Yamada Monogatari: The Emperor in Shadow

By: Richard Parks

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Lord Yamada is called away - one last time - from his newly restored estates in Kamakura to help Prince Kanemore ensure that Princess Teiko's son, Takahito, inherits the Chrysanthemum Throne. Unfortunately, assuming the throne proves to be the easy part. Yamada must then help Takahito renounce that throne in such a way as to hobble the power of the Fujiwara clan forever!

©2016 Richard Parks (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

An enjoyable read.

I have read this series a few times now. Enjoyed each time and recommend it highly.

Disappointing

I greatly enjoyed the earlier books in the series, but found this one disappointing. For what maybe the final book in the series there was no climatic conflict, rather it was the characters muddling around until a happy ending drops out of the sky.

a fantastic ending

while this book takes a steep turn from the previous books fast paced action to a slow political intrigue I can honestly say I enjoyed it simply for the fact it was framed well in the series as a whole. our protagonists are older now and have more to live for. they are still brave and wise but the author does a good job of framing it all. and while some of the conclusions where mildly predictable in this the final book compared to the wild twists and turns of the prior I can honestly say they are what we needed for a fulfilled wrap to a fantastic series. and of course our tried and true Brian nishi doing an exceptional job of articulating all of this.

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING!!!

I love this series and I pray this will not be the last book. Everything was amazing the narration, the story, the characters💖

An enjoyable ending

I really enjoyed this final book in the series. Characters from all the earlier books making appearances shows how full Yamadas relationships were developing without him even knowing it. I began to suspect the ending about halfway through the book and was pleased when I found out I was right. I will miss this series and wish there were more books.

old warriors can still kick ass

let me be clear and say for anyone who's getting into this book thinking it's going to be like the previous three entries there will not be a glorious conflict where some main antagonist is revealed and everything comes down to a fight between yamada and him
this is a story about some old warriors who called out of what is effectively semi-retirement to do one last favor for a friend and get caught up in an adventure that eventually gives a lot of people happy endings and concludes the story nicely. if you are a fan of detective novels I say you're probably going to have a bit of more fun time because there's a lot of hints as to what's going to happen at the end so go in it like that

I LOVED THIS SERIES!!!!

Richard Park's Yamada Series is probably hands down one of the best discoveries of the past year for me. I stumbled across the first book: Demon Hunter by accident as it was suggested for me in my membership. I've easily made my way through every book in succession and been delighted more and more by every entry. This, the Final entry in the series, is easily my favorite.
Of course, credit must go to Brian Nishi's incredible narration. Every character- man, woman, or child, feels fully fleshed out and distinctly real.
By the end of the book I felt like I'd grown to know Yamada and Kenji, the reprobate priest, as old friends and the ending, while bittersweet for me, was absolutely beautiful.
10/10 would reccomend this series to anyone who is interested in supernatural mysteries, or Japanese history or both!

Great series

I was recommended the first book and with being included at the time I gave it a chance. I'm glad I did because this was a great series. I loved the stories and this was a great conclusion. The narrator was also excellent in all of books.

Always a Great Series

I loved this series. very Sherlock Holmesy. love the Japanese history and creatures. loved the arc of Yamada.

Great Series

What a fun and clever series. Interesting twists and turns, as well as history and customs of the Japanese.