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A Simple Task takes two main protagonists from the sequel Unova manga, Lack-Two and Whi-Two, and puts them into a medieval setting where Lack-Two is given a simple task: kill the princess. This job is nothing out of the ordinary for Lack-Two, but that's all about to change when he first encounters the princess.
As you can tell, this story is a new twist, starting with how the characters and setting are portrayed. They aren't Trainers, living in Unova, nor do they have the same names as they do in the manga, and yet, you can easily tell who they are. Normally, I would have a bit of a problem with this, but I actually enjoyed it. There were a couple nods to the manga without people having to read the manga to understand it. To be honest, I haven't even read the Pokémon manga, and yet, I could follow the storyline and see the little nods to it. For instance, Whi-Two's cat is named Foongy. I could easily tell this was a nod, and with a bit of research, figured this was Whitney (from the manga's) Foongus's nickname. I didn't need to know that to follow along, but it was really neat how the author could slip that in there.
Beyond characterization, I liked that the author brought them to the medieval-like setting. Growing up, I loved reading stories about princesses, knights, dragons, and everything in between. This book reminded me of those stories I had once read. Now, I think the world building could've been executed a bit better. I can tell it has the medieval-fantasy-like vibe going on due to context clues of Lack-Two being an assassin and Whi-Two being a princess, the way the market-place looks, and some details like that, but getting into the world of Niveus is still kind of a mystery. I'm curious, how big is Crocea (the capital city) compared to other parts of Niveus? What areas are around it, and where are they in regards to where Crocea is? Is there an interesting history about this place because, quite frankly, I want to learn a bit about the setting other than it being a place for the story to take place. I want it to come alive.
That doesn't mean the descriptions aren't bad. I absolutely love that there are some great descriptions starting to happen very early on. The descriptions help tell the story a bit better. I just wanted more background information. Yes, early on in the very beginning, it is revealed how Lack-Two was given the job of assassinating the princess. In fact, the writer did a very nice job depicting that scene, easily grabbing the reader's attention. This detail just didn't always continue on throughout the story.
The one thing I wasn't a huge fan of in this book was how the writing would go back and forth from italicized to not italicized. Now, from what I could understand when I read it, the italicized was from Lack-Two's point of view, but not always in present tense. Some of it seemed like it was coming from the future. It was a bit inconsistent since the rest of it was written in third person. I wasn't sure how I felt about that to be honest. On one hand, it was cool to get another perspective, but on the other hand, it could've been clearer by being in the same point of view.
Outside of structure, it was really an enjoyable story. I liked how Lack-Two took his time getting to know Whi-Two. If there's one thing that gets on my nerves in the romance genre it's how fast characters fall in love or how it doesn't seem gradual. That doesn't necessarily mean two characters can't fall in love within a short period of time, but I love seeing the growth of how it goes from platonic to romantic. This book does a good job of that. Lack-Two is generally interested in getting to know this girl, even though he doesn't know right away that she is the princess he's supposed to kill. They share stories, meet up, and enjoy each other's company. It's nice to see this gradual build up, even in a short story.
It's because of this build up of how Lack-Two starts to develop feelings for Whi-Two that creates a bigger impact during the climax. There's a genuine sense of "what am I going to do" for Lack-Two. Will he go through with his mission like he has always done, or will he let his heart take over? This storyline was built up very well, so that when it came time for the climax, I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what would happen next for these two characters. The action in this was very well executed as I always had a sense of fear that something would happen.
By the time the story was finished, I wanted more. Please tell me there's a sequel in the making or something because while this story has a decent ending, it's one that left me wanting more. There were questions that were left unanswered at the end, but the ending was one that could've genuinely be an ending without a possible expansion, but I could honestly see it being expanded on. Maybe that's just because I genuinely enjoyed this book. It was a great love story, filled with high adventure, and a great build up between the two characters.
Overall, A Simple Task is a very good book. It was very enjoyable. The author should be proud of the work that was put into it, and I wish it the best of luck in the 2019 PWA's.
