A new world and a new adventure for our travellers - or so we think! When Sakura and company arrive in this new land there is much potential for adventure, since it is a land in which the citizens have an understanding and acceptance of magic (including magical animals), but they immediately get drawn into unexpected events at a library. Syaoran’s intense interest in magical artifacts gets him into trouble when he opens a book that seemingly has no words, and is drawn into a land which looks like feudal Japan. Syaoran must watch events unfold as a young Kurogane loses both mother and father in the defense of his country, and meets Princess Tomoyo for the first time - thus setting up his backstory and providing the readers (and Syaoran) with a deeper understanding of Kurogane’s strange personality. Thus far, there is not much explanation of how this additional knowledge will come into play in the larger storyline, but I have a feeling that it serves more purpose than just to give Syaoran an understanding of his friend’s motivations and loyalties. ( )

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer Synopsis Sakura, Syaoran and Co go to a world that has a giant library full of books of magic. And one of them has Sakura's feather/memory. Volume 13 deals with a little side story about Kurogane and Volume 14 sees the feather recovered and the group onto the next world. My Thoughts Contrary to my expectations [I stopped reading the series back in October '12], I actually enjoyed reading these volumes. Part of that was that these 2 volumes were a single story with an intro into the next story. Volume 13 is about Lee seeing Kurogane's past and seeing the events that have turned him into the warrior and killer that he is. It cements the whole Sensei/Grasshopper thing that Lee and Kurogane have. In the next volume we see the team actually getting Sakura's feather and fighting off the guardians set in place to protect it. There are several interludes where we see Syaoran's double [with the eyepatch], Wei-Fang Reed and Yuko the Timewitch. Wei-Fang obviously has some big plan that involves Clow Reed's legacy and Sakura and her memories are somehow tied into it as well. We'll see how CLAMP does with small stories for each volume or 3 and the larger story over a longer range. Honestly, I feel like I've missed nothing by not remembering much from volumes 2-12. Not exactly a stellar endorsement is it? Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Artist & Author: CLAMP " ( )

There is no way that I can discuss this volume without giving spoilers, so BE WARNED, SPOILERS AHEAD!!

This is certainly my favorite volume thus far. The travelers have left Piffle world and have arrived at a land where magic is reveared and taught. Much to Syorian's delight they discover an enourmous national library which contains not only a multitude of books on the magical craft, but also on history. When Kurogane pulls out a volume and complains that it contains no words Syorian takes a look and winds up in the world of Kurogane's childhood memories. As soon as Syorian realizes what has happened he tries to remove himself from his companion's private thoughts, but is unable to. The result is heartbreaking and when it is over you know that Syorian will never again be able to look at Kurogane the same way again.

Although Fai has always been my favorite character, Kurogane has certainly been building up as an equal for me in this regard. Mostly because his personality reminds me so very much of my husband's (just don't tell him I said that! LOL) Discovering what happened to Kurogane's parents and how Tomoya saved the young man only to have to send him away certainly makes this the most emotional manga I've yet read. Along with all that it has the unusual aspect of almost being a self contained volume, which hasn't happened often. I would almost say you could read this without having a full knowledge of the series background, but then it wouldn't have the emotional impact. ( )