Following on from The Night Parade of 100 Demons, Marie Brennan’s The Game of 100 Candles – her second novel in Aconyte Books’ Legend of the Five Rings range – once again balances supernatural investigation and gentle queer romance to engaging, heart-warming effect. The months since their victory over the Night Parade at Seibo Mura have largely kept Ryōtora and Sekken apart, until the two samurai meet again at the Phoenix Clan’s Winter Court. Amid the cut and thrust of court life, as the pair struggle to find their feet together again they come under suspicion when members of the court start to mysteriously fall asleep, and are unable to be woken. Even as they search for answers to what’s afoot, they also have to come to terms with the reality of the bond between them, and learn anew what they mean to each other.
While Night Parade had a real streak of adventure running through it, this time there’s less action and fewer yōkai, with the supernatural elements playing a subtler role as the complex rules and responsibilities of clan and court politics come to the fore. The relatively gentle pace works really well, giving Ryōtora and Sekken time to dance around the various things that are coming between them even as they’re regaling the court with judiciously edited stories of their exploits, or manoeuvring through treacherous political waters. Now the early euphoria of their relationship has worn off, they’re dealing with the fact that neither of them has really recovered from their exertions in Seibo Mura, nor actually admitted as much to the other. Brennan explores the strange lethargy that afflicts both men – essentially the effects of chronic illness – with sensitivity and subtlety, making it an integral part of their still-developing relationship.
This layering of personal stakes and then more immediate problems for Ryōtora and Sekken to deal with provides a lovely sense of depth, and a great balance between plot and character. This is, undoubtedly, an engaging mystery story involving secrets, spirits and, yes, a yōkai or two, but it’s also an utterly believable examination of two people who love each other trying to work out how to be together, and who they are when they’re around the other person. Interestingly, with the supernatural elements toned down a little, and presented mostly as fairly ordinary aspects of Rokugani life, the result is something that sits nicely between Josh Reynolds’ Daidoji Shin detective stories and the more overtly action-packed books elsewhere in the Legend of the Five Rings series. It’s a great place to be, bridging that gap while maintaining a strong identity centred on the queer romance and the almost academic-like viewpoint on the supernatural elements of life in Rokugan.
This would absolutely read well as a standalone story, especially as it offers a really interesting look at the relationship between two clans from both a personal and political perspective. Ultimately though, it works best as a development of the previous book, and rewards readers who read and enjoyed Night Parade, somehow providing both more of the same and yet also a richer, deeper experience. It also continues Aconyte’s great record of publishing books that show off the appeal of their setting without ever feeling like they require prior knowledge – much like Night Parade, it’s a tie-in novel that draws upon all the depth and detail of a brilliant established world, but transcends what’s gone before to stand proud as just a wonderful, warm, characterful story.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
See also: my review of The Night Parade of 100 Demons
See also: my interview with Marie Brennan discussing The Night Parade of 100 Demons
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