The Leopard Mask
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The Guin Saga is epic heroic fantasy in the smae vein as Robert E. Howard's Conan, the Barbarian. More than a hundred books strong and growing, the saga has sold more than twenty-five million copies in Japan. Vertical will publish the first five installments that comprise "The Marches Episode" arc. Each paperback edition will feature artwork taken from the original Japanese editions. (see art above). In a single day and night of fierce fighting, the Archduchy of Mongaul has overrun its elegant neighbor, Parros. The lost priest kindgom's surviving royalty, the young twins Rinda and Remus, hide in a forest in the forbidding wil marches. There they are saved by a mysterious creature with a man's body and a leopard's heas, who has emerged from a deep sleep and remembers only his name. Guin.
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5 primary books#1 in The Guin Saga
The Guin Saga is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 1979 with contributions by Kaoru Kurimoto.
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ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
I'm not much of a traditional heroic fantasy fan and The Leopard Mask, the first installment of The Guin Saga (now at 124 novels), won't be changing my habits. This is a rather uninspiring tale of two twins (Remus and Rinda) whose kingdom has fallen to an evil army and who are now trying to stay alive among all of the ghouls, demons, and other nasties who live in the marches. They are saved by an intriguing amnesic warrior (Guin) who, for some unknown reason, has an irremovable leopard mask fused to his face.
The writing is only serviceable. I don't know if this is due to the original Japanese text or to the English translation but it just doesn't grab me. The perspectives change abruptly, the dialogue is stilted, and the omniscient narrator tells too much – sometimes in a tone that would be used to teach children.
The plot of The Leopard Mask is quick as it moves from action sequence to action sequence. But for all of the fighting, being captured, escaping, and yelling (“Guin, look out!” “Rinda, Rinda!” “Remus!” “Ahh!” “The door! They're breaking down the door!” “Run!” “Guin, it's coming this way!” “Run, quickly!” “Guin! Quickly! Are you okay?” “Arragh!”), my heart rate didn't rise once.
There is little character development in The Leopard Mask. With their platinum hair and violet eyes, the twins seem more like a couple of manga characters than real humans, but I'm sure readers will get to know them better in future books. The masked warrior is somewhat intriguing (or perhaps it's the rippling muscles that have deluded me) and I would like to know what's up with the leopard head, but I'm not about to read 123 more installments to find out. I have a feeling that The Guin Saga might be more enjoyable in its manga format.
Read this review in context at Fantasy literature.
