Publisher's Synopsis
THE LADY AND THE SAMURAI: Swordplay at its finest! For thousands of years, humanity has used the sword to do battle, the sword in history attaining unparalleled heights and has been a way of life for cultures around the globe, such as the Samurai of Japan. The gallant sword, the symbolic apex weapon of Divinity itself, has been the instrument of ridding the world of evil and its woes. From Arthur's Excalibur to Alexander's sword that cut the Gordian knot, swords have been the backdrop for the mightiest tales known to myth and history. It is the implement of reckoning, of quelling the forces of darkness whenever needs be. Now comes THE LADY AND THE SAMURAI. In this dramatic tale of passion, lightning fast fencing cultures East and West collide amidst the background of the noblest sporting display of all-the world Olympics! Share the agony of the beautiful fencing prodigy Christina Brickley as she battles to overcome her inner demons and outwit her evil arch-fencing nemesis Felipe LaForche, team Captain, killer in the darkest arts of manipulation. In a do-or-die effort, hero Christina and the villainous LaForche lock blades in the sweltering cauldrons of their furious obsessions striving against each other as they seek to gain the glory of being an Olympian, the undisputed master of the fencing world! Upon the brink of self-destruction, Christina then meets Thomas No Kannon, a young modern Samurai, who instills within her the very heart of the sword-the soul of the Samurai. As she trains under his stern tutelage, Christina is renovated from a lowly sword-renegade to a consummate artiste of the elite sword of mercy. Taken from studies of classical Western Fencing and those of the Far East, LS comes to grips with two ancient blade cultures culminating in terrific action-packed sequences. In this surging, dynamic volume, both fencing cultures meet head on, as passions erupt and differing worldviews forcefully collide. LS abounds with powerful oppositions, where body, mind, spirit and soul are sheared and then re-spliced into a gripping tale of exceptional sensual realizations and towering spiritual reckonings. About the word-fencer: Douglas M. Laurent, M.A., English, B.A., Film, is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University and Columbia College, Chicago. A martial artist with over 40 years experience, according to Eastern and Western ideals of fencing traditions, Laurent combines both worlds. Allusions to famous fencers as well as formal literature, history and art thrust the piece forward, offering readers glimpses into their own cultural heritages and the legendary mores of cold steel. In this surging, heart-scalding crucible of serrating conflict, where spirit, soul and the sheen of the naked blade meet, titanic battles of the will slam together, contesting the right for personal freedom against the forces of evil and tyranny.