Legend of the Five Rings Books

Great read, but it jumps around a little too much. There was a lot to be said but not enough pages.

This is without a doubt one of the best L.O.T.F.R. books written by Edward Blume. A new writer to the series, he does the already fantastic series justice. Taking place a little after "The Lion" this is the prelude to the for winds saga. I look forword to reading the next books in the series. I would recommend this book to any one interested in Asian folklore books.

The Steel throne is a very excellent book. Takeing place a little after the lion, Mr. Blume does an excellent job re-creating the mysticical land of Rokugan. At the back of the book it tells about each of the main characters so even if you forgot what happened or never read the origanal books you can get a good idea of what happened. I would recommend this book to any one that likes a book with acton, adventure, and a good plot that takes place in futile Japan/Asia

As has been mentioned on some listservs, this book has certain continuity errors; this is to be expected, as the book is produced by Wizards of the Coast, while Alderac Entertainment Group now handles the story. But, contrary to the dire criticisms I'd seen, the divergences did not hurt the book much. There were definitely some scenes I would have liked to see that were not included, but then again, this was only one novel :) It is not a great work of literature like Faulkner, Dickens, or Proust, but it is engaging and interesting, especially for a "gaming book". I also greatly enjoyed the human-human conflicts (okay, human-back from the dead human) as opposed to the clans versus the overwhelming evil story of the Clan War storyline. Overall, I have to give this book a very high recommendation!

Having read them all, I'd rate The Steel Throne in the Top 3, along with The Crane, and The Dragon, in no particular order.

While the previous 7 books in the series deal with the doings of one main character within a short timespan (a few months, at most), this one spans the decades long conflict known The War Against Spirits and there is no main character. Instead, each chapter centers on one character, then jumps forward one month, or several years, to the next. This, far from being confusing, makes for an entertaining and dynamic read.

When dealing with game-based fiction, or shared-world fiction in general, one must thread carefully the narrow line between fulfilling reader expectations and crafting a compelling read, with a few surprises to boot. In my opinion, Mr. Bolme has succeded. Most bases are covered, questions long raised are finally answered, and a plot and characters only hinted at in one-liners on a piece of cardboard are made alive in this most satysfing novel.

I have read the clan wars books and got hooked up with these stories. As the first story of the Wind Saga (i haven't read the prelude yet) it does a great job of introducing the main characters, the time in which this takes place and also the basic interactions between the main characters (based on the clan wars book, I'm guessing each book will tell the story of each one..)

The battles are told very well, the overall atmosphere, the heat of the battle.. i really got into each one.

I like the way it is written, I really got into the story and it captured my imagination. I'm looking foward to reading the rest of the books, my only complain is that it is too short (less than 300 pages) it could have used more story behind some events (like the battle with Totori) but all in all a good read for the series and the base for the rest of the books to take off.

I really liked this book. I was totally engaged throughout the book. And towards the end I was blown away. It takes on an almost dreamlike quality. Great read, pick it up!

this book is a very good book. it was a good story and had a great sroyline.

I will admit that I may be biased. I'm familiar with the world of Rokugan from the card game and I've read the previous Clan War series. But like anyone else, I still don't enjoy reading a boring or poorly written story (which often is the case with novels based on games or films). This book continues the strong story-telling and quality writing of Ed Bolme's _The Steel Throne_, which was the first book in this series. It's not necessary to have read any of the earlier books, this story stands alone (although I highly recommend Mr. Bolme's book, anyway). Nor do you have to be familiar with "The Legend of the Five Rings" card game.

This series is about four siblings who are vying for the Throne of Rokugan, a country not too dissimilar to Feudal Japan with its Samurai warriors and codes of Honor. The protagonist here, is Tsudao, the first-born daughter of the Emperor. She is a prodigy at a young age, training hard and becoming one of the best swordsmen in the land. But the road to leadership is a hard one. Even the daughter of the Emperor has to negotiate the earning of trust of those she commands in battle, and battle is the one thing Tsudao knows she excells at. More treacherous is the human heart, the will of the Gods, the loyalty and deceit of those closest too her, the elaborate intrigues of the Court, and the fearsome plans of evil sorcerous powers hoping to conquor the Empire-- all things Tsudao hopes to avoid dealing with. Of course, we know that all these things will be unavoidable! There is a lot of action, epic battles, heart-stopping events, loyal sacrifice, twisted and tempting evil, nasty monsters, hidden courage and much more which help form the rites of passage suitable for a woman of which much is asked and much will be asked in the future. This book should appeal to anyone who likes fantasy adventure, strong female characters and/or has an interest in Asian settings.

Although the new characters introduced in this new saga continues the series' trend to be interesting and multidimensional, I find myself keep looking for references or a snippet about the characters from the previous saga (The Clan War saga).

I guess I like a complete ending similar to Tolkien's complete family tree style ending to the Lord of the Rings.

But I also understand the need to detach the characters to benefit those who hasn't read the previous saga (what are you guys waiting for? :)

One of the most interesting aspect of the series is the style of telling several stories that focuss on a single event but told from different perspectives. That's one of the thing that kept me reading. I'm glad to report that in this new saga, the style continues with numerous perspectives that starts to emerge with this first book (starts from the preamble by Mr. Bolme).

Ms. Soesbee is one of my favorite writers in the Five Rings universe. Her subtle sense of defiance, flowing narration featuring a show of contrast perspectives continues to delight readers.

I just hate to wait until next year for the next book...

All the duelist crunch you want, and none that you don't. L5R rocks your socks, go buy it!

This is a very good addition to the Legend of the 5 Rings RPG. It focuses on dueling, the normal way one defends his or her honor. It covers alternatives to the sword; magical duels, martial arts, courtier contests and even using games like Go or Shogi.

It looks at how each clan views duels and how they carry out dueling, including the Shadowlands. There are temples and dojos that teach dueling and new techniques to learn.

Now unlike previous L5R books that were presented in a dual D20/AEG format, this book is exclusive AEG 3rd edition. But since most of this book is color commentary, the little RPG aspects can easily be converted over to D20.

i never really got into rpgs my friends got me to play vampire once or twice but it was boring and i played wraith whcih was cool because of the great war expansion but this has to be the best rpg ever most of my friends and me loved the card game and we developed our own storyline for our campaign form the card game it was very fun and we had a huge battle at beiden pass that rivaled the scorpion clan coup this game is great

Let me start by saying that I've been playing RPGs since D&D came in a little box with three little soft covered books (about 30 years). This may be the best RPG I've ever played. The game world is incredibly well developed, charactes are awesome and fun, the mechanics are fairly easy, and it isn't just hack and slash. My hats off to Alderac.

Although this is part of a series, all the books can stand alone. You need not be intimately familiar with Rokugan, a fantasy world based on Samurai and Asian themes which is the setting of the popular Legend of the Five Rings games, to enjoy this book.

Naseru is one of four siblings vying for the throne of Rokugan. We find him in the ruins of the Imperial City, just after it has been attacked by monsterous hoards from the Shadowlands, and Naseru needs to find another base of operations if he plans to remain in the running as an Imperial Heir. Aside from this setback, he's got the deck stacked against him as far as his chances of becoming Emperor. He is the youngest child of the last Emperor (although already scarred, missing an eye, and looking much older than he is), his skills are as a politician which is about as reviled an occupation as it can be in the modern US, he was fostered by a tyrant who was the enemy of the Empire, and he has the reputation of a villain who is after power and position without any scruples whatsoever. Of course, in the Imperial Courts, where Naseru is at home, nothing is quite as it seems. And even far from the Courts, in the City of Lies, where Naseru goes to build a base, plots, intrigue, courtesans, assassins and mysteries abound.

As if Naseru didn't have enough to cope with, he hears of the hidden Way of Night, an ancient site that is yielding artifacts that could affect the fate of the Empire, and unbeknownst to him, although not unexpected, someone has sworn to avenge themself by taking his life.

Naseru's investigation into the Way of Night brings him into contact with disreputable samurai, monsters, sorcerers, battles and a host of interesting characters and adventures. It also brings him into contact with his own dark past and forces him to decisions about what he truly desires for himself and for the fate of Rokugan.

I am admittedly biased. I like tales with a Japanese setting, and I am familiar with Rokugan and the previous novels set there. But I still require a good story, strong writing and interesting characters to enjoy a book, and this book undoubtedly filled that requirement and more. In fact, I think I'll go and read it again!

Although it's not the easiest transition from short fiction on a website to a full-length novel, Rich Wulf pulled it off in a grand fashion: for what it's worth, in my humble opinion a fantasy book should have depth in the development of the characters, and should use the current events to further the universe's plot ... as well as to reveal more about the universe's past. Wind of Justice delivers on all those points and keeps the reader's attention till the end. If you're a hardcore L5R fan, you'll get answers - and more questions, just the way it should be. Thought Naseru wasn't the easiest Wind to like, maybe this book will change your mind.

A REALLY GOOD WORKBOOK THAT CAN BE USED IN THE L5R SETTING OR ADAPTED TO ANY OTHER D20 SETTING. THE BOOK HAS A GREAT SELECTION OF FEATS AND ADVENTURE HOOKS FOR DM'S AND PLAYERS ALIKE. THEY DO GIVE SOME HINTS OF OTHER PRODUCTS IN THE L5R SETTING, BUT THEY AREN'T ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO PLAY WITH THIS BOOK ITSELF

Overall, I'm pleased with this book. It is a 2nd Ed. product, so the contemporary buyer should keep that in mind. In most cases, it provides rules applicable to 1st and 2nd Editions, so you will have to make converstions for use in 3rd Edition L5R RPG.

There are some minor editing issues, but in most cases, common sense will fill in any blanks. The biggest drawback for this product is all of the rules elements require access to "The Way of the Samurai" and "The Way of the Shugenja". Without those 2 sourcebooks, all the rules portions except for a few creature stats are not going to be useful. The back cover neglects to mention those two essential references, though it does mention other required sources.

There are no "secrets" per se. The book is an account of factions within the Shadowlands, approximately covering the period from after the Lying Darkness into the Four Winds period. It gives a general overview of The Lost, the Shadow Dragon and other remanents of the Lying Darkness, and bloodspeakers (both in the Shadowlands and a few hidden cells within the Empire). There is some passing mention of goblins and ogres, but trolls, hags and oni are notably absent.

More than anything, this book serves as a reference for running a game with "corrupted" players, not as any sort of adventure setting for standard characters. (There are a handful of adventure hooks, with the majority being appropriate for corrupted characters, particularly if characters have become The Lost.)

Of the 8 chapters, the first 6 all begin with the flavor text that we've come to expect, all connected in some way. Chapter 7 has flavor text, but is somewhat jarring in that it is a complete change of setting, characters and venue from the preceding 6. Chapter 8 was appearently given no thought in this direction, being devoid of any flavor text. (Which is ironic in that Chapter 8 was the one I deem most useful as is, not needing one of the aforementioned references.)

Overally, this is a good reference point for a solid GM and a dangerous weapon for GMs that only think they're good. A novice GM will probably feel overwhelmed by this source as the only detailed info is the section on the Wall of Bone, so don't expect an out-of-the-box adventure such as "Tomb of Iuchiban". If an "evil" campaign is in your future, this book is a must-have. If you're going to run a campaign IN the Shadowlands, this will be useful, but not necessary. Any campaign within the Empire won't use this book at all unless you want to focus on bloodspeakers. Heed the call of Fu Leng accordingly...

I took a chance on the Scorpion, the first novel in the Clan War series because I've long admired the mystique and customs of the samurai era, and was interested in a story that explored those elements in a fantasy setting. My understanding is that each novel will explore a different Clan of the land of Rokugan, while advancing the overall storyline.

This novel focuses on the Scorpion Clan, masters of intrigue who are feared and despised by all other Clans. The Scorpion leader Shoju discovers a prophecy that foretells the return of the demon Fu Leng unless drastic action is taken; action that could prove equally devastating to Rokugan. As Shoju sets his plans in motion, we learn about the other key members of his Clan, and are provided an introduction to several important characters in the Clans that future novels in the series will explore.

The Scorpion is a fun and compelling novel that provided a healthy dose of action, intrigue, romance, and very memorable characters. The samurai and other Asian historical elements were handled well, and were balanced with just enough fantasy elements to keep things delightfully unpredictable. I had no previous familiarity with the role playing game that this series is based on, but had no problem jumping right into the story, which is a credit to author Stephen Sullivan. My only concern is that he may have done his job a bit too well, as I'm ready to swear allegiance to the Scorpion Clan before truly discovering the remaining Clans!

I was enjoying the book up until about midway through when the author hit the breaks and the book came to a screeching halt. I read a lot and rarely have I ever put a book down, but I had to with this one. I might pic it up again later, but it got to the point that it was agonizing to try and plow through the slop at the midway point in this book. It might not have been so bad if the characters had some kind of personality and the author didn't go on and on and on about a scheme to trick one of the Scorpian clan's main rivals.

This is the second book which I've read in the Clan War series (the first one was the Crab) and I think it's a bit worse. Maybe the problem is with some characters or the story, which I already knew (from the Crab book), I am not sure. Still, I think that it's worth buying and reading - it finally answered some of questions I've had after reading the Crab book. Moreover when you read it you will not be able to say anymore so easily that Scorpions are on the 'dark side'.

Typically, I'm not a fan of fiction based on games, be they card, roleplaying or even video games. The Clan War series, however, is a very special exception and I give most of the credit for that to Stephen D. Sullivan's work in this book. It hooks you early and it hooks you deep with its tragic anti-hero Bayushi Shoju, Daimyo of the deceptive Scorpion clan, and his malicious, seductive counterpart Bayushi Kachiko.

It does what any first volume of a series should do and that is make you want to read the rest of the books as soon as humanly possible. The fact that there were a couple of clunkers in the seven book series was somewhat disappointing (especially the lopsided follow-up The Unicorn), but the strength of The Scorpion alone will make you want to see how the rest of the clans fare in this imperial free-for-all. It's simply the best of the series and I'm glad it was the first or I might not have bothered to read the others!

So do yourself a favor and read The Scorpion. If you enjoy it then you have six more books waiting in the wings (and five more after that if you include The Four Winds series)! I can't say that any of the other Clan War books will make quite as deep an impression as this one (alough The Crane is a close second), but as a whole this is an excellent four-star series that deserves to be read.

I received this book along with the second in the series (The Unicorn) as a birthday gift. I'd never played the card games, and never will, because I associate card games with little-kid shows like Pokemon.

First thing's first--If you're looking for flawless writing and can't get over grammatical errors, don't read these. Frankly, they're pretty full of them, and I could tell several places where things could have been phrased much better. Actually, on the scale of things, if I were rating based on writing skill alone, I'd probably only give a three.

So why am I giving the series a five? Because I don't latch onto things like grammatical errors and a couple misspellings. If you don't know anything about the series, it's basically telling the same story of [relatively] the same time period from seven different points of view (seven clans, seven books, yeah...). I hate books that are predictable, but what I hate more is the way some authors make absolutely absurd switches in what's going on in an effort to be less predictable. These books don't do that. By themselves, they're just like any old fantasy book, but all together, they make so much sense, and you start feeling a little hypocritical because you'll at least understand each clan's cause as they tell it. Frankly, these, along with a couple other books I read around the time (The Magic Circle and Crazy Jack, both by Donna Jo Napoli) changed the way I thought about things. Once you see the same event seven different ways, it's kinda hard to stop noticing how everything else in the world is just as complicated, but that just makes it a lot easier to understand where other people are coming from on different issues, etc.

In my opinion, this book is great. It has a lot of excellent feats, spells, skills, classes, and information for any Oriental D&D campaign. I recommend it equally as much as Oriental Adventures.

I've been playing D&D for a couple of years now, but was just recently exposed to Oriental Adventures and the L5R setting a couple of weeks ago. Wow. What have I been missing?

The Rokugan setting is just amazing, adding tons of depth to the Oriental Adventures setting and just providing a great atmosphere, chock full of politics, rivalries, and Three Kingdoms-esque intrigue. The additional clan-based suplements (Secrets of the Unicorn springs to mind, mainly because after only a few minutes of reading, I gained a ton of insight into my Water-based Unicorn Shugenji), are great, providing a huge amount of background on the cultures and personalities of Rokugan.

If you're a bit tired of Greyhawk and Faerun, now may be a great time to trade your longsword for a katana and your cleric for a shaman. Check Rokugan out -- you'll like it.

It's interesting to have a campaign set in the Asian lands of any world. Honor is key above the traditional good and evil. This Rokugan sourcebook excells at giving you a great setting for the adventures. Filled with politics and intrigue, as well as the traditional kill the monsters stuff. It really has something for everyone. Maybe it has too much detail, because it causes me to worry if I will remember everything on the fly. Take notes!

Having played D&D since the Basic Set, and having played the L5R RPG when it was still in 1st edition, I was excited by the announcement that L5R was going d20. I wasn't thrilled with the Oriental Adventures book, as the rules were either unclear, or didn't fit well at all with the theme of L5R.

So I picked up Rokugan as soon as I found out about it.

At first glance (in the store), it was really detailed. Each family in each clan has it's own bonus class skills, favored classes, and starting packages (which were a nice touch from the previous versions of L5R RPG). There are individual shugenja schools for each clan/family, full classes for courtier and ninja (courtier is especially useful for Oriental games), probably two dozen prestige classes (most are very good for other games, as well), and a plethora of feats (which included new Clan and Kiho feats).

The background material on Rokugan is also very good, giving a new-samurai's view of the Emerald Empire, up to the time of the Emperor Toturi's death. There are details of the wars, along with a timeline filled with seemingly-innocent historical anecdotes (perfect for helping DMs create adventures).

Unfortunately, the book is not without flaws.

There are issues with the starting packages (some with contradictory equipment, others that simply don't make much sense or use), lingering questions on exactly how shugenja work in certain cases (especially the Isawa), the fact that the samurai ability to "awaken" their swords contradicts much of known L5R material (i.e., only shugenja typically do it), and several other issues.

Individually, these things wouldn't be a problem, but altogether, make the book practically unusable. This in and of itself could likely have been corrected if the designers had created a FAQ and/or errata to explain or correct issues. But they have not, and there is almost certainly no plan to do so for the foreseeable future.

There are smaller things I would alter, like making courtiers somewhat more useful, perhaps, but they are mostly flavor issues rather than game balance, mechanics, or setting issues.

Should you buy this book? Yes, actually. The book is useful, but requires a complete overhaul, especially to make it v3.5 compliant (and no, there is no v3.5 update out for it yet, and there seems no plan to make one). The Complete series may handle a lot of these problems; though I have not read them all, they have incorporated the OA classes, with some or no modifications.

I say buy it, but don't pay full price. Get it used, borrow one from a friend, but don't pay $20 for this thing. The lack of polish and user-friendliness should not be rewarded.

AEG never fails to deliver the goods, and in this case they give them to us in spades. Rokugan is an excellant conversion from the classic 'Legend of the 5 Rings' RPG system to the highly successful and popular 'D20' system. While not a stand-alone product it is still very meaty with dozens of feats and several excellant new classes with the 'L5R' flavor.

All in all a very solid book and an excellant followup to the Oriental Adventures book (which I also highly recommend if you intend to run L5R using D20 rules)

Something I would like to point out. This book isn't just a new collection of feats and classes and skills. This book presents one of the most dynamic asian fantasy settings roleplayers have ever had the pleasure of gaming in. It is rich in history and culture (and as much as I don't like the most recent history, it's still largely entertaining.)

In short, 2 thumbs up. Way up.

This book offers a comprehensive view to some of the subleties of the the Emerald Empire and specifically a closer look at the Emperor's center circle. A great supplement for the L5R campaign or Samurai enthusiasts.

A great additon to an excellent setting and system. I love the setting info and great mechanical additions as well. A great supplement to the Core book.

This book is a very good supplement. As other books of L5R The Roleplaying Game 3ed (Legend of the Five Rings), it's very complete and has a lot of information in it. It talks about different aspects of the Rokugani society as: customs, armies and war, agriculture, training dojos...

It isn't really necessary to play, but you won't regret to have it if you decide to buy it.

Recommended purchase.