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brandongryder's review against another edition
5.0
A graphic novel written by two of my favorite authors you say? Yes please!
carroq's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was a pretty cool book. It tells the story of a fallen samurai who travels to Mexico with a Jesuit priest and a Chinese princess. They each have their own motivations for making this trip, but they end up crossing paths in a very interesting way. As someone who likes history, this was a really strong story. It mixes in just enough of some seemingly disparate elements to give it the feel of something that could have happened.
While this isn't a humor book by any means, there are some nice moments that amused me. Mostly these involve the copious amount of brothers that the Jesuit priest has. The relationships between the characters bolster the story a lot too. That combined with the historical details made it enjoyable even though it might not appeal to everyone.
For the most part I enjoyed the art. The coloring and lettering are both done well. There is more action in this book than I initially expected. The only downfall to this is that sometimes the action didn't flow well from one panel to the next, making it difficult to understand how certain scenes unfolded. I was drawn in by Neal Stephenson's connection to the book and it didn't disappoint.
While this isn't a humor book by any means, there are some nice moments that amused me. Mostly these involve the copious amount of brothers that the Jesuit priest has. The relationships between the characters bolster the story a lot too. That combined with the historical details made it enjoyable even though it might not appeal to everyone.
For the most part I enjoyed the art. The coloring and lettering are both done well. There is more action in this book than I initially expected. The only downfall to this is that sometimes the action didn't flow well from one panel to the next, making it difficult to understand how certain scenes unfolded. I was drawn in by Neal Stephenson's connection to the book and it didn't disappoint.
squidbag's review
4.0
This was great; it reminded me initially of the alt-fic histories in Savage Tales, Marvel's black-and-white, two-fisted adventure magazine from the 80s. The characters are at home with how expendable they are in the grand scheme of things, and the larger events unfolding tip on the lever points of seemingly minor players. In truth, there are no minor players. Pretty much the richness and brutality one would expect from a GN about a disgraced samurai (the ronin of the title) living in alternate reality Spain. Graphically detailed, but comfortably read on my Kindle, and dense with personality.
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