Cooking with Wild Game [series discussion, so spoilers will happen]
-
I'm reading the series for the first time, from the premium edition epubs.
Currently in Volume 4.
Kamyua Yoshu is more than just a "bodyguard."
He's an operative of some kind, but who he ultimately reports to is currently unknown.
But it's someone who is willing to grant him a fair amount of latitude.OK, that's just what I think, could be wrong.
I'm hoping this is what he is.
Otherwise...the fuck?
Rimee Ruu is neat.
Very sharp, and not just "sharp for her age"; she's got a good head on her shoulders.
Ai Fa...has had her back up for the last several years, and has exceedingly few she really trusts.
Can't say she doesn't have good reasons for this.
Loyal.Asuta.
Somewhat lacking in confidence, but at the same time swimming with it.
Considers himself an apprentice chef, if that.
In reality he's at least journeyman level, and he has the attitude to go master class.
Not keen on folks dissing food untasted.
Actively seeks feedback so he can adjust recipes to better suit the tastes of those he has found himself cast amongst.
Has strong feelings that food is to be enjoyed; it's not just sustenance for the body.
The Suun & related families.
...ugh.
Reason to believe they aren't even going through the motions of hunting Giba any longer.
Don't really know much concerning those under their wing, but the folks who are the next generation leadership...aren't up to it.
Their elders at least recognize the need for subterfuge when flouting their laws.
Ruu & associates.
Good People.
Various other smaller associations within the Giba Hunters.
They're in a bad way, given the behavior of Suun.
If Ruu & Suun come into open conflict it could destroy all of them unless handled very carefully indeed.
The stone city lord can't intervene if the laws broken aren't those of the city.All your libraries are belong to us. | Aub Rozemyne | Those who do not read shall not eat.
Help me, Satomi-san. You're my only hope. | Fight! Yurika! | WW[R|S]D
Croquettes, Baguettes, and Books, oh my! -
@Geezer-Weasalopes soooo many things to say, but you have many books to go and it would be basically all spoiler.
Plus side, I'll read your thread to help recall of earlier volumes.
-
Seriously, just what sort of guy do you think I am?
Manwhore Asuta, that's who.
Unlike Nao, he's decidedly aware he's being targeted by various ladies.
He seems very much focused on just one...Ai Fa.
Although he does recognize the attractiveness of those pursuing him, appreciation from a distance is what he'd prefer to be doing.So far I've no sense that the people of the forest's edge practice multiple spouses; the Suun leadership may be into concubines and such, but Ruu &c doesn't seem into that kind of thing.
Anyway, Kamyua is a schemer.
His purported goal in involving himself with the people of the forest edge is commendable...but I'm not totes buying into altruism or whatever.
He's gotta have connections.
Well, we know he's connected to the Lord of Genos, which could be sufficient to explain his actions...but I'm still thinking he's being given considerable leeway by whoever he reports to.
"The name's Kamyua...Kamyua Yoshu" in a British accent? -
It's not all high drama.
“...Please let me have a quick discussion with my clan head,” I said, making as serious of a face as possible before leaning in close to Ai Fa’s ear. “Ai Fa. If we head home for the day now, we may end up having to deal with pure poitan broth for the first time in a while.”
Ai Fa maintained her usual serious look, gave a single nod, and drew close to my ear.
“I’d hate that.”
Sometimes decisions boil down to: will the food be tasty?
At any rate, I did that little ritual where you write out “calm” on your palm and then gulp it down to ease the tension.
"Set Calm Mind to [XX]%"
Sharing a room with Ai Fa when that's all they have, well, he's used to that.
Sharing a room with her in another family's compound? -
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Cooking with Wild Game [series discussion, so spoilers will happen]:
Don't really know much concerning those under their wing, but the folks who are the next generation leadership...aren't up to it.
Their elders at least recognize the need for subterfuge when flouting their laws.Somewhat confirmed in Volume 4 Chapter 3.
Gazraan Rutim speaking (interjection by Asuta.):“The head of the Suun clan is well aware of Donda Ruu’s personality. That’s why I’m sure he must have actually been annoyed at his sons for meddling. After all, the Suun clan’s head values protecting their current carefree lifestyle above all else.”
“...And they crashed the banquet like that even so?”
“Yes. Because they’re big enough fools to even neglect their clan head’s orders.”
-
Even without the cover illustration as a clue, it seemed inevitable that it would be Vina Ruu who ended up as his shop assistant.
...Vina and Kamyua haven't met, have they?
If she really wants to leave the forest's edge...
Ludo as well?
eye rollAnd with that, our incident-filled journey recommenced.
I have to commend the translation team as well as the original author.
So many lines are just so good.All your libraries are belong to us. | Aub Rozemyne | Those who do not read shall not eat.
Help me, Satomi-san. You're my only hope. | Fight! Yurika! | WW[R|S]D
Croquettes, Baguettes, and Books, oh my! -
@Geezer-Weasalopes This series is giba roasting slowly over a well tended fire. Enjoy.
-
Just had Asuta getting fired up to come up with recipes to hit the different taste preferences of different cultures, and was reminded of an incident some thirty years ago.
A bunch of us were sitting down to a meal, and two folks spoke simultaneously concerning the seasoning.
""My that's"" "spicy!" "bland!"
No shit, it was simultaneous and the exact same words until the final descriptor.Some folks just don't like certain flavors.
If it were just running a business this is something Asuta could maybe ignore, considering how well it's going so far, but given the goal being changing attitudes toward the people of the forest's edge...he needs to bring those others around concerning giba, properly prepared, being Tasty Food.
And as Ai Fa notes, he really hates losing.
So he's got "The Agenda" combined with professional pride.I suspect if his father knew of his current situation...hopefully he'd be proud of his son.
And not begrudge his having that knife.
Well, given he has to think he lost son and knife, yeah, if he knew he'd feel a lot better.
Still probably prefer having son and knife back home, but consider him being...working abroad, as it were.
The Volume 5 cover art is totes adorbs.
Speaking of Volume 5...
Vina Ruu speaks everyone's mind when she says“Hey... Why don’t you and Ai Fa just get together already?”
...although she follows that with utter craziness.
What has this girl been reading?!
“Ah... Hey, make one more for me, too,” Yumi said and held out her own coins, having completely finished her dish.
“What are you doing that for?! Are you that into this guy from the forest’s edge?!”
“I’m telling you, no! I want to take it back to my mom! I wanna see the face she makes when I tell her it was giba meat after she eats it.”
This girl certainly had some mean thoughts rolling around her head.
Still, despite the fact that she really looked the part of a delinquent, she was thinking about bringing back a snack for her mother, which I took to be rather charming.
So far all named characters have become recurring to some degree.
Which is good; I'm looking forward to more of Yumi. -
Time for a new post rather than editing a previous one, I'd say.
Despite still being Volume 5.
Spreading knowledge rather than maintaining a monopoly is a good way of undercutting those who would seize the monopoly.
Just hope the steps being taken to protect Asuta and Ai Fa are successful...
(OK, there are 26+ volumes translated to date, and this is Volume 5, so odds are good nothing too icky occurs...but one still worries, ya dig?)
I'm not entirely sure why I'm flashing on C.J. Cherryh's Union/Alliance Universe, and Merchanter's Luck in specific, but, yeah, the political maneuverings...um, yeah.
Anyway, I've been informed dinner is ready.
A thought concerning the odd smell Asuta noticed during his encounters with the Suun family's eldest daughter:
Drugs.
Given the level of decadence being shown by that generation, her using the local equivalent of hashish or such would seem plausible. -
Um, so it wasn't drugs that caused her smell.
I'd kinda rather it were in some ways.
The source was at least less disturbing than it could have been; it's not that kind of story, thankfully.
While I hadn't considered an aerial sleep medication, I'd found the structure of the lodge most bothersome in regard to the safety of those inside of it.
Down in a pit they were.
Not good defensively.
The youngest daughter of the Suun main house, who while obsessed with money seemed sane otherwise, at least in comparison to her half-sibs.
Where is she getting assigned?
To what family?
...I think it would be good for her if it were such that she had frequent contact with Rimee Ruu.
"What has they gots in their pantry, my precious?
"Tells us they must!
"Is it something they shouldn't be having?"gollum, gollum
So, I'm changing some of my thinking concerning Kamyua.
He might just have been acting on his own, given what the extended side story concerning the Sym merchants indicated concerning those inside the castle town as well as the implications of castle town culpability in Suun's misbehavior.
Given the analogies of poison and medicine, and whether Asuta is one or the other...
Could one look at him as a First Rank Healer?
It seems that way concerning the people of the forest's edge, or at least a catalyst that way.
...how will things go concerning the castle town given the replacement of Suun by those who hold to their honor?
There's something rotten within the walls of that town.
So, yeah, I just finished Volume 6, and am about to start Volume 7.
-
Now in Volume 8, early on. Totes Totos!
Let's just say that if Kamyua Yoshu is breathing he's scheming.
If he isn't breathing...is he just good at holding his breath?
No Scheme, No Life! -
Man, Asuta has it hard.
Cooking for folks who prize stoicism in their expression, keeping their emotions held tightly and concealed.
But if he can break that reserve...heh. That's a great feeling. -
Tsuvai did get placed near Rimee Ruu.
Anyway Tsuvai has not so hidden strengths from our perspectives, given her initial interaction with Asuta.
Certain of the leadership might grasp her worth, but Asuta's catching on.
Future economic tsar for the people of the forest's edge.
Getting them to accept her taking that role...well, Ai Fa and Asuta are already breaking down some of the walls standing in her way. -
In Volume 10 now.
Now that we've seen what the "tests of strength" stuff is like between the people of the forest's edge (and didn't Ai Fa do well, eh he?)...I had the thought that if some of the folks from the Post Town that the Giba Hunters are uneasy about competed with them in something like that, maybe things would ease up a bit?
Not to say they are meat heads, precisely, but part of the reason for such things is building camaraderie and confirming competence.
That's why Ai Fa kept getting challenged, folks who'd rather she wasn't hunting challenging her abilities (and being forced to reevaluate her as a result.)
It's fair to not want Asuta's cooking make your customers cease ordering your own cooking.
Which had been a concern of Asuta's, truth be told.
Just one more reason for his offering to teach them his methods.
Since he's not revealing his long term goal of making the direct sale of giba meat to the citizenry of the Post Town a thing, as a cooking ingredient rather than as part of a finished dish, it's trickier justifying his offer to his prospective students; they know it makes no business sense if his goal is selling the finished product.
ETA:
Yeah, he's nuthin' but a manwhore.
And is fairly aware of some of those seriously interested in him...except for Ai Fa liking him "that way."If their society was into multiple spouses he'd really need to watch out.
And it would be so much simpler for Asuta and Ai Fa if the idea of her marrying and continuing as a hunter didn't seem so foreign to the people of the forest's edge. Because that's what needs to go down. Being a hunter is central to her self-image, her self-esteem. ...How they'd handle pregnancy and early child care, um, later child care works if they take in more folks or gain more clearly allied (or subordinate) houses.
ETA again:
It doesn't seem this kind of story, but gotta say if it were slightly darker Zuuro Suun's fear of being turned over to Cyclaeus combined with Cyclaeus being such an overboard gourmand of a twisted nature...
There's a three syllable word that starts with "C" and doesn't rhyme with "Soylent Green" that springs to mind.
And that would help explain wanting all of the extended Suun clan...such a windfall it would be.But I really don't think things are that dark.
Final ETA:
Oh.
Didn't consider that he might be thinking of reinstating the Suun's as leading clan.
That's...he really has no respect for any of the people of the forest's edge, does he?
That he could do that by fiat and make it stick? -
Volume 11:
Lefreya.
She seemed intrigued by the concept of her father being discomfited by her actions.
I don't think she precisely "likes" her father.
It may not be hatred, but she sure latched onto taking a solid poke at him once Asuta informed her that her actions would do so.
...I'm not going to say her goals are the same as the elder Suun daughter, to bring her house down, but she has power and nothing to do...which is a bad combination at any age, and really bad at her age.
Bored with few restraints upon her actions; if anything, I should consider her fairly civilized so far in how she's abusing her position.
Hokay...
Sheltered.
Studies and eats tasty food; the latter being her source of enjoyment.
Isolated.
Little contact with "equals"...to the extent that Diel is about the closest for an extended time period.In other words, not a monster, at least in comparison to her pops.
That was an interesting escape attempt.
I can see why Roy's...irritated.
He's two years older, has been trained at one of the better restaurants in the castle town, and this yahoo from who knows where drug up from the post town is seriously showing him up.
At the same time said yahoo is complementing him with obvious sincerity.Just like the others we've met in this mansion, what's gonna happen to him when the evil dude goes down? (There are already another 14 volumes TL'd, so it's safe to say he is going down.)
Ho!
Sanjura is Cyclaeus's son, and older than Lefreya.
...Are there any older still, or is he the oldest?
Just wondering...who might be considered Cyclaeus's heir to Head of House.And totes no question Polarth is going to be making use of the favor Asuta acknowledges as being owed him.
All your libraries are belong to us. | Aub Rozemyne | Those who do not read shall not eat.
Help me, Satomi-san. You're my only hope. | Fight! Yurika! | WW[R|S]D
Croquettes, Baguettes, and Books, oh my! -
Volume 12 & 13:
You know, it could end at the end of volume 13 and be wrapped up better than a good many other series, with a sense of many possible directions things could go from there.
The lack of comments could be said to reflect not taking the time to comment.
-
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Cooking with Wild Game [series discussion, so spoilers will happen]:
Just like the others we've met in this mansion, what's gonna happen to him when the evil dude goes down? (There are already another 14 volumes TL'd, so it's safe to say he is going down.)
Some of us wish that, but it is not that kind of series. Even the assholes only get positive feedback aimed at making them better.
-
@sorvani said in Cooking with Wild Game [series discussion, so spoilers will happen]:
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Cooking with Wild Game [series discussion, so spoilers will happen]:
Just like the others we've met in this mansion, what's gonna happen to him when the evil dude goes down? (There are already another 14 volumes TL'd, so it's safe to say he is going down.)
Some of us wish that, but it is not that kind of series. Even the assholes only get positive feedback aimed at making them better.
He did go down.
But cooperated enough to clean up their network.
His younger brother, on the other hand...nope, that one didn't get any hint of redemption.Given the rate of chronological progress per volume I can say that it's damn unlikely we'll have seen any further of those sentenced to hard labor in the published-to-date volumes.
14 volumes in and it's not half a year yet.
Not quite Wortenia in that regard, and oh ever so much more readable! -
Um, Volume 14, illustration of Reina Ruu with the bouquet of flowers...really makes it look like she's totes topless behind it.
Big enough you don't see anything at all that one shouldn't, but no hint of top clothing other than some strings from behind her neck.
Very suggestive to those with impure minds...which apparently I'm one of. -
Volume 14.
What can one say?
After all the conflict and intrigue of previous volumes, here we move into...what, precisely?
The development of cooking culture, of the various individuals learning from, or inspired by, Asuta.
And then we get the extra stories, filling in stuff from prior to the end of this volume, giving us the perspective of others and filling in backstory and such.Nifty stuff.
