75 Books in 2015 - V (A Bride's Story vol. 6)

It just occurred to me that I should’ve used the title “Bibliophile’s Journal” for this series, since this is almost exactly what I originally had in mind for the posts already using that title. I suppose I could go back and change it - there are only five entries so far.

Also: Once again I’m able to post two days in a row. My blagging prowess grows by the day.

Anyway, perhaps I should address the real topic of this post, which is the sixth volume of Mori Kaoru’s A Bride’s Story. This volume had a lot more action than previous entries. There are bits of action and intrigue here-and-there, but much of the series is, for lack of a better term, slice-of-life in Central Asia in the Nineteenth Century. Then we get an all-out battle that takes up half of this volume, which is a nice change of pace, if nothing else.

The setting alone gives the series a lot of novelty value, I find it hard the dislike these characters, and Mori’s artwork is very detailed. Her enthusiasm for drawing this setting and story really shows throughout the books.

Unfortunately, I don’t find the story particularly compelling. The problem, I think, stems from Mori straying away from the two protagonists introduced in the first volume for several chapters, even a full volume, at a time. New volumes come out a bit slowly so the story moves at a snail’s pace already, even without the lengthy digressions that kill any sense of immersion in the plot. The setting and characters do make A Bride’s Story worth reading, though, and I’d certainly recommend it, I just prefer a more focused style of storytelling.