The Toksido Road

The Tokaido Road by Lucia St Clair Robson. Promoted as a Japanese erotica and martial arts novel, I would question the claim of erotica, as it just wasn’t there. However, martial arts fans will enjoy all the action. This is feudal Japan, probably in the 1400s. When her father fails to bribe the official, Lord Kira correctly, he is removed and his name pulled from record. He commits suicide, which is the only thing left for him to do. However, his daughter wants his named revenged. Kinume Asano, known as Cat, and her mother have no way to survive, so Cat sells herself to a pleasure house. But Lord Kira is keeping an eye on her, and serves her a blowfish not properly prepared. Her client eats the fish and dies, but she knows it was meant for her. She changes clothes with the dead man and escapes. Now she must travel the Takaido Road to reach her sensei, Lord Asano’s samurai, and her master.  The story is Lady Asano’s journey down this long and dangerous road, the adventures she has, and the friends she meets along the way. Of course, Lord Kira has his samurai harassing her along the way, but they don’t know that Cat is a master samurai also, and she makes them look like fools. However, the journey is hard and dangerous, and the companions she meet teaches her many things, like how to be humble, and trust in others. Even love comes hard for her, until she discovers how others see her, and are willing to suffer hardships for her. This was an exciting read, and I felt there could be only one ending to the journey. I kept dreading the final page, knowing it could only end one way. I will say no more, as I would give the end away, but I encourage readers to read this yarn to the last page. The action and adventure will keep you turning the pages. Highly recommended.

Enter The Dragon

ENTER THE DRAGON by Mike Roote (Leonore Fleischer, according to Hawk’s Author’s For Book Collector’s, 1992 edition). A novelization of the popular action film starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, and Jim Kelly: Han is gathering martial artists for his tournament on an island near Hong Kong. Roper (Saxon), Williams (Kelly), and Lee (Bruce Lee) have received invitations. At the Shaolin Temple the Master has suggested that Lee accept the invitation, as Han has dishonored the Shaolin temple. Then Lee learns there is another reason he must attend; Han’s men were responsible for his sister, Su Lin’s death three years ago. Braithwaite, head of F.A.D.E. offers help if Lee discovers unlawful acts on the island. The problem is, there is an army of martial artists under Han’s command, and one man may fail if acting alone. There is a girl all ready on the island, placed there by F.A.D.E., Mae Ling, but she has not been heard from. Lee must find her, and maybe get assistance from Williams and Roper, if they are not recruited into Han’s army. This novel followed the film fairly closely, but not totally. Many of the fight scenes in the film were different from the book, as were many other things. But it was a fun book, even if I knew the outcome from the movie beforehand. I was curious about some of the names in the story. They almost tie in with another series, THE GIRL FACTURY, featuring Su-Lin Kelly, but the author of that series remains a mystery, as far as I know. The author’s name (Robert Franklin Murphy) isn’t listed in Hawk’s 1992 edition. Roote and Murphy were both writing during the same time frame. Just curious.