Review: The Sword of Kaigen

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story takes place in a decidedly Asian setting. Character names frequently evoke a Japanese culture.

The story centers around an influential family that runs part of an empire. Their clan, the Matsura, has long been known for their fighting prowess. However, they are also quite provincial; preferring to stay close to their mountain and quietly run things.

Young Mamoru is trying to be worthy of his family's reputation by learning their fighting style. His mother, Misaki, had gone away to school at a modern university where she learned to fight. Women were not considered worthy to fight among the Matsura clan. His father is aloof and emotionally remote. Living his life in fulfillment of the role he plays rather than in the enjoyment of his family.

Eventually, conflict comes to their mountain and all of the Matsura must fight. When the battle is won by the narrowest of margins, the Empire comes to wipe away any evidence of the battle. Families are denied the right to mourn as their tradition dictates.

What changes await the Matsura clan at the end of this conflict? Who lives? Who dies? And who learns something new about themselves as well as those around them?

This book offers a number of contrasts; rural vs. urban, men vs. women, old vs. young, individual achievement vs. government policies, tradition vs. change. Just as in real life, there are no easy answers with simple solutions.

This book is a tour de force piece of fantasy fiction. It was the 2020 winner of the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off and establishes M.L. Wang as a force to be reckoned with in genre literature. Miss this book at your own peril.

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Review: Wolfwinter

Wolfwinter by Lela E. Buis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because a story by Lela Buis is included in the collection. All of the stories were entertaining if not precisely the most memorable. If you like werewolf stories, then this book is for you.

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Review: Hazardous Imaginings: The Mondo Book of Politically Incorrect Science Fiction

Hazardous Imaginings: The Mondo Book of Politically Incorrect Science Fiction by Andrew Fox
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is billed as being the intellectual child of Harlan Ellison's "Dangerous Visions". I dropped out after the fourth story.

Essentially, the author was looking for an opportunity to say outrageous things for the purpose of saying outrageous things rather than to provoke readers to consider different perspectives.

Things started going decidedly downhill when the fourth story suggested that Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic to prove the world was round. Not quite. People had known that the world was round for centuries at that point. What was unknown what the planet looked like west of west where it finally meets the east.

It went on from there to set down a contorted storyline where the Jews end up loving Hitler.

See what I mean about being outrageous for the purpose of being outrageous.

The other stories that I read were decent, but not great. Mark this one as a collection with a lot of potential that didn't quite pan out.

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