The Phoenix

Legend of the Five Rings: Clan War #4

by Stephen D. Sullivan

Ashes of the Phoenix
Magic is power for the Phoenix clan. During the depths of the Clan War, the Elemental Masters seek ultimate power in the form of a magic that will permanently destroy the Shadowlands armies. Without it, the enemy will reduce the clan to ahses from which even the Photenix cannot rise. All hope rests in the mysteries of a dark and dreaded source: The Black Scrolls.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons

312 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

I was born in 1959, grew up in Massachusetts, attended SMU (U. Mass, Dartmouth), and moved to Wisconsin to work for TSR (the Dungeons & Dragons people) in 1980. I’ve been here ever since, writing stories, drawing, and raising kids with my wife (who I’ve been with since 1980 as well).

I’ve had more than 30 books published (not counting the anthologies, but counting the ghost-written stuff only alluded to on this site). I also run a small publishing house, Walkabout Publishing. Recently, I've started posting new stories for Kindle on Amazon, in addition to my print work.

You can write to me: fanmail@stephendsullivan.com – but please be kind (and patient), okay? And don't forget to check my web site. You'll like it. Adventure guaranteed. (Monsters optional.)

Reviews

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book in the must read series for the fans of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG. While the series suffers from multiple writers, overall it is enjoyable for fans of the game and genre.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth entry in the Clan Wars saga follows the Elemental Masters of the Phoenix Clan as they learn more of the Black Scrolls that give power to evil sorceror Junzo and the cursed inhabitants of the Shadowlands. The Masters also try to learn more of Empress Kachiko’s plots and heal the Emperor of his affliction. This also took place concurrently to the previous book, which I appreciated. I also liked that we got to see more of the Shadowlands, making their threat all the more real and the plague more understandable. Prior to this book, it had seemed a little random. While I probably enjoyed this book the best out of the series so far because of its quest plot and not introducing 500 new characters like the others, I couldn’t help but find much of the writing off-putting. So many chapters, especially in the beginning half of the book, began with 2 to 3 page descriptions of physical places and settings. It felt a little clumsy to me. Overall, though, it wasn’t a bad read, and I’m looking forward to reading more in the series. As they go on, I feel I can better appreciate that each book goes off in its own direction, while still telling the story of this time period in Rokugan.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

the best-executed scenes were Tadaka’s journey through the Shadowlands and Kaede’s second encounter with the Emperor. more cohesive than The Crane, at least, but the Ujimitsu and Tsukune scenes felt — even though I like Ujimitsu! — like distractions from the main plot. the Japanese was still messy (“Oni no Tadaka”). the biggest problems were Junzo and Ujina. on the level of the series as a whole, Junzo has barely been mentioned — but now, suddenly, Kaede and Kachiko are casually conversing about him over board games as if it’s common knowledge that he’s the one rallying Fu Leng’s forces and releasing the plague. Ujina, likewise, feels like he’s part of a larger plot around Kaede, but we’ve had no prior indication of what this plot actually is (including in The Scorpion, where Kaede was also a POV character), and the end of the book leaves us no clearer than the beginning. there’s only so much I’m willing to accept as ~a mystery of the Void~ before you need to give me some idea of what’s going on.

[Bradford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing like a scavenger hunt disguised as a plot to ruin a book for me.