Claymore, Vol. 9: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory

Claymore [クレイモア] #9

by Norihiro Yagi

A New York Times best selling, multi-arc, character-driven story with great battles and strong-willed females that will appeal to males and females alike.

In a world where monsters called Yoma prey on humans and live among them in disguise, humanity's only hope is a new breed of warrior known as Claymores. Half human, half monster, these silver-eyed slayers possess supernatural strength but are condemned to fight their savage impulses or lose their humanity completely.

Clare and her fellow Claymores Galatea and Jean must battle the Awakened Beings that are holding them captive. In the process, they find their captors' true by torturing the warriors, they want to force them to awaken and join them in a gathering of Yoma. Will Clare and her comrades be able to defeat the Awakened Beings without becoming one themselves?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Action, Shonen

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2005

About the author

Norihiro Yagi (八木教広 Yagi Norihiro) is a Japanese manga writer and artist from Okinawa Prefecture. He started making manga in 1990.

Norihiro Yagi is a successful manga artist, having won the 32nd Akatsuka Award for his very first work, Undeadman. Undeadman appeared in Monthly Shōnen Jump and has had two sequels. Yagi's first serialized manga was his comedy-genre Angel Densetsu, which appeared in Monthly Shōnen Jump from 1992 to 2000. His most recent work, Claymore, has been running in the magazine since 2001.

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great one. As they continue to battle Riful, Clare saves Jean from becoming a monster and thus begins the quest of repayment of debt and they both joining together along with Galatea to defeat them and they go to Isley of the North and meet their organization leaders and they have a quest for them to join other 24 warriors to defeat Awakened beings there. Its becoming epic atm and I am loving the slow descent into the more massive battles and revelations about the Yona and having Clare face off against more powerful people. Whats shocking is seeing so many other new characters and reunion of the 4! The art was great and the monsters look terrifying.

[Ray Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ Re-read in 2023. ]

In the first half of the volume, Jane, Galatea and Clare defeat the awakened creature that stands beside Riful, and in the process, she gives them the name of the Creature of the Abyss: Isley of the North.

Jane (rank #9) was previously tortured to the point where she awakened and her body turned into a full yoma. But, somehow, Clare was able to bring her back to being ‘human’. After this, she tells her that her life is owned by Clare, and though our dear #48 doesn’t accept it, Jane becomes a powerful ally.

In the second half of the volume, 24 Claymores go onto a mission in the North: they’ll have to defeat a number of awakened male creatures that have already killed a bunch of Claymores in the last few days.

Miria, Helen, Deneve and Clare reunite again and though they’re split in 5 teams, they have a chance to plot against the organization that doesn’t care about what happens with them.

I cannot wait to keep reading this arc! As always, the action scenes are superb and the art style has improved a lot! I love muscled women!

PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 | Volume 5 | Volume 6 | Volume 7 | Volume 8

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claymore's organization is so messed up... i hope this difficult and scary task will help Clare improve more. Can't wait for her improvement! She is amazing!

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I ever mention how good this series is? Absolutely fantastic! A must read!!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claymore 9
Es el desenlace de la pelea con la niña y el monstrote, buena pelea, Clair logra algo importante.
Pero de ahí las mandan al norte donde al parecer hay muchos monstruos.

Buen volumen, se pone interesante la situación.

3.7 stars

[Tres Trece · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cerrando un arco y preparándose para una batalla épica.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 I really enjoyed this volume. Though Clare’s supernatural Shonen style power up is obnoxious I still love the action and dark plot.

After the events with Riful. Clare and Jean head North and meat up with a large group of Claymores set to take on a suicide mission against a bunch of Awakened Beings and the Creature of the Abyss Isley.

Fast paced as usual with great tension building.

Clare and Jean on the cover of Vol 9.

Read 8/10/22

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The action and emotions are good but the logic is starting to slip.

World: The art is amazing once again with that entire fight inside the hallway pretty spectacular. The world building on the other hand is actually getting out of hand. The fact that we known nothing of the organization and the blind devotion that people have for it is starting to not make logical sense, in fact the story itself has a splinter group with Clare. Add to the fact that this is the forth time since Ophelia that we have internal forces within the organization that are actively trying to hurt their assets the Claymores. This type of world building is fairly janky and makes no logical sense and at this moment I find the logic a bit broken.

Story: The Rilun story was pretty cool as a teaser for the Abyssal Ones and I am chomping at the bit to see them take on the Clare, that entire arc was story wise fairly thin but the action was amazing. The next arc is a start for the next story and it’s okay, it brings together pieces from the past which are good for world and character building but it inexplicably ends once again with the organization itself taking their own soldiers off the board, it makes no logical sense when we don’t know the intention of the organization while we do know that Rilun and Isley have ideas of moving into on each other and the rest of the world so yeah...these logical leaps and the repeated attacks from within are getting a bit tiresome because of the lack of context which is needed, you can only go on so long with the dramatic tension until it fizzles and it’s doing that for me.

Characters: The characters are good, not a lot of depth once again and the emotions are basic and easy to understand. I did like that the new Abyssal Ones are insane to look at and the info it gave was much needed world building. I liked that the pieces we have been building towards are coming together for the next arc. However I do miss the quiet moments that this book needs to tie readers into the characters and the events emotionally.

It was exciting to read but the logical issues and the lack of context is really starting to stretch this world’s logic thin.

Onward to the next book!

[MajesticalLion · Rating 5 out of 5]

We get some rather interesting developments this volume. We're starting to see the beginnings of a coordinated Yoma war. For the organization to send 24 of it's members feels insane. That they'd treat more than half of the Claymore's like fodder truly makes me wonder just how implicit they are in the evil being done in the world. We shall see.

[Casper Paaske · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lore holds up surprisingly well, despite how made up in the spot it feels (and probably was, maybe).

[MarinaLawliett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicaaaaaa cuesta arribisima esto!!!!

[RO · Rating 5 out of 5]

takım tekrardan toplandı :3

her ilerleyen ciltte yeni claymorelar geliyo ve arkadaşlık ortamımsı bi şey oluşuyo ve bu ÇOK HOŞUMA GİDİYO

[Münevver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olaylar, olaylar...

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool action scenes, good plot development, a satisfying conclusion to the previous volume, great artwork, an ending hook that primes me up for the next volume...this series manages to consistently check all the boxes on what makes an exciting, compelling story each and every volume, and at this point I'm feeling confident that that isn't going to stop any time soon.

[Joni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si con tres o cuatro Claymores se volvía confuso por el parecido, ahora con 24 ya es un bardo de nombres y poderes. Lo mejor es dejar que fluya la historia que a pesar de no diferenciar a las protagonistas, las escenas están bien detalladas, con mucha acción.

[MC · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ninth volume of this dark fantasy series is where things take another turn for both the good and the bad. The bad is that Clare and others of her friends in the Claymore Organization are sent on another suicide hunt, and also that Raki is said to have been captured by rogue slavers, and Clare must survive to save him. The good is that the bonds Clare has with her fellow warriors are strong and that she has gained new skills.

In the past few volumes, Clare and others she knows among her colleagues have discovered truths about the organization, and that in turn caused the Organization to informally mark them for death. Fortunately, through incredible coincidence, this Clare managed to barely survive an attack from an insane fellow Claymore and gain power and skills as a result. How she gets stronger via learning and bodily help from another once-Claymore gets to an important point about the character.

In fact, this is one of the defining character traits and strengths of Clare, as tv tropes points out, that she has the ability to analyze a situation and come to fast decisions, and copy techniques she sees. Despite being the lowest ranked among her generation of warriors, and thus the weakest, she really is phenomenally strong in that she can utilize such a wide-range of techniques. In other words, her strength lies in her intelligence and adaptability, which make her far stronger than her real skills would otherwise be.

Because of this, the author gives a good reason for Clare rising so high despite her shortcomings, other than the power of plot. That actually is a strong point in his favor, as authors sometimes don't do this and it comes across as the author saving the characters at times in other works. Some folks think it's this here, but it really isn't. It's Clare's brains and such.

In a manner that Attack on Titan also utilizes in it's own story, the ontological mystery is slowly being revealed. And that is really the key to what makes this story so entertaining for me. It has a mystery element that is being revealed to the characters and the audience at the same time. So it's not the cheesy thing of the character ignoring what they know until the audience is allowed to find out. They find out as we do and it happens quite organically.

The only bad part is that the art doesn't always depict well what is happening. It has a lot of manga panel style of what I call "whooshes" and such. I wish the fighting were depicted better, although the mangaka, , does do better than Watsuki, mangaka of Rurouni Kenshin, at showing the fights.

The best part along with the mystery being slowly unraveled is that earlier-mentioned growing friendship between Clare and some of her fellow Claymores. It continues the defrosting process that Raki began. Between Theresa's death and the aftermath, as well as her travels as a Claymore and folks' reaction to this, she was ice-cold, but Raki, and the other warriors, including Miria, have begun to alter this somewhat.

This volume was an important one that was the ending of previous arcs, and the beginning of a new one, as well as one that pushed forward some of the character development and unraveling mysteries of the previous volumes. Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars.F

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claymore, Vol. 9 / 978-1421510514

I've watched the Claymore anime before following the manga, and I absolutely love both. I love the crisp, clean, black-and-white artwork, and I'm finding that the "action" panels are getting easier to follow as I progress into the series -- I think that the artists behind this series are truly talented and skilled at conveying a complex story and wonderfully emotive characters.

And, on an excited side note, I notice now that the entire series is available in e-book form as Nook Books; I hope they'll be ported to other stores soon, to serve as many readers as possible.

Volume 9 provides the following scenes:

Scene 46: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory, Part 1
Scene 47: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory, Part 2
Scene 48: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory, Part 3
Scene 49: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory, Part 4
Scene 50: The Battle of the North, Part 1
Scene 51: The Battle of the North, Part 2

For those following along with the anime series, this volume corresponds to:

Episode 17: The Witch's Maw, Part 3
Episode 18: The Carnage in the North, Part 1

Spoilers ahead!

This volume finishes out the Riful arc and begins the Northern Campaign arc. The volume ends when the three Awakened Beings sent to scout Pieta decide to attack the Claymores.

Galatea plays for time while Clare finds Jean, the only one with an attack strong enough to pierce Dauf's thick hide. Clare finds Jean in an Awakened state, but in full possession of her mind and enough self-control to hold her body stationary while she pleads for Clare to kill her. Clare uses Galatea's synchronization technique to pull Jean back to human form, and the two return to Galatea to continue the fight with Dauf. Matters are brought to a stalemate; the three Claymore are just barely strong enough to defeat Dauf, but they are no match for Abyssal Creature Riful. Riful provides them with information on Isley in the north, and then allows the Claymore to leave; Galatea agrees not to turn Clare and Jean into the Organization.

Rafael, the tracker without an aura, finds Jean and Clare in the woods, and Rubel orders the two to join the Claymores gathered in the north. Clare capitulates, as the north is, after all, where she was heading anyway. In Pieta, Clare is reunited with Deneve, Helen, and Miria, and Miria breaks the Claymore into teams in order to more effectively combat the Awakened Beings converging on their location. The volume ends with the three scouts sent by Isley choosing to attack the Claymore rather than report back as ordered.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

While volume 9 technically starts a "new" arc it is an immediate continuation of the last one and the series in general builds off all that has come before. This is not the place to start reading - go back to the beginning.

The Deep Abyss of Purgatory (complete: parts 1-4) is a direct follow up to The Witch's Maw. The power balance between the three Creatures of the Abyss has shifted and Riful of the West has been torturing Claymores to try to gain awakened followers. Clare and Galatea are desperate to survive their battle with Riful's monstrous companion and prevent her captive, the Organization's number 9 (Jean), from awakening. The battle and it's implications are quite interesting, with some inventive use of powers and teamwork. More tidbits are revealed about Clare's personal quest as well as the world in general, and although they are essentially just mysterious hints and clues they keep up the intrigue nicely.

The Battle of the North (parts 1-2) reveals an unexpected and unthinkable threat in the Northern lands - awakened beings working together. A full half of the existing Claymores are dispatched to face them, and even then their odds are not good. These chapters kick off a major series of arcs that will continue into the next couple of volumes with effects long after that. What's here is just the set up but it does a very good job establishing the situation and introducing several new characters (along with some familiar faces it's great to see back).

While I did find The Deep Abyss of Purgatory a little slow in spots there are character related reasons for its pacing and overall it's a strong introduction to the Creatures of the Abyss. The Battle of the North situation is quite a potential shake up for the series and ratchets up anticipation for the next volume. Together they make volume 9 yet another great installment of Claymore.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

No me acuerdo ni moco de qué traía este tomo, pero por lo que veo está entre mis favoritos. Obviamente el imbécil de Librarian que arrasó con las ediciones internacionales borró la de Glénat también, así que chau descripción en castellano.

Espero poder retomar la serie uno de estos años, así Helí no me reta tanto.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have the name of the Awakened One that now only know the location of Priscilla, but has Raki too. Things are getting complex and tense.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The threat level continues to steadily escalate. It’s hard to believe clare was fighting regular yoma just a few volumes ago. Now she is tangling with an abyssal one. And things are set to escalate even further. Ahead looms a horde of awakened ones, soldiers in the army of the abyssal one, Isley.

Compared to most shonen, the progress is rapid. Demon slayer, a series of similar length, spins its wheels for large stretches.

In this volume we get the conclusion if the fight against Dauf. Galatea, Clare, and Jean are able to prevail, working together. Galatea holds Dauf off while Clare goes below, to rescue Jean, the only Claymore with the power to pierce Dauf’s hide. Clare is able to turn Jean back from awakening, using skills picked up from Galatea. After that, Jean pledges her life to Clare.

Riful steps in to end the fight before they can kill Dauf, but decides to let the claymores go, believing they will awaken soon and freely choose to join her. She gives clare some information before departing — Isley and Priscilla are forming an army in the north.

Once Riful is gone, Galatea half heartedly attempts to arrest Clare, but when she resists Galatea lets her and a Jean go. So Galatea is good after all. And it appears there is a lot of dissension in the claymore ranks.

There is a short scene of a mysterious and shadowed claymore — “alicia,” who has unprecedented power.

After another brief scene from the war in the north, showing a band claymores wiped out by a group of awakened ones, Clare and Jean are ambushed by Robel and Rafaela. Robel offers the pair of renegades a pardon in exchange for returning to the organization and heading north to fight. It’s all hands on deck against the existential threat of Isley and Priscilla. He also mentions that Raki is somewhere in the area.

Flash forward to Clare and Jean joining a large number of claymores gathering in a snowbound northern village. Clare is reunited with old comrades Helen, deneve, and Miria, who is in charge of the operation. It’s heartwarming to see them together again, glad that they have survived and enjoying friendship that seems rare among claymores.

Miria lays out the battle plans for the coming war, splitting the 24 claymores into squads. But to her 4 co-conspirators (including Jean now), she reveals that the situation is hopeless. There is no way they can stand against Isley and the organization is merely trying to buy time, using them as pawns. The claymores sent north are considered disposable.

Taught, focused story that continually builds rather than relying on repeating formulas. Top notch battles that are easy to follow with plenty of space and which employ smart strategies rather than shouted power names or convoluted reasoning. A clean but detailed art style. Plot, suspense, battles, and storytelling are all areas in which claymore excels.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume starts strong, with an immediate follow up to the plot of Clare and a few other Claymores fighting two Awakened Beings. The male is a dumb brute, but his armor proves to be difficult for even the combined assault of three Claymores to crack. One of the most interesting moments in this part of the story is seeing Jean, one of the Claymores who had been kidnapped and tortured, having Awakened but resisting the physical transformation. She's a pretty interesting character and with her feeling she owes a life debt to Clare, I look forward to seeing her more. I also enjoyed getting more development of the Yoma and Awakened Beings, learning about how there are different factions that are gathering forces for a war. Also, the female Awakened Being revealing her true form was an excellent surprise and I'm curious to see if she'll reappear and have more of a proper fight with the characters.

The last two chapters being a story about dealing with the monsters gathering in the north of the continent, and in theory this should be exciting. It's a nice outgrowth of the revelations in this and the previous volume, and the idea of an army of Claymores going up against an army of Awakened Beings and Yoma should be a pretty good time. But the problem is that these first two chapters are just setup, and they highlight what continues to be my biggest problem with the series: it's way too hard to tell different Claymores apart. Now there's going to be 24 of them running around all at once, and even if they're being split up into squads, I still worry that the visual confusion will render the inevitable giant battle scenes much less exciting than they should be. I also realized that I don't really care about Raki anymore. He's been gone for a couple of volumes now and I suspect he's going to come back soon, since he was sold into slavery in the north, but I just can't bring myself to feel any excitement about his pending return. I did like seeing Mirai and the other Claymores who had resisted Awakening that had formed a squad a few volumes ago. I'm hoping there'll be some interesting character moments and revelations from them. So in the end, this volume started relatively strong but I'm left worrying about whether I'll actually enjoy the next one all that much.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's post is on Claymore volume 9: The Deep Abyss of Purgatory by Norihiro Yagi. It is the ninth the long running Claymore series, you need to have read the first eight volumes to understand the story. It is 189 pages long and is published by Shonen Jump Advanced. The cover has Clare and Galatea on the cover with swords drawn facing some unseen enemy. The intended reader is someone who likes dark plots, high action, and strong female characters. There is mild foul language, no sexuality, and lots of violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.



From the back of the book- Clare and her fellow Claymores Galatea and Jean must battle the Awakened Beings that are holding them captive. In the process, they find their captors' true motive: by torturing the warriors, they want to force them to awaken, and join them in a gathering of Yoma. Will Clare and her comrades be able to defeat the Awakened Beings without becoming one themselves?



Review- Clare and company finish the battle with the Great Awakened Being and Clare learns where she can find Priscilla. Clare picks up another follower in Jean, number 9, when Clare helps her stop from Awakening. Now Yoma and Awakened Ones are gathering for some reason so the Organization sends twenty-four Claymores north to deal with or really to die. The Organization wants either end because are good for them but the Claymores who have been send to die are not only powerful, they are the ones asking questions and that makes the Organization nervous. I am curious about what the Organization really wants; they create Claymores to battle Yoma because normal humans cannot do that but I am sure that there is more going on here than just Yoma, Claymores, and Awakened Ones. But Yagi is still building the world and I look forward to seeing the battle that is coming and I am very curious about the bigger plot at play.



I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riful of the West reveals that her rival in the North has allied with a female Awakened One. Clare realises it's Priscilla who killed Teresa in the past. She has been seeking Priscilla for revenge ever since. First Clare and Galatea have to defeat Dauf. While Galatea keeps Dauf busy, Clare frees an already Awakened Jean and manages to empower her into undoing her transformation. They rejoin Galatea for a concerted attack on Dauf. When they think him almost defeated, Riful steps in. She stops everyone in their tracks with her awesone power, takes Dauf and leaves. They are inconsequential now, but her offer to have the three Claymores join her still stands.

Galatea was tasked with bringing Clare to the organization. Jean, who has pledged her life to Clare, intends to prevent that even by sacrificing herself. Then Galatea turns and leaves. She will tell the organization that they fell in battle.

Rubel tells Clare that the organization sees her as a traitor, though it offers her a mission to redeem herself. She is to join a group of Claymores in an attack in the North where Raki is also to be found. Even their leaders think it's a suicide mission meant only to delay the North's expansion.

[José Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

En este tomo encontramos el desenlace de la batalla con el Engendro del Abismo, y se incorpora con más fuerza un nuevo personaje a la historia: Jean. Una Claymore que defiende su palabra, su honor y su lealtad. Es un personaje atrapante, y cada vez que sale en escena disfruto mucho conocer más sobre ella. Es quien en definitiva atrajo el foco de atención y dejó a Claire y Galatea en segundo plano. En este tomo se produce un reencuentro, el cuál es agradable ver de nuevo la interacción entre estos personajes. Las Claymore se preparan para algo grande, una batalla sin precedentes.

Sin embargo, en este tomo no me convencieron dos cosas:

1) El comportamiento al final de la batalla con Riful fue para mí incongruente. ¿Cuándo va a tener ella la oportunidad de tener a tres Claymore tan poderosas juntas para lograr su cometido? Pero, a pesar de ello, decide ir en contra de su misión y beneficiar a sus oponentes.

2) Desde el tomo pasado se ha dejado notar que deben ir al Norte y parece ser este el camino que debe seguir Claire. Pero, de una página a la otra ¡Wow! Ya estamos en el Norte. Me decepcioné y sentí que me habían quitado la aventura del camino hacia el Norte y las dificultades que eso podía traer. Fue como si hubiesen desechado al menos dos tomos y me colocaran la última página cuando llegan al Norte.

Aún así, la historia es para mí un disfrute total. Me encanta Claymore.

[dae ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

more information on the conflict between the abyssal ones.

clare helps jean who is awakened and helps her regain her senses and a start of a new friendship (or duty-ship? still early to tell). another fight where clare gains more experience and we see more claymore in action. the arc ends with a fraction of ritful’s power revealed (stunning art again) and the reality of what the claymores are tangled up with.

the arc started slow for me but i was invested by this half, the world building is truly addicting in this and has set itself up that none of it has been predictable so far for me. each fight feels refreshing and high risk rather than another roadblock for plot.

clare gets involved in the organization again and we start a new mission with 24 claymore sent to fight off awakened ones in the north. love seeing new faces and clare, helen, deneve and miria reunited and jean joining. a lot of light hearted moments and banter we don’t normally see and give the claymore some humanity.

miria lets us know more about this plan and i am invested and hoping these 5 can make it out alive. the manga is about 1/3 done at this point and i can’t imagine what comes next.

[Vicenç Sanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

No puedo para de leer Claymore, y menos ahora que llegamos prácticamente a la parte que más me gustó en su momento: la guerra en el norte (aunque eso empezará en el tomo que comentaremos mañana).

En éste noveno tomos tenemos todo el combate contra el ser del Abismo que se encuentran por casualidad, una mujer, aparentemente una niña, pero que va totalmente sobrada para someter a dos Claymore muy poderosas. Es un combate desigual (contra su acompañante), pero realmente chulo.

La cosa termina rápido al final, pero ser del Abismo mantiene (sorprendentemente) su palabra y deja en paz a los tres personajes.

Otra cosa a destacar es la aparición del personaje de Jean, la primera Claymore a la que vemos volver directamente desde su forma totalmente rebelada, una mujer que se propone servir a Claire por el favor que le ha hecho y un personaje con un diseño muy chulo.

De nuevo tenemos un tomo frenético, pero también repleto de información de un mundo que no deja de ampliarse tomo tras tomo, mostrándose rico a más no poder.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 3.25
You will have to forgive me, but after 8 reviews, where I have lamented, essentially the same thing. I am going to tell it like it is in the simplest possibly terms, and completely forego the usual attempts at spinning an entertaining and original narrative in my reviews. Of the first half of Claymore volume 9, we have returned to the same boring, protracted fight scenes and mundane, exposition heavy dialogue. The first half of this novel was more of the same, of which I was growing increasingly annoyed with.
The second half of the volume, which started the Deep Abyss of Purgatory arc, things picked up somewhat, and hinted at a richer story and more narrative driven dialogue. The art fluctuated throughout, although is consistently stronger with each volume I've read.
I will be continuing with this series regardless, as I am too invested now to walk away (and I've got the entire box set, so why not). But I sincerely hope the better aspects of this story continue to feature more prominently than the weaker elements. 3.25


OmniBen.