What do you think?
Rate this book
Legend of the Five Rings: Clan War #2
The Unicorn
The Land is Wounded.
Shadowlands monsters mass on the edges of Rokugan. The Crab Clan, long vigilant in battling them, seems unable or unwilling to stop the demonic onslaught.
But from an unlikely quarter, a hero arises. She will lead her forces in a battle that will rend the world: The Battle at Beiden Pass.
Shadowlands monsters mass on the edges of Rokugan. The Crab Clan, long vigilant in battling them, seems unable or unwilling to stop the demonic onslaught.
But from an unlikely quarter, a hero arises. She will lead her forces in a battle that will rend the world: The Battle at Beiden Pass.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
8 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Allison Lassieur
175 books14 followersA professional freelance author who began her career in publishing as an avid D&D player, Lassieur worked for thirteen years in the publishing industry as an editor for magazines such as Disney Adventures and Highlights for Children.
She's edited game products for TSR, West End Games, and Sierra Online. In addition, she has more than two dozen nonfiction children's books to her credit and has contributed to such magazines as National Geographic World and Scholastic News.
Lassieur lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania.
She's edited game products for TSR, West End Games, and Sierra Online. In addition, she has more than two dozen nonfiction children's books to her credit and has contributed to such magazines as National Geographic World and Scholastic News.
Lassieur lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 22, 2013
The Clan War series, I think, is hamstrung by its own structure. You have seven novels, each with their own protagonists and focusing on a different clan, but only one overarching plotline. In The Scorpion, we at least saw the plot begin, but The Unicorn does very little to advance it, being forced to spend time in introducing its characters, who are still left wooden, distant, and somewhat passive. The one thing I think the novel did well with its characters (or with anything else, really) was its sidestepping of the romance subplot with the female protagonist.
The book also undersells its events. From the sourcebooks we know the Battle at Beiden Pass is supposed to be big and significant, but the importance and scale of the events is not passed on to the reader in The Unicorn. It's supposed to be epic, larger than life, a turning point. Instead, we're told about it, we're not shown it, even though we're taken right to the middle of it!
See, I like Rokugan. I like Legend of the Five Rings. It makes no pretension of any kind of cultural accuracy, gleefully embraces every myth about the superiority of katanas the writers could find and is generally an unabashedly Hollywood take on fantasy Japan. It's over the top and takes itself seriously, which is what makes it work.
The Unicorn doesn't deliver that. If you ran a search and replace to change katanas to longswords on the manuscript, it could just as easily be set in the Forgotten Realms. You have katanas and tea sets and rock gardens, but those are all set dressing, and everyone acts like modern-day Westerners. Also, we get zombies. Lots of zombies. They're called zombies. They're called zombies lots, without recourse to synonym or euphemism. It gets repetitive fast, and took me out of the story. Zombies are something you get in a Romero flick. In a fantasy Japan, namedropping them breaks the tone. Calling them walking dead or hungry dead or something would have been preferable.
Meh.
The book also undersells its events. From the sourcebooks we know the Battle at Beiden Pass is supposed to be big and significant, but the importance and scale of the events is not passed on to the reader in The Unicorn. It's supposed to be epic, larger than life, a turning point. Instead, we're told about it, we're not shown it, even though we're taken right to the middle of it!
See, I like Rokugan. I like Legend of the Five Rings. It makes no pretension of any kind of cultural accuracy, gleefully embraces every myth about the superiority of katanas the writers could find and is generally an unabashedly Hollywood take on fantasy Japan. It's over the top and takes itself seriously, which is what makes it work.
The Unicorn doesn't deliver that. If you ran a search and replace to change katanas to longswords on the manuscript, it could just as easily be set in the Forgotten Realms. You have katanas and tea sets and rock gardens, but those are all set dressing, and everyone acts like modern-day Westerners. Also, we get zombies. Lots of zombies. They're called zombies. They're called zombies lots, without recourse to synonym or euphemism. It gets repetitive fast, and took me out of the story. Zombies are something you get in a Romero flick. In a fantasy Japan, namedropping them breaks the tone. Calling them walking dead or hungry dead or something would have been preferable.
Meh.
June 13, 2019
4.5. as a standalone novel, this book is excellent. the interweaving of Tetsuko and Tadaji’s perspectives is well done, and the Japanese — while still honestly kind of unnecessary — is significantly improved from The Scorpion. the horror is well-executed (and remains tastefully within the boundaries of what I, a person who struggles with horror, can enjoy), as is Tadaji’s unraveling. it leans a little too far towards telling rather than showing re Tetsuko being disgraced, but that’s a minor point, so I’ll let it pass.
as a component of the Clan Wars series leading up to the Second Day of Thunder, this book is a little more perplexing: don’t get me wrong, I like Tetsuko, but Kamoko is the Unicorn Thunder. in all the other books in the series, the (future) Thunder is the main — or one of the main — POV characters, but Kamoko only shows up here for a few scenes during the Battle of Beiden Pass, and doesn’t say more than about two hundred words, tops. I remember being confused when I got to The Lion because by that point I’d forgotten that Kamoko appeared in this book at all; she might as well have been showing up out of nowhere just for the climax of the series.
so: good book, odd position in the series.
as a component of the Clan Wars series leading up to the Second Day of Thunder, this book is a little more perplexing: don’t get me wrong, I like Tetsuko, but Kamoko is the Unicorn Thunder. in all the other books in the series, the (future) Thunder is the main — or one of the main — POV characters, but Kamoko only shows up here for a few scenes during the Battle of Beiden Pass, and doesn’t say more than about two hundred words, tops. I remember being confused when I got to The Lion because by that point I’d forgotten that Kamoko appeared in this book at all; she might as well have been showing up out of nowhere just for the climax of the series.
so: good book, odd position in the series.
February 4, 2011
This book reminded me of a very bad wapanese (that is, white kids acting Japanese) fan-fiction. The most bothersome aspect of the book is that the already wooden dialogue is peppered with Japanese buzzwords that scream "Trying too hard". Reading "The Unicron" as a teen marked the point in my life where I realized how annoying and unnecessary the domoarigotodesudesudesu bits picked up from watching too much anime could be when added to a literary work (and that's saying a lot, because I loved anime at this point in my life). Besides this, I never got really hooked on the story. It felt like mishmash of overdone fantasy tropes and never brought anything new to the table.
August 21, 2021
General Overview
A rather standard second entry, The Unicorn, gets by on its characters and the world of Legend of the Five Rings, over its story.
Style
Written as any book of its genre, A.L. Lassieur, took no risks with his writing for this book. Where the former felt bold and used its Asian setting well, The Unicorn at times feels like it remembers on occasion its setting, and pastes words or scene dressing in to tick that box.
It is written well enough, that the scenes that feel almost tick boxy as well for this type of novel are enjoyable. I did like this novel. It just didn’t grip me as much as I hoped it would. This is in part due to its writing.
Story
Starting off slightly disjointedly from the end of the first book, some months have passed over the land of Rokugan. A plague has befallen the land, and the Emperor is on his death bed.
Some of the Clans, the Unicorn being the focus of this book, are banding together to fend off the growing threat of the Shadowlands. The Unicorn’s Ambassador and a Battle Maiden of the Clan must do all they can to ensure the survival of the people of the Emerald Empire.
But the story as told just feels unconnected to these events. It is enjoyable enough, but feels throughout that we are reading the sideline events of this epic war in the making, and not seeing many of the main events themselves. We see our Battle Maiden in battle, and the Ambassador in intrigue, but it’s only at the end of the novel that any of what they do seems to matter.
I also feel that it doesn’t explain the threat that is being posed to Rokugan. It talks about Goblins, Ogres and Zombies, but doesn’t explain them in the world, or what is driving this war.
Thankfully, the world is colourfully written, and the characters we meet are interesting, with good depth. A saving grace for this piece as a whole.
Final Thoughts
A far less gripping second installment to the what started as an interesting series. It has kept my attention, and was a pleasant enough read that I will look to see what the 3rd book holds.
A rather standard second entry, The Unicorn, gets by on its characters and the world of Legend of the Five Rings, over its story.
Style
Written as any book of its genre, A.L. Lassieur, took no risks with his writing for this book. Where the former felt bold and used its Asian setting well, The Unicorn at times feels like it remembers on occasion its setting, and pastes words or scene dressing in to tick that box.
It is written well enough, that the scenes that feel almost tick boxy as well for this type of novel are enjoyable. I did like this novel. It just didn’t grip me as much as I hoped it would. This is in part due to its writing.
Story
Starting off slightly disjointedly from the end of the first book, some months have passed over the land of Rokugan. A plague has befallen the land, and the Emperor is on his death bed.
Some of the Clans, the Unicorn being the focus of this book, are banding together to fend off the growing threat of the Shadowlands. The Unicorn’s Ambassador and a Battle Maiden of the Clan must do all they can to ensure the survival of the people of the Emerald Empire.
But the story as told just feels unconnected to these events. It is enjoyable enough, but feels throughout that we are reading the sideline events of this epic war in the making, and not seeing many of the main events themselves. We see our Battle Maiden in battle, and the Ambassador in intrigue, but it’s only at the end of the novel that any of what they do seems to matter.
I also feel that it doesn’t explain the threat that is being posed to Rokugan. It talks about Goblins, Ogres and Zombies, but doesn’t explain them in the world, or what is driving this war.
Thankfully, the world is colourfully written, and the characters we meet are interesting, with good depth. A saving grace for this piece as a whole.
Final Thoughts
A far less gripping second installment to the what started as an interesting series. It has kept my attention, and was a pleasant enough read that I will look to see what the 3rd book holds.
October 10, 2007
My favourite book in this series. It tells of the "barbarian" Unicorn clan's efforts to save their world from the encroaching evil.
The book focuses on two Unicorns, a Battle Maiden named Tetsuko, and the Unicorn Ambassador, Tadaji. Through their eyes the plot unfolds, including deadly battles and political intrigue. A great read for those interested in this series.
The book focuses on two Unicorns, a Battle Maiden named Tetsuko, and the Unicorn Ambassador, Tadaji. Through their eyes the plot unfolds, including deadly battles and political intrigue. A great read for those interested in this series.
February 19, 2022
Overall I enjoyed this continuation of the Clan War series, following the coup against the emperor and the putting down of the rebellion by the Crab Clan. This picks up a little later with a plague sweeping Rokugan. This time we follow members of the Unicorn clan, a warrior woman and an older ambassador at court. I was a little disappointed that, after introducing sooo many characters in the first book, we move on to an almost entirely new cast of characters in this one. I still want to know what happened with the other storylines! Maybe they will be picked up again in later books in this series. This book also failed in the same way the first one did, in that neither explain large details of the world, like the Shadowlands creatures in this book. They seem like a mix of legendary creatures like goblins and ogres along with reanimated zombies that don’t get explained much. I realize this series exists in conjunction with the game system, but I have read plenty of books that are set in game worlds, like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, and I never felt confused at the setting or world because those books explained all of it. Just something I feel is missing from these ones. I’ll still read them all as I do enjoy it.
June 2, 2022
I liked elements of this, especially the lead characters, Utaku Tetsuko the Battle Maiden and Ide Tadaji the Imperial ambassador. I found their characters well drawn, believable, and consistent, and their viewpoints were ably interwoven by the author.
That said, the plot did little to create tension. Worse, I was generally not clear on what was going on overall or what the stakes were. As a result, the novel felt somewhat generic, despite its Rokugani trappings (which, apart from everything else, I always enjoy).
That said, the plot did little to create tension. Worse, I was generally not clear on what was going on overall or what the stakes were. As a result, the novel felt somewhat generic, despite its Rokugani trappings (which, apart from everything else, I always enjoy).
May 27, 2023
See review of first book.
I tried it again as the idea of
these books is good.
Its just not my style.
But if they made a miniseries out of this
Animated
It would be worth the watch.
I tried it again as the idea of
these books is good.
Its just not my style.
But if they made a miniseries out of this
Animated
It would be worth the watch.
Read
November 19, 2024I like to take swings on weird old genre fiction by women, especially cheap old licensed novels. I've found some rough gems doing that, but this isn't one of them. I have to assume this was meant to be read by someone thoroughly enmeshed in the lore of this setting because it's almost incoherent without that context. There's no closure to anyone's arc, and often not even any clarity on why they were doing what they were doing, characters emerge from nowhere in the last act with no explanation, etc.
In large part this novel feels like it was written to glorify Utaku Tetsuko, one of the principle viewpoint characters and I assume important to some degree in the setting? Lassieur must have been fond of her for how lovingly she dwells on her adventures, and I remember the early 2000s, it must have felt powerful and important to be writing a fantasy novel attached to gaming properties centering a woman.
But Tetsuko's adventures, while written with an urgency and emotionality lacking elsewhere, sit awkwardly in this novel which is ultimately a grab bag of references and cameos from this setting. The back of the book promises, with promising melodrama, that "from an unlikely quarter, a hero arises. She will lead her forces in a battle that will rend the world." And I sort of thought she would have an important role in that battle? But she's just...there. And everyone keeps noticing her and remembering her and having heart-to-hearts with her, even though she seems to be a relatively normal low-ranking officer, presumably because she's the protagonist.
In large part this novel feels like it was written to glorify Utaku Tetsuko, one of the principle viewpoint characters and I assume important to some degree in the setting? Lassieur must have been fond of her for how lovingly she dwells on her adventures, and I remember the early 2000s, it must have felt powerful and important to be writing a fantasy novel attached to gaming properties centering a woman.
But Tetsuko's adventures, while written with an urgency and emotionality lacking elsewhere, sit awkwardly in this novel which is ultimately a grab bag of references and cameos from this setting. The back of the book promises, with promising melodrama, that "from an unlikely quarter, a hero arises. She will lead her forces in a battle that will rend the world." And I sort of thought she would have an important role in that battle? But she's just...there. And everyone keeps noticing her and remembering her and having heart-to-hearts with her, even though she seems to be a relatively normal low-ranking officer, presumably because she's the protagonist.
November 17, 2023
brief synopsis: shadowland forces are approaching and a plague of the undead continues to haunt local villages. Rumors, nightmares, and death haunt the empire as the clan takes on a life shattering battle ⚔️
review: with a wishywashy storyline and a setting that was forgotten half the time, a complete badass battle maiden is the savior of this book! Her bestfriend is a horse and her character arc is just right, what a great combo. But the author throwing in random Japanese phrases every 50 pages? Side eyeing that choice a little bit 🙄
review: with a wishywashy storyline and a setting that was forgotten half the time, a complete badass battle maiden is the savior of this book! Her bestfriend is a horse and her character arc is just right, what a great combo. But the author throwing in random Japanese phrases every 50 pages? Side eyeing that choice a little bit 🙄
December 1, 2012
Better overall than the first book in the series, this volume still suffers from mediocre prose. The biggest problem is that, while the world is interesting, there's litte plot development until the end. The combat scenes are bad but the stuff in between are actually quiet good.
August 23, 2012
Being a fan of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG, this series of books were a must read. Of course the fanboy element probably added an additional star to the rating. Non-fans of the game might find this to be an enjoyable read (although for them, only three stars).
January 24, 2017
Characters could use more depth, and at one point there were 3 or 4 characters in one scene whose names began with "T", making reading cumbersome at points. A little too much set-up, but some coll moments here and there. Definitely a SOFT 3 stars
November 29, 2020
After thoroughly enjoying the first of this series, this brought me back to reality. Maybe 3 fun moments amidst less interesting characters, more predictability and a crawling pace.
I mean you think I would have know from the cover, right?
I mean you think I would have know from the cover, right?
April 18, 2010
Story of the Unicorn, set 3 years after the coup by the Scorpion. Great action and drama. Tetsuko is a character I want to see more of.
March 20, 2020
My favorite clan in the L5R CCG. Have to be a bit benevolent here.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews