If I'm honest, this is a book I knew nothing about and wasn't even looking out, first catching my attention when I saw it in a local Tesco's with a sticker on the front saying 'pick of CBS action channel' (which is a freesat channel, which I don't have)!

Had a look at the blurb, though, and thought I might take a punt on it due to its unusual - for a Western audience - setting of Japan, centring round the samurai. About the only other book(s) with the same setting I have ever read were Cloud of Sparrows and Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka. I've also since read that this (Child of Vengenace)is the first in a planned series of books

How'd this compare? Of the two series's, I think this is the better: I found this to be more engaging, and more interesting. This also weaves in actual historical events (culminating, as it does, in the battle of Sekigahara - a battle I was unfamiliar with) and provides a glimpse into the Samurai way of life.

Will I pick up the sequel when it is released? Yep! :)

This novel was very well written. And it felt very historically accurate. I'm going to say it was a well told tale, about themes that are very important to the Japanese culture. That being said, it's extremely sad, very gory and leaves you feeling pretty heavy.

I may be getting tired of reading about young men's coming of age stories. I found myself thinking that I really didn't care about this or that tragedy, which were probably defining moments in his young life.....I just wanted to get to the man's story, not the boy's. But this book doesn't have that part of the story.
The author does do a pretty good job of the Japanese setting and some of the characters are quite good. It was an easy and fast read but not a book I liked.

Interesting up to a certain point, otherwise pretty boring ha. Likely won't be reading book two.

At once a coming of age story as it is a cultural analysis and exposition, this story of how Miyamoto Musashi came to be known as such is simply wonderful. The pacing is consistent, the dialogue intelligent and true to character, and the setting shows both a knowledge of and a love for the history of Japan. The psychology of the characters helps illuminate what Westerners so often think they get but don't: the martial philosophy of the samurai. There is no hiding from the brutality or how the dedication to a stylized form of honor even in the face of internal questions. I can only hope that the author sees fit to continue the story.

"what kind of person couldn't attack the man who killed his mother?"

I am a fan of historical fiction, especially if it has to do with samurai, so when I saw this book I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy it, and luckily for me I was not disappointed. David Kirk takes us on a fictional tour of the childhood and adolescence of the famous Musahi Miyamoto. Allow me to say that I was not familiar with Miyamoto's life, I just knew the name, but not much else, so it is impossible for me to judge how much the author remained true to fact and how much is fabrication. What I can say though, is that the novel is thoroughly entertaining and once you start, it is hard to stop until you reach the last page.

The author successfully provides the main character with depth, and thus, the book is not only an action packed swashbuckling narration. Instead, he delivers a complex main character, that has to deal with contradictory emotions while he is trying to figure out his way. This balance between action and introspection works extremely well, since we have enough pace to keep us engaged, and enough substance so as not to make this a mind-numbing action flick.

There is a pretty clear indication that there will be more books to come in this same topic, and I for one am looking forward to them. I am very happy to have found this work and I recommend it to all of those that enjoy historical fiction in the vein of Shogun.