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The Scorpion, a review
This is a review of The Scorpion, by Stephen D. Sullivan, the first in a series of Legends of the Five Rings spin off novels charting the story of the Scorpion Clan Coup and the start of the Clan War which formed the storyline for the first part of the L5R card game. Each of the novels will be by a different author. The other two novels so far announced at The Unicorn, and The Crane, by Ree Sosbee
Well I got my copy of The Scorpion yesterday and read it before I went to bed, and I have to say that I am pleasantly suprised. The novel really is not that bad, and I have read a lot of spin-off novels to compare it to, in fact its one of the best game-genre novels I think I have read so far. Compared to the vehicles for the Battletech or Star Wars plots that line the bookshelves of many bookstores The Scorpion shows a lot more care an attention, though the cover blurb leaves a lot to be desired.
Most of the characters are lovely, the Scorpion are well realised, much better than I had dared hope, with kachiko and Taberu especially good. Shoju comes across as dangerous and feared, which lives up to how we know he was and there are other fine touches, like Asami and Hantei Sotorii's spoilt manners. One of the chapters focusses on a mission by Kachiko to impersonate the owner of a Geisha house, and is done with a fine touch that makes Kachiko seen cunning without overdoing the stupidity of those around her.
Sure there are a few little mistakes, Shoju smiles a bit much, Toturi is a little too weak, and some of the samurai-samurai relations don't quite ring true (a little too informal sometimes with a little too much use of contractions) and there are a few AD&D'ish moments early on in the novel Others (in reviews online) have also already alluded to some errors of background, the most glaring being Seppun Baka being spelt Bake throughout, and the second 'i' being missing from Iaijutsu, but other details of both Rokugani and Japanese culture are well rendered and there are no glaring details of the coup itself that sit out of place with what I knew about the story.
Like many I worried about the story being given to an l5r novice, and perhaps it could have been still better had it been given to a veteran, but Sullivan does not do a bad job. His dedication makes it clear that he is afan of samurai culture, of haiku and of Kurosawa films, and becasue of this he handles the Rokugani world with a fairly deft touch (even if Shoju will not stop smiling).
All in all well worth the reading, I am glad to say.
