Pawn's Gambit

I do love a bit of wuxia fantasy, and Pawn's Gambit is certainly a fun take on this. This is my first glimpse into the Mortal Techniques universe and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly on the world side, I think Rob Hayes has been very clever to create a world where it is easy to generate standalone novels that work in isolation on their own. Pawn's Gambit is not the first Mortal Techniques book, but I never felt lacking jumping straight in here. The world building and exposition was all on point for a person entering the world with no prior reference points. The world itself is a really fun one, taking some of the sillier elements of Asian martial arts films and giving them a nice well reasoned magical basis, through the techniques. These techniques are powerful, but they are not leaned on too heavily and most of the story is driven by the character's wits.

The characters themselves are well drawn, likeable and understandable. Their motives are clearly defined - Yuu is hiding from her past and expectations, trying to learn to live with herself. Natsuko, the God of missed opportunities (I love the nod to Pratchett there btw) has a certain ineffableness to her as befits her godliness, but then her choice of champion and cause definitely fits the bill. Even the horse (Lump) is a memorable character!

The action is fun, almost anime like in places. The baddies like The Ticking Clock have a wonderful over-the-topness. The silliness was was well contained though and only added to the entertainment. I loved this!