SKELETON KNIGHT. . .#6 is the good stuff. Following a pair of more modestly paced and vaguely adventurous exploits, the author has given readers a delightful heaping of all the good geopolitical shenanigans, grisly demon encounters, and god-tier magic battles that have made this series what it is. Arc and his crew have journeyed to the nearby intersection of the Kingdom of Salma and the Nohzan Kingdom -- a quilt-work of land set to buckle under the might of monstrous invaders.
The search is on. Can the crew successfully retrace the steps of the since departed Sasuke, former ninja ally of Chiyome? Will the crew survive a tenacious encounter with yet another band of undead monsters, this time clearly functioning under the control of a higher-tier noble? And what about their unwritten quest to heal the socio-political relations between humans and non-humans? Can Arc find a way to bring together disparate groups so as to take out a common enemy before these incongruent groups take out each other?
Readers who enjoy the wayward and accidental nature of Arc's adventures will enjoy this volume for how it neatly aligns the group's ambitions with the needs of secondary characters. And while it's certainly a bit annoying and more than a little redundant for Arc to refuse to turn down aid to anyone who requests it (whether healing a knight with a severed arm or escorting a princess on the lam), one cannot deny how helpful these interactions are to the novel's overall mechanics. Arc, Ariane, and Chiyome become increasingly entangled in the affairs of others for better or for worse, but they'll never back down from a chance to fight their way out.
SKELETON KNIGHT. . .#6 is fun but hosts a few missed opportunities. The novel more solidly positions the Holy Hilk Kingdom and its ruling class of monsters and zealots (in both senses, quite literal) as the bad guys. However, the novel stops well short of giving the heroes the evidence they need to go and crash the party. Similarly, readers get an extraordinarily intimate glimpse into how some of these zealots live their lives, and yet, the novel again stops short of enabling Arc to deal out some justice. In the previous installment, Arc killed Cardinal Charros Accedia Industria. Sadly, no such luck in this volume, despite readied opportunity.
SKELETON KNIGHT. . .#6 delivers on several good, small, narrative amusements (e.g., Ariane's deepening crush, Arc's poor sense of direction, raw swords-and-sorcery violence), while largely avoiding the novel series' known trappings (e.g., excessive worldbuilding, sexist character descriptions, obvious/ineffective character development). If on a fault-finding mission, one might mention how the book's maps still suck (here, a cartographical retcon). And one might also mention how the series artist drew a character of color with the same skin tone as all the rest, despite the author having described the female knight, Niena, as being "brown-skinned, black-eyed [. .] with long, black hair tied back in a waist-length braid" (p. 12) and having "a feminine face with strong, stark features, brown skin, and piercing eyes" (p. 169).
Even so, the current volume is a step up and the story's structure ensures the payoff is worth it. The book's third act culminates with an impressive exhibition of Arc's magical expertise and makes good on a well-paced and smartly written conflict. Notably, the conflict itself further integrates another young, warm-hearted, female head of state into the mythology and legend of Arc the mercenary.
Way better than than the last two volumes. They weren't awful, but just lacked something. This one gave us a lot more of it and hence gets rated higher. I appreciate that there is a lot of world building going on and building up of conflict... but sometimes I wish for a little more resolution of that conflict than just marching back and forth across the country a couple of times. It is because of the climax of this book that it gets to 4-stars. We finally get to see Arc back in action.
The tales of Arc and his two lady cohorts continue in this action packed volume. More and more of the world is being beautifully flushed out, including the villain of this series. The novel was a quick and enjoyable read, I loved the illustrations that are presented and the action scenes are written well enough for your mind's eye to present an interesting show. Arc appears to be undertaking a plan to help free his fellow nonhumans and I can't wait to see where it goes.
Better. This book has more action and plot development. The author seems to clearly have a plan and the plot is moving along at a more aggressive pace.
There were only a couple of new countries in this book. Not nearly as much trivia to keep track of. Monsters and undead are finally getting to feel the pain.
1)Page 35, Chapter 1 - Kindle Edition "In fact, this ability to sense the undead was what had brought both women to the conclusion that the skeleton body beneath my army wasn't in fact, undead."
2)Page 109, Chapter 3 - Kindle Edition "These unique crystals had been brought to his world by Hanzo, the founder of the Jinshin clan, and they allowed a person to pledge their mind and body to a spirit—in this case, giving the magically disinclined mountain people the ability to use spirit magic."