Cain Saga 3: Kafka
Posted: April 7, 2007 Filed under: Cain Saga 2 Comments »Moving on in this series, we finally get the beginnings of plot development and a move away from short stories to a series, which is interesting. I assume that we won’t get a return to short stories since the next part is two volumes and the last part is Godchild. I’ll probably wait to read the two-volume Red Ram section until I get the second volume of it, I have a feeling that it’ll have a nasty cliffhanger.
The story wound up being very good. It wasn’t quite self-contained as one of the characters introduced at the very end is apparently the antagonist (or something) in Godchild, so it felt like it was finally getting something started instead of being a finished story, which is fine by me. There was a subplot with Riff through the entire volume that had me very upset until the end. Yuki mentioned she didn’t know why people liked Riff so much, but it’s hard not to when he’s the one that takes care of Cain. The main story also involves vampires, but not really. It was kind of sad, as the two characters introduced wound up being very endearing, and they were discarded in a very Cain Saga-like way. The horror worked well for me, and I was completely fooled by all of the red herrings until the end, so it was kind of neat to have the series of reveals that was set up.
I was still confused in parts though, and the pacing can also be a little strange. One of the characters can’t go out in sunlight, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s daytime, night, or if perhaps it’s just cloudy and said character is strolling with Mary, and the passing of time also didn’t feel right. But these things weren’t enough to ruin it for me, and I still wound up liking this volume a lot.
I don’t know how I feel about the main character, though. He’s pretty clever, and he always finds some way to outsmart whoever the foe is, but he can also be a weepy baby, and he has these moments of emotion which are sometimes embarassing… mostly because he’s slightly too tragic. Repeating the events of “Sound of a Boy Hatching” to one of the characters, you get an idea of how ridiculous it sounds… but hey, it’s kind of a period piece (or not, I’m not too sure about this), maybe these things happened back whenever this is taking place.
I know you probably are going to finish the Cain Saga before picking up Godchild [the sequel], but I completely recommend Godchild. It focuses more on Cain and Riff’s relationship towards the end, and it’s absolutely heart wrenching. The ending is honestly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
You know, I was just thinking the other day about starting Godchild. I have a love-hate relationship with her work, but I do enjoy how complex they are, and I have a feeling Godchild is the best parts of everything I’ve read by her. I really should start it, it’s been sitting on my shelf unread for years.