Brian M. reviewed on 5/11/2016 + 70 more book reviews

This is an epic series....following the disgraced Samaurai as he crossed the land trying to protect his young son while seeking revenge against the powerful enemies that slaughtered his clan and engineered his disgrace.
The stories have been adapted into several movies ( with varying titles over the years ) such as Shogun Assassin and have inspired a lot of cinema.
The artwork is all in black and white and the detail is stunning. The artwork shows both the beauty and horror of life in feudal Japan. It is for mature readers since most of the stories do depict graphic violence ( big shock) but several stories involve vilience towards women, children, torture, rape and sexual relations.
Occasionaly the heroes are only witnesses to history and the book is very well researched and is a great example of historical fiction. It's printed in English, but when there are no comparable words or concept the Japanese word is used .It goes into great length describing daily life, customs
Ect of Japan and each volume has a dictionary/glossary to help with translation or to explain any plot points.
It's a sprawling tale of honor, duty, and revenge.

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