Friday, March 28, 2014

Revenge of the Akuma Clan by Benjamin Martin

When I finished Samurai Awakening, the first book in this series, my reaction was basically "I love it!". Now, for Revenge of the Akuma Clan, my reaction is "I LOVE IT AND I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW!"

But before I start, I need to thank Benjamin for the review copy that he sent. And it's autographed so this is one book I'm never getting rid off :D

Revenge of the Akuma Clan follows David as he continues on his path to be a Jitsugen Samurai, a samurai who protects Japan. But Chul Soon, the antagonist in Samurai Awakening is planning his revenge on David. David prepares for the next attack, but will he be strong enough? -resistingtheurgetospoilthebook-

AHEM. To continue, this book continues the strong characterisation in the first book and even introduces a few new characters (or rather, more of David's classmates find out his secret). Plus, existing characters like Takumi, Natsuki and Rie continue to develop and form new relationships. And of course, there is Kou and Reimi, the two kami inhabiting David and Takumi respectively. That's a large cast of characters. And yet those are just the kids. There are more adults, and I even learned something new about Yukiko, David's host mother.

The pacing of this book starts of normal at first (an ookami incident, a bullying incident), but towards the end of the book, it starts to pick up and rushes at you like a shinkansen. It's definitely the more exciting part, with one event leading to another.

What I liked about this book, apart from the plot and the characters, was how David's personal (Jitsugen Samurai) life and school life started to get more and more intertwined. It felt like the most natural route, since there is no way that so many supernatural events/fights can happen without anyone noticing.

The other thing that I liked was the school trip to Kyushu. It is the island where I'm living on after all. In addition, I've been to most of the places that David and his class goes to. I do wish there was more detail, but I didn't see any mistakes. And since a lot of books set in Japan tend to focus on Tokyo (or Osaka), it was refreshing to see Fukuoka and the rest of Kyushu appear.

If you liked Samurai Awakening, you have to get the sequel. If you're a fan of Japan/fiction set in Japan but haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? Go and get these two books now!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review.

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