Okko The Cycle of Air by Hub

As my unpaid time off is getting ready to come to a close, I thought I should hit on the last book of Okko that is currently available, Okko, the cycle of Air, by Hub, publishing by Archaia.

To me, in terms of direct gaming inspiration, this one is probably the weakest. It's not that there aren't some great battles. It's not that there aren't some great turn arounds. It's not that we don't get to see a little more of the setting and how those in higher positions are probably more tighhtly bound by society than those who are wanderers and ronin like Okko.

Rather, it's that the action takes place because of an individual demon hunter that has come for Okko's giant friend. This brings the action straight to the characters and for once, the characters are completely outmatched. They only win through a bit of luck thanks to their youngest member.

While as a GM you may be tempted to 'ass kick' the players every now and again to put them in their place, there better be a hell of a good reason or story behind it. At almost every level, as the GM, you can always flatten the characters. Going out of the way to do so is pointless. And because this is book three of a five book series, we only get vague hints as to why Okko and his friend were hunted in the first place so it feels very incomplete.

Art, overall story, theme, and background details that pop out all make it worth having in terms of reading the series for itself, but in terms of developing some action around the activities, the previous two volumes probably fill that role better.