This book is a collection of 3 novellas (short stories). The first, "Dark Nocturne", is about a young man who has set out to a distant village to discover the origin of a strange, haunting song his father sang on his deathbed. He, D and several other wanderers end up in the middle of a heated conflict over the succession of the designated singer of this song.
The second, "An Ode to Imagined Fall", focuses on a pair of lovers, one of whom has been chosen as a sacrifice to a powerful vampire. An old woman decides she wants to stop this gruesome tradition before she dies, and hires D to discover the vampire's hiding place and kill it.
The last tale, "Legend of the War Fiends", tells about two warriors who were created by feuding vampires only to kill the other.
Neither has any wish to be a murderer, and they hope D can discover a way to stop it before one of them is killed.
I found the amount of detail and emotion in these short stories amazing, as most short stories don't seem to have enough room to really develop the characters and plot fully. Kikuchi's writing had the same flaw as normal: a tendency towards purple prose.
However, it rather suits the series!
Each of these short stories had an individual feel to it, and they each had specific things that they did well (for example, the character interactions were exceptionally witty and well done in "Dark Nocturne") but they held together well as a collection. The pen-and-ink illustrations scattered through this book are lovely, and have exceptional composition and attention to detail.
4 Stars
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