone who has done some travel around coastal Australia, which was really cool to see. I also liked how Stevenson takes the time to examine and parody some elements of wider Australia, particularly its television industry, with the investigation centred on a fictional Australian television network. This fictional network shares a lot in common with some of the real-life television networks here in Australia. Anyone who is familiar with some of the main Australian networks will really appreciate Stevenson’s portrayal of these television stations, as he mirrors the stations’ numerical names, provides notable callouts to some extremely popular shows, and portrays some of bitter rivalries the main commercial networks have with each other. This actually becomes a major part of the plot, and I loved seeing the cynical protagonist navigating the cutthroat rivalries based around a series of soap operas and reality television programs (especially as I am not a big fan of these sort of shows, and they are absolutely saturated in our programming). Overall, I felt that the author provided a very Australian setting which proved to be an amazing backdrop to this excellent novel.

Either Side of Midnight was an exceptional and amazing second novel from Australian author Benjamin Stevenson that comes highly recommended. Stevenson has produced an addictive and dark crime fiction story that sees an excellent protagonist investigate an impossible crime. Featuring great characters, an impressive mystery and a fantastic setting, Either Side of Midnight is an excellent novel that is easily one of my favourite Australian fiction novels of 2020.

Amazon

Throwback Thursday: Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 11: Seasons by Stan Sakai

On January 22, 2021August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday8 Comments

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (Paperback – 1999)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Book 11

Length: 198 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

It has been a while since I have done a Usagi Yojimbo Throwback Thursday, but after doing a Waiting on Wednesday for the next upcoming volume in this epic series, Homecoming, I was in a Usagi mood and decided to write something extra. As a result, I check out the 11^th Usagi Yojimbo volume by the legendary Stan Sakai, Seasons.

Seasons is a fantastic and spectacular entry in the series that presents the reader with a series of great Usagi Yojimbo adventures that follow the rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi as he traverses his version of feudal Japan during the various seasons of the year. This is a key entry in the series as it sets up a number of storylines for the next several volumes while also introducing some great new characters. Needless to say, I had an incredible time reading this volume of the series and I have a lot of love for a number of the stories contained within it. Seasons contains issues #7-12 of the Dark Horse Comics run on the Usagi Yojimbo series, as well as stories taken from the Usagi Yojimbo Colour Special. This results in 11 separate stories throughout the volume, made up of single-issue entries and a couple of shorter tales, all of which contain an impressive and deeply enjoyable story with beautiful artwork.

The first story featured within Seasons is The Withered Field, an epic story of samurai honour and the warrior’s way. In this story, Usagi is visiting a famed fencing school with the hope of challenging some of its instructors to test his skill. However, before he can issue his challenge, all of the school’s instructors are beaten by another ronin, Nakamura Koji, a skilled swordsman who demands a fight with the school’s master. As he waits for his challenge, Usagi befriends him and discovers that he was once a famed sword master himself, who began the warrior’s pilgrimage after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of a mysterious and unconventional swordsman. Now determined to find this swordsman and rechallenge him, Nakamura Koji shows great interest in Usagi, especially when they must content with treachery from the fencing school.

The Withered Field is an outstanding story that serves as a compelling and powerful start to this volume. I really enjoyed the amazing narrative that examined honour and martial prowess, with Usagi encountering a famed warrior who is even better than he is. This great story does an excellent job of introducing the character of Nakamura Koji, who becomes a major figure in some of the future volumes in this series and who has an interesting connection to Usagi and his past. The entire storyline around the two ronin facing off against the fencing school is extremely cool and action packed, and it appears to take a lot of influence from the second entry in the iconic 1950s Samurai film trilogy (which follows the adventures of Miyamoto Musashi, the historical samurai who serves as an inspiration for Usagi), Duel of Ichijoji Temple, with the students attempting to stop the wandering ronin from defeating their master. There are amazing action sequences throughout this story, with Usagi and Nakamura Koji engaging in several awesome duels. I particularly loved the opening sequence where Koji goes through the pre-fight forms before facing off in his sparring match against a fencing school instructor. The eventual reveal that the samurai who defeated Koji when he was younger was Usagi’s mentor, Katsuichi, comes as little surprise, but it sets up an amazing story later in the series which makes this great story a must read for fans of Usagi Yojimbo.

Seasons’ second story is the thrilling but haunting A Promise in the Snow, which sees Usagi travelling through a snowy mountain pass during the height of winter. As he trudges along, he comes across bandits attacking an innocent merchant and his servants. Intervening, Usagi is able to slay all the bandits, but not before they severely wound the merchant. Usagi finds the merchant’s young daughter and promises to save her father, carrying him back to his village. However, the mountain passes are treacherous, and Usagi must contend with harsh weather, a pack of hungry wild tokage lizards and a dangerous avalanche. But no matter what the mountain throws at him, nothing will prepare Usagi for the great shock awaiting him at the end of his journey.

This is a great entry in this volume that features a desperate struggle for survival in a dangerous location. Sakai came up with an epic story for A Promise in the Snow, and I really love seeing Usagi power through great trials and tribulations to keep his promise to a young girl. There are some beautifully drawn scenes throughout this story, and Sakai does a fantastic job bringing the snowy landscape to life in all its wondrous, deadly glory. I also loved the way in which Sakai’s drawings highlighted Usagi’s struggles to get through the tough terrain; you can see him get more and more weary with each obstacle he encounters. This story has a fantastic ending that is reminiscent of a lot of classic ghost tales, and looking back you see that Sakai set this twist up brilliantly, with tons of little clues. Overall, this was an exceptional story which is a true highlight of this volume.

Next up with have the action-packed, intriguing story, The Conspiracy of Eight. In this entry, Usagi is visiting the temple of his friend, priest Sanshobo, when an injured samurai wearing the crest of the notorious Lord Hikiji arrives at the gate. The samurai bears a dangerous letter that names eight conspirators who are plotting against the Shogun. As Usagi and Sanshobo debate what to do with the information, a large force of ronin arrives at the temple, determined to claim the injured samurai and kill all witnesses.

This is another fantastic entry in Seasons that once again sees Usagi drawn into a major conspiracy impacting the realm. There are a lot of cool elements to this story, such as Usagi and Sanshobo being forced to mount a defence of the temple from a dangerous siege. This is a great, fast-paced story, and I really liked the unique battle scenes, especially the monks with staffs facing off against sword-wielding bandits. Many of the plot elements contained within this tale come into play in several later Usagi Yojimbo stories, including one featured later in this volume, and I think Sakai did an exceptional job introducing them in The Conspiracy of Eight. I also liked seeing the return of Sanshobo, the wise and noble priest and former samurai general. Sanshobo serves as a good foil to Usagi’s more impulsive nature, cautioning him about acting in the affairs of great lords and counselling him that his proposed actions could lead to the death of many people. While mainly a figure of wisdom, Sanshobo also serves as a great leader, utilising his experiences as a general to defend his temple and keep his monks alive. The Conspiracy of Eight ends up being a very solid and enjoyable entry in this volume and I very much enjoyed seeing Sakai solidify a great new side character.

Right after The Conspiracy of Eight comes another intriguing story that is primarily set within Sanshobo’s temple, Snakes and Blossoms. In this entry, Usagi tells two short tales to Sanshobo: one that describes a crazy misadventure he had, and another that describes some important lessons from his past. This two shorter tales work as sub-stories to Snakes and Blossoms and ensures that it is a distinctive entry in Seasons. The first of the shorter tales is titled Hebi, which is set shortly after the events of the final story in Volume 7: Gen’s Story and sees Usagi and Gen once again lost following one of Gen’s shortcuts. As the two ronin wander the unused paths, Gen saves Usagi from a wild snake that attempts to kill him. However, Gen’s heroic actions has unexpected consequences when the two travellers are confronted by a mysterious nun at an abandoned temple later that night. This was a rather cool horror story that exemplifies the sort of weird situations that Usagi can find himself in. I loved the way in which Sakai plays Usagi and Gen off each other, and there are some very humorous interactions between this oddball pairing. There is also some really insane artwork in this short story, and I loved the fantastic and scary sight of a giant snake emerging from its disguise to try and kill the protagonists.

The other short story contained within Snakes and Blossoms is the cute tale, The Courage of the Plum. The Courage of the Plum takes place during Usagi’s childhood when he is training with his master, Katsuichi. As the two walk through the snow, Katsuichi attempts to teach his student the various hidden aspects of nature around them, including the trees, each of which can represent human virtues. The young Usagi is particularly intrigued by Katsuichi’s description of the humble plum tree as brave, and Katsuichi schools Usagi on how this smaller tree can be braver than the mightiest of oaks. I always enjoy the depictions of Usagi’s unorthodox training under Katsuichi, as the student and teacher have a very amusing dynamic, and The Courage of the Plum turned out to be a delightful shorter entry with some intriguing philosophical discussion and some lovely drawings of the winter landscape. Overall, Hebi and The Courage of Plum make for a fantastic combination of tales and I quite enjoyed seeing these two unique, short stories come together.

Up next in Seasons is an amazing shorter entry, Return to Adachi Plain, which sees Usagi journey back to the site of his greatest defeat, Adachi Plain, the battlefield where his lord Mifune (named after actor Toshiro Mifune, who starred in multiple classic samurai films that Sakai references in his works, including as Miyamoto Musashi in the Samurai trilogy), was killed in front of him. Flashing back to tragic events that started his wandering lifestyle, Usagi remembers the battle in greater detail and the reader sees not only the role he played in saving the head of his lord from mutilation but also the first time he came directly in conflict with the villainous Lord Hikiji.

Return to Adachi Plain is a fantastic entry in this series as it is essentially one big war sequence, showing Usagi amid a violent battle from his past. This story expands on the war sequence that was shown in Volume 2: Samurai, and it was really cool to see more of this battle, especially the combat scene between Usagi and Hikiji, which serves as the origin for Usagi’s distinctive forehead scar. A fantastic shorter story that provides greater depth to Usagi’s role in this major defeat, this battle sequence was later reused in colour in Volume 34: Bunraku and Other Stories, and the events disclosed within is likely to come up in the upcoming Volume 35: Homecoming.

The next story in this volume is a relatively short entry called The Crossing. The Crossing is set aboard a small passenger ship where a group of rowdy peasants sing and dance to a fun folk song on deck. However, during the climax of the performance, one of the peasants accidently bumps into an arrogant samurai who takes offence and moves to kill the transgressor, until a fellow passenger intervenes. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the Good Samaritan isn’t Usagi; instead it is the demon spearman Jei.

This is a captivating darker story that once again highlights just how dangerous and deranged Jei, one of the best antagonists in the entire Usagi Yojimbo series, is. Sakai has written an extremely clever tale here that does a wonderful job showcasing Jei’s compelling nature as both a defender of the innocent and a raging psychopath who views nearly everyone as evil in form or another. It’s fantastic watching the expressions on the peasants’ faces turn from relief to absolute terror as they slowly realise just how crazy Jei is, and you have to love that entertaining ending with the unsuspecting dock worker. The Crossing serves as an excellent follow-up to several other shorter Jei stories that appeared in recent volumes, including The Nature of the Viper (which appeared in Volume 9: Daisho) and Black Soul (which appeared in Volume 10: The Brink of Life and Death), and this ends up being an impressive and compelling filler story in this volume.

The shorter entries keep on coming! The Patience of the Spider introduces a new compelling character, General Ikeda. Ikeda is a famed warrior and general who led a revolt against the Geishu Clan years ago (when the clan was ruled by the father of Usagi’s friend Lord Noriyuki). When his revolt fails and his army is vanquished, Ikeda and two of his retainers flee to an abandoned farm and determine that their next course of action is to hide and wait. Using a patient web-building spider as inspiration, Ikeda and his comrades show fortitude and restraint by disguising themselves as peasants and farming the land as they wait for the opportune moment. However, as the years pass and Ikeda gains a family and faces the many harsh trials and dangers that await a peasant farmer, he begins to see the world differently, until the once notorious general is a completely new person, one with very different desires and dreams.

The Patience of the Spider is an outstanding example of how Sakai can quickly build up an intriguing and powerful character and ensure that the reader is utterly transfixed by their tale. While this entry is relatively short, it is very impactful and may be one of the best stories in Seasons. The tale of General Ikeda, as he faces the many different hardships of peasant life, including drought, bandits, floods and great personal loss, while also experiencing great joy and community, is extremely well written. It proves to be extremely captivating to see this resolute man slowly change his nature as life overcomes him. This also proves to be an excellent introduction to the character of Ikeda, who will go on to have a substantial role in the two big Grasscutter storylines, and his amazing character arc has an exceptional start here. A very impressive and powerful tale, The Patience of the Spider is an amazing character-driven narrative from Sakai that is an absolute treat to read.

The next story featured in Seasons is the curious tale, The Lord of the Owls, which sees Usagi encounter a strange fellow traveller. As Usagi stops at an inn, he witnesses a group of ruffians follow after a mysterious hooded samurai walking the road with the intention of robbing him. Following them, Usagi witnesses the figure quickly kill the bandits after first startling him with his hypnotic and powerful gaze. This man is eventually introduced as Oyama Tadanori, the mysterious Lord of the Owls, who reputedly can see the future and who claims that his destiny is intertwined with Usagi.

This was an interesting story that presents the reader with a lot of curious and unanswered questions. While the main story is rather good, especially when it comes to the fate of the greedy bandits, the reader is left extremely mystified by the Lord of the Owls and his powers of prediction. This entry opens up a rather fascinating storyline that is still not complete; despite an appearance in a later comic, Usagi is still waiting to uncover more about this figure and their combined destiny. While I am hopeful that this story will pay off somewhere down the line, but in the meantime this particular entry has some great action sequences, a fun new character and some stunning landscape shots, which makes it really worth checking out.

Up next with have a clever story, The First Tenet, which deals with the machination and inside politics of the Neko Ninja clan. In this entry, Kagemaru, the second in command of the Neko Ninja, makes a move to betray his commander, Chizu, by reporting some of her recent personal missions to Lord Hebi, Lord Hikiji’s chief advisor. Hebi, who is enraged by the news that Chizu is moving the Neko Ninja against the interests of Lord Hikiji, considers supporting Kagemura but is reluctant, especially as “deceit is the first tenet of the ninja”. However, Kagemaru has subtle ways of getting what he wants, and soon Hebi finds himself in a dangerous situation that will change the future of the Neko Ninja forever.

The First Tenet is a great story that masterfully shows of the duplicitous internal politics of the Neko Ninja and the supporters of Lord Hikiji. The storyline started here will eventually have some interesting implications for major side character Chizu, and Sakai does a fantastic job setting it up. I loved all the plotting and subterfuge that appears in this story, and it proves to be a fun and clever read. I also love the massive battle scene that occurs in the middle of the tale, and it was particularly cool to see Lord Hebi, a massive snake, finally get into a fight. Hebi is a terrifying figure to behold in combat, and it is worth reading this story just to see that. An excellent and exciting addition to Seasons, I really enjoyed The First Tenet, especially as it leads to a lot of outstanding ninja storylines down the road.

Seasons’ penultimate story is The Obakeneko of the Geishu Clan, a chilling supernatural tale that sees Usagi and his companions face off against a malignant spirit. As Usagi draws closer to the lands of his friends in the Geishu Clan, he stops outside a ruined mansion where he suddenly recalls the last time he was there. Flashing back to shortly after the events of Volume 4: The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, Usagi, Gen and Tomoe are travelling back to Geishu lands and attempt to seek shelter at a beautiful mansion. The mansion belongs to the Lady Takagi, a mysterious woman who provides them with rooms and food and seems quite happy for the company. However, as the night continues, Tomoe grows suspicious with their host and attempts to investigate, eventually revealing that Lady Takagi is a demon who is determined to kill and eat her guests.

This was a very fast-paced and exciting tale that provides an awesome horror edge to the stories contained with Seasons. I love it when Sakai features iconic Japanese supernatural monsters in his tale as they always prove to be outstanding and fearsome opponents for the protagonists. The monster featured within The Obakeneko of the Geishu Clan is no exception, and I loved the freaky tale based around her and the desperate fight for survival that Usagi and his friends are forced to undertake. While Sakai mostly focuses on the horror aspects of this story, I liked how he included a few humorous moments, such as including a great reference to Sakai’s prior comic, Groo the Wanderer: “did I err?”, as well as the funny concluding moment that sees Usagi fleeing in terror from a couple of woodcutters. This was a really fantastic supernatural tale and it is always cool to see Sakai’s amazing depictions of these inventive Japanese monsters.

The final story in this excellent volume is the intense and action-packed Green Persimmon. In this story Usagi, who is on his way to the Geishu lands, comes across a dying Geishu retainer who entrusts Usagi with delivering a mysterious package to his lord. Opening the package reveals a simple and seemingly unremarkable ceramic green persimmon. However, moments after receiving the persimmon, Usagi is attacked by a band of armed samurai who are desperate to reclaim it at all costs. Managing to defeat his attackers, Usagi continues along the rough and windy coast road to the Geishu lands, but he encounters even more men determined to reclaim the persimmon and is soon forced to fight for his life as his attackers employ ruthless means to kill him.

Green Persimmon is an awesome and fantastic story that I deeply enjoyed, and which holds a great deal of significance for me. This was actually the first Usagi Yojimbo story that I ever read, as a colour version of this story appeared in a magazine aimed at younger teens down here in Australia when I was a lot younger. This story really stuck with me over the years due to the exciting story and cool action sequences, and it was one of the main reasons (along with Usagi’s appearances in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons) that I decided to check out the Usagi Yojimbo comics in later life. Needless to say, I am still very impressed with Green Persimmon years later; it is an enjoyable and memorable story to end this 11^th volume. I love the fluid combat sequences in this issue, including Usagi throwing the persimmon into the air and killing all his opponents before deftly catching it, and there are also some great banter scenes between Usagi and his attackers. I also enjoyed the epic scene where Usagi finds himself trapped within a field of flame thanks to a flurry of fire arrows around him. Not only is it cool that Usagi successfully survives by utilising the lessons of the legend of Prince Yamato Takeru and the Grass-Cutting Sword (the full events of which are drawn by Sakai in the next volume), but when he emerges from the ground covered in soot and dirt, he looks particularly demonic and enraged as he faces his opponents, making for an epic and amazing scene. All of this is set to a fantastically drawn background of the rugged coastal landscape, which proves to be a fantastic setting for the various combat scenes. If I had to offer any criticism about this story, it would be that the conclusion and reveal of the purpose of the ceramic persimmon did not really go anywhere and there were no mentions of this victory over series antagonist, Lord Hikiji, ever again. However, I still really love this entry as Green Persimmon has so many cool and impressive elements to it and it is a great end note for this volume.

Seasons is another fantastic and incredible comic by Stan Sakai that sees Usagi engage in some captivating and intriguing adventures. Featuring a cool mixture of different Usagi Yojimbo tales, Seasons is an amazing entry in the series. I absolutely love a lot of the stories contained within this volume, which are once again anchored by outstanding character and breathtaking artwork. This volume gets a full five-star rating from me and comes highly recommended. On a side note, I am very glad that I decided to do another Usagi Yojimbo comic in a Throwback Thursday article as I have a lot of fun reviewing them. I might have to skip ahead a volume for my next Throwback Thursday, as I cannot find my copy of Volume 12, Grasscutter. However, I will either find it or get a new copy soon, as Grasscutter is too major a storyline to miss. I hope you enjoy the review and make sure to check out some of the other reviews I have done of this epic and amazing series.

Amazon

WWW Wednesday – 20 January 2021

On January 20, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday1 Comment

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

The Return by Harry Sidebottom (Trade Paperback)

I started reading the latest impressive Roman historical fiction novel from the amazing Harry Sidebottom, The Return, and I am about two thirds of the way through it at the moment. This is the third great Roman novel Sidebottom has done in recent years (make sure to check out my reviews of The Last Hour and The Lost Ten), and I am really enjoying the excellent blend of historical fiction and dark murder mystery elements. A fantastic and compelling read, I should hopefully finish it off in the next couple of days.

Colonyside by Michael Mammay (Audiobook)

Colonyside is the third Planetside novel from an amazing new science fiction talent, Michael Mammay that I have been really looking forward to for a while. Serving as a sequel to his first two epic novels Planetside and Spaceside (both of which were my among my top reads of 2018 and 2019 respectfully), Colonyside sees the protagonist engage in another clever investigation on an alien world. Featuring an deeply captivating mystery and an outstanding story, Colonyside is an impressive read that I am really enjoying. I have just under two hours to go with it and I cannot wait to see how the entire thing ends up (hopefully the protagonist doesn’t nuke an entire planet, again).

What did you recently finish reading?

Fool Me Twice by Jeff Lindsay (Trade Paperback)

Altered Realms: Ascension by B. F. Rockriver (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Audiobook)

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Waiting on Wednesday – Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 35: Homecoming by Stan Sakai

On January 20, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Waiting on Wednesday5 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this latest Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at one of my most anticipated reads for the first half of 2021, the next volume of Stan Sakai’s epic Usagi Yojimbo comic series, Homecoming.

Usagi Yojimbo - Homecoming

I have made it no secret that I am a huge fan of Stan Sakai’s long-running and exceptional Usagi Yojimbo series, and it easily one of my favourite comic book series of all time. The Usagi Yojimbo comics are set in an alternate version of feudal Japan and follow the protagonist, rabbit samurai Miyamoto Usagi, as he adventures through a land populated by anthropomorphic animals. This outstanding series has been going since the 1980s, and I have had an amazing time reading and rereading this cool comic over the years due to the excellent combination of compelling stories, complex characters and breathtaking artwork. In recent years I have reviewed some of the latest volumes when they are released (including Volume 32: Mysteries, Volume 33: The Hidden and Volume 34: Bunraku and Other Stories), and I have also gone back and started reviewing the earlier entries in the series, which has proved to be a lot of fun. My only regret about being a Usagi Yojimbo fan is that only one volume of the comic is released each year, and once I get a copy, I have to wait an entire year for the next volume.

Luckily for me, my wait is nearly over as the next volume of this series, Homecoming, is currently set for release on 27 April 2021. Homecoming will be the 35^th volume of the Usagi Yojimbo series and will contain issues #8-14 of the current run of the series, which is published by IDW. This means that the upcoming volume will be printed in colour, which is a relatively new feature that was started in the last volume, and which adds some fantastic visual detail to the story. In this latest upcoming volume, it looks like Usagi will journey to some of the most important locations from his past and find himself once again involved in the nefarious plots of one of his most dangerous enemies.

Synopsis:

Volume Two of the new series sees Usagi return to his home province to pay his respects, but ghosts from his past have other plans.

In “Tatami,” Usagi returns to his home province only to find intrigue and betrayal! An important tea ceremony is about to take place, but what sinister plan does Lord Hikiji have for it and how are the Neko ninja clan involved?

Then, in “Mon,” long ago, Lord Hikiji defeated Usagi’s Lord Mifune to take control of the Northern Province. Usagi, now traveling through his old territories, still wears the mon (a family crest) of his former lord. But, there are those who still remember the Great Wars with bitterness and threaten to kill any samurai loyal to Mifune. What happens when they come across Usagi?

In “The Return,” Usagi is on a pilgrimage to his late lord’s gravesite, however, wearing the Mifune clan crest in Lord Hikiji’s territory has made him an enemy. Traveling through this dangerous land he has made his way to the one place he had been avoiding–the village in which he grew up. Bittersweet memories awaken with his long-time love, until the village becomes embroiled in a plot to assassinate an emissary of the shogun.

Ooh, now this sounds like it is going to be a rather cool collection of connected stories, and I have a very strong feeling that I am really going to enjoy them. People familiar with the comic will know that the Lord Hikiji mentioned above is the major overarching antagonist of Usagi Yojimbo; he not only killed both Usagi’s father and his lord in the past but has also been plotting against the Shogun and several of Usagi’s friends in the current plot line. Hikiji’s schemes have taken a bit of a back seat in recent years, with Usagi dealing with other antagonists and dangers, although he was so well built up in the earlier entries of this series that he is always a lurking shadow in the Usagi Yojimbo universe. As a result, I am rather intrigued to see an entire volume that is going to be dedicated to Usagi facing off against Hikiji’s minions again, especially as they are going to tie directly into the wars that made Usagi a masterless, wandering samurai.

All three of the stories mentioned in the synopsis sound really cool and I look forward to seeing how each of them turns out. The first story, Tatami, will apparently revolve around a tea ceremony, with Hikiji and the Neko Ninja operating some elaborate scheme around it. Sakai has presented some truly masterful depictions of the traditional tea ceremony before, and I imagine that you will see some cool artwork in this upcoming volume, which will no doubt really pop with the added colour. It will be really interesting to see how this entire story turns out, and no doubt it will serve as the basis for the rest of the narratives contained within Homecoming.

The next story in this volume, Mon, also sounds extremely compelling, and I think it is going to be a fantastic addition to Homecoming. Mon will apparently see Usagi return to the battlefields of his youth, where he will encounter those who hold a grudge against Usagi’s deceased lord and his now masterless retainers, and who will have issue with Usagi wearing the crest of his lord (the three dots shaped in a triangle that have been part of Usagi’s clothes for essentially his entire run). There are so many potentially awesome ways that this story can go, and I look forward to seeing how the wars affected other characters aside from Usagi and how running into other veterans or victims will impact him. In particular, I look forward to seeing Usagi’s role in the battle of Adachi Plain (as shown in Volume 2: Samurai, Volume 11: Seasons and in Volume 34: Bunraku and Other Stories), once again come to the fore of the story, and no doubt Usagi will have some issues with some of the survivors of these wars. This entire scenario has a lot of potential to be awesome, and I cannot wait to see how Sakai revisits this integral part of Usagi’s backstory.

The final story mentioned in the synopsis is The Return (which incidentally is the name of a historical fiction book I am reading at the moment), which sees Usagi journey back to his childhood village, where yet another plot awaits. Out of all the stories that have been mentioned for this volume, I think that The Return is the one that has the most potential for dramatic and emotionally rich moments, as Usagi has so much history waiting for him back at his village. You have to assume that Usagi will once again encounter Mariko, the love of his life who he can never be with, and Kenichi, his old childhood rival who ended up marrying Mariko. There is also a chance that he will once again come across Jotaro, his secret son with Mariko, who has previously travelled with Usagi as his pupil. The two previous stories which saw Usagi return home (as seen in Volume 1: The Ronin and Volume 6: Circles) were loaded with some incredible and heartbreaking character moments, and I imagine a lot of these issues will once again rise to the surface in this latest story. Throw in an assassination plot and you have the basis for a truly outstanding Usagi Yojimbo story which I cannot wait to read.

I think it is pretty clear after seeing me go on about this upcoming volume that I am really going to enjoy Usagi Yojimbo: Homecoming. All of the featured stories mentioned in the synopsis sound pretty damn epic, and I love the fact that Sakai is going to dive into some pretty heavy storylines that could have some significant impact on the overall series. Based on how much I have loved every single other Usagi Yojimbo comic I have ever read, I know well in advance that Homecoming is probably going to get a five-star review from me and it will no doubt be one of the best things I read in 2021.