Rating – 9 /10
Synopsis
” His hand moved before his brain could. His left hand pulled on the saya, while the right drove the blade forward.”
Japan, 1625
A new Drum Master has risen, and soon the nation will fall to the curse of Izanagi. Answering the call of his kotsuzumi, dead warriors abandon their peace to once again roam the land of the living, swinging rusty blades and chattering rotten teeth at his behest.
Japan’s last hope lies in the hands of the nine warriors gathered by the young daimyō of Owari. To reach Onijima, where the source of the curse’s power awaits, the Nine will not only have to face swarms of undead samurai and waves of shinobi mercenaries but even more dangerous to their mission, their inner demons.
Against the undead, the Nine only have two choices, fighting as one or becoming them.
Review
If I had to sum up Undead Samurai in a sentence it would be something like – Rogue One meets The Army of the Undead set in feudal Japan. But it really is much more than that.
I’ve long been fascinated by feudal Japan and the role that the Samurai played in history. I’m also partial to the odd zombie tale so that thought of the two being combined had me salivating (in a non-cannibalistic way of course). This not an opportunistic tale simply adding the undead for the sake of it. Instead, we are treated to a well-crafted story focusing themes of honour, redemption and what those mean to our protagonists as well as the price they are willing to pay to achieve them. Instead of a standard “zombie” story we are treated to an action driven tale set in a time of change in Japan with the proliferation of guns alongside the more traditional bladed weapons. The bonus is that central threat are the thousands of dead from past battles and recent civil war.
Without giving too much away, our story follows “the Nine” as they embark on a quest to defeat an ancient curse and save Japan itself from an army of the undead, controlled by the mysterious Drum Master. And whilst a quest can be a standard fantasy trope, this is no pedestrian retelling. Instead, we are treated to fast paced race to beat the undead threat interspersed with vignettes of each of the Nine’s past. These flashbacks are interspersed between the present action and wonderfully flesh out our motley crew as well as adding real depth to the story. Now you could be forgiven for thinking that nine different POV’s could be confusing or upset the pace of the narrative. However, you couldn’t be more wrong, these revelations only serve to bring us closer to the Nine and who they really are. It was the depth of the characters that really surprised me and ensured that I was invested with them. And that certainly make things tough as the book progresses (spoiler alert – I’ll say no more).
The action / battle scenes are brilliantly written and really thrust you into the middle of the action. I suspect I will never attain the skills required to be a samurai or ninja, but I do feel that I may have better idea of what it may have been like after reading this book. Baptiste laces the story with plenty of Japanese terms and references which really adds a layer of authenticity and immerses you in time period. I understand that some characters are an amalgamation of actual historical figures so I will definitely need to do some further research of my own as I’m keen to learn more about this period of Japan’s history.
Undead Samurai is a fast-paced action, packed story which grabs you from the start with one of the more impressive prologue that I have read for some time. However, it’s the diverse and wonderfully rich characters as well as the historical details that I will take away with me. Oh, and possibly a newfound aversion to drums…
I certainly hope we can have sometime back in this world soon. This was my first foray into Baptistes work and it’s safe to say I will be coming back for more.
Undead Samurai will be published on 13th February
Great review, Charlie.