Product Description

Warrior clans nursing ancient grudges. Western missionaries brandishing pistols. Beautiful geishas who are deadly ninjas.1861, after two centuries of isolation Japan has been forced to open its doors. Now new influences are tearing apart the old order. Japan is as unprepared for outsiders as missionaries are for samurai assassins, executions and honour killings.

Genji's life is at risk. He plans his escape to the Cloud of Sparrows but the road is long and there are many places along the way for brutal samurai to attack…

The demons of the past, the treachery of the present, an uncertain future are about to collide in the most terrifying ways

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168949 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Cloud of Sparrows slings an impressive amount of full-blooded plot material at us along with an intelligent weighing out of historical fact. Young Lord Genji is a samurai whose blood feuds with the Shogun go back centuries--his family have predictive powers that have shown him that his future lies in forming alliances with the incoming Americans. Emily is a young missionary who considers Japan to be a place where her looks will be considered hideous and she will be free of male attention; Heiko is the most beautiful geisha of her generation, and also a ninja assassin who has fallen in love with her prospective victim, Genji. And Stark is a gunslinger posing as missionary who has come to Japan to find a man he has sworn to kill.

The strength of all this lies, in part, in the fact that both sets of characters are as exotic to us as they are to each other--Takashi Matsuoka is wittily smart about how much things change in a century and a half. He also writes brilliantly and excitingly when describing a scene of battle, a gun or sword duel. This is a startlingly good debut. --Roz Kaveney

Synopsis
Into a realm of samurai and geishas, ninjas and Zen masters comes a man and a woman from the West, and the destiny of a nation that has been closed to the outside world for 250 years is about to change forever.

From the Publisher
'A marvellous read' Publishing News

Customer Reviews

Excellent

Small yet big. Takashi Matsuoka's novel is full of everything you would expect to find in a heavy 300+ page book, yet remains concise and easy to follow. History, culture, love, war, deceipt, fantasy. Samurai and Cowboys. All the different elements merge together beautifully like ingredients in a pot and fill the story with drama and suspence. If you like the Tales of the Otori, then this one, which also looks like it may be the beginning of a series, will not fail to please!

A Truly Great Book
Cloud of sparrows is by far and away one the the all-time greatest books I have ever read. The basic plot is that three missionaries arrive in Japan to stay with a Great Lord, Genji Okumuchi. Japan then implodes into Civil War which leaves Genji, the missionaries and his warriors fighting for their lives as they escape to a castle, Cloud of Sparrows. This is far more than just a samurai story however, as there is a intricate plot of battles, murder, treachery,love and hatred. Fans of the TV series Lost will appreciate the way Matsuoka teases the reader by gradually revealing characters back stories, explaining how and why these unlikely missionaries came to Japan, culminating in a deadly finale.
I was amazed to discover that this was the first book by Matsuoka as it is one the most accomplished books I have read in the last 5 years.

a very colourful read about samurai life
This is plainly one of the best books I've read so far. I have to admit that if it had not been a reading group read, I would not have considered this for myself. But from page 1, I was hooked. Usually Japanese samurai stories are known for their gore and bloodshed, but this book was different because it was beautifully written. The whole time I was reading it, it made me think of a Japanese picture with very delicate brushstrokes. The author writes very poetically--vivid yet gentle, and the descriptions were very colourful. Although there are still the gorey bits (it can't be avoided in any samurai fiction or nonfiction, I would think), I find that these scenes come in at the right time in the right places. It is also a good book that compares and contrasts east and west, touching on the possibility that morality and life principles could be relative to culture and religion...something to think about in this day and age. in short, it has both a good story narrated beautifully, with a lesson on morality...what more can you ask for?