Steel Crow Saga (Paul Krueger)

Steel Crow Saga
Paul Krueger
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: For decades, Tomoda ruled with a steel fist - literally. With the nation's ability to metalpact, channeling their soul into metals to guide bullets true or heat blades white-hot or even power machinery, they plundered the lands of Sanbu, Shang, and Dahal, stripping their resources and subjugating their people in the name of "modernization." They were seemingly unstoppable, until a coalition of Tomoda's oppressed victims managed to throw off their yoke and decapitate their royal house. Now captive Prince Jimuro, long a prisoner of Sanbu's general leader, is being sent home to defeated Tomoda to fill the long-empty throne of the Steel Lord, a bid for peace in a world still reeling from years of bitter war. But what was supposed to be a simple, if secret, mission becomes a bloodbath. Now, only four people of different nations and conflicted loyalties stand between the world and a terror even darker and more dangerous than the war they barely survived.
Sergeant Tala was an honored member of Sanbu's rebellion, along with her shade: Beaky, the crow soul she pacted with, an ancient tradition that Tomoda tried to stamp out as "slavery" and "barbarism." Being chosen to escort Jimuro back to his throne was a great honor, though it can't help rankle, given that Tomoda destroyed her homeland and her family... but she understands the importance of the mission, even if she has next to no faith in the weakling, arrogant young man's ability to follow through, so she shall do her duty. When her unit is attacked at sea, only she and the prince survive - and secrets she's hidden even from her own general threaten to come to light, endangering herself, the prince, and the mission.
Jimuro always expected to become Steel Lord someday, but he thought he'd do so only after many more years of his stern yet powerful mother's reign... and ascend to the throne of a Tomoda that still reigned superior over the world, dragging nations of ungrateful heathens into the light of modern civilization. Years of captivity among the Sanbu have humbled him, though he still hasn't reconciled himself to their soul-enslaving, meat-eating ways. Nevertheless, he was willing to at least try rebuilding Tomoda into an engine of peace instead of a sword of conquest - but to do so, he not only has to survive, but find his own steel.
Princess Xiulan was twenty-eighth in line for the Shang imperial throne, the family disgrace and outcast, but she's never been one to give up without a fight. In the tradition of her hero, the fictional detective Bai Junjie, she joined Shang's elite investigation force, the Li Quan. With the help of an imprisoned thief, she might finally have a chance to prove herself worthy of the throne (and show up her main rival, second daughter Ruomei) by intercepting a secret Sanbu mission to return the Steel Lord's heir to Tomoda... but things go wrong almost from the start.
As a Jeongsonese, Lee is considered lower than a street rat by every other nation that has ever trampled her ancestral homeland; when the Tomoda took over, it was merely a different flag over their head and a different cut of boot on their neck. So she has no real qualms about a life of theft and petty cons, relieving interlopers of their riches. When one of her associates got her tangled up in black market organ harvesting (and disappeared, leaving her holding the bag), she figured her minimal luck had run out - until a peculiar Li Quan inspector arrives just before her execution, with an unusual offer. Anything that keeps her alive another day is worth snatching at, but this time Lee finds herself entangled in a way she'd never anticipated... and her decisions may tip the balance in a struggle that will determine the fates of nations.

REVIEW: Steel Crow Saga takes a concept much like Pokemon and injects it into a rich, multicultural, and near-modern setting and a story with a certain anime vibe. It starts moving almost on the first page and only rarely slows down, with action and danger and several witty moments thrown in as personalities mix and clash in unexpected ways. The characters, though, start feeling a bit exaggerated and flat as the tale unfolds, and some of the plot twists, particularly toward the end, have a contrived aftertaste. The whole story warps itself ultimately around Tala and her secrets, which involve the fate of her beloved brother and the origins of her crow shade (as strongly implied by the title) as well as other developments that are never adequately explained in this volume. It feels like there is supposed to be a sequel, though I have seen no sign of one, and am not quite sure if I'd read it if I found it, to be honest. Something about the whole conclusion just didn't sit right with what came before to me, in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on; something about how everything was designed to create the most angst and pain in Tala, perhaps, when she came to be among my least favorite characters (for reasons I can't get into without possible spoilers.) Still, I did enjoy the setting, and it had many fun and interesting moments. I also liked the shadepacting concept.

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