Toru
Wayfarer Returns
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Revolutionary young samurai with dirigibles take on Commodore Perry and his Black Ships in this alternate history steampunk technofantasy set in 1850s samurai-era Japan.
In Japan of 1852, the peace imposed by the Tokugawa Shoguns has lasted 250 years. Peace has turned to stagnation, however, as the commoners grow impoverished and their lords restless. Swords rust. Martial values decay. Foreign barbarians circle the island nation’s closed borders like vultures, growing ever more demanding.
Tōru, a shipwrecked young fisherman rescued by American traders and taken to America, defies the Shogun’s ban on returning to Japan, determined to save his homeland from foreign invasion. Can he rouse his countrymen in time? Or will the cruel Shogun carry out his vow to execute all who set foot in Japan after traveling abroad? Armed only with his will, a few books, dirigible plans and dangerous ideas, Tōru must transform the Emperor’s realm before the Black Ships come.
Tōru: Wayfarer Returns is the first book in the Sakura Steam Series, an alternate history of the tumultuous period from the opening of Japan in 1853 to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. This volume covers the year prior to the American Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan and follows the hero and his young allies as they lead Japan through a massively compressed industrial revolution, dramatically altering that pivotal moment in history.
While Tōru and his dirigibles are fictional, the story unfolds against the backdrop of the "real" Japan of that period, with historical figures and their political environment woven into the tale, staying true to their motivations and agendas even as the alternate history warps their actions, history and a few laws of physics. Underpinning the adventure plot is a young man's yearning for his father's approval and an honorable place in his world.
Readers who enjoy steampunk alternate histories more typically set in Victorian England or the American Wild West may enjoy this steampunk story made fresh by the Japanese samurai setting, as well as readers who enjoy historical fiction set in Japan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The start of the Sakura Steam series doesn't quite fire on all cylinders. Toru, the illegitimate son of a shogun-defying lord, risks death to return to 19th-century Japan after two years in America. He hopes to advance Japan into a futuristic age of steam to protect it from Western empires. After introducing a cool premise, debut novelist Sorensen struggles to make it believable. Toru gains allies as the plot requires, right down to the shogun's top advisor. No supplies are unavailable for his projects. Death sentences are meaningless, because Sorensen just won't hurt her main characters. The irony of ruining Japan's unique culture in order to keep it safe from cultural imperialism is barely touched on. It's a shame, because the historical period is meticulously researched and re-created, and the characters are varied and engaging, with Toru's young friends Jiro and Masuyo driving his revolution. But when things rarely go wrong, there's just no real reason to keep reading. (BookLife)
