Review – Musashi

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa. Kodansha International, 1995. 

Swordplay, true love, and a man climbing up the side of a cliff. It's not the Princess Bride; it's the story of Musashi, the most famous swordsman of Japan.

This is a romanticized, historical fiction novel. Musashi started out on the losing side of a battle, and spent his life seeking the true way of the samurai. The story has many coincidences and near misses (though fewer than the average episode of 24), but the charm and fun overcomes that.