In a never-ending cycle of violence, a Demon King rises triggering the birth of The Hero...only a hundred years after the Demon King begins his reign of terror. Yui Shaw decides that this simply isn't acceptable, why should people die because tradition dictates it? Furthermore, what if an incredibly clever person could circumvent the cycle and not just defeat the Demon King but end the cycle in its entirety? Yui isn't sure it will work but she is determined to try.
I loved this book so much!! If you follow me pretty much anywhere, you'll find a pretty blatant pattern of reading books, watching anime, and playing vids that have similar plots to this one. A traditional hero's story is nice and all but there are only so many directions these stories can go in. Plus let's be honest they are pretty toxic stories when you get down to it. Most of them are a blatant us vs them plotline without taking into consideration that hey, demons deserve to live too!
I feel like Howe's book is extremely typical of what these stories look like and yet instead of feeling like it's just the same plot new characters it's a ton of fun. Yui's outright rejection of what is considered "traditional" is what really make this stand out for me. It's certainly a common theme in this type of story but I think the big difference is Yui never out and out says that the Goddesses and this whole cycle of reincarnation is wrong, she simply asks what if we tried something different. By doing that she doesn't alienate her companion Ken, since he is deeply faithful to the Goddesses, but gains his trust and loyalty through demonstrating that this is all just a little messed up. This avoids having Ken having some sort of theological crisis that is extremely common and quite frankly overdone in these types of stories. And seriously don't get me wrong done well these are great plot points, Final Fantasy X is a prime example of this. However, given how short this is a side trek down a "OMG what do I do with my life now!?" for any of these characters would have drawn this out considerably and I think diminish Yui's character a bit. She's not going to argue with Ken in an attempt to sway them to her side, her actions and the results allow Ken to make up his own mind which is far more effective than her pushing him into changing his beliefs.
The phrase "Work smarter, not harder" comes to mind with this story and Yui embodies it. Yui is always ten steps ahead of her next obstacle because she's thought this through and found this simplest solution to each problem. While sure Bag Mage is not a common job type (or one I've ever actually heard of at all) but it is such a stroke of genius that removes numerous problems before they even exist. This of course has the added benefit of allowing Howe to fast track over many her to the final battle. It makes you realize though how absolutely unnecessary a lot of the "necessary" plot points in the traditional story are. Yui and Ken never come close to reaching level sixty and yet they still take out the Demon King.
Finally, we have the Demon King himself, having him be on the same page as Yui was just the perfect way to wrap this up. Everyone in this is being used for some unknown reason by the Goddesses and the only way to truly end this vicious cycle is that everyone involved in it recognizes that. While I do not see him as being as clever as Yui, I still found his actions to be interesting. They are far heavier handed than Yui's are for sure but as the person who is destined to be destroyed at the end of this, they seem to be the actions of a person and a leader who is desperate to stop this cycle of violence in its tracks. We had to have at least one character whose actions come from emotions, or this would have gotten pretty boring.
Like I said earlier this was just a lot of fun. Are there far more complicated and in-depth stories of someone circumventing the Hero's role? Sure, there are, but I think what makes this truly shine is its simplicity. Everyone has a goal and ultimately everyone's goals align and it makes for a truly straightforward approach to something that could have gotten ridiculous complex. Highly recommend for fantasy readers and JRPG players alike!
As always thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the eArc!
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