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This is the third Youko book in the Twelve Kingdoms series, and the one in which Fuyumi Ono sits you down and says "Ok, so I gave you this universe with this supposedly ideal systems of rulers and divine will, though I hinted that maybe that wasn't so great, really. I will now spend a few hundred pages deconstructing my own fantasy world and showing just how problematic the whole thing is.
The core plot of the book is that Risai, a general from Tai, and one of the main characters from the Taiki books, has been framed for leading the rebellion against Gyousou and literally escaped Tai by the skin of her teeth and flees to Kei, hoping that since, like the missing Taiki, Youko is from our world, Youko will both be exptra sympathetic towards Taiki, and will be naive enough about their world to lead her armies into Tai, which is now overrun by monsters and led by a flase and corrupt government, and possibly find the missing Gyousou and Taiki, Thankfully for us, Shoryuu appears in a huff of mentorly indignation and informs everyone that that is so not going to happen.
You see, in the Twelve Kingdoms, part of the divine law is that, regardless of how benign the intentions may be, no ruler of one kingdom can lead troops into another kingdom without the ruler of that kingdom's explicit permission. If they do, the invading ruler and hir kirin will almost immediately be struck down, and that kingdom will descend into chaos and be overrun by monsters until a new kirin is born, grows up, and chooses a new ruler, which can take decades.
Youko's response to this, of course, is "What the hell is wrong with this place?" She does that a lot this book. As well as forming the united nations.
Much of the book is Youko, Shoryuu, Risai, the ruler of Han and the kirin of various kingdoms joining forces to figure out a way to get around heaven's rules and help Tai without endangering their own kingdoms in the process.
What I like about this book;
1. Fuyumi Ono brutally deconstructing her own fantasy world.
2. finally learning what happened in Tai after Gyousou took over.
3. The fact that the plot revolves around a queen and female general joining forces to save a kingdom.
4. Seeing all the rulers and kirin, especially the kirin (and extra-especially the female kirin getting some page time), and watching them interact with each other. Pretty much any time there was any combination of rulers and kirin in front of me, I had a silly grin plastered to my face.
5. The Found Family of Youko, Enho, Suzu, Shoukei, Koshou and KeiKei, with Kantei and Keiki on the outskirts and Seki off at school, reading Koshou and Suzu's letters and thinking he really really needs to graduate soon (at the top of his class, of course) and get home. Also, the focus on the kirin as family, even if some of them are never able to meet each other.
6. Pretty much anything within the book itself.
What I didn't like about this book:
1. The fact that, while it reveals much of what happened to Tai and gets things in motion to revolve the situation in Tai, it doesn't actually resolve things, but instead very clearly sets things up for a subsequent book to do so. Which i would have no issues with, save that Fuyumi Ono apparently abandoned the series years ago and isn't going to write that book.
2. I am now out of Twelve Kingdoms books, save for a second collection of short stories, which doesn't have a fan translation, as far as I can tell.
The core plot of the book is that Risai, a general from Tai, and one of the main characters from the Taiki books, has been framed for leading the rebellion against Gyousou and literally escaped Tai by the skin of her teeth and flees to Kei, hoping that since, like the missing Taiki, Youko is from our world, Youko will both be exptra sympathetic towards Taiki, and will be naive enough about their world to lead her armies into Tai, which is now overrun by monsters and led by a flase and corrupt government, and possibly find the missing Gyousou and Taiki, Thankfully for us, Shoryuu appears in a huff of mentorly indignation and informs everyone that that is so not going to happen.
You see, in the Twelve Kingdoms, part of the divine law is that, regardless of how benign the intentions may be, no ruler of one kingdom can lead troops into another kingdom without the ruler of that kingdom's explicit permission. If they do, the invading ruler and hir kirin will almost immediately be struck down, and that kingdom will descend into chaos and be overrun by monsters until a new kirin is born, grows up, and chooses a new ruler, which can take decades.
Youko's response to this, of course, is "What the hell is wrong with this place?" She does that a lot this book. As well as forming the united nations.
Much of the book is Youko, Shoryuu, Risai, the ruler of Han and the kirin of various kingdoms joining forces to figure out a way to get around heaven's rules and help Tai without endangering their own kingdoms in the process.
What I like about this book;
1. Fuyumi Ono brutally deconstructing her own fantasy world.
2. finally learning what happened in Tai after Gyousou took over.
3. The fact that the plot revolves around a queen and female general joining forces to save a kingdom.
4. Seeing all the rulers and kirin, especially the kirin (and extra-especially the female kirin getting some page time), and watching them interact with each other. Pretty much any time there was any combination of rulers and kirin in front of me, I had a silly grin plastered to my face.
5. The Found Family of Youko, Enho, Suzu, Shoukei, Koshou and KeiKei, with Kantei and Keiki on the outskirts and Seki off at school, reading Koshou and Suzu's letters and thinking he really really needs to graduate soon (at the top of his class, of course) and get home. Also, the focus on the kirin as family, even if some of them are never able to meet each other.
6. Pretty much anything within the book itself.
What I didn't like about this book:
1. The fact that, while it reveals much of what happened to Tai and gets things in motion to revolve the situation in Tai, it doesn't actually resolve things, but instead very clearly sets things up for a subsequent book to do so. Which i would have no issues with, save that Fuyumi Ono apparently abandoned the series years ago and isn't going to write that book.
2. I am now out of Twelve Kingdoms books, save for a second collection of short stories, which doesn't have a fan translation, as far as I can tell.