The Steel Throne: The Four Winds Saga, Prelude

by Edward Bolme

The Clan War is over. The danger is not.
Once the greatest samurai in all Rokugan, Toturi has managed to hold the Empire together despite warring clans and internal treacheries. But nothing has prepared him for the hordes of vile spirits ravaging his beloved realm.
As the Spirit Wars rage, Toturi and his children are the only hope for Rokugan.
The prelude to an upcoming Legend of the Five Rings series.
This novel introduces new characters and settings based on the events in the" "Legend of the Five Rings": The Spirit Wars" card set. This book also sets up the story for future novels in the upcoming series The Four Winds Saga.

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Nathaniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

like 2.5. for a book where so many things happen, this sure is boring. it begins with no context whatsoever (the Unspeakable? what?), resolves what should be the full plot of at least one book in its own right in less than thirty pages, the timescale is much too long for anything to get the attention it deserves, and most of the narrative is a narration of army movements from a high level tactical perspective that would be better suited to RPG rulebook flavor text than to a published novel. I’m here to read a book, not a report on a Warhammer 40,000 battle — please give me some real characters, or anything else that can engage me in the story.

hopefully, at least, this means that the Four Winds proper, having gotten all of this exposition out of the way in such a rush, will have some actual personality/personalities. expectations are low, though.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sets up the next era of Rokugan, detailing the empire following the Day of Thunder and the defeat of evil god Fu Leng. Somethings never explained or described, the Unspeakable, are causing havoc all over the empire, so Emperor Toturi and spirits from their spirit-realm fight some kind of battle at the gates of hell to defeat something. I don’t know what because this book did not actually go into detail about anything. Following that, spirits from various periods return to Rokugan, and a past Emperor Hantei vies with Toturi for control of the empire, drawing lines between clans and forcing ancient enemies back into battle. I think the major issue was that this wasn’t written like a book. It took place over 20 some years. Every chapter started with a scene or two of newly introduced characters plotting with either Toturi or Hantei, then ended with a summary of the battle that ensued. It got repetitive. And I felt little investment towards the events. I guess they just wanted to set up the world following these Spirit Wars for the Four Winds Saga of books, but this book could have been its own series because of its expansive scope.

[Annchan Maulana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Clan War is over, but The danger is not.

As the Spirit Wars rage, Toturi The greatest samurai in all Rokugan and his children are the only hope for Rokugan. They has managed to hold the Empire together despite warring clans and so many betrayals internal. But nothing has prepared him for the hordes of vile spirits ravaging his beloved realm.

In this novel introduces new characters and settings based on the events in the Legend of the Five Rings: The Spirit Wars card set.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good recount of the Spirit Wars. Spirits from past times returned from the Oblivion's Gate, led by Hantei XVI - The Steel Crysanthemum, ready to take the Steel Throne away from the p[resent ruler Toturi I - The Splendid Emperor.

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