THE LADY AND THE SAMURAI - Swordplay at its finest! For thousands of years, humanity has used the sword as an instrument of righteousness to do battle, and here in the world of sport fencing and the classical realm of the Japanese Samurai sword, both blade cultures clash in an epic battle between the forces of Good and Evil. Follow the exploits of the troubled, coming of age fencing prodigy Christina Brickley as she confronts her arch-nemesis Felipe LaForche, villainous fencing master par excellence amid the backdrop of the Olympic games as they vie for the prestige, power and championship of the fencing world. Share in Brickley's agony as she battles to overcome her own inner demons and outwit the treacherous LaForche, fencing team Captain, and killer in the most darkest arts of manipulation. In do-or-die confrontations, hero Christina and the vile LaForche lock steel blades in the sweltering cauldrons of their furious passions striving against each other in mental bladeholds as they seek to gain the glories as only a world Olympian can. One will become the undisputed master of the world of the fencing blade; the other must fall. Upon the brink of self-destruction, Christina meets Thomas Kannon, a young and virile master of the 'katana, ' the blade of the Samurai of Japan. Gentle Thomas instructs Brickley in not the 'why' or 'how' of the blade, but imparts to her the very heart of the sword - the soul of the Samurai warriors of old. As she trains under his stern tutelage, Christina is transformed from a lowly sword-renegade to that of a consummate artiste of the most elite sword of mercy. In this dramatic tale of mind, body and soul, global fencing cultures clash head on as lightning-fast actions of word, thought and deed go into the making of a world champion and the slaying of a nightmarish dragon who would stop at nothing to possess the mind and body of young Christina. In this surging, heart-scalding crucible of serrating conflict, where spirit, soul and the whining sheens of naked blades meet, titanic battles of wills slam together, contesting the right and quest for personal freedom as opposed to the supreme powers of evil, tyranny and the ultimate subjugation of death-dealing bondage.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 fencing traditions, Laurent combines both worlds weaving them into one solid tale of hot wrought passionate iron. Allusions to famous fencers as well as popular and formal Literature, Music, History, Myth and Art thrust this volume forward, offering readers a glimpse into their own cultural heritages and the legendary mores and ways of the cold steel. The gallant sword, symbolic apex of Divinity itself, has been since time began 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 in the foreground of the mightiest tales known to myth and history. It is the implement of reckoning, of quelling the agencies of darkness wherever needs be. From the first wooden swords such as the Japanese 'bokken' to that of a Jedi 'lightsaber, ' 'LadySam' bridges this gap bringing time-honored tales of the blade into the modern era amid the boldness of descriptions that only the steel blade and its masters can generate. A dynamic read, The Lady and the Samurai is non-stop action that will surely keep readers on the edge . .
