Overview

Warrior clans nursing ancient grudges. Western missionaries brandishing pistols. Beautiful geishas who are deadly ninjas. 1861 - after two centuries of isolation Japan has been forced to open its doors. Now new influences are tearing apart the old order. Japan is as unprepared for outsiders as missionaries are for samurai assassins, executions and honour killings. Genji's life is at risk. He plans his escape to the Cloud of Sparrows but the road is long and there are many places along the way for brutal samurai to attack -The demons of the past, the treachery of the present, an uncertain future are about to collide in the most terrifying ways.

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9780099441588

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Rousing tale of Shogun Japan. * New York Post * Cuts deeper than a samurai sword. * San Francisco Chronicle * The adventure-chasing spirit of James Clavell lives in this triumphant debut novel. * People *

Rousing tale of Shogun Japan. New York Post 20040205 Cuts deeper than a samurai sword. San Francisco Chronicle 20040205 The adventure-chasing spirit of James Clavell lives in this triumphant debut novel. People 20040205

The adventure-chasing spirit of James Clavell lives in this triumphant debut novel. * People * Cuts deeper than a samurai sword. * San Francisco Chronicle * Rousing tale of Shogun Japan. * New York Post *

This rousing tale of adventure and romance opens on New Year's Day, 1861, as a strange trio of Westerners arrive in Japan. The Rev Zephaniah Cromwell is there to spread Christianity among a people he believes to be heathens. His teenage fiancee Emily Gibson accompanies him with somewhat different ideas, while the American gunslinger Matthew Stark is happy to pose as a missionary for his own nefarious ends. The three are startled to find that Japan has a richness of pride and culture previously unsuspected, but that doesn't deflect the Rev Cromwell from his blinkered vision or his mission. He is angry that the Chinese have already been subverted by a brand of Christianity he dislikes, and he is determined that the same thing will not happen to the Japanese. As a backdrop to all this, various Japanese nobles are vying for power behind the throne of an infant Shogun, and insanity, brutality and plotting are everywhere. Matsuoka, born in Japan but raised in the US, subtly unfolds a story that can be read on various levels, revealing the similarities and differences between two cultures without taking the side of either. Some of the Japanese characters come to see their insularity has cost the nation dearly, while a couple of the Westerners find the Japanese approach to life and death has much to teach them. The novel is epic in its scope, the clash of cultures and conflicting ambitions of the characters especially well drawn. Matsuoka's writing is smooth and graphic, painting word pictures that quicken the pulse. An immensely worthwhile first novel. (Kirkus UK)

Rousing tale of Shogun Japan. New York Post Cuts deeper than a samurai sword. San Francisco Chronicle The adventure-chasing spirit of James Clavell lives in this triumphant debut novel. People

Author Information

Takashi Matsuoka was born in Japan and raised in the United States. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was employed at a Zen Buddhist temple before becoming a full-time writer. Cloud of Sparrows is his first novel.

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