So, does anybody else like reading samurai and Edo-period historical fiction? I do, but I find it a bit tricky to identify authors who write interesting stories that aren’t too difficult to read, so I have a tendency to stick with the authors I know rather than branching out. So I figured I’d post a few authors I’ve enjoyed reading and see if anybody else had suggestions…
藤沢周平 : probably my favourite author. He likes writing about low-ranking samurai struggling with the demands of their situation (and often failing). I would recommend starting with 用心棒日月抄, which is about a samurai who runs away from his clan to Edo after being falsely accused of murder, and becomes a swordsman-for-hire/bodyguard to make enough money to eat. The book alternates stories of bodyguard work with a plot arc about identifying who framed him and gathering evidence to clear himself. Unlike some of the author’s other work, there’s a fair leavening of humour and it’s less downbeat. Language is what I would characterise as medium-ish difficulty. If you like that there are three more in the same series.
赤川次郎 : Akagawa has written so many books he’s done something in most genres, historical included. I like the 鼠 series (first book is 鼠、江戸を疾る) which are all short stories set in Edo starring a playboy-by-day master-thief-by-night. As usual for Akagawa, reading level is pretty easy (there are still the usual bits of genre vocabulary and a certain amount of samurai-speak to deal with, but that’s true of the whole genre and doesn’t take too long to get used to).
葉室麟 : I’ve only read a couple by this author, but I liked 辛夷の花, which is about 志桜里, who is living with her parents after the failure of her marriage, when a mysterious samurai who supposedly has sworn never to draw his sword again moves in next door…