Island of Ogres

"Island of the Ogres", is a fictional novel by Lensey Namioka. Namioka was born in Beijing, China. Namioka attended Radcliffe College and University of California, Berkley. She now resides in Seattle, Washington. This novel, which was published in 1989, takes place in 16th century Japan. Namioka, in the jacket of the novel, claims that she wrote this novel for herself. Namioka says, "I wrote the kind of story I enjoy reading myself. Maybe I write these books because I never really grew up." "Island of the Ogres" is a clear, well thought out, easy to read, good vs. evil story. However, it has many twists and turns along the way. The novel has everything in it to make it an enjoyable entertaining story to read. The novel is a story of legendary heroes, grotesque villians, and a love story. However, more than anything else, "Island of the Ogres", is a detective story. Throughout the entire novel we a constantly shown things and given clues as to what is "really" going on, on the island. Things that seemed rather unimportant and useless when they were first mentioned. However, at the end of the novel , those clues are clearly defined as the mystery of the island unravels. And then the reader realizes that those items were not trivial, they were key elements to the story that were well placed by Namioka. The story begins with the Hero of the novel, Itoh Kajiro, on his way from mainland Japan to a small island, (the island has no name, it is simply called "the island"), a short distance away. Kajiro is a Ronin, an unemployed Samurai. Kajiro has been unemployed for so long his abilities and reflexes as a warrior have become slow, and he has taken up being an alcoholic as a hobby. However, for the first time in a long time he has found work. He is hired by the Chamberlain to the ruling family, on a short term basis, to go to the island and investigate the loyality of the Garrison Commander on the island. This is a secret mission and Kajiro is not allowed to divulge his true intentions of going to the island to anybody. When Kajiro arrives on the island he is greeted by a viscious animal running at him. Kajiro pulls out his sword to defend himself against the animal. However, a girl of 17 comes out of nowhere and kicks Kajiro is the shins. She is yelling and screaming at him, he then realizes why, it is not a viscious animal at all but here pet, a very large strong housecat. The cat is named Raiko, after a famous 10th century warrior. Soon there is a great storm. Kajiro, the girl and the boatman that brought him to the island quickly seek shelter in the home of a friendly, local fisherman. The fisherman introduces himself to the boatman and to Kajiro. Then, due to a mistaken identity the boatman introduces Kajiro an Konishi Zenta, a legendary Samurai. Kajiro knowing that he is on a secret mission, decides to use the identity of Zenta to his advantage and plays along. The fisherman t

This is Lensey Namioka's first novel, and I think she's done anoutstanding job. The story is about a ronin, or unemployed samurai,sent to spy on the governor of an island. He finds himself caught in a case of mistaken identity - the locals believe him to be a samurai of legendary status - while discovering something very eerie going on nightly near an Abbey by the shore. A wilful girl, dangerous samurais, stealthy traitors, fat cats, and of course ogres also turn up in this enchantingly spun tale. I'd compare this book to a decadent chocolate - sweet, dense, and delightfully, ever-so-slightly dark. There's also a properly chilling element to it. All in all, it's a wonderfully original book, with many plot twists and complex character relations. Spectacular!