David Annandale’s novel Curse of Honor kicks off the new range of Legend of the Five Rings fiction from Aconyte Books with a sinister tale of duty, ambition, misplaced pride and monstrous darkness. Lieutenant Hida Haru is destined to one day become the daimyō of Striking Dawn Castle, but before then he has to somehow prove himself to his family, a task at which he has spectacularly failed thus far. When he stumbles upon a foreboding city hidden within the Twilight Mountains, he sees a chance to make a name for himself and strike a blow against the Shadowlands, but his ill-timed actions only lead to disaster. With cracks forming in the fragile alliances within Striking Dawn, and a horrifying evil unleashed upon the castle, its defenders must find a way to guard against terrible enemies both within and without.
From snow-shrouded mountain passes to the spirit-haunted corridors of Striking Dawn, via the complex power struggles of clan and family, this is a story in which there’s no safe and stable ground (physically or metaphorically) and nowhere for characters to rest. It’s less epic fantasy, more fantasy horror, with an overriding sense of bleak, wintery atmosphere lending proceedings a consistently dark tone that’s matched by the sheer nastiness loosed upon the defenders of Striking Dawn. There’s lots of katana-wielding, hammer-swinging action as befits a fantasy novel set in a world inspired by feudal Japan, but the focus is more on the costs of Haru’s failures, the complex balancing act his family must engage in to protect their status, and the tensions building within the castle. Annandale maintains a tight, internal focus on the two main viewpoint characters, digging into their doubts, insecurities and fears at every step to further reinforce the story’s horror-tinged tone.
In a world where honour and duty are held in high esteem, Haru’s mixture of incompetence, arrogance and desperation to impress others sets him up as a tragic figure, always liable to throw himself and those who follow him into danger with little thought for the inevitably terrible consequences. Most of the other major characters prove pretty much Haru’s opposite in skill, wisdom and temperament – notably Lieutenant Barako, who grows increasingly scornful of Haru as her own life is torn inside out, and takes over from Haru partway through as the story’s main protagonist. Barako is no less tragic than Haru, but she lends the story a powerful sense of drive and determination in contrast to Haru’s aimless ineptitude, and it’s through her eyes that Annandale frames a second-half mystery which really kicks in the horror vibe and ratchets up the very personal tension.
Legend of the Five Rings as a setting – a satisfying mixture of samurai, Bushidō, complex clan and house politics along with evil spirits, demons and other unpleasantness – makes for an excellent backdrop here to a nicely characterful story. Annandale doesn’t try to explain too much of the background, providing enough information that the reader can grasp what’s needed for the story to make sense, but keeping it as texture rather than the focus of the book. That might not appeal to existing fans wanting facts and details, but for readers new to the setting there’s enough to get an intriguing sense of things and encourage further exploration, without getting in the way of a good story. And it really is a good story, providing the perfect opportunity for Annandale to let loose and have fun with horrible supernatural creepiness and haunted, tragic characters forced into increasingly painful decisions. Highly recommended.
Curse of Honor is due out in October in the US and November in the UK. Many thanks to Aconyte books for an advance copy of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.
