

Kenshin strives for atonement through peace and Masako through a blood-drenched trail of broken bodies. They each devote the “second” lives they’ve been given to justice, but they differ greatly on how they go about achieving it. Masako is far from Kenshin, further than I am from Japan itself. What I found surprising after reading this though, was that he turned the story of Rurouni Kenshin, the wandering samurai forever trying to atone for the mistakes of his past, on its head. Smith openly states that The Blood of Outcasts is his love letter to the anime Rurouni Kenshin and I can see that this story really wears that on its sleeve. Instead, in her quest for justice she inevitably becomes the very thing she’s out to destroy. The problem is that after Masako was brought low by the Lord Council, she never rose out of the mud.

Her entire clan was destroyed and she was left for dead because of the greed of the ruling clan, so most would agree that that is plenty of justification for her to get revenge. Masako is, ultimately, a good person on a righteous quest. I really enjoyed the layers of emotion that was explored throughout the novel. And, it is that in spades, but it’s also so much more. Masako’s story is on the surface one of vengeance-of righting a wrong committed against herself and her family. A wildness that won’t give way until they are all gone.

Spoiler warning, it’s great!Įmerging from the waters, the droplets drip off me and so does the pity, the sadness I feel for myself, because now it is only anger. It came as a complete surprise, however, when he dropped an entire novel out of nowhere at the beginning of the year! What made it even greater was the premise, a Japanese-inspired tale of revenge and his personal love letter to Rurouni Kenshin! Sold! Though I am lucky to call Dan a friend, the following review is not influenced by that and are my personal thoughts about the book. I’ve known Dan was writing for a while now, watching his updates on Twitter as he posted about meeting various writing milestones and such. Demonic rumours and a destructive past sow doubt in her campaign before it is begun. Only, Masako was executed, she’s meant to be dead. With it, she must unite the outer clans, move past old rivalries and worse, or face annihilation at the hands of a foreign sect of sorcerers, the Taosii, and their silent invasion. It is her cursed blood that cries out, and a godsborne that answers.īy the power in her blood, and a promise made with it, she’s given a second chance. Masako escapes the Lord Council with only her life intact, her clan shattered and master dead in wake of disaster she wrought. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.What if spilling your own blood was the only way to save yourself? Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior.

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