Review by Frank Plowright

Sioule is a sport where the rules are consistent, but the locations are variable, so players might find themselves contesting in the mountains one day and the seashore the next. Adaptability as well as talent is a core skill, and Helena Silver seems to have all the necessary assets. As seen in Helena, despite never having played the game she was good enough to win one of the few places offered each year at an elite training academy.

Michaël Sanlaville surely hooked readers with an entertaining first volume, where added complications were the resistance of Helena’s father to her chosen path, and the mysteriously analytical fellow recruit Soni. He’s unconcerned with participating in training sessions, preferring to observe and study others.

Before picking up on any of that, though, Sanlaville opens with another game of sioule itself, topping the lunacy that began the first volume. The violent intensity’s rather at odds with the more human stories from the opening volume, but approach the military-style training of the following chapters. These show up a few flaws in Sanlaville’s attractive art. As he’s making up the game of sioule as he goes along there’s considerable opportunity for shocks, which are best presented in the opening chapter, but unlike football or baseball, if the audience don’t know the rules, then unless shocks occur, the surprises can be unclear. It’s problematical as far more so than the opening volume games of sioule occupy the pages.

Despite the change of primary location to the training grounds, Sanlaville hasn’t forgotten the endearing cast introduced previously, who feature increasingly, given relevant roles, rather than just being shoehorned in. They’re part of an ongoing plot regarding a mysteriously masked sioule player, obviously a veteran. Sanlaville only seems to be heading in the single direction with this plot, but we’re not going to have that confirmed until the following volume at the earliest.

Soni’s name is the volume title, but it continues to be Helena as primary character, with nearly all main plots revolving around her. Soni, though, is more about the game of sioule than anything else, with lots of action, explanations of possible pitfalls and hints that all might not be above board. Anyone captivated by the first volume should enjoy the gameplay and intrigue here, and the final pages drop a big surprise leading readers to X.