Ronin Games - Outside of a Dog

ISBN:: 9781517503093

(1 review)

Astra has returned to Chicago and the everyday life of a cape: getting kittens out of trees, training, aiding the city’s emergency first-responders, training, doing public relations events, training, and the occasional superhero v. supervillain fight that threatens to level neighborhoods or at least set them on fire. Then Astra takes a hard hit during a fight and very briefly finds herself somewhere else, somewhere she’s only been before in dreams and in the company of Kitsune, a shapeshifting trickster fox. Astra’s friends learn she is under the increasing influence of an otherworldy realm they know absolutely nothing about, and that she may even be drawn permanently into it. If they hope to stop it from happening, they must find Kitsune before it’s too late.

But to find Kitsune they must go to Japan, and since Japan doesn’t allow unsanctioned entry to foreign capes everything depends on secrecy. With no …

Astra has returned to Chicago and the everyday life of a cape: getting kittens out of trees, training, aiding the city’s emergency first-responders, training, doing public relations events, training, and the occasional superhero v. supervillain fight that threatens to level neighborhoods or at least set them on fire. Then Astra takes a hard hit during a fight and very briefly finds herself somewhere else, somewhere she’s only been before in dreams and in the company of Kitsune, a shapeshifting trickster fox. Astra’s friends learn she is under the increasing influence of an otherworldy realm they know absolutely nothing about, and that she may even be drawn permanently into it. If they hope to stop it from happening, they must find Kitsune before it’s too late.

But to find Kitsune they must go to Japan, and since Japan doesn’t allow unsanctioned entry to foreign capes everything depends on secrecy. With no allies, few assets, and surprises at every turn, winning requires rewriting the rules and playing their own game. A ronin game.

1 edition

pixin@bookwyrm.social reviewed Ronin Games by Marion G. Harmon

Best book so far

5 stars

After book #4, I had pretty low expectations for this one. But it turned out to be really, really good. I loved it.

In this book, Astra & co go (uninvited) to Japan. Japan's method of dealing with supers is very different from the US, and more than a little affected by manga & anime. All supers are required to required to register with the government and undergo training, and all superhero teams are sponsored by the government. Anyone who doesn't register is called a ronin, and can be arrested on sight. Both heroes and ronin have fan clubs that gleefully dissect every scrap of news media about them, must like like modern idol groups.

(All this isn't just because the goverment feels like it -- the country is regularly besieged by kaiju and other threats. It needs a strong, coordinated defense.)

But Hope's life seems to depend on …

After book #4, I had pretty low expectations for this one. But it turned out to be really, really good. I loved it.

In this book, Astra & co go (uninvited) to Japan. Japan's method of dealing with supers is very different from the US, and more than a little affected by manga & anime. All supers are required to required to register with the government and undergo training, and all superhero teams are sponsored by the government. Anyone who doesn't register is called a ronin, and can be arrested on sight. Both heroes and ronin have fan clubs that gleefully dissect every scrap of news media about them, must like like modern idol groups.

(All this isn't just because the goverment feels like it -- the country is regularly besieged by kaiju and other threats. It needs a strong, coordinated defense.)

But Hope's life seems to depend on finding someone who seems to be hiding in Japan, so after a conversation that Never Happened with a high-ranking US government official she decides to infiltrate Japan. Of course her closest friends insist on coming with her, and the team "mislays" some very useful resources in her direction.

While in Japan, then help. They make up secret ronin identities, and when they run across a problem they do what they can to help. It just... feels good? Feels lighter than the other books? There's no angry protests against supers, or demagogues stirring up hate. There's no wondering if friends are secretly traitors. There's no impossible crush to angst over. There is, however, much fun with Japanese idol culture.

Overall it just feels like a good, hopeful superhero story, and when it's over, it's done. Officially the Japanese government has no idea who these Three Remarkable Ronin were, though clearly they perished in valiantly defending the country and so their memory should be honored. And also clearly these three lost American tourists should be returned home with no fuss.