BLURB:
Sixteen-year-old Taka
Yamabuki, royal by birth, but samurai by training, embarks upon her first
mission: to deliver important dispatches to the capital. Untested and traveling
alone for the first time in her life, Yamabuki encounters a vivid tapestry of
natural beauty, unusual characters, unexpected friendships, and indiscriminate
brutality and violence.
But an unknown assassin dogs her trail. And before she knows it, her life hangs in the balance.
A lyrical novella of adventure, young love, and self-discovery, Cold Blood brings alive the experience of a young woman warrior in 12th-century Japan.
But an unknown assassin dogs her trail. And before she knows it, her life hangs in the balance.
A lyrical novella of adventure, young love, and self-discovery, Cold Blood brings alive the experience of a young woman warrior in 12th-century Japan.
When you’re bopping around looking for a new sword swinging
read and you come across a tale of historical fiction based on the factual
accounts of Yamabuki, a female Samurai from 12th century Japan, it’s
a real eye catcher. First: there were female Samurai? Yes, apparently so and
notable ones too. I had some vague idea
there had been, but had seen no more
concrete evidence of such creatures than I had of Bigfoot. Of course, I had
also never looked for said evidence which may have contributed to my failure to
find any.
I downloaded the sample of this in fear. (Fear ? No Samurai
I.) Why be afraid of a downloaded sample from an author you’ve never heard from
a press you’ve never heard of? Well, because I really, really wanted this
novella/novel (132 pages by Amazon’s word count) to be good. According to her profile the author, Katherine
M. Lawrence, has the academic and life credentials to pull this off, but
too often the “credibility” and desire to tell a story does not a storyteller
make. Fortunately, in this instance it did and before completing the free
sample I bought the whole shebang.
As I was hoping, Cold Blood not only shows you the beginning
of Yamabuki’s story as a teenage Samurai, also contrasts her life to that of
the woman she would have been had she not opted to tread the warrior’s path.
That draws out one of the best elements of historical fiction which is when it
educated as well as entertains. One
thing you should know is that the period of Japan typically shown in Western
media, like Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai which was set in the 19th
century I believe, whereas, Yamabuki’s story takes place seven hundred years
earlier. As the Lawrence herself says: “The
12th-century Japan was very different from the 17th century. This required
leaving behind fond images of geisha, two-sword samurai with shaven pates and
topknots, ritualized harakiri, Japanese baths, tatami mats, tea ceremonies, and
a host of other things . . .” Now that said . . .
The early parts of the story do not move quickly nor are they
filled with tension or suspense. That’s not to say that there aren’t many hints
and observations by Yamabuki that make it clear that things are a’brewing it’s
just that, as I recall it, there was no deadline as to when the important dispatches
to the capital should arrive and the “fate of the country” wasn’t hanging in
balance. She simply goes about arranging travelling while make close
observation of her fellow travelers and even having a romantic encounter. Still,
at no time was I bored or worried that major conflict would not be forthcoming,
in fact the pace of the story mirrored the feel of the times, which was
probably and intentional choice by the author. I can’t tell you why I believe
that because it would be a spoiler. In fact, revealing any of the interesting things
would be spoilers because they are all weaved together to create a strong
ending in which Lawrence was deft enough to play off of reader’s expectations
(and my own personal fear this story might tread down the well-worn road toward
a condescending but common type of development) to create surprises toward the
end which makes me confident she knew what she was doing. You don’t write an
excellent story by accident.
Heck, it was so good I immediately bought a satellite novelette by Lawrence featuring Yamabuki called Cold
Sake, and it takes something special to get me to venture below novella
length. I highly recommend Cold
Blood and I for one am eagerly awaiting the next book in the Sword of the Taka Samurai series, Cold Heart, coming out in March.
Review for Heroines of Fantasy by Carlyle Clark
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