Welcome to the open forum for volume 1 of Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers! For all who wish to participate, it's time to pick up a copy of this book.
What is Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers?
Synopsis: Seven heroes gather to save the world–but the legends spoke of only six.
Long ago, the Evil God was sealed at the edge of the continent, where it lies in slumber. Each time it awakens, it threatens to plunge the world into hell, and each time, six powerful warriors are chosen to seal it away again. But now, as the cycle begins anew, the Crest of the Six Flowers marks not six Braves…but seven. Hans, the mysterious assassin for hire. Mora, the elder of the All Heavens Temple. Chamo, the young but deadly Saint of Swamps. Nashetania, the princess, and Goldof, the knight yearning to win her heart. Fremy, the girl with a dark past. And Adlet, the boy with a dream. When the Braves of the Six Flowers realize one of their number is an impostor, hero will turn on hero in this exciting new series!
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Okay, I have the book. Now what?
Once you've got your hands on the book, start reading it. And as you read it, feel free to leave any comments you have here–and respond to other comments. You can talk about whatever you want, so long as it's related to this volume. So comments can include:
- Things you like or dislike about the story
- Predictions for what happens next
- Remarks on characters, themes, etc
- Thoughts on the writing in general
- Favorite quotes you want to share
- Fan art, fan fiction, poetry, memes… anything really
Regarding spoilers: People will read at different speeds, and the main idea behind this open forum is to encourage people to comment whenever they wish. Feel free to talk about anything that happens in the volume, but maybe give a warning if you're going to discuss a big plot twist or something.
In about a month there will be a big feature post for this volume, in which Justus R. Stone and I will have an editorial put together. So look forward to that, but in the meantime you can share any thoughts you have on the volume here as you read it.
Just a general thought to start – I enjoyed the merging of fantasy with a locked room mystery. Having the larger pressure of the heroes being delayed in saving the world added another layer of urgency to the story. I thought the characters were all unique, and each were plausible suspects, which made the mystery aspect so much better.
Hope you all enjoy! I’ll drop by throughout the month and then see you all in the full-length article with Cho!
I haven’t gotten into the volume yet (it starts in media res, in the middle of a conflict that happens later in the volume, that can be a bit jarring), but I did watch the anime. Solid, though I had the mystery spoiled ahead of time, and I was bummed out by all the complaints about the pace. I’m guessing it’ll work better in novel form.
I recall trying a few episodes of the anime back when it aired, and I found it too slow so I dropped it. The book felt much more exciting in comparison. It surprised me enough that I feel like going back to the anime and giving it a second shot some time…
One thing I find interesting in Rokka is how it seems to share some traits with the Epic genre. Goblin Slayer is another good example with both series starting in media res, and the opening of Rokka really gave me invocation vibes. Not to mention our hero, Adlet, already seems to have a few epic hero traits. I’m gonna blame my World Lit class, but I’m interested in seeing what other parallels I can draw between light novels such as Rokka and the epic genre. I think it’d be interesting to see if light novels might also be influenced by such an old genre.
I haven’t had a chance to really get into the novel yet, but I’m already enjoying it more than the anime. Jumping right into the middle of things hooked my attention more than episode one’s ongoing explanations that caused me to drop the anime after one episode The world building is also a lot better compared to what I remember from the anime I’m a huge mystery fan, so I’m looking forward to getting to the who done it section and looking for hints towards the seventh.
Rokka is definitely playing with classic fantasy tropes, which I imagine the author enjoys. I believe he also wrote The Book of Bantorra.
Adlet is an interesting character. At first I thought he was a bit obnoxious, but there’s a good explanation given for his personality. He actually feels like the type of boy who really would decide to become a hero, rather than simply “he needs to be the hero because he’s the protagonist.”
The book hooked me pretty quick too. It hits the ground running, and only delves into the world’s lore briefly from time to time. Most of what we learn about the magic and whatnot comes through succinct dialogue between the characters.
I’ve almost finished watching the anime. The one thing I noticed where it really lacked in comparison to my reading experience was not being in the heads of characters. Being able to read some of the thoughts of the 7th really heightened the suspense, helped explain some of their motives, and caused me to doubt some of my existing suspicions.
The brief segments where we get the seventh’s point of view were great. I felt it was the author’s way of reassuring the reader that he wasn’t going to sidestep the premise and hand-wave everything with magic — that one of the seven characters is legitimately a traitor trying to get the others all killed.
When I watched the anime I knew that light novel form would fit much better.
The world building is great and I am excited to learn more about the world.
The foundation for the story’s setting is straightforward, but its simplicity makes me think the author intends to mess with readers’ expectations. By the end of this volume, I even had to wonder if what we understand about the Evil God is going to turn out to be accurate. The mystery side of the series makes me believe the characters are going to uncover all sorts of unexpected things about their world.
UPDATE: The editorial will be a bit late I’m afraid, due to an unfortunate mistake on my part that resulted in me not getting the novel in a timely manner. Feel free to continue discussing the novel in the meantime! It might be another week or two before the big article for Rokka vol 1 is published though.
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