more coherent than The Crane, perhaps, but the characterization is extremely flat or nonsensical. Kisada makes a good contrast to Shoju here: you can see how, from Shoju’s point of view, the coup makes sense and is consistent with his worldview and values; but there’s no convincing way to rationalize Kisada’s actions in-world. it’s supposed to be another pride-before-the-fall thing but it just doesn’t work.
this book also suffers from the same problem as The Phoenix, namely: how on earth does this fit into the timeline? why was the Emperor’s declaration of how he’d choose a successor not mentioned in any of the preceding books that also included the lead-up to the Battle of Beiden Pass? and — especially coming right after The Phoenix — what happened to Junzo, who we’ve just established as the leader of the bulk(?) of Fu Leng’s forces?
so: flat characters, continuity that doesn’t fit with the rest of the series. the one real plus is the Hitomi moments — in another setting, they could have been very funny. one of them featured unequivocally the funniest two sentences in the whole series so far:
He knew the voice. It filled him with lust and desire—bloodlust and the desire to silence the speaker forever.
unfortunately, though, these sentences are apparently supposed to be read not as humorous, parodic melodrama but entirely in earnest.
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