Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A good read...I guess Review: A beautifully written novel...fast-paced, flowing, artistic, and exotic. I loved the way Takashi jumps from character to character, the deep, tear-jerking romance, and the clash of cultures. Like when...what's his face....Marty...Maxwell...oh yeah, Matthew Stark got married to what's-her-face. You see, the only flaw in this story was how shallow the characters were. Aside from Genji and Heiko, the other characters are rather dull, 2-dimensional, and they lack depth. Clavell used great detail to breathe life into all the characters, and Takashi just sucked life out of what could have been excellent characters. It's his first book, though, and he isn't a native English speaker, so we'll let this slide and await his next book. I see promise in this author...By the way...If you were to strip away the beautiful cover art and the Japanese poems before each chapter, this book would be lucky to get a three star rating.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: A Great book! Can't wait for the next one, Matsuoka-sama! Review: After reading Musashi, Shogun and Gai-Jin, I was looking for more books on Samurai. I'm glad I picked up Cloud of Sparrows, it is a really good read, it draws you in from the beginning and never lets up! I didn't intend to write a review, but I was so surprised at the bitterness of some reviewers toward this novel and its author that I had to try and bump up the overall rating. Other reviewers got into detailing the plot and the characters, so I won't do that. Besides, giving up too much will only ruin the pleasure of reading it. Do not let the few who gave it a bad review discourage you, they are too sensitized by these PC times! Life was harsh in the past! As for those who moan about a gunslinger in late 1800s Japan - hey, it's fiction, not fact! Enjoy this captivating read for what it is: pure escapism.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Quentin Tarantino's next film? Review: Interesting mixture of sword-wielding, honor-bound samurais and gun-toting, code of the American West cowboys. The first of the book is low on action as everyone's story (and believe me everyone in this book has a story) is established. Then the action kicks into gear and the rest of the book is nothing but blood, blood, blood! Beheadings, dismemberments, evisceration, patricide, infanticide, and (lest we forget the cowboys) gunshot wounds. Buckets and buckets of blood in all its gory details. Once the story gets going it keeps a good pace and it did hold my interest all the way through.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Second Rate Review: I just have to respond to the readers, who are trying to foist this second rate novel on the unsuspecting public. It is not a good read at all. The prose is tortured, conceited and awkward at best. The plot is absolutely hilarious: Matsuoka's got this American gunfighter running around 1860 Japan on a blood quest, while a mentally imbalanced minor Japanese warlord successfully takes on the shogun's vassals and spies, aided by a double-dealing courtesan. Oh, yeah, and the warlord is also clairvoyant, somehow seeing the future of Japan. Absolute unrealistic drivel! The author had to be on drugs when he wrote this novel, and so must his editor. Does Random House drug test its employees? If not, they should. How could a major publishing house fall for this pablum, especially with all the unsolicited manuscripts flooding into their mailroom? I'm sure the "slush pile" would have produced something much better than this ridiculous work. It is truly unbelievable. But what is really unbelievable is that I paid to try and read it. Fortunately, I couldn't force myself to finish it. Don't be taken in. Look at the sales numbers before you buy. I will in the future.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Horribly gruesome and disgusting! Review: I enjoyed Shogun and Gai-Jin by Clavell, so I thought I'd give "Cloud of Sparrows" a try. I have never been so disappointed in a novel in my life. The plot seems to be a mere convenience for hundreds of pages of bloodshed and gore. Sadists will enjoy this book. Normal people will be repelled. Don't be fooled into buying this unmitigated trash.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Second Rate Pablum Review: After buying this novel, I read to page 124 then tossed it in the trash where it belongs. "Cloud of Sparrows" has no bearing or relevance on Japanese culture or history. All it is a gross caricature of samurai violence. But what I found most disturbing was that a major publisher was taken in. Well, I think I might try my hand at this game. I know nothing about the history of Russia, but I think I'll change my name to a Russian one, write an historical action adventure set in Russia and submit it to Random House. Heck, they'll publish it, just because I'll use a Russian last name.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Ignorant and savage Review: This blood-soaked attempt at historical fiction stopped me cold in my tracks. Only a psychotic sociopath could enjoy this work. But what truly amazes me is that it somehow slipped past the screening process of one of the major publishers. How did that happen? Whoever was responsible should be taken to task. I wouldn't even recommend this book to Charles Manson. What a loser!
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Entertaining Review: This one plays well to American audiences for its romanticized images of the Samurai of the late 1800's. Plus, it throws in the East meets West convention, which is always interesting. I enjoyed his parallels. His character development was pretty good, i thought. Good exposition, though the pacing suffered a bit for it. Also, the fact that he borrowed liberally from Herbert, I found interesting. I wouldn't take this one too seriously as an historical novel, but good first time attempt by the author.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Non stop bloodletting Review: I am a great fan of historical fiction set in Japan and China, and have read many excellent books of that type. This one is a disappointment. It is one violent scene after another, with a body count that must be measured in the thousands. The "heroes" -- to use the term loosely -- are all coldhearted murderers. One's culture doesn't change that fact. Are we to admire them? Like them? Understand them? I could not, and therefore was left with reading about people who merely went from one bloody scene to another. The book is sadly lacking in real insights into the Japanese culture of that age -- there is far more depth to it than mere barbaric Samurai blood thirst. If the author's intention was to show us how horrid Japan was at that time, he succeeded. But if the book had been written by a Westerner, the author would have been called a racist for such a one-sided depiction of Japanese culture and life. All in all, not a book I can recommend.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Very Strange Review: I really don't know what people see in this novel. Personally, I feel like I was rip-offed by Random House. I've lived in Japan and studied Japanese culture, so I think I know what I'm talking about. Once you get past the bad writing, the weird characters, and the strange plot, what really hits you, if you know anything about Japan, is how false both historically and culturally this novel really is. The author may be Japanese, but he knows little about mid-19th century Japan, and even less about the late Tokugawa cultural landscape. For the life of me, I can't imagine how this novel ever got published. There had to be a bribe or pay-off somewhere.
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