Ronin Games (Wearing the Cape Series Book 5)

Other superhero prose have inched close, but Mr. Harmon needn't fret. Wearing the Cape forever ranks as my favorite and my most anticipated. Ronin Games, I tore thru it like a chorizo & egg breakfast burrito at George's in Santa Monica. Ronin Games falls fifth in the series, and it's a bit of a swerve in that it plonks Hope and cohorts in Japan and straight into my wheelhouse.Okay, maybe just a smidge of plot SPOILERS for this next paragraph:The story picks up three months after the events in Small Town Heroes, and, again, this new storyline evidences Harmon's keen hand at keeping up continuity. 20-year-old Hope Corrigan - aka the pint-sized powerhouse codenamed Astra - is back home in Chicago, back to her grind of patrolling and crimefighting and representing the superhero community in a good light to public and media. Except that, night after night, she's been having dreams about this otherworldly place, courtesy perhaps of Kitsune's - that shapeshifting trickster fox spirit - past meddling. The fear is that the pull of this dream world may be so powerful that it will eventually suck Hope into it, never to be seen again. There's nothing for it but to track down Kitsune, and so off Hope and a small circle of her most trusted besties embark on a secret mission to Japan, Kitsune's stomping grounds. And because Japan won't tolerate unsanctioned visits from foreign capes, our gals will have to sneak in incognito... and pose as supervillains. Yeah!!Marion G. Harmon's storytelling is again on point. Sure, he dabbles in familiar superhero tropes, and there's that inescapable Superman/Batman dichotomy between Astra and Artemis. But the guy lays in this irresistible myth-making element. And he is so inventive with how he introduces new story threads even as he references old plot beats. For one thing, the Teatime Anarchist and his future alternate histories keep on being relevant, and it's obvious that Astra hasn't forgotten Atlas. Mostly, the big fun lies in Astra and her friends' stirring sh-- up in the Land of the Rising Sun while masquerading as I won't say - but it's freaking brilliant. Harmon details how Japan has adapted, post-Event-wise, and so we get a wild tutorial on Japanese customs and pop culture. Harmon keeps it mostly lighthearted in tone but brings in the gravitas when required. His writing strengths make this another romp of a read. His deeply realized characters. The sweep and scope and grounding that come with meticulous and creative worldbuilding. And, overall, that sense of playfulness and wonder and grand adventuring.A Wearing the Cape story ain't nothin' without Hope (who out-Supergirls Supergirl) and Jacky and Shell in it. But I'm gratified that Ozma gets more screen time. She acts as the Q of the crew, what with her stash of enchanted gadgets. But don't get it twisted - Ozma, who you may recall happens to be a century-old fugitive sovereign, serves a larger function than that. I am trying real hard not to drop any spoilers. And yet, in parting, I can't help but reference some of my favorite bits, and the hope is that the lack of context won't give things away. So what to make of the following: Comprehension drops; compass fish; bad fish; quantum ghost kitty; breakthrough yakuza; sharpish Clint Eastwood; and, most awesomely, the Three Remarkable Ronin and their three unforgettable deeds!!!The Wearing the Cape series (Kindle format):-  Wearing the Cape -  Villains Inc. (Wearing the Cape Series Book 2) -  Young Sentinels (Wearing the Cape Series Book 3) -  Small Town Heroes (Wearing the Cape Series Book 4) - Ronin Games (Wearing the Cape Series Book 5)- And then there's  Bite Me: Big Easy Nights (Wearing the Cape Series)  which chronicles Artemis' adventures in New Orleans and is regarded as Wearing the Cape adjacent- And also the short story  Omega Night (Wearing the Cape Series) Other recommended superhero prose:- Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes- Jim Bernheimer's Confessions of a D-List Supervillain- Matthew Phillion's The Indestructibles- Mur Lafferty's Playing for Keeps- P.S. Power's Proxy (The Infected Book 1)- Trey Dowell's The Protectors: A Thriller- R S J Gregory's Cosmic Girl: Rising Up- Blake M. Petit's Other People's Heroes- Kirby Moore's Starfall City- C.J. Carella's Armageddon Girl (New Olympus Saga, Book 1)- Rob Rogers' Devil's Cape- Joshua Guess' Next (The Next Chronicle Book 1)- Blake Northcott's Arena Mode- Emmie Mears' The Masked Songbird (Shrike Book 1)- Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible- George R.R. Martin's classic Wild Card anthologies

I seem to remember enjoying this series much more back when I read the first trilogy almost 15 years ago. I may be too old for it now.

The Wearing the Cape franchise is one of my favorite superhero novel franchises out there. It, along with Ex-Heroes and Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, helped inspire me to write The Supervillainy Saga. As a result, I've always been a first day buyer of the books whenever they come out. I appreciate that this is becoming a lengthy well-detailed world with as much complex history and physics as any other science-fiction/fantasy franchise in the genre. The premise of the series is Hope Corrigan, the superheroine known as Astra, is a Breakthrough. Breakthroughs are individuals who gained superpowers with the Event. Given abilities related to things like comic books, mythology, and fiction, they have since gone on to remake the world into a superhero-themed one. Superheroes have rules, regulations, and licenses to operate in this world--which is realism I really like. Unfortunately, the last couple of books have suffered from pushing the more metaphysical and crazier elements of the setting. Rather than deal with the social consequences of superheroes and character interactions, it's focused on things like alternate dimensions and the idea of "fictional" concepts coming to life. It's not bad, per se, but I really am hoping to see more focus on the more mundane elements of the setting. The premise of this volume is Hope dealing with a curse. A magical tree is pulling her into an alternate dimension and she needs to find a cure. The only possible source is Kistune, a fox spirit shape-shifter who is doing wetwork for Japan. Having exhausted all legal options, Hope, Jackie, and Ozma decide to journey undercover to the nation in order to extract him. While not terribly fond of the premise, having had enough of the spirit world in this setting, I've got to say I loved everything else. Japan is beautifully realized in the setting with anime, mecha, kaiju, mythological figures, and magical girls being part of its cultural superhero spectrum. There's an actual moment, I kid you not, where a life-size Gundam is animated by magic and fights a Godzilla stand-in. That justified the cost of the book alone. The return of Jackie a.k.a Artemis is also a major point in the book's favor. Artemis is one of my favorite characters in superhero fiction and while I wasn't a big fan of her solo book, thinking it was too urban fantasy and not enough superhero in atmosphere, the character plays off excellently against Hope. I also liked the inclusion of Ozma who serves as a nice pragmatic counterpoint to Artemis' cynicism and Hope's idealism. In a very real way, they fulfill the "power trio" of Superman (Astra), Batman (Artemis), and Wonder Woman (Ozma). Not much happens in the book in terms of character development but I like how a lot of plots I felt were dropped in previous books like the Teatime Anarchist's Prophecies return to underscore many of the current problems. There's also hints as to what future books will hope like a trip to Oz (!) and dealing with Hope's newly discovered immortality. I'm not a big fan of Kitsune as a potential love interest for Hope but given he's a Fox and morally ambiguous (making him a male Catwoman), that does offer some very interesting potential avenues for storytelling. The action was good in the book, the banter was fun, and the characterization was spot-on. I hope future books will continue to focus on Astra, Artemis, and Ozma over other characters I'm not as invested in. I like the somewhat downgraded role of Shelly as well since she's been a bit overexposed in previous books but was very entertaining as a digital ghost inhabiting a cat. In short, this book was really-really fun and is probably my second or third favorite in the series after the original Wearing the Cape and Villains Inc.9/10

I thoroughly enjoyed this addition to the series. Ronin Games sensibly opts to focus on a subset of the ever-increasing cast, with the big roles going to Astra (of course), Jacky and the wonderful Ozma. Much of the action takes place in Japan, with lots of crowd-pleasing fun for any fans of Japanese cultural exports. Highly recommended to fans of the series.

Good Read

Yet another blockbuster ride in the Wearing the Cape series! Highly enjoyable!

Well written with a well paced plot. Now waiting for the next episode.

In der nachfolgenden kurzen Bewusstlosigkeit nach einem Kopftreffer findet sich Hope aka Astra in einer traumhaften Landschaft wieder in Gesellschaft eines überaus freundlichen Baums. Eine Überprüfung durch Ozma zeigt, dass es eine Verbindung zwischen Astra und dieser Landschaft gibt und sie für die Dauer eines Traums wirklich körperlich dort ist - und dass es nicht sicher ist, ob sie immer aus dieser Welt zurückkommen wird.Da Hope den betreffenden Baum in Begleitung Kitsunes kennengelernt hat, beschließt sie ihn/sie um Hilfe zu bitten. Doch wie findet man einen gestaltwandelnden Fuchsgeist, der durch Träume reisen kann.Der erste Hinweis auf die Spur zu einer Spur findet sich auf einem verfluchten Friedhof eines kleinen japanischen Dorfs, was problematisch ist, weil Nippon nur japanisch-stämmige Capes zulässt und diese bevorzugt als Teil des nationalen Sicherheitsapparats. Japanische Durchbrüche ohne Einbindung werden Ronin genannt.Durch Oz-Magie als Japanerinnen getarnt und ohne offizielle Rückendeckung reisen Hope, Jacky, Ozma und Shelly illegal nach Japan, wo sie sich schnell einen Namen als die "Drei bemerkenswerte Ronin" machen und in kürzester Zeit auch Inspiration für die japanische CosPlay-Szene werden.Ein ganz neues Operationsumfeld für unsere Heldinnen, in dem Shintoismus, japanische Mythologie, Animes und Kaiju die Arten der Durchbrüche bestimmt haben.Sehr spannend, unterhaltsam und für Hope auch voller persönlicher Entwicklungen. Darf gerne so weiter gehen.oller persönlicher Entwicklungen. Darf gerne so weiter gehen.