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

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

Book Review: Foxglove Summer

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, Peter Grant #5 In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London - to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can't take the London out of the copper. Travelling west with Beverley Brook Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what's more all the shops are closed by 4pm..   I am a big fan of Urban Fantasy detective, I know it is going to be a shocker but this is my first Peter Grant book that I read. I have been aware of this series for a long but just never got around to reading it. Ben Aaronovitch launched his writing career with the Doctor Who books, after writing several books, he...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: Legion of the Damned

Legion of the Damned by William C. Dietz, Legion #1 Far in the future, condemned criminals and the fatally ill have two choices: to die, or to join the Legion of the Damned, an elite fighting force made up of human legionnaires and cyborg soldiers. If they enlist, their bodies will be destroyed and their minds implanted in gigantic armored killing machines, programmed to fight for the Human Empire. As trouble brews among the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, the aggressive Hudathan aliens are turning their attentions towards Earth. Ruled by an insane emperor and a corrupt government, it’s up to the Legion to save the planet and the Empire from total destruction. Earlier this year I started reading the Prequel Legion series of William C. Dietz, two of the three books, Andromeda's Fall and Andromeda's Choice have been published so far with Andromeda's War to follow soon. I am a big fan of military SF, who doesn't like modified soldiers with heavy guns...
Post a Comment
Read more