Today, I am reviewing the Fantasy story Blade’s Edge by Virginia McClain. This is a story set in a
pseudo-Japanese setting and utilizing many of the terms from Japan’s medieval
history, but adds several different intriguing elements, like elemental magic,
a council dedicated to the repression of a particular subgroup, and dragons and
kami.
I give this book a 4.75/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 5/5. Absolute perfection. Virginia’s two main characters, Mishi and Taka, were deep and real. I felt their pain and their triumphs, and my understanding of them grew as they did. The book spans eight years (called “cycles”), and I felt they grew believably throughout that time. I especially liked Mishi’s development from scared orphan to kick-ass Kisoshi warrior.
Plot/Storyline: 5/5. The story is as epic as they come. A sprawling conspiracy kept in line by a few oligarchs? Assassins? Intrigue and betrayal? All present in spades. Virginia wove her story deeply and well, and I felt the last few pages blaze by like they almost weren’t there. Fantastically done.
I give this book a 4.75/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 5/5. Absolute perfection. Virginia’s two main characters, Mishi and Taka, were deep and real. I felt their pain and their triumphs, and my understanding of them grew as they did. The book spans eight years (called “cycles”), and I felt they grew believably throughout that time. I especially liked Mishi’s development from scared orphan to kick-ass Kisoshi warrior.
Plot/Storyline: 5/5. The story is as epic as they come. A sprawling conspiracy kept in line by a few oligarchs? Assassins? Intrigue and betrayal? All present in spades. Virginia wove her story deeply and well, and I felt the last few pages blaze by like they almost weren’t there. Fantastically done.
Flow: 4.5/5. The sentence flow was excellent and Virginia’s use of language keeps the story moving at an excellent pace. I felt we spent an appropriate amount of time on each of the characters (as the action cross-cuts between the two of them) and that things didn’t happen too fast or too slow.
My only issues with the flow: There were a few instances
that I felt important or interesting action was glossed over to get us to the
next development. This happened only a few times, but I did note it. Second,
the time passage was done very well in terms of character development, but the
chapter headings, being in Japanese (or pseudo-Japanese, I’m not sure) that
were supposed to tell us how much time had gone by only confused me, so I had
to ignore them.
Spelling/Grammar: 4.5/5. I think I counted four grammatical/typographical
errors in this novel. For as many pages as it is (286, paperback version), that’s
a pretty good rate (less than one error per fifty pages). I’m happy with that.
Good job, Virginia!
Overall: 4.75/5. What a ride! The story starts slow, builds up quickly, and finishes with a bang. I’m hoping for a sequel to this. Thank you for the read! You can purchase Blade's Edge at the link below.