The Chrysanthemum Seal

The Year of the Dragon #5

by James Calbraith

It's the middle of summer in the Year of the Dragon. The hunt for the Crimson Robe may be over, but the adventure continues...

With Bran seemingly gone from Yamato forever, his friends settle in their new lives, their common adventures a distant memory. Sato enrolls in Lord Nariakira's school of wizardry, while Nagomi joins her father's medical practice in far-away Nagoya.

But the revolution, once started, cannot be stopped. The foreign threat finally comes to Yamato's doorstep. A Varyagan submarine drops anchor in Kiyo harbour. A Bataavian warship arrives at Kagoshima, carrying Dylan ab Ifor, Gwen and Wulfhere. In Shimoda, the Black Wings reinforcements fleet brings with it a curious, unwanted guest...

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Japan

451 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2014

About the author

James Calbraith is a Poland-born British writer, foodie and traveller.

Growing up in communist Poland on a diet of powdered milk, Lord of the Rings and soviet science-fiction, he had his first story published at the ripe age of eight. After years of bouncing around Polish universities, he moved to London in 2007 and started writing in English. His debut historical fantasy novel, "The Shadow of Black Wings", has reached ABNA semi-finals. It was published in July 2012 and hit the Historical Fantasy and Alternate History bestseller lists on Amazon US & UK.

Reviews

[Usagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuation of the adventures of a group of friends in the mysterious Orient. As usual, smart, challenging, not for people looking for cheesy teenage fiction. I was captivated and read it in one evening. Great fun, can't wait for another book! Absolutely love it.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would probably rate this a 2.5 if it allowed that. The book is the continuation of the previous Year of the Dragon novels. Unfortunately the only real thing is does it develop the world political situation. The author more complete sketches out Bran's father, but the entire book cold have been written from a unique perspective, still developed the world, and not involved any of the main characters from the first 4 novels, and been better done. The main characters just do not get enough attention in this book and their storyline progresses very little. It also has little to none of the humanizing factor that they had in the previous books. Things happen to them and they just shrug and continue on their storyline. Not the best book, but I will continue when the series moves forward in the hope Mr. Calbraith and reunite his main characters and return to the writing that was evident in the first compendium.

[Shari Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This disappointed me. After thoroughly enjoying the first four books in the series, cliffhanger endings and all, I was looking forward to returning to Bran, Sato and Nagomi. Instead I found myself wondering why the heck was the book skipping over stuff and telling more than it was showing. It robbed the story of so much suspense. And yet I do want to read the next one, if only because of a perverse desire to see this through. Who knows.

One good thing, Sato the samurai. Love to see a character display period appropriate attitudes and behavior, even as a good guy. Not a fan of what happened to her in this book but refer to last sentence.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a well-developed storyline and good characters. I would recommend this to lovers of this genre. It was an easy read, except for the errors in the book. But with a little more editing it will be better!

[Gwennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellant on to book 6