Young Samurai: The Ring of Earth by Chris Bradford - Paperback

An absolutely great book. This whole Young Samurai series is great. The series is so much more than I expected. I originally got it for my 9 year old son to encourage his reading and (on a side note) to hopefully get him interested in martial arts. I have to say the book has done both. He flies trough the pages of each book as he nears the end I have to order the next book in the series for him. I do not have to tell him twice to go read his book. I actually have to tell him to put it down while he is eating or walking.When I was readying through it. I found the book full of adventures, action packed, even a little romance and subtle point of martial arts that all martial artists would recognize. An example is breathing is emphasized, there is a part of the book that though Jack is in good shape he is being completely out paced in a flat out sprint, the reason being is he breathing is wrong, this is the corner stone to any martial art which ever you practice. It is small details like this that make this series fantastic for all aged. The romance is completely lost on my 9 year old but to older readers like me will see the sparks of jealousy and (if you have a heart) will be wishing the characters together, I love the line "forever bound together".In this book, what little protection Jack had in Japan has been yanked away. Now traveling alone in a country that has a zero tolerance policy on foreigners, and a personal bounty on his head from the new Shogun. Even former allies have become his enemies, his only hope is learning the skills of his most hated enemy. Once again he must prove to his teachers and to his peers who have a different prejudice against him. Another great book. Like another reviewer said "something for everyone" all done well.

A friend lent me the first book, after that I asked him for numbers 2 and 3, when I read that the fourth book was coming out I couldn't resist any longer and I got the three off them.When I received the fourth book and I saw it was 300 pages long ONLY, I was a bit sad but after I started reading I realised it would not matter, it is 300 pages packed with amazing surprises, breath taking thriller and a great amount of passion for martial arts and adventures.

A gift for my nephew-- and he loved it. A great story for his age group (9-12) and a few years along with that.

🙂

'The Ring of Earth'