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Feb 24th, 2015, 12:40 pm
Musashi Miyamoto series by David Kirk [01-02]
Requirements: ePUB Reader | 9 Mb | Retail
Overview: David Kirk is the creator of children's books that follow the character Miss Spider. Before writing books, he made colorful toys that were sold in hand-painted boxes. He was urged to write children's books when his toys caught the interest of a book packager. It wasn't difficult to figure out what he would use as characters in his stories: his daughter, Violet, had a liking for bugs.
Genre: Fiction, Historical Epic

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01. The Child of Vengeance (March 2013): A bold and vivid historical epic of feudal Japan, based on the real-life exploits of the legendary samurai Musashi Miyamoto.

Japan in the late 16th century was a land in turmoil. Lords of the great clans schemed against each other, served by aristocratic samurai bound to them by a rigid code of honor. Bennosuke is a high-born but lonely teenager living in his ancestral village. His mother died when he was a young boy, and his powerful warrior father Munisai has abandoned him for a life of service to his Lord, Shinmei. Bennosuke has been raised by his uncle Dorinbo, a monk who urges the boy to forgo the violence of the samurai and embrace the contemplative life.

But Bennosuke worships his absent father, and when Munisai returns, gravely injured, Bennosuke is forced to confront truths about his family's history and his own place in it. These revelations soon guide him down the samurai's path—awash with blood, bravery, and vengeance. His journey will culminate in the epochal battle of Sekigahara—in which Bennosuke will first proclaim his name as Mushashi Miyamoto.

This rich and absorbing epic explores the complexities of one young man's quest while capturing a crucial turning point in Japanese history with visceral mastery, sharp psychological insight, and tremendous narrative momentum.
"This coming-of-age biographical novel features the famous seventeenth-century samurai warrior-poet Musashi Miyamoto, who created the double sword fighting method kenjutsu. Readers unfamiliar with Japanese history initially may feel lost in this detailed and measured account of the samurai’s life and the strict traditions surrounding family and personal honor. Kirk does, however, provide backstory in the form of vivid explanatory drama — a child committing seppuku (hara-kiri), a temple burning, and several brutal acts of vengeance. Young Bennosuke declares his samurai name, Miyamoto, at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), which is described in tense and gruesome detail. The characters, even the young Bennosuke, aren’t particularly likable in conventional terms, but Kirk’s spare portrayal of the way of life of the samurai, whose duty it is to protect, defend, and avenge and for whom dying is nothing and winning is all, proves remarkably compelling. Readers will find much to ponder in this starkly realistic and bleak portrait of Bushido, the way of the samurai warrior." ~Booklist, starred review

"This historical debut rips along at the speed of a deftly wielded, flashing katana sword... Well anchored in history, beliefs, and traditions of feudal Japan, this novel is a personal psychological trip... educational, engrossing, and just plain fun-to-read." ~Library Journal, starred review

02. Sword of Honor (August 2015): War has destroyed all he knew. Now he must find a new way to live..

Musashi Miyamoto's reputation precedes him. He is known as the greatest warrior of all time. But all that must change for Miyamoto and his men have been defeated in the great battle of Sekigahara. Tens of thousands of men lie slaughtered and the Armies of the East have claimed a glorious victory. And now, alone but alive, he must contemplate his future.

Until this moment he has lived and fought as a Samurai, proud of its ancient tradition, following The Way with honor. But in defeat, he must question everything, and what he once saw as honor he now sees as ignorance. But tradition is strong and he is just one man.

But though he seeks to throw off the past, the past will not let him go. His name is on a list of those who have dishonored the Yoshioka warriors, and a man has been sent to claim is head in their name. And so, though he renounces violence, he must protect himself and seek revenge on those who would have him dead…
"In this historical novel set in early-17th-century Japan, a samurai is guided by the ruling passions of pride, honor, and shame. The book - a sequel to Kirk's, Child of Vengeance - starts with the aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara, where a young and talented samurai has been sickened by the slaughter of countless fellow warriors. He renames himself Musashi Miyamoto, rejects the ritual of seppuku, declares himself a "masterless" samurai, and begins life as a fugitive. He becomes, in fact, something of a 21st-century heroic figure, calling into question "the Way of the Sword," the samurai code to which men owe their allegiance and devote their lives with unquestioning obedience. By the terms of the Way, Miyamoto has dishonored himself, and to redress this wrong, a fellow samurai, Nagayoshi Akiyama, is sent after him with one single-minded task-to kill him. Miyamoto is proud of his outlaw status and willingly lets himself be found, leading to an epic confrontation between the two expert swordsmen. Miyamoto wounds Akiyama but doesn't kill him and even nurses him back to health. Together, they travel the countryside, picking up a companion along the way, a blind woman whom Miyamoto begins to find himself attracted to. They make their way to Kyoto, where Miyamoto dispatches a cadre of samurai sent to take his life. In fact, these search-and-destroy missions give a rhythm to the book. Kirk doesn't shrink from the violence these warriors mete out to each other and even finds both poetic and excruciatingly exact ways to describe the many duels that take place. Kirk's vigorous and robust prose complements the action to make rousing historical and philosophical statements." -Kirkus, starred review

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Feb 24th, 2015, 12:40 pm

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