His Name is Junsaku by Tenkara SmartMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an intriguing book about feudal Japan in the time of the samurai and the power of the Shogun rulers. It was very reminiscent for me of James Clavell’s book and the subsequent excellent TV series starring Richard Chamberlain. I also enjoyed seeing so many references to the terms used in martial arts having pursued and played Judo for many years in my youth. Junsaku is the main character and he comes across from his youth as a very determined but arrogant man, who will fulfil his destiny to become a leader in the Shogunate system.
The many uses of Japanese words and mannerisms add much to the authenticity of the story and captivate the interest of a reader throughout the book. However, I found much of the narrative too slow and often annoyingly repetitive. There was something, which looked like an editing error, within the first few chapters where a whole paragraph was repeated. If it was deliberate then it was not needed and that, together with the verbosity I mentioned above, meant that the book could probably be fifty to a hundred pages shorter.
Many of the other characters are well drawn, particularly including Cecelia and their daughter, Fukano, and the emotional side of things is well contrasted with Junsaku’s obsession with honour, duty and the bushido tradition. This gave a lot to cause this reader’s curiosity to deepen about how the story would end. And what a great but surprising ending there is to this almost epic novel; it more than made up for the earlier rather ponderous chapters. Overall, I would recommend ‘His Name is Junsaku’ to those young adult readers who like engaging historical fiction that includes plenty of action.
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