The Phoenix: Clan War, Fourth Scroll

this book told the story of the corruption of the phoenix clan and how it palys out in the clan war a very good book for fans of the l5r game who like me came into l5r during hidden emperor

Right off the thing I loved about this book was that the author, Stephen Sullivan, was able to bring the world of Rokugan into mind so clearly that you didn't read the book, you lived it. His attention to detail was just so that you could see the waterfalls and feel the atmosphere, (I could see the entire book played out as a John Woo or Akira Kurosawa film).Like the other L5R books this one played it's piece in the grand scheme of things by introducing the mystical pheonix clan. Every book in the Clan War series is "tainted" with a clans very biased perspective, which only makes the series better, and the Pheonix is no exception. The main character, a shugenja named Isawa Tadaka, is a great character told as an adventurous type who basically becomes a martyr for his clan (as any good samurai should). I'd tell you more about it but you should just get yourself a copy and read it!This is a good book for any fan of Forgotten Realms, Planescape and Ravenloft and a must read for anyone who owns a copy of the Ninja Scroll!!A must own!!

I have played in several L5R RPG campaigns... always as a Phoenix. As such, I had high hopes for this book. I thought Mr. Sullivan did a wonderful job with character development. I especially enjoyed his characterization of Isawa Kaede. However, like others reviewers, I was disappointed by the ending... or lack thereof. The ending "felt" like it should have been the midway point. You'd expect script writers for a soap opera to use that kind of technique, but it is not really befitting of a novelist. I am hoping that the seventh book, _The Lion_ (also written by Mr. Sullivan,) will tie up the loose ends that this book left behind.

The book is actually quite well-paced. Sullivan has definitely improved since his first outing in "Scorpion", and he handles the constant scene shifts quite well in his attempt to give a general picture of what the whole Phoenix Clan was going through. In addition, there is the sheer imagination which shines in the author's description of spells, landscapes, creatures and so on. While only 3 characters - Kaede, Tadaka and Ujimitsu could be said to be truly fleshed out, the others are given much attention as well. Such scenes may be slow, but they give the novel much more substance together with the fight and battle scenes which are detailed without losing tempo. Most importantly, the author manages to convey well not simply the individual personalities of the Elemental Council but also their respective hubrises which lead to their eventual downfall, especially the corruption in mind and body of Isawa Tadaka. Overall, this novel does much justice to the game and I look forward to Sullivan's next work in the series.

The Phoenix are the most powerful mages in the land. The five element masters have sat by and watched a war tear the land apart. Now they have decided to act. The Phoenix is the fourth novel in this series and it is a very good read like the other three. It takes place at the same time as the Unicorn and the Crane. This time though you are following the Element Masters of the Phoenix. All the characters are quite imppressive and well thought out. This one has a few spots where it slows down but it usally follows these up with a battle. The plot twists are frequent and really leave you wandering what is going to happen next. Also the magic that the Element Masters is quite impressive. Some of the things they do are quite cool. The only problems with this book are that parts can be slow. Also like all these books there are a lot of characters with similar names making it hard to keep track of them. Of course on the plus side they added a glossary to the back of this one.