Child of Vengeance

“The sky is blue, water is wet, and samurai serve.”

As a child, Bennosuke finds himself caught between his uncle who raised him and his father who left him at a young age. One, a monk, urges Bennosuke to give up the violence and bloodshed of his birthright as a samurai, the other, a great warrior, who returns to Bennosuke's life and is disappointed by what he finds. Bennosuke chooses the path of the warrior, and dedicates his life to becoming a great samurai in order to right the injustice brought to his father. His journey teaches him a lot about what it means to be samurai, and what it takes to really earn the name he gives himself – Musashi Miyamoto.

This series was recommended to me by Goodreads hot on the heels of finishing Conn Iggulden's historical fiction series covering Genghis Khan. I thought there was some really good thoughtful discourse on what it means to be samurai and to serve a lord, and whether at the end of the day revenge and vengeance is worth it. Bennosuke's character somewhat annoyed me in the middle of the book as he's finding himself, but I thought who he grew into made up for it. Was this the most accurate portrayal of Musashi Miyamoto? Probably not, but I gather not a whole lot is conclusively known about the finer details anyway, and I thought the author did a good job of painting a compelling story between the lines of what we know. The audiobook narrator (Mark Bramhall) was also really good, for what that's worth to anyone reading this review.

In short, a fun read, maybe light on the historical and heavy on the fiction, but I still enjoyed reading it.