Child of Vengeance: A Novel
Written by David Kirk
Narrated by Mark Bramhall
4/5
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Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Japan in the late 16th century was a land in turmoil. Lords of the great clans schemed against each other, served by aristocratic samurai bound to them by a rigid code of honor. Bennosuke is a high-born but lonely teenager living in his ancestral village. His mother died when he was a young boy, and his powerful warrior father Munisai has abandoned him for a life of service to his Lord, Shinmei. Bennosuke has been raised by his uncle Dorinbo, a monk who urges the boy to forgo the violence of the samurai and embrace the contemplative life. But Bennosuke worships his absent father, and when Munisai returns, gravely injured, Bennosuke is forced to confront truths about his family's history and his own place in it. These revelations soon guide him down the samurai's path-awash with blood, bravery, and vengeance. His journey will culminate in the epochal battle of Sekigahara-in which Bennosuke will first proclaim his name as Mushashi Miyamoto. This rich and absorbing epic explores the complexities of one young man's quest while capturing a crucial turning point in Japanese history with visceral mastery, sharp psychological insight and tremendous narrative momentum.
From the Hardcover edition.
David Kirk
David J. Kirk, a U.S. Navy veteran, earned his master's degree in personality psychology from Rhode Island College. He worked as a counselor and human resources manager. David then became an instructor at Rasmussen College in Fargo, North Dakota where he taught psychology for four years. An avid writer since sixteen years old, he has published three novels and one book of short fiction. He lives with his wife in Logansport, Indiana.
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Reviews for Child of Vengeance
21 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Read hardback first. Had to come back to listen. Incredible epic that doesn't sag once. Almost want to make it my life's mission to get the author to finish the series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The samaurai were, as figured in this novel, experts in death. The main character is a child and comes to age as a saumari, under the competing influences of his uncle, monk of the Shinto supreme goddess Amerterasu, who raised him, and his father, who killed his mother in a rage, and went away to be the perfect saumarai. The father does seppuku, but is not granted a decapitation, the son, Bennosuke, becomes very skilled in swordsmanship, and finally fulfills his vow to kill the scheming lord who caused his father's death. Skilled plotting and writing, but disappointing in that the story is unfinished and sequels are almost certain.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Having been rather obsessed with Japanese short stories throughout the course of my ungrad college career, I eagerly snapped up "Child of Vengeance" by David Kirk. While I was not disappointed, I did feel like the author never fully delved behind the psychology of the samurai. Yes, the samurai glorified death, but the reasoning behind *why* was never fully fleshed out, at least until where I could understand where Bennosuke and his fellow samurai were coming from. The story is extremely interesting, however, and worth a read, if just to recognize the full-blown, all-out dedication of the samurai.