Books: Young Samurai Series: The Way of the Warrior by Chris Bradford

Title: The Way of the Warrior
Series: Young Samurai
Author: Chris Bradford
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
ISBN:
Paperback: 9781423119869
Hardcover: 9781423118718

Synopsis (from website):
August 1611

Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan — his beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates.

Rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto Takeshi, Jack’s only hope is to become a samurai warrior. And so his training begins…

But life at the samurai school is a constant fight for survival. Even with his friend Akiko by his side, Jack is singled out by bullies and treated as an outcast.

With courage in his heart and his sword held high, can Jack prove himself and face his deadliest rival yet?

Review

Last year, when Young Samurai hit the bookshelves, I passed a cursory look over the book, read the back, looked at the one-line reviews and was all-together unimpressed. I didn’t bother seeking the book out or adding it to my review list and basically I ignored its existance.

Last week, I saw book two coming down the line and the first book fell neatly into my lap. Again, I was unimpressed with the synopsis or the reviews. However, I became intrigued by the look of The Way of the Sword so I decided to check out the The Way of the Warrior first.

I have been interested in the Japanese language and current culture for only a short period of time, however I have a past in Japanese Karate (shourin-ryuu), Shinkendo and had a fantastic sensei (teacher) or two who tried to impart the ways of Bushido (Way of the Warrior) and encourage a path to modern samurai. Because of my history, I started reading this book with a basic knowledge of some swordsmanship, martial arts and Japanese historical culture. Chris Bradford’s mini-glossary at the back of the book, minor notes on Japanese culture and full quotes with references started to make me a bit more excited to begin reading.

Twelve-year-old rigging monkey Jack Fletcher’s story didn’t pull me in right away, and it took a couple chapters to capture my undivided attention. When it did, I was helpless until I set it down at the end.

Everyone is sleeping uneasily in their dark ship, keeping a watchful eye out for pirates after the final repairs are made, dark shadows begin flowing silently throughout the ship. Soon our little hero comes face to face with what he later learns is a ninja. A ninja with a single bright green eye. Dragon Eye demands the rutter, a tome of sailing knowledge and secrets, from Jack’s father. Jack’s father gives the invader the wrong information and lurches to protect his son from the knife the ninja is bringing to bear on Jack. Dragon Eye in swiftly kills the man and runs off to find the prize. Soon Jack rescues his father’s secrets from the correct location and escapes the ship as the gunpowder is ignited by a dying bosun.

Jack was rescued by Masamoto Takeshi and brought to heal at his sister’s house. Here, during his recovery, the richness of ‘the Japans’ is introduced to the boy little by little. Jack learns the strange language and customs of the house in his frustration to communicate with the strange people. After a meeting with a Portuguese priest and Masamoto-sama, Jack is left at the house for the winter to learn how to speak Japanese, to use hashi (chopsticks), table etiquette, minor social etiquette and even some light swordsmanship. He entices Masamoto Yamato, Masamoto-sama’s only son, to teach him the basics of using a bokken and the two end up having randori (free sparring) all about the beautiful garden.

After Dragon Eye attacks the house he is staying in, Jack and his new friends—Yamato and his cousin beautiful Akiko—who stood against and repelled the invaders, are moved to Masamoto’s samurai school in Kyoto, Niten Ichi Ryu, where they are to become samurai warriors and study techniques and bushido.

Once the children entered the school, the story becomes almost typical. As one would expect, the children meet teachers, take their first classes, learn new techniques, and of course gain enemies from day one. What good school setting doesn’t have enemies? Since Jack is a gaijin—an outsider/foreigner—he is immediately set upon by those who hate outsiders and he must prove himself worthy of samurai training in the eyes of his fellow students, despite being vouched for by the school’s master.

As I was following the children through their day, I was reminded of my days as a student in the various classes. From seiza to sensei rei and through sword forms and meditation, it made me want to return to my classes and seek out my old instructors.

I was amazed by how Chris Bradford pulled me in little by little until by the end of the story I found myself a fan and wanting the next book. I closed the book when I finished and looked again at the back of the book and at the reviews. Even though I had just finished the book and knew the story for what it was, I was still unimpressed. Don’t judge this book by its cover. Ignore the eye rolling reviews of “…this book gets a black belt…” These do not do the story the justice it deserves.

This book was not only an ultimately fun read, but it was also informative. The story was backed with research and history that was fun to explore later, such as information on women samurai. I had no idea there were women samurai, it was quite a shock and found myself enjoying the research.

The book is recommended for ages 10 and up. I do recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in karate, swords, Japan or any looking to expand their knowledge. I also recommend it to anyone who likes Ranger’s Apprentice or Harry Potter. The worlds may be different, but the feeling is about the same: friendly companions in a school setting battling school rivals and occasional outsiders.

Japanese: Books

I was going through some notes and thought I would take the time to note the books I have bought to learn Japanese over the last couple years. My official Japanese school books at the point are the Minna no Nihongo series released by 3A Corporation, but they aren’t the only books helping me to learn:

Writing Hiragana: An Introductory Japanese Language Workbook by Jim Gleeson (Tuttle) ~ Excellent for repetition of the Hiragana plus some words, sentences and phrases.

Writing Katakana: An Introductory Japanese Language Workbook by Jim Gleeson (Tuttle) ~ Katakana is the script used for foreign words and emphasis. This is also a great book for repetition of the characters. Plus words, phrases and locations.

The First 100 Japanese Kanji: The quick and easy way to learn the basic Japanese Kanji by Eriko Sato Ph.D. (Tuttle) ~ I am currently using this to supplement the assigned Kanji in class. This is not as great as the kana books, but still awesome for the repetitiveness.

Minna no Nihongo book 1 (3A Corporation) ~ School Books, very conversational, some translations leave a little to be desired, but overall a fun and informative series in the classroom.

Minna no Nihongo book 2 (3A Corporation) ~ School Books, see above.

Write Now! Kanji for Beginners (3A Corporation) ~ From the company the does my schoolbooks. It doesn’t coincide with the lessons, but it is a nice book. It lists a certain amount of kanji in each lesson and by the end of the chapter you are that many more kanji richer in knowledge. As the name suggests, it gets you writing and reading kanji immediately.

Kana de Manga by Glenn Kardy and Chihiro Hattori (Manga University) ~ a simple book, fun, but essentially I found it useless. The book comes with the kana, Hiragana on one page, Katakana for the same sound on the other, a little bit of information and a pronounciation guide plus a few squares for practice. the back of the small book has more blank pages. For someone who learns well and quickly this is great, for me not so much.

Kanji de Manga vol. 1 by Glenn Kardy and Chihiro Hattori (Manga University) ~ I like the book, it has some cute scenes and explanations in it, but until I was actually taking a class, listening to a podcast and playing a video game all teaching me, I couldn’t understand what it was telling me. Again if you learn quickly and well, a quick explanation that is not in the book would make this series awesome for you.

Tags: Books, japanese

Writing Tools: An interesting post by J.C. Hutchins (Yes, him again! What can I say, I like his style)

This time I am NOT using ‘PressThis!’ so the whole article should post properly. If it doesn’t I am going to go balistic. Anyhow, there are many, many good posts out there about writing, so why am I always only reposting J. C. Hutchins? I have to admit, I had to think about it and the answer is simple. He makes me want to write. Not just write as in novels, but as soon as I start reading his posts, I want to just point to them all and say something about them. The posts make me want to write something NOW.

“What If? and What Happens Next? Two secret weapons for aspiring writers” a guest post by J. C. Hutchins on Tor.com’s Weblog

What is this post telling me to write? I don’t know, but his constant references to scifi pop and cult cultures amuse and inspire. This particular topic is talking about sitting down and actually writing that one great story that is inside you. He chooses two classic writing tools and illustrates them in a way that makes one laugh and think all at once. I have found this combination makes for a good kickstart to being creative.

I, as Ambassador For All Writers Who Claim Ridiculous Ambassadorships For These Occasions, proclaim it’s high time you stopped listening to that fretful voice in your noggin (It won’t be any good . . . You don’t have time to write . . . It’s all been said before), plant your bootie in a chair, and get typing.

This article is good for beginners as well as those of us who are amateur idiots who need a good kick in the pants to start writing, or continue writing as the case may be. I use NaNoWriMo as my kick to start a story. Over the last few years, I have not been able to answer the classic questions. This year was different, I wonder how much of that is due to keeping up with J. C. Hutchins and how much is just due to everything else coming together finally.

Have you ever started writing a story, got about a quarter of the way in and then . . . uh oh . . . gave up because you had no clue where it was going?

I won’t win at NaNoWriMo this year–not because I can’t write, or because I got sick, or because I don’t know what will happen next, or anything difficult, only because I haven’t had time to keep up–but I haven’t given up and already I am beyond my previous record. I suspect I will not easily give up this story. I have posted an excerpt and I have gotten rave reviews back and that inspires me to continue.

It is allies, friends and family who make up a lot of support. Don’t have any support? Google a search for writing groups. Even if you think you aren’t a writer, go find a group anyway. Tell them what you want to do and you may be surprised at the amazing support you end up finding. I was the opposite, I have friends who write and they are good at telling stories. I’ve been inspired by them over the years. They are the ones who finally got me asking these questions that J. C. Hutchins is asking.

I owe everything to supportive friends. Finding friends and support for your writing may not be important to every writer for every genre, but you know what? It can’t hurt either. Do what you can to be inspired into writing!

Tags: articles, jchutchins, nanowrimo, Writing

Books and Marketing: FastCompany interviews J.C. Hutchins

EDIT: OMG, I wrote a nice post and it got cut off! I am NEVER using PressThis again!! … Mebbe I will try to recreate it. In the meantime…. read the article and the book. They are BOTH good.

Thriller Novelist J.C. Hutchins on Why Resonant Narrative and Community Experiences Equals Book Sales | Profiles in Passion | Fast Company. ~ A FastCompany blog post by CC Chapman.

At the beginning of the post C.C. Chapman clearly states:

The world around us is in a state of flux and one market that must evolve or become extinct is the publishing industry. With the rise of Kindles, iPhones and the smorgasbord of content that we can get from every corner of the Web, the age-old written word binded together in a book is in danger of fading away.

I firmly believe that people will always crave literature. We all need great stories to entertain us and non-fiction to expand our brains. But, the age-old publishing industry is bleeding faster then the music industry and if it doesn

Tags: 7th Son: Descent, J.C. Hutchins, LinkedIn, marketing, publishing

Ranger’s Apprentice Book Tour

Ever since the first copy of Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan fell into my hands at the library in late 2005, I have been extremely interested in the series. I found that the author, John Flanagan, had a way of keeping me enthralled from cover to cover. I didn’t want to put the story down and I really wanted the next book in the series. Currently, I have read the series through Ranger’s Apprentice: The Siege of Macindaw and I eagerly await the opportunity to devour the next two books.

In case you haven’t been introduced to this interesting worlds, allow me to tempt you into the world revealed in The Ruins of Gorlan: 15–year-old Will was a foundling sheltered and fed by the baron along with other foundlings. He wanted to be a knight as he believed this father had been. When the day came to give his and his yearmates apprenticeships, he ended up not in his dream school, but with the dark, scary and mysterious Ranger. With the only alternative being to leave the castle and make his own way in the world, Will reluctantly took the apprenticeship and began his training. The people of the village whispered about the mysterious rangers, they claimed that rangers practiced a magic that made them invisible; All that Will had seen up to that point didn’t discourage the rumors. However, after a time training under Halt, he found that hiding in shadows, moving quietly, gathering information and relying on your own wits held nothing magical at all. They were all skills that were completely normal. Skills that would eventually let him survive when he’s suddenly thrust into the midst of deadly conflict.

One of the reasons I really enjoyed this series was because the books focused not on kings and queens, sorcerers and wizards, dragons and knights, but on normal every day people given an opportunity to make changes and influence events in their world. As an added bonus, the author was able to show that learning isn’t easy. It takes time and dedication, thought and planning, and lots of decisions that aren’t always easy to make. He makes the story entertaining and completely human. Although the series is aimed at the ages of 12 & up, I feel the story can reach people of all ages and levels.

While we have to wait until January 2010 for the next book in the series to be published here in the US, there is solution to getting your Ranger’s Apprentice fix. An interactive authorless book tour is happening right now. A set of actors from The Striking Viking Story Pirates children’s theatre company is enacting a show called Escape to Araluen, which is based on the first book in the series, at each location where they stop. The 2009 tour is traveling to smaller cities, as opposed to hitting the bigger cities, giving more opportunity to bring more action and adventure to groups of children who may have missed the 2008 tour. While they are traveling, the actors are taking their own videos of how things are behind the scenes and posting them to the RangersBookTour Channel on YouTube. You can find out more about the locations and stops at the official homepage: http://www.RangersApprentice.com

What do you like best about the Ranger’s Apprentice series? Be sure to comment and let me know!

News: Wheel of Time

I was impressed this morning when I discovered that many very cool announcements were presented about the Wheel of Time series this weekend at the Dragon*con. Tor.com’s WordPress Blog tells all about the news. The two announcements that really have me excited though are the news about the entire series being released officially to eBook, and the Fact that they will all have new cover art exclusively for that format. Totally rockin’! Go check it out! It looks like they will release the series sequentially, they haven’t listed a time schedule yet, but we can expect The Eye of the World to appear October 27, 2009, the same release day as The Gathering Storm

Tags: Books, fantasy, news, wheel of time

Sony Plans to Adopt Common Format for E-Books – NYTimes.com

Sony Plans to Adopt Common Format for E-Books – NYTimes.com.

This is an interesting concept using an open format, but what about items that have been purchased in the past what will happen to those files? Will there be a conversion feature? I use MobiPocket. It is an awesome little program that converts PDFs and WordDocs into its format and then I can load books and such onto my ancient PDA to read. It really isn’t too bad a device for reading. Since it isn’t an ebook reader, the battery has to be charged constantly or I have to go through a stupid reboot process involving my computer. It isn’t very fun and I tremble to realise I might one day not have access to my older books because of a loss of computer data or somesuch.

But it looks like hope may be on the horizon. We will see when it comes down to it.

Tags: LinkedIn

Positive Press for e-books

This article about the “battle” between books and e-books is pretty interesting and I pretty much agree with the assessment.

E-books: Attractive to Some Readers All the Time

I love my ebooks and I was very happy to have found a way to read them on my PDA. It is very handy and the PDA is so small, I can carry 20 books or more in my coat pocket and most of the time you can’t even tell there is anything there.

I am also a fan of the hardcopy book. Paperbacks and hardcovers, fiction and nonfiction, reading and viewing copies… I have a boxes and boxes of these wonderful items, most of which I have read and don’t want to give away. A few of those books I even have in ebook format. When I finally get my first Kindle, I will be quite happy.

eBook Websites

FictionWise.com

A low cost ebook site with many deals, discounts and sales available. The site has been growing more and more recently.

Project Gutenberg

the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks). This project scans public domain titles and asks for volunteers to help make the corrections, but the integrity of the stories hold up well.

Scribd.com

A strange mix of downloadable and non-downloadable eDocuments. Seems to be free so far. I haven’t really had a chance to explore it much, but what I have seen is nice.

Tags: ebooks, LinkedIn