The Crane

The third installment of the Clan War series, and the first one writen by a member of the AEG storyteam.

Probably due to this it's one of the novels that most conforms to the generally acepted canon.

As I expected it also undoes nearly everything that was established in The Unicorn.

It follows the problems of the Crane following the coup, namely the Crane-Lion war, the kidnaping of Hoturi, the sacking of Kyuden Kakita and Kyuden Doji and the final confrontation between Hoturi and his clone.

It's standard gaming novel fare, with Crane characters somewhat Mary Sueish, but not obnoxiously so. In fact the only character that annoyed the heck out of me was Shiba Tsukune.

Do you know what the Phoenix do to keep warm in winter? Really?! Is this all Shiba Tsukune can say? Honestly...

This derailment aside it's a fairly enjoyable book as long as expectations are kept at a modest level.