Saevus Corax Captures the Castle by K. J. Parker

On February 1, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy, Five-Star Books7 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 21 November 2023)

Series: Corax – Book Two

Length: 321 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the funniest fantasy authors in the game presents a fantastic second entry in his closely released Corax trilogy with the hilarious and brutally brilliant Saevus Corax Captures the Castle.

In 2023, fantasy author K. J. Parker (a pseudonym of author Tom Holt), had an incredible blast of creativity as he managed to release an entire trilogy within the space of a month with the outstanding Corax series. Set to follow an infamous battlefield salvager, the titular Saevus Corax, as he finds himself getting dragged into all manner of unusual scenarios, this series sounded so damn fun. I was particularly intrigued, especially as these books were set in the same universe as his epic The Siege series, which featured Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (one of my favourite books of 2019), How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It (one of my favourite books of 2020) and A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (one of my favourite books of 2022).

While I managed to get all three of Parker’s Corax books last year, I only had the chance to read the first novel, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead before 2023 ended. This first entry in the trilogy was pretty damn incredible, and I loved the wonderful and highly entertaining story it contained, especially as it was masterfully layered with Parker’s trademark humour. Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead got an easy five-star rating from me, and it ended up being one of my favourite books of 2023. As such, I really want to get through the other two Corax books as soon as possible so I quickly powered through the second one, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, last weekend. Saeuvs Corax Captures the Castle was another outstanding read that I had such I wonderful time with.

Several years after his last outrageous adventure when he was crowned a king against his will, Saevus Corax is back to what he knows best, battlefield salvage. While it is not the most glamorous work, it provides a living for his large crew of outcasts and rogues, as they tour their world’s many scattered battlefields, rescuing and repurposing everything they can recover from the dead. However, a nemesis with a personal grudge will send Corax on a dangerous path he might have no escape from.

When several of his men are kidnapped, Corax’s only apparent chance to save them is to capture a delipidated castle in the middle of nowhere. Utilising his unconventional tactics and knowledge of warfare, Corax begins his impromptu siege, only to discover that his old flame, the beautiful con artist Stauracia, is in charge of the castle’s defence, and she has no intention of losing to Corax again.

But why is Corax’s new unwelcomed employer so determined to capture the castle, and what are they hoping to achieve by using Corax’s motley crew? The truth has the potential to plunge the whole world into war if Corax can’t keep it under wraps. However, Corax soon finds himself distracted by revelations from his past, as he finds hope being dangled before his eyes. Can Corax survive this latest misadventure and the dastardly rivals it brings, or has he finally met his match?

The second Corax book proved to be just as funny, addictive, and inventive as the first awesome entry, and I had such an outstanding time with Saevus Corax Captures the Castle. Placing his wonderfully witty and world-weary protagonist on the course for more unusual conflict, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle had me fully hooked from the very first word and I just had to give it another full five-star rating.

Parker came up with a pretty clever and memorable narrative for Saevus Corax Capture the Castle, which proved to be a lot of fun to read. Starting with another entertaining look at one of the group’s salvage jobs, the book soon places Corax’s entire group in a bad situation when members of the salvage band are kidnapped, and the only way to get them back is by capturing a castle. So begins a battle of wits as Corax pits his innate knowledge of war and human nature against the manipulation of his old foe Stauracia, as they both try and work out why they have been charged with looking after an isolated castle. This impromptu siege between two groups of people who do not actually want to be there proves to be quite entertaining, and it serves as a fun focus for the first half of the book. This first half also features several flashbacks into Corax’s past, especially the events that have occurred since Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, which provides some interesting motivations and looks at the connections between Corax and the book’s main antagonist.

Thanks to some deeply personal manipulations, there is an interesting and dramatic plot change in the second half of Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, as Corax finds himself motivated to journey alone to a forbidden nation. This change from a siege to an independent journey actually works really well in the context of the story, and it builds on a lot of cleverly hidden elements and clues from the earlier plot. You are really on the edge of your seat during this second part of the book, especially as Corax is in the direst of scenarios, and I loved seeing him use his understanding of people to get out of trouble. The ending of this misguided quest proves to be very clever and a little heartbreaking, as Corax finds what he is looking for, but it’s not what he wants. It does allow him a few bits of knowledge that let him destroy his opponents back home and get the payday, although nothing is every that simple for Corax. I liked the intriguing tone that Parker left this second book on, especially as like the first book, the protagonist soon realises that he’s happiest when back doing what he does best.

Saevus Corax Captures the Castle features the exact same writing style as the first book in the series, which you tend to notice when you read these books in quick succession. I personally liked this continuation of style, especially as it is what made me a fan of Parker in the first place, and it results in quite an entertaining story. Told in a chronicle format from the perspective of main character Saevus Corax, the book is his account of events, filled with his commentary, observations and memories, to tell an intriguing tale. Corax proves to be a very fun narrator, and his ultra-cynical take on the world has an entertaining influence on the story which is hard not to enjoy. The resulting mixture of betrayals, manipulations and unconventional warfare really comes together into quite a comprehensive and fun story thanks to this great narration, and I was chuckling the entire way through.

The series continues to utilise the unique world that Parker came up with for both the Corax books and The Siege novels, and the fun references to some of the prior events are quite amusing. As I mentioned in my review for Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, this series is in some ways more of an alternate history novel rather than a fantasy book, as it does not feature any magic or unnatural elements. Instead, we get a world of war, politics, and domineering nations, which acts as a satirical mirror of our own history. I would still prefer some form of map up front to keep track of where the characters are going and where some of the nations being discussed are in relation to each other, but you can get by without one. While there are a few mentions of the previous novel in the series, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle is for the most part a standalone novel, and anyone interested in a particularly fun tale can dive in here no problem. However, I would personally suggest going from the start of the trilogy, if for no other reason than some of the jokes in this sequel are a little funnier after Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, and you get the full understanding of the unique relationship between Corax and Stauracia. It also solves one of the main mysteries from the first book, and it would not surprise me if a couple of story elements from this novel are featured in the third and final novel in the series.

As you would expect from a first-person perspective novel like this, most of the focus is on the titular Saevus Corax, whose unique adventures we are following. Corax is a very typical Parker protagonist, in that he is an intelligent and cynical being who would rather live a simple life doing what he does best, but instead finds himself thrust into complex and dangerous events. This proves to be a fun character dynamic, and I loved seeing the often-exasperated Corax forced to deal with people trying to outsmart and manipulate him while he is just trying to do the right thing. Luckily his strong ability to understand how people think and then use that to outplay them often keeps him out of trouble, and it is quite entertaining to see him casually stop a clever enemy plan, just because they are doing exactly what he would. His distrustful, intense, and often very honest outlook on life really impacts how the reader sees the world he lives in, and you really grow to appreciate his take on events, especially as he knows everyone is out to get him. However, readers do get to see another side of Corax in this second book, especially as you get to see how his one previous attempt at romance worked out, and the impacts its tragic ending has on him cause him to act out in some big ways. As such, this is a very intriguing book for this great character, and I had a wonderful time seeing him develop even further.

Aside from Corax, the cast of Saevus Corax Captures the Castle is pretty fun, as Parker comes up with an interesting group of self-centred, occasionally loyal, but mostly treacherous figures to partner up with our favourite rogue. The most prominent of these is Stauracia, who was both a secondary antagonist of the first novel and the protagonist’s love interest. Stauracia is a con-artist who has run afoul of Corax and his group before, and who finds herself forced to work both with and against them in this novel. Smart, manipulative, and utterly lovely, Stauracia is the perfect foil for the more subdued Corax, and they have some amazing chemistry in this book. I loved the unique relationship that bloomed between them that is often driven more by dislike or mistrust than anything else, but both of them come away a bit better from knowing the other. Other major characters include the group of unlikely companions that make up Corax’s battlefield scavengers. Their constant bickering makes for a fun background to many scenes, and I like how they are usually annoyed with Corax’s antics, although they keep following because no-one else could do the job better. Throw in a great villain, whose prior connections to Corax result in some brutal plots against him, and the cast of Saevus Corax Capture the Castle are extremely entertaining, and I loved seeing the unique narrative that formed around them.

Overall, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle was a highly fun and utterly amazing novel from K. J. Parker that I cannot recommend enough. Featuring all the humour, entertaining cynicism and clever characters that made the first Corax book so incredible, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle serves as an outstanding sequel that continues the series in an awesome way. An outstanding and epic read, this was such a great book and I cannot wait to read the final Corax novel as soon as I can.

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Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead by K. J. Parker

On December 31, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy, Five-Star Books9 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 10 October 2023)

Series: Corax – Book One

Length: 359 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 pages

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One of the most unique and funny authors of fantasy fiction, K. J. Parker, returns with an outstanding and hilarious read about a likeable protagonist caught up in the middle of so much drama, with Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead.

Few authors have the comedic chops and inventiveness of K. J. Parker, whose work I have been deeply enjoying over the last few years. A pseudonym of established fantasy author Tom Holt, Parker has written a ton of unique and compelling reads over the years, including some outstanding novels that set outrageous and clever protagonists against the stupidity of their world in some impressive scenarios. I particularly enjoyed Parker’s recent The Siege series, which saw three very different men take advantage of a major siege in very different ways. All three Siege books were extremely epic, and they all got five-star ratings from me because of their clever stories, entertaining characters, and fantastic comedy. This includes Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (one of my favourite books of 2019), How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It (one of my favourite books of 2020) and A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (one of my favourite books of 2022).

Due to how much I enjoyed Parker’s last series, I was very excited when I found out that he had a fun new trilogy coming out in 2023. This series, the Corax trilogy, follows Saevus Corax, a professional battlefield looter who runs afoul of multiple groups, nations and people in his quest for survival and the big score. Parker, who seems to be an unstoppable force when it comes to writing, released all three Corax books in the space of around a month, which is pretty damn impressive. I have so far had the great pleasure of reading the first of these, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, which proved to be an exceptional novel and one of my favourite books of 2023.

Saevus Corax is a man with a twisted and hidden past, who seeks to make a new future for himself by looting the many, many battlefields that scatter his world. Leading a professional band of scavengers, Corax makes his living by selling recovered and repaired gear from the dead to warring armies desperate or greedy enough to buy from him. While not the most glamorous work, it’s a job Corax excels at, and it allows him to escape his complicated history. But the past always has a habit of coming back when you least expect it, especially when there is a great deal of money on the line.

Finishing up a lucrative job, Corax and his men are shocked to discover that they are being accused of committing a brazen heist and now have a price on their heads. Assuming that he is the true target of this bounty, Corax soon finds himself targeted by the two most powerful banking organisations on the continent. Forced to flee, Corax finds himself the most wanted man alive, with several nefarious organisations, as well as vengeful members of his own family, placing a massive bounty on his head. But who is Corax really, and why does everyone want him either alive or dead?

To understand that you’ll need to unwrap Corax’s complex history, and the events that turned him into the most important figure in world politics. But Corax is sick of being a pawn in everyone else’s game, and he soon starts to make his own moves to ensure his independence. Will Corax survive, or will his attempts at upsetting the board result in chaos and destruction across the world?

This was an absolutely amazing read from K. J. Parker that placed a very likeable and relatable protagonist into one heck of an elaborate bind. Filled with a wry humour, outrageous scenarios and constant treachery, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead was an outstanding read that gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead has a great story that is told in a first-person chronicle format from the perspective of titular protagonist Saevus Corax. This is the exact way that Parker wrote The Siege trilogy, and indeed this book is set in the same world several hundred years down the line. This results in a different landscape for the story, with the bulk of the technology, culture, and certain story elements reminiscent of medieval times rather than the previously seen Romanesque setting, and Parker uses this to his full advantage, especially as the protagonist finds himself caught in a battle between this world’s equivalent of the historic banking giants, the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. While nominally a fantasy novel, as it is set in a different world, this series often comes across more as an alternate history novel with comedic undertones, which is highly fun.

The author comes up with an awesome tale surrounding this scenario, as the compelling protagonist is thrust into this conflict against his will thanks to certain aspects of his birth. Corax recounts this entire adventure in detail, as he first attempts to ascertain who is trying to capture him after framing him for a crime, before eventually going on the run. Despite promising the reader to always tell the truth, Corax proves to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, mainly because he doesn’t have a desire to share his own personal history unless he must. However, this hidden history comes into play quite a lot, as his past ensures he is immensely important for just being him.

Inevitably betrayed and captured, Corax is sent off to experience his destiny, which results in some substantial carnage as the protagonist attempts to either escape or turn the situation to his advantage. This leads to several amusing battles, impractical wars, and other major confrontations, as Corax and the other characters lie, backstab and manipulate to try and get what they want. Watching a highly practical man with a professional understanding of warfare and a capable imagination face off against various foes who constantly underestimate him makes for some great entertainment, and the various twists and turns that emerge are so much fun. This entire story comes together extremely well, and the sheer number of betrayals, changing loyalties and attempts by people to use the protagonist for their own advantage ensure you’re never certain who’s going to come out on top of every brilliant scene. The conclusion of Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead’s plot is very clever, and it brings together a lot of the unique world and compelling story elements that have been built up over the course of the story. The way that the protagonist overturns everything just to maintain his life is so much fun, and the fitting rewards all the characters get is very fun.

I have so much love for how this story comes together, as the protagonist’s recounting of events really works to give you a personal and complex take. Every moment of the story is told through Saevus Corax’s cynical and distrustful eye, which adds a certain slant to events, and the author does a great job of providing some fun, but detailed, context to the events unfolding. Much of this book’s excellent humour is lifted from these outrageous situations that the protagonist finds himself in. The protagonist does a great job of expressing the ridiculousness of many of these moments, as well as the funny ways he manages to oppose them, often by using simple human nature or flaws in various systems to his advantage. I loved how well Parker introduced his protagonist is this novel, and Corax’s excellent narration of current events, as well as the compelling and often emotionally charged retelling of his personal history, comes together well to tell an impressive story. I really cannot emphasise enough how well this first-person narration works, and the detailed recounting of events from a grounded, sensible and exasperated figure really makes for a unique tale.

As the first book in this new trilogy, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead is a self-contained book, and readers don’t need to have read any of Parker’s previous novels to appreciate it. As a fan of The Siege series, I enjoyed that the Corax books are set in the same world, especially as the author slips in some fun references and allusions to prior events. However, no prior knowledge of The Siege books is needed, as the protagonist provides all the relevant world history in his narration, with a few fun and ironic points about the unreliability of prior narrators. Parker does a good job of quickly building and exploring the various nations and powers in this world, especially if they relate to the plot, and I liked some of the fun parallels that exist between some of them and real historical entities. The interplay of politics, the rivalries between powers, and the simple desire many of these groups have to betray each other is well set out as a result, and this works into the plot of the book very effectively, especially once you begin to understand just who Corax is. I really enjoyed how all these elements are explored in the plot, although I did on multiple occasions wish that Parker had included some form of map just so I could have kept track of locations and nations. I honestly had such a great time returning to this amazing world, especially as we got to follow yet another unlikely leader who was able to change the world just by applying their own unique brand of knowledge and an understanding of how fallible humans can be.

Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead was an incredible novel from K. J. Parker that continues to showcase his exceptional and comedic writing style. Setting a great protagonist down a chaotic road, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead had an amazing story which Parker showcases in his well-honed and enjoyable style. Immensely clever and exceedingly funny, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead comes highly recommended, and I loved every second I spent reading it. I already have both sequels, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle and Saevus Corax Gets Away with Murder (both with very intriguing titles), and I am hoping to read them as soon as possible as I know I will love them too.

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Throwback Thursday: Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 8: Shades of Death by Stan Sakai

On June 19, 2020August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday7 Comments

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (Paperback – 1997)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Book 8

Length: 200 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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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’s been a little while since I’ve done a Throwback Thursday article so I thought I would go back to the old faithful that is the incredible Usagi Yojimbo series and review the eighth volume, Shades of Death.

Shades of Death follows on right after the events of the seventh Usagi Yojimbo volume, Gen’s Story, and continues to follow the adventures of the rabbit samurai, Miyamoto Usagi, in this alternate version of feudal Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals. This eighth volume of the series is particularly significant as it is the first volume to be published by Dark Horse Comics, who printed the series for over 22 years, and who were only recently replaced by IDW for the latest volume, Bunraku and Other Stories. However, the issues within this volume were originally printed by Mirage Comics, who did the entire second run of the Usagi Yojimbo series. The Dark Horse Comics/Mirage Comics printing style is similar to the style used by the previous publisher, Fantagraphics Books. The only major difference is that the Dark Horse Comics volumes come with a story notes section at the back, as well as copies of all the covers for the various issues. I’m actually a big fan of the story notes that they started including in these volumes, as they contain some fascinating background information about some of the stories, including details about the various legends or elements of Japanese culture that Sakai focuses on in his story. Shades of Death contains issues #1-6 of the second run of the Usagi Yojimbo series, as well as containing stories from #7-8, and is made up of two major storylines and several shorter entries.

The first story is Shades of Green, and it is probably the most distinctive entry in this entire volume. The story starts with Usagi and his frequent travelling companion, Gen, being ambushed out on the road by a horde of Neko Ninja, forcing them to dive into a river to avoid being killed. Usagi and Gen eventually wash up near a remote village and encounter the mysterious rat mystic, Kakera, who asks Usagi and Gen for his help. Kakera reveals that the Neko Ninja are after him, as they hope to use his abilities to help rebuild their clan’s power after the events of The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy (volume 4). To that end, they have surrounded the village and intend to kill everyone in order to get Kakera, and even the skilled Usagi and Gen will be unable to stand up to their numbers. With no other help on the way, Kakera is forced to use his magic to summon four very special warriors to stand by their sides, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Shades of Green is a fantastic and clever story that also serves as an excellent crossover between two iconic comic book series. Pretty much the big thing about this story is the way that is introduces all four members of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the Usagi Yojimbo universe. Fans of either Usagi Yojimbo or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise will be aware that these two comics have had numerous crossovers throughout the years, with Usagi appearing in three of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television shows. The Turtles who appear in Shades of Green are the original Mirage Comics versions of these characters, who were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and who had their own long-running series during the time this volume was published. Usagi has actually encountered Leonardo from this version of the Turtles several times before, including back in the third volume of Usagi Yojimbo, The Wanderer’s Road, so the two groups of characters were able to team up rather quickly. I thought that this was an incredible crossover, and I especially loved the dynamic between the Turtles and Usagi and Gen. Not only do you get the mutual respect that Usagi and Leonardo have for each-other but there is a rather fun dynamic between Gen and the other Turtles. I particularly liked one scene where Michelangelo questions the logic of the Usagi Yojimbo universe, including why the horses aren’t sentient but rabbits and rhinos are (something I have always wondered), and even asking Gen if he has a tail, which it turns out is a rather personal question. There are also some really fun battle sequences throughout this book, and it was great to see the two samurai team up with the Turtles to fight a whole bunch of ninjas. I really liked this crossover between them, and I also think that Sakai did an amazing job drawing and portraying these characters.

In addition to the crossover elements, Shades of Green also contains a rather intriguing overall narrative, especially the parts of it that examine the leadership of the Neko Ninja clan. The Neko Ninja clan has been in a bit of decline since the fourth volume, when a large number of their ninjas, including their leader, Shingen, died. Much of the plot of this storyline revolves around two high-ranking members of the Neko Ninja, the ambitious Gunji and Shingen’s sister Chizu, fighting for control of the clan, with their battle centred on the hunt for Kakera. This proved to be really exciting, and it was cool to see the internal ninja feud, while the clan is facing off against the protagonists. This book also contained the first meeting between Usagi and Chizu, who goes on to become a major recurring character in the series as well as a potential love interest for Usagi. I quite enjoyed Shades of Green, and it definitely serves as a memorable entry in the Usagi Yojimbo series that showcases how cool a crossover with this series can be.

The next entry is a short story called Jizo, which only runs for a few pages. Despite its shorter length, this is a rather inventive and surprisingly powerful story that I have a lot of love for. Jizo is set on the side of a road, and features a mother placing a dosojin, a roadside icon, of Jizo-sama, in order to help the soul of her deceased young son who was recently killed by bandits. According to Buddhist beliefs, her son’s soul is attempting to make its way into paradise by piling rocks to cross a river. By leaving the statue to Jizo, the patron and protector of children, by the side of the road, the mother is hoping that passing travellers will place a stone near it, which will help her dead son’s soul in his eternal task. The story than continues without dialogue, as the statue of Jizo watches the road, noting the various travellers who walk across it. This includes Usagi, who runs into the same bandits who killed the child, and his actions seem to provide the statue with a measure of peace. This was a clever and beautifully rendered story, and I loved that Sakai redrew the same stretch of road for every single panel. This was such a fantastic concept, and I loved how he told such a powerful story with a minimum of dialogue, only utilising some exposition from the mother at the start and end of the story. The shots of the same stretch or road were done extremely well, and it was fun to see the various people who walked past the statue during the course of the day. Not only were there some familiar faces but there were several intriguing and distinctive-looking people going about all manner of different activities. It was also cool to learn a little bit about the statues to Jizo-sama, something I saw several times when I went to Japan, and the story notes I mentioned above proved to be really useful and interesting in regards to this. I was really impressed with this entry, and I loved the compelling story that Sakai told with his fantastic drawings.

The third story in this volume is Shi, an action-packed and exciting tale that I really enjoyed. Shi sees a wandering Usagi come to a crossroad, where he lets fate and the gods choose his route (a homage to the start of the film Yojimbo). His chosen path takes him to a market town where he witnesses a peasant being bullied by a group of thugs. Intervening, Usagi chases the thugs off and is invited to the peasant’s village for dinner. However, it soon becomes clear that something strange is happening at the village, as the thugs arrive soon after and appear determined to scare all the villagers away. Investigating, Usagi soon finds himself in the midst of a conspiracy involving the local magistrate and his brother, who are determined to kill Usagi and his new friends. To that end they hire a group of four assassins, who call themselves Shi (a reworking of the Japanese character for Shi turns it into a character for death).

Shi proved to be an compelling entry that serves as one of the main two stories for this volume (indeed, if you combine the names of the first story, Shades of Green, with the title of this story, Shi, which in this case means death, you get the volume’s overall title, Shades of Death). There are some great elements to this action-packed story: the intriguing conspiracy, Usagi’s mixed encounters with the villagers that he is trying to save, and some funny moments as Usagi effortlessly deals with the initial group of thugs. However, the best part of the book has to be the extended fight sequence at the end as Usagi takes on the four members of Shi, each of whom is master of a different type of weapon (sword, spear, bow and the sickle-and-chain). This was a brutal and exhausting fight for Usagi, and it serves as an impressive main set piece for the entire story. It also results in a rather confronting and memorable sequence where, in the aftermath of the fight, Usagi is challenged by a local peasant who is jealous of the attention Usagi is receiving from his betrothed. The peasant gamely steps up to fight Usagi, claiming not to be afraid, only to be faced by an enraged samurai who is worked up into a blood rage after his battle. The look of anger and hate on Usagi’s face is surprisingly terrifying, and I love how demonic Sakai made him look, showing off a darker side to his complex protagonist. I also really enjoyed the entry’s two shady antagonists in the magistrate and his brother. These two duplicitous siblings make for a murderous team, especially when each of them attempts to betray the other in a fantastic conclusion that showcases the consequences of greed. Overall, Shi was an exceptional story that I had an awesome time reading.

The next story in Shades of Death is a fun entry titled The Lizards’ Tale, which focuses on a group of Tokages, the dinosaur-like lizard critters that infest the Usagi Yojimbo universe. In this story, a group of chilly Tokages attempt to warm themselves up one snowy night by snuggling together in the warmest place they can find, around the sleeping body of Usagi. Awakening the next morning, Usagi finds himself surrounded by the potentially vicious creatures, and only manages to flee by throwing them a bag of food and running for it. However, the Tokages are not that easily escaped, and they continue to follow Usagi hoping to get more food out of him. Despite his comical efforts to get rid of them, Usagi soon grows attached the Tokage pack, especially after they help him out of a sticky situation with some bandits. The Lizards’ Tale is a very fun and humorous story that provides some light-hearted moments in this volume after some of the preceding darker stories. I really liked how Sakai told the story without any dialogue whatsoever, relying on only the exaggerated movements and facial expressions of the various characters and the Tokage to tell the story. This was an incredibly entertaining entry, and I had a great laugh as I went through it.

The final three stories are a bunch of shorter entries that focus on a younger Usagi as he trains with his sword master, Katsuichi. These three stories include Usagi’s Garden, Autumn and Battlefield, and feature some character-building moments for the protagonist. Each of these three stories is rather good, and it is always interesting to see a younger Usagi when he is a rash trainee, rather than the wiser, battle-hardened warrior that he is in the rest of the series. These three short stories contain a fun mix of narratives, including one about Usagi learning patience and honesty by attempting to grow plants, another where he frees the spirit of Autumn, Aki-Onna (Autumn Women) from a monster, and a final story where he sees his first battlefield and learns that there is rarely glory or honour in the midst of war. These were a great collection of stories, and I liked the moral based narratives that each of them contained. Reading these three shorter stories proved to be a good way to end the volume and it was nice to have some low-stakes entries to wrap everything up with.

As usual, Sakai’s artwork for this volume was deeply impressive for every story, and I loved every aspect of his drawings throughout Shades of Death. While I have already mentioned his fantastic fight sequences, the cool character designs and amazing use of facial expressions while talking about some of the stories above, I also have to highlight the detailed background sequences and depictions of the beautiful, multi-seasonal Japanese landscapes. Every panel of this book is loaded with incredible detail, and I loved examining all the different backgrounds, especially as I see something new and different in this volume every time I read it. Sakai did some outstanding artwork in this volume, and it was a real treat to see his drawings and characters come to life.

Shades of Death is another incredible volume in the exception Usagi Yojimbo comic book series from the legendary Stan Sakai. Featuring some top-notch narratives, impressive character inclusions and some eye-popping artwork, Shades of Death was an exciting and captivating read. I loved every second that I spend reading this volume, and this eighth volume gets another five-star rating from me.

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