Shaman Warrior Vol 1-2
Mar. 15th, 2008 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreIn the land of Kugai, supernatural warriors known as Shamen Warriors have fought for the king and helped bring peace to the land. Like most of these kings, though, the king and his advisors decide that they're too dangerous to keep around in times of peace, and need to be disposed of. The problem with that, however, is that the people views the shamen Warriors of heroes. The answer, of course, is to discredit a famed Shaman Warrior, and use him as a scapegoat.
Their chosen victim is Yarong, a leader who has retired to the countryside with his servant, Batu, and infant daughter, Yaki. Asked by his general to investigate Aragorn, an exiled commander supposedly gathering troops. It is, of course, a trap, and hundreds of soldiers are sent after Yarong. In the battle, Yarong forces Batu to leave him and swear to raise Yaki away from war(we know how well that will go over) and then destroys the entire army-losing his own life in the process-so Batu can escape. After delivering news of Yarong's death, Batu takes Yaki and moves to the desert, swearing he'll never allow her to take up the life of a Shaman Warrior that she was born to(again, we all know how well that will work out) not knowing that, back in civilization, Yarong is being credited with having gone mad and attacked and destroyed an army, and because of that, all the Shamen Warriors of the nation are being hunted and killed, with the survivors trying to reach and cross the desert to join Aragorn, a man who will supposedly accept anyone into his ranks, provided they can prove their worth.
One of these is Horakaan, a young(14~, I'd guess) Shaman Warrior whose family was massacred by troops soon after Yarong's death. Escaping the city walls on the edge of the desert, Horakaan eventually stumbles on Batu and Yaki's house, and tells Batu what has happened to the Shamen Warriors since Batu left civilization. After hunters tracking Horakaan attack the house(side note: one bears quite the resemblance to Magatsu, and even fights similarly, though he seems to be pure evil), Batu decides to join the young man and find out what's happened in the years he's been gone.
The first volume, aside from the epilogue and some flashbacks, is just one long, drawn out fight as Yarong and Batu fight and flee the army sent after them, largely to show us Yarong was an upstanding guy, Shamen Warriors can be seriously badass when you really get them going, and that Batu's a great guy who means well, but may not be that bright(ok, seriously, raising the kid in the desert and never letting her see anyone but you? Talk about giving her social skills issues...) The actual, you know, PLOT doesn't really start until the second volume. A lot of it feels like normal "last of the hunted warrior race"(seriously, what's with all the master warrior races alwys being hunted to near extinction?) fantasy epic, but I like it, especially the aspect where we actually see the retainer raising the child BEFORE she's old enough to do the fighting. (Though having glanced through the other volumes I have at home, I gather a chunk of the story will deal with the adult Yaki...the adult Horakaan too, for that matter.)
One of these is Horakaan, a young(14~, I'd guess) Shaman Warrior whose family was massacred by troops soon after Yarong's death. Escaping the city walls on the edge of the desert, Horakaan eventually stumbles on Batu and Yaki's house, and tells Batu what has happened to the Shamen Warriors since Batu left civilization. After hunters tracking Horakaan attack the house(side note: one bears quite the resemblance to Magatsu, and even fights similarly, though he seems to be pure evil), Batu decides to join the young man and find out what's happened in the years he's been gone.
The first volume, aside from the epilogue and some flashbacks, is just one long, drawn out fight as Yarong and Batu fight and flee the army sent after them, largely to show us Yarong was an upstanding guy, Shamen Warriors can be seriously badass when you really get them going, and that Batu's a great guy who means well, but may not be that bright(ok, seriously, raising the kid in the desert and never letting her see anyone but you? Talk about giving her social skills issues...) The actual, you know, PLOT doesn't really start until the second volume. A lot of it feels like normal "last of the hunted warrior race"(seriously, what's with all the master warrior races alwys being hunted to near extinction?) fantasy epic, but I like it, especially the aspect where we actually see the retainer raising the child BEFORE she's old enough to do the fighting. (Though having glanced through the other volumes I have at home, I gather a chunk of the story will deal with the adult Yaki...the adult Horakaan too, for that matter.)