A Tale of a Samurai

A captivating Japanese noir for fans of “Shōgun” and “Seven Samurai.” In an era of peace bought at a high price, the samurai have been thrown out into the streets from the military housing the government dissolved—and they survive as they can. Forsaken, betrayed, and alone on the path between murder and suicide, they band together, fight city backroom operators for daily food, and kill each other in a secret civil war pushed into the narrow alleys of the capital.

ANNAIT GRIGORIAN, writer, translator: “Dmitry Bogutski wrote an excellent Japanese historical novel, steeped in noir style and written so energetically that you can easily lose yourself in it—traveling from modern reality to the era of the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate, perhaps one of the most romantic periods in the chronicle of Japan’s past—shrouded in legends and a mystical aura. The book keeps inviting comparisons to an old classic monogatari tale. A dramatized version of events, many characters, and constant plot twists, vivid poetic descriptions, and concise, meaningful dialogues come together into a large, complex epic full of adventure and danger. The author handles words as skillfully as a samurai handles his katana—putting the maximum action into a minimum of text. If you stop while reading, it’s only to catch your breath. A hero worthy of the story: Isawa, whose left-handedness is considered a curse in his time; a desperate and charming rōnin who has to be a gardener, a condemned criminal headed for execution, a worker for a Kabuki theater—and in the end join a firefighting brigade, where his fiery nature belongs.

An unexpected twist in the finale turns the tense, dynamic narrative with a virtuoso plot into a philosophical parable, making you reflect on what a person, devoted to serving duty, is truly fighting for and sacrificing their life for. The oriental exoticism makes it an engaging read, and the questions raised in it prove surprisingly contemporary—and timely.”