Skip to main content

Serial Pub: Ninth Step Station s01e09

Ninth Step Station s01e09 by Fran Wilde and Curtis C. Chen 

x

Years of disaster and conflict have left Tokyo split between great powers. In the city of drone-enforced borders, bodymod black markets, and desperate resistance movements, US peacekeeper Emma Higashi is assigned to partner with Tokyo Metropolitan Police Detective Miyako Koreda. Together, they must race to solve a series of murders that test their relationship and threaten to overturn the balance of global power. And amid the chaos, they each need to decide what they are willing to do for peace.

Ninth Step Station is written by a collaboration of authors including: Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Jacqueline Koyanagi and Curtis C. Chen. Similar to all the serials from Serialbox, this story is also released in episodes. Every episode is written by a different author.

Episode 9: The Assassin's Nest
Setting up the grande finale is definitely the name of the game for episode 9. I dont know if this episode was the shortest one in pages but it felt like it. As I said in some other episode reviews, i was looking forward to seeing connections and it finally happens. Epidose 9 starts off with a banquet dinner featuring the most important figures of Japan, China and the US. Bringing together these factions does scream for something to happen, and Emma's intuition was right. Shots are fired with a disastrous end effect. Now all three faction are in some way pointing fingers but they also need to work together to catch the assassin. And as faith would have had it, Emma and Miyako get their favorite Chinese investigators Liu and Wong. 

There are several scenes that really got me thinking. Charles and Miyako, Charles request for Emma during the dinner, Kensuke's interference and one thing that Liu and Wong mention about a hornets nest. And what is the significance of Kaori? This story is just perfectly executed putting pieces of the puzzle together but also with every new episode expanding the puzzle. 

Coming back to the overall flow of the story you can notice the tension between all of the character. After the events at the dinner, Emma is clearly shocked but she has no time to express any of this and by her action you see her going in some sort of survival mode. Emma is taking the lead above Miyako in the events and though there was some criticism in the beginning from her. Solid character development so far and in Episode 9 Emma is definitely a star. Very well shown how event are influencing her personality and also decision making. 

The ending of episode 9 is too much off a cliffhanger and clearly paves the way for an explosive ending. Can't wait for the final episode.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tune in next week for the last episode!


Interested? Start reading by clicking this link!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Short Fiction Friday: Selfies

Selfies by Lavie Tidhar "Selfies", by Lavie Tidhar, is a creepy little horror tale about the fate of a young woman who makes the mistake of a lifetime when she buys a new phone in the local mall. It is only a few weeks back that I read a different but very interesting short story of Lavie Tidhar, Dragonkin . I found this story directly to my liking, the synopsis and build up of the story was unique and got me excited by it's less is more writing style. In the end this story for me had so much going on that I hope to see Lavie Tidhar exploring it even further. That aside, now its time for Selfies . I think I can now safely say that Lavie Tidhar is an author to watch out for, his stories will get you thinking and will scare you twice over.  I have been thinking a lot of the current situation with always being connected on social media and the likes. It's unavoidable. One thing that is connected with all of this is of course your smartphone, yes no longer a cell...
Post a Comment
Read more

Author interview with John Gwynne

Author interview with John Gwynne Author Bio: I was born in Singapore while my dad was stationed there in the RAF. Up until he retired that meant a lot of traveling around, generally a move every three years or so. I live with my wife and four wonderful (and demanding) children in East Sussex. Also three dogs, two of which will chew anything that stands still. I have had many strange and wonderful jobs, including packing soap in a soap factory, waitering in a french restaurant in Canada, playing double bass in a rock n roll band, and lecturing at Brighton University. I stepped out of university work due to my daughter’s disability, so now I split my time caring for her and working from home - I work with my wife rejuvenating vintage furniture, which means fixing, lifting, carrying, painting and generally doing what my wife tells me to do... And somehow during this time I started writing. I’ve always told my children stories at bed-time, and they pestered long and hard for me to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Author Interview with Christopher Fowler

Author interview with Christopher Fowler. Author bio:  Christopher Fowler is an English novelist living in London, his books contain elements of black comedy, anxiety and social satire. As well as novels, he writes short stories, scripts, press articles and reviews. He lives in King's Cross, on the Battlebridge Basin, and chooses London as the backdrop of many of his stories because any one of the events in its two thousand year history can provide inspiration In 1998 he was the recipient of the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year, for 'Wageslaves'. Then, in 2004, 'The Water Room' was nominated for the CWA People's Choice Award, 'Full Dark House' won the BFS August Derleth Novel of The Year Award 2004 and 'American Waitress' won the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year 2004. The novella 'Breathe' won BFS Best Novella 2005. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Christopher, welcome over to The Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more