The Emperor of Nihon Ja

The adventure continues in the tenth instalment of the best-selling series 

When Horace travels to the exotic land of Nihon- Ja, it isn't long before he finds himself pulled into a battle that is not his - but one he knows in his heart he must wage. A kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos when the Nihon-Ja emperor, a defender of the common man, is forcibly overthrown, and only Horace, Will, and his Araluen companions can restore the emperor to the throne. Victory lies in the hands of an inexperienced group of fighters, and it's anybody's guess who will make the journey home to Araluen.

Why do John Flanagan's books keep getting awesome-er and awesome-er than the last?

Doesn't matter

Cause they're freaking AWESOME!! That's why!

The characters totally well-developed, the descriptions not too sketchy yet not too light, a Wolfwind *wink* of action and suspense, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja fulfilled all my expectations....

The banters. The banters. The banters. For those of whom who enjoy the quirky banters between the Araluens, be warned; They're back and fluttering and devouring-worthy indeed.

*Another smug smile - you'll have to devour this work first to get the meaning of that enigmatic sentence.

Starting on the real review.

This book is set in Nihon-Ja (think of olden times Japan . To study the different styles of sword mastery Horace visits the country but gets stuck in the country's politics as a Senshi(warrior)Clan rises against the king. Horace bound by love and sense of loyalty for the king decides to stay on and help the rightful Emperor and his handful of Senshi warriors reclaim the throne.

On the other hand Will, Halt, Alyss and Selethen (the Arridi Wakir from book 7) are told of Horace's disappearance by Princess Casandra who joins them disguised as her alter-ago Evanlyn. they hire a Skandian crew to travel to Nihon-Ja where they meet a supporter of the Emperor and trek up the mountains to where a tribe loyal to the king. they are strong in number but one problem--because of the social caste system these Kiori have never weld weapons and now the enemy stands at the gates of their hide-away.........

while not the best book of the whole series it was still pretty good as it had all the factors that made me enjoy this series. it had adventure , a good plot which was well executed , humor, the good-natured bickering between Halt, Horace and Will and above all an epic decisive battle.