The 47th Samurai: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel (Bob Lee Swagger Novels)
by Stephen Hunter
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Book Reviews of The 47th Samurai: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel (Bob Lee Swagger Novels)
Book Review: Swagger-san in Japan
Summary: 5 Stars
Bob Lee Swagger journeys to Japan and his own past in this continuing saga. Little to do with his old sniper profession, but it introduces us to the fascinating world of Japanese Yakuza criminals and Samurai traditions and there impact on modern Japan. The descriptions of the traditional Samurai swords are terrific and enlightening and, having seen the Tokyo sword museum , I can attest to their incredible craftsmanship and beauty. Bob's a bit over the top in this novel and his self deprecating style comes across as a bit too much at times, but overall it holds up well and never gets too out of line with the character. The introduction to this hidden side of one of the world's great nations is a nice change of pace and the author gives us plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing. Overall a great read for a long flight or a quiet evening with a glass of wine (or sake).Book Review: Research Galore
Summary: 4 Stars
Ah so, the research required to do this novel must have been tremendous. I found it to be somewhat off course at the first fifty or sixty pages but then started getting interesting. I guess I was becoming Asian oriented. I did find the data on the swords above interesting, the polishing and sharpening along with the fact of the age and ability of the master craftsman that made them and the ulitimate attachment of the Samurai that used them. I feel the book was good but again not what we have come to expect with Bob Lee. The sad part is this must be the last of this series as he is now sixty and I can't see another one coming with all the action as in the past. Like Dirk Pitt (Clive Cussler) Mr. Hunter should have given him a son, maybe he can find one he didn't know about and he can come to fight the Arabs or in the future the Illegal Immigrants. What do you think?Book Review: Swagger into Ichiban
Summary: 2 Stars
In 47 Samurai, Hunter asks us to believe that 60-year-old Bob Lee Swagger can be trained in one week to defeat six highly accomplished samurai swordsmen at once at their own specialized style of swordsmanship AND that the CIA will call in Navy Seals, Korean special forces, and special forces of the Japanese home defense force for the purpose of destroying a violent entrepreneur whose chief objective is to keep American blondes out of Japanese porno films.
When an important Japanese character character remarks on the cold weather by saying "Yes, it's nippy out," I thought for one brief moment that the story was a parody. No such luck. I can't answer for the allusion to a Mutant Ninja Turtle, so I invoke the curtain of charity.
Please Mr Hunter: more cordite and leathernecks, but hold the sushi.
Book Review: James Bond joins "The Seven Samurai"
Summary: 2 Stars
Stephen Hunter ascribes the origins of this book as a catharsis from a professional film critic's personal depression brought on by the "morass of mediocrity" in American movies. He seems to have succeeded in adding to the morass by writing a screenplay, rather than a book, begging for it to be "... ripped from the pages of a Stephen Hunter novel and brought to the silver screen...". A disappointment for those who wait for each new Hunter book release. Bob Lee, master sniper, becomes after a week's intense schooling a master swordsman taking on six experienced swordsmen at a time. Bob Lee's butt is saved, following enough hints through out the book to make it obvious, in the final battle against the greatest swordsman in all Japan. Not a surprising final scene in what is a trite plot for yet another mediocre American movie.Book Review: Don't waste your time on the book or the reviews
Summary: 1 Stars
If you want to save time heed these words-DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. But, if you insist on reading some more about this novel, read on. The man is good in his research of the sword and related martial arts terms, but that does not make a novel worth reading. The plot might have been good penned by another author, not this gentleman. Having been a kendo practioner I was hard pressed to find the hero of this novel so adroit in combat with Japanese villians. Even though the hero and the entire line of the novel began to disturb me, the final blow was when the author has to make the novel trashy by the demand of the lead bad guy to a lesser to "F" word the little girl in the novel before killing her. Stupid, trash. Save your money, in fact do not even bother to check it out at the library.