Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior
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| Author | Chris Bradford |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Young Samurai |
| Genre | Children's fiction |
| Publisher | Puffin Books |
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Publication date
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August 8, 2008 |
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| Followed by | Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword |
Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior is a children's historical novel by Chris Bradford, published in 2008. It is the first in a series of action-adventure stories set in 17th century Japan following the exploits of an English boy, Jack Fletcher, as he strives to be the first gaijin samurai.
Young Samurai has been described as a 'Black Belt' Young Bond, Artemis Fowl with Swords and Percy Jackson with Ninja. The book is the first in a 9 part series.
Masamoto Tenno, the oldest son of Masamoto Takeshi, is killed in 1609 in Kyoto by the feared ninja Dokugan Ryu also known as Dragon Eye.
Two years later a ship, the Alexandria is caught in a storm along the Japanese coast. On board is Jack Fletcher, a 13-year old English boy. When the ship hits a coral reef and is shipwrecked, his father John Fletcher, who is First Mate, sails the ship into a bay. There, the crew attempts to repair the ship as fast as possible, fearing an attack by the Wako, ruthless Japanese pirates.
When the ship is ready to sail again, someone spots a pirateship in the distance. That night all lights are out. Jack doesn't feel at ease and takes a look on the deck. There he sees men dressed in black and hurries to warn his father. His father tells him to stay in the cabin until he comes back, but when Jack hears his father scream he runs to the deck. There his father is surrounded by men dressed in black. One of them takes Jack and threatens to kill him unless John tells him where the rutter is. John tells them in the hope they will let his son live, but the ninja doesn't seem to share his hope. When he is about to kill Jack, John manages to save him, but gets killed himself. As he is dying he tells Jack to take the rutter before the ninja can find it and escape from the ship. Jack manages to find the rutter but is confronted by the ninja who killed his father. Jack tries to escapes and when he reaches the deck, the ship blows up, throwing him into the ocean.
Jack is later found by Masamoto Takeshi and taken to his sister, Hiroko's, house. There Jack is treated. When he wakes up, Jack hears voices in the room next door. He accidentally falls through the paper door and is threatened by a samurai. Following the advice he once got from a fellow sailer he bowed as deep as possible, amusing the samurai.
After a few days living in the house, Jacks grows discontent and tries to escape. He fails and is eventually caught onto by Taka . He also meets Date Akiko, the daughter of Hiroko.
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