Picking up some time after the movie‘s events (the Salamander group has already been formed and seen action), part of which were Anime-original, the fifth novel is a bit of an odd place to enter the series.
As things turn out, the ratio of dialog to action is surprisingly similar to Tensura‘s… right down to its conversational style which places an emphasis on repeatedly discussing events that have or are going to occur. The difference is that while there it does so from multiple points of view, here the preference is to focus on individual characters’ circuitous thought patterns.
And no lie: That can get extremely tiresome.
Fortunately, the seventh novel marks a bit of a turning point in the series’ structure. Much more time is devoted to the Empire’s internal issues and it morphs into a bit of a thriller. The stretch from the 8th through 11th then is basically a chronicle of the country’s last gasps and ends up remarkably gripping as certain people are forced to face a reality they had long been averting their eyes from.
So far we’ve seen the post-war survival of several key characters via flash-forwards, but the question of just what will happen to Tanya and her subordinates (who those characters do not mention) remains shrouded in uncertainty. Hopefully there won’t be too many more volumes to go to reach the end.