3.5 stars. A fairly basic story about an iseaki assassin.
Some months ago, Audible had a sale on books. Tons of audiobooks were discounted. I went on a bit of a shopping spree and picked up an entire series, Iseaki Assassin, for less than $5 each. I thought I got a deal!
I’ve tried to listen to book 1 a couple of times, but never really got into it. On the third attempt, I finally finished Book 1. I then read book 2. That leaves 2 more in the series that I own but haven’t read yet.
It has some interesting elements.
The series goes exactly as you’d expect without any twists or turns. A god (?) rescues an assassin from one world and takes him to his world, and assigns him to kill the leader of the city. (Why can’t the god kill the leader of the city himself? That is never explained. Why can’t the god get someone “local” to kill the leader? That is never explained.)
The assassin, of course, goes about killing everyone in between him and the leader without much difficulty. Everyone he meets likes him a lot and helps him even though he’s a stranger to them.
Every time he stares at someone, he gains levels in a skill called “killer’s stare”. Every time he shoots an arrow from his bow, he gains a level of archery. Every time he climbs a wall, he gains a level of climbing skill. When he spars with his partner one time, he gains 3 levels in hand-to-hand combat. If it’s so easy to gain points and levels, the guy should just spend all day staring at people and max out the skill.
The magic system, therefore, is arbitrary and dumb. This guy is the best at everything, and has only been on the planet a few weeks.
What I liked about the book:
- A fairly interesting story
- Blurs lines between who is the good guy and who is the bad guy
- Magic exists, but hardly anyone has it and it cannot be used
- A touch of romance
What could have been improved:
- The narration is a bit over-dramatic
- The MC seems to be good at everything, and everyone else in the world is not good at it
- Everyone that he meets seems to trust him deeply instantly and is willing to betray powerful people in the city
- The MC never really fails at anything. If he fails to kill someone, he goes back the very next day and finishes the job easily
I am kinda tired of this “woman throws herself at the MC but he doesn’t want to complicate the relationship” trope. He totally would get into a relationship with her, but he has bad memories of the last girl who broke his heart and betrayed him. Reminds me of Defiance of the Fall a bit in that aspect.
The MC forgets the girl that broke his heart in about 5 seconds. I’m actually glad that didn’t last long because of how fake this trope is.
Audible rating, Book 1: 4.5
Audible rating, Book 2: 4.8
