Review: Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge by Nick Lake

Taro was just a fisherman's son...but then his father was murdered and he was forced to become a Blood Ninja, fated to live by night, doomed to live on the blood of others. But he has had his revenge. He has killed Lord Oda, the warlord who had his father assassinated. But Lord Oda is not quiet in his grave. He has found a way to reach beyond death and Taro and his friends soon find themselves facing samurai armies, a deadly enemy from the past and strange ghostly creatures who suck life from the living. Dangerously weakened, Taro, must recover the one object that Lord Oda was desperate to find before he died: the Buddha Ball, the source of limitless power. But if Taro is to complete his perilous quest - to save himself, his friends, his mother, and the girl he loves - he must go to hell and back and face his arch enemy once again. For Lord Oda has returned - as a Blood Ninja.

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake was one of my favourite reads of 2010. For me, everything was right about it. For a start, how could I not like a book where ninjas were vampires, this fact immediately explaining the secret behind their legendary powers. Add to this a story rich with historical detail, fantastic action set pieces, great characters and the occasional gory death and I felt that Nick Lake had delivered the perfect package for boys and girls who are confident readers and want something a little more challenging in their reading diet. And let's not forget that amazing book cover by Hydro74.

Eighteen months on and I am now ready here with my review of the sequel, subtitled Lord Oda's Revenge. In my mind there was a lot riding on this book - would Nick Lake be able to sustain the magic over a second volume? The answer, happily, is a resounding yes. Lord Oda's Revenge has everything its predecessor had, and more and I am slightly surprised that neither of the two books have appeared on the major children's book prize lists so far. Perhaps, like Rick Yancey's brilliant Monstrumologist books, it is just too good for the intended audience who have possibly been dumbed down by the flood of average YA titles teenagers have had to endure over the past few years?

The book picks up the story not long after the close of Blood Ninja. Taro is pining for news about his mother, whilst also being confused about where is relationship with Hana is heading. After all, although he is the lost son of Lord Tokugawa, in his mind he is really the son of a lowly fisherman and his wife, and subsequently lacks the social skills and awareness of etiquette expected of a high born Lord. Together with Hana, and his best friend Hiro, Taro sets off on a quest to find his mother and retrieve the Buddha Ball, even if he has to go to hell and back. Standing in his way is evil personified, the vile Lord Oda, as well as Yukiko, who is hell-bent on a little revenge.

The stand out element of this book for me is the character development. The middle book in a trilogy is always going to feel as if something is lacking, as the story has already been established, and no reader is going to expect a completely satisfying ending that ties off all the loose ends. Nick Lake does what George Lucas did with The Empire Strikes Back, and that is direct the reader's attention to the characters, to make up for this ultimate lack of reward come the final page. I challenge anyone who reads this book not to develop feelings for the main characters - Nick Lake really made me care about them as they faced trial after trial.

In my review of the first book I likened it more to an adventure story than a horror. I am pleased to report that the blood splatter had increased slightly in this sequel, although never to a point where it overshadows the storyline. I would not be surprised if some enterprising artist over in Japan picked this story up to turn it into a manga series. It is not an area on which I am an expert, but the few manga books I have read suggest that this story would fit perfectly within their ranks.

For some reason these books have been released earlier in the US than over here in the UK, and I wonder whether Nick Lake secured a publishing deal over there first. It isn't something that bothers me as we got the best book covers by far - just go onto Amazon US and compare, I am sure you will agree with me. However, according to that very same internet store the third book in the series is not scheduled to be out in the US until August 2012, and considering we didn't get the UK edition of Lord Oda's Revenge until a good eight months after it was published in the State we are in for a pretty long wait to find out what happens next.

Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge was published in the UK at the beginning of August, complete with another stunning Hydro74 cover design. My thanks go to the good people at Corvus for sending me a copy to review.

*** Interview with Nick Lake (author of Blood Ninja)

Last week I posted a review of Blood Ninja, the first book in a vampire ninja trilogy by author Nick Lake. Nick very kindly consented to answering a few question for The Book Zone. 

How would you describe Blood Ninja to potential readers?

Good question – partly because I don’t really know the answer! I guess I’d say that it’s a sort of horror adventure. It features a teenage boy who gets drawn into the mysterious world of ninjas in feudal Japan, and a secret feud between two deadly warlords… all while slowly realising that he might be more than he seems. If you don’t like decapitations, I’d give it a miss. But if you like samurais, swords, throwing stars, beautiful princesses, secret lairs and assassinations, then it should be right up your street.

I don’t think we are giving too much away by saying that Blood Ninja is about vampire ninjas. This is such a great idea, do you remember when it first came to you?

I wish I could give a better answer to this but the truth is that it came about as the result of a joke. I was talking to a fellow editor – I edit children’s books as my day job – and we were trying to come up with good concepts for teenage boys. I mentioned vampire ninjas – not at all seriously – and instead of laughing, she said I should write it. So I did.

Blood Ninja is the first in a series. Do you know how many books you hope to have in the series and have you plotted out the storylines for these already?

Yes, it’s always been planned as a trilogy – and there is a very definite end point, so it wouldn’t go any further than that. I’ve written the second book already, which will be out this time next year. Also, this seems like a good opportunity to say that there might be some surprises coming. On the face of it, this may seem like a familiar ‘boy with a destiny’ story – but things are not necessarily what they seem... Fair warning!


I’ve had some lovely reviews in the US, but a couple of them have said, ‘oh, the story’s a bit predictable because there are lots of children’s books about boys with a destiny’. I want to say, ‘wait till you read the next two books!’ I mean, the question you have to ask yourself is – spoiler alert here – do we see Taro fulfil his destiny in book 1? No, we don’t. It’s all still up in the air.

What do you see as the main influences on your writing?

I don’t know, really. That’s a rubbish answer isn’t it? I suppose everything I read and watch and listen to. In particular I’d have to say James Clavell’s Shogun, Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori, and Stephen King. I think Philip Reeve, in the Moving Cities series, has set the standard for books that blur the obvious lines between good and bad, morally speaking, and I’d like to think that some of that ambiguity is in Blood Ninja – more so in the second book! Kenji Kira is actually my favourite character. Taro annoys the hell out of me, and he will pay for it. Trust me, he’ll pay.

You obviously have a passion for Japanese history. How did you carry out the research when writing Blood Ninja? Have you ever lived in Japan?

No, I’ve never even been there. This is my second book, and the first one was set in the Arctic, which I’ve never been to either. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m starting to think that I can’t write anything set in a place or a time that I know too well, and I’m going to just keep writing stuff set in places I don’t have much of a clue about. Maybe that’s because I find books set in present day Britain boring as a reader. I read to get away from my day-to-day life, not to see it reflected.


Hmm… I’ve got away from the question, haven’t I? Um – research. The truth is I didn’t really do any. People never believe me but it’s true. I think I just picked stuff up from reading novels set in Japan. I’m a bit of a mythology freak so I had read a fair number of Japanese fairy tales and ghost stories anyway. Some of those have ended up in the books.

Did you research into Japanese mythology to help you in writing the book?

Yes, absolutely. Or at least, it helped me to put together 80,000 words, or however long the book is. I like to include little side stories in there because otherwise I get bored and worry about how I’m going to fill so many pages! In the first draft the book wasn’t working, though, and that was when I read the story – which is real – of the Ama diver and the Buddha Ball. It just seemed to me that I could use the Ball to tie everything together, so I was happy about that. In that sense, the mythology provided the extra dimension that allowed the story to work.

Vampires are everywhere at the moment. What do you think it is about them that has such great appeal to kids and Young Adults?

I actually don’t think vampires appeal to boys that much – boys are much more about the zombies. Vampires have a predominantly sexual appeal, I think, for girls in particular – and that’s for all kinds of reasons that it would be too boring to go into here (not to mention a little bit gross). I have a feeling that if boys are drawn to the book it’s probably more because of the ninja thing. We love a bit of ninja action, don’t we? Ninjas kick ass. And the only thing that could possibly kick more ass than a ninja is a vampire ninja. I like Shusaku because he could completely own Edward. The Cullens don’t have throwing stars. (Though I have to confess here that I do really love the first Twilight book. So shoot me.)

Blood Ninja has some pretty gory moments (I loved them) – how do you gauge the right level of violence to use when you are writing?

I don’t, at all. I actually had more violence in there but my agent thought I should tone it down a little bit. He’s probably right. I honestly don’t think about it at all – I just have lots of people’s heads cut off. I mean, I’ve literally never sat down and worried that it might be too violent. That’s terrible, actually, isn’t it? I’m pretty much a corrupting influence.

The thing is, though, the stories that interest me are about people who go through some kind of extreme experience, and come out the other end. That’s something that’s definitely happened to me, though there weren’t any swords involved. I’m sure there are kids who’ll read the book who’ve lost parents, or dealt with serious illness, or any number of terrible things. But they get through it. Human beings are built to survive, and I think that’s something stories help us to realise. You know, Taro’s dad gets killed horribly, but in the end he finds a reason to fight. Horrible things happen in real life – I don’t see the point of leaving them out of stories, even ones for children. Horrible things happen to children, too. All the time.

I don’t really know what I’m trying to say. I guess it’s that I think the violence is an integral part of the story. It’s important, because if there weren’t real consequences and real horrors in this fictional world, then there would be no challenge for the hero. Anyway, there are different kinds of violence. I actually find things like the Saw films quite unpleasant and weird. I don’t get the appeal at all. This is much more cartoonish violence.

There are many great characters in Blood Ninja – do you have a personal favourite?

Kenji Kira! I love him. I identify with him more than with Taro, which is pretty worrying. I suppose because I can understand his fear of death, of putrefaction. He’s completely terrified by the prospect of his body rotting and being eaten by worms and so on – because he got trapped on a battlefield, and saw his comrades rotting around him. I get that. Also, he’s just horrible – it’s so much fun to write a scene where the villain chops an old man’s head off, just because he annoys him.

The UK cover of Blood Ninja is probably my favourite of the year so far. What did you think when you first saw it?

It’s awesome, isn’t it? To be honest I was a little bit worried when I heard that Corvus were going to design their own cover – because I really loved the American cover, even though it’s very different. But when I saw what they’d done… I was pretty stunned. The idea of using an illustrator who usually does skateboards and album covers and stuff was just a stroke of genius. It’s cooler than I deserve.

Are there any books or authors that you would recommend fans of your books to read? 

Yes – Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines, Lian Hearn’s Across the Nightingale Floor, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy, Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant series (I edit Derek, and I think his books are the funniest and most action-packed around).

Can you recommend one book that you think every boy should read at some point?

Er… Gormenghast, maybe? Every boy has to fantasise about being Steerpike at some point. He’s the ultimate antihero.

Can you give us any hints as to what we can expect from your next book in the series and when it might be published?

Book 2 will be out in April 2011. What to expect? Mayhem. Lots of blood. Some surprises, definitely… Oh, and Yukiko becomes really, really evil. I don’t think that’s giving too much away.

Is it true that you are a vampire ninja yourself?

I can’t confirm or deny that. But I don’t recommend tapping me on the shoulder when I’m not expecting it.

Is there anything else you would like to say to readers of this blog?

Yes! Buy the book. It’s very gory, and there’s lots of sneaking about with swords.

~~~~

Thank you Nick for a great interview. I have to say that I am incredibly envious that you get to read the Skulduggery Pleasant books before the rest of the world.

Please watch this space as in the next few days I will be running a fantastic Blood Ninja book giveaway.

Review: Blood Ninja by Nick Lake

A fisherman's son is snatched from home to fulfil his true destiny in this thrilling novel of ancient curses, warring emperors, forbidden love...and blood-sucking ninjas. Taro is a boy from a coastal village in rural Japan, fated to become a fisherman like his father. But in just one night, Taro's world is turned upside down - and his destiny is changed forever. Skilled in the art of silent and deadly combat, ninjas are the agents of powerful nobles who rule sixteenth-century Japan. So why did a group of these highly trained assassins creep into a peasant's hut and kill Taro's father? And why did one ninja rescue Taro from their clutches, saving his life at enormous cost? Now on the run with this mysterious saviour and his best friend Hiro, Taro is determined to learn the way of the ninja to avenge his father's death. But if they are to complete their perilous journey, Taro must first evade the wrath of the warring Lords, decipher an ancient curse, resist forbidden love - and come to terms with the blood-soaked secrets of a life lived in moonlight.

If there was ever a case for judging a book by its cover, then Blood Ninja would be the primary evidence. I first saw this in the Corvus Books online catalogue and it caught my eye immediately, then when a copy arrived from the nice people at Corvus it literally took my breath away. This is by far my favourite cover of 2010 so far (elbowing Mortlock into second place). The intricate red Japanese samurai design on the front is embossed and spot varnished, and contrasts wonderfully with the matt black background, and the whole packaged is finished off with black-edged pages. Stunning! And if you do tend to pre-judge a book by its cover then you will not be disappointed once you read the story within.

Vampires are cool. We are surrounded by them in books, TV and movies (and who knows, maybe in real life?). In my mind, ninjas are even more cool. But did you ever wonder how these normal men can perform such amazing feats of martial arts, infiltration, stealth and agility? Nick Lakes anwer to this is so obvious I am amazed it hasn't already been done to death in the various forms of media - all true ninjas are in fact vampires. So combine the two and surely you get super-cool? Hell yes!

Now that I have set this up to be such a great book, I think I had first better explain that this won't appeal to all boys. This book is set during Sixteenth Century feudal Japan and Nick Lake's prose is rich in detail - he has not simply paid lip service to this historical element. Thus, he describes passages of time in incense stick lengths (i.e. the time it would take an incense stick to burn), and other measurements such as distances are treated similarly. Nick Lake also use many Japanese words (italicised) for items throughout the story. Confident readers will have no problem with any of this, but boys who struggle may give up very quickly.

This is Horror Month at The Book Zone and when I first picked up this book I thought it would make a great addition to the genre theme. However, this is more martial arts adventure than horror. The vampire element takes something of a back seat for long passages in the story, emerging only when really necessary. I think the book is even better for this - Nick Lake could 'easily' have written an over-the-top vampire ninja horror story with blood dripping from every page but instead he shows restraint (until the final scenes that is, when it becomes something akin to a Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill bloodbath, not that there is anything wrong with this).

I say Nick Lake shows restraint, but that isn't to say that this book is not brutal in places. This is, after all, feudal Japan, when Samurai warlords were not shy in dispensing vicious punishments on their enemies (and sometimes their allies) and the ruling classes looked down on the peasant workers, and occasionally toyed with their lives if the mood suited. As a result of this there are many violent deaths in this story, and not all of them are secondary characters. I won't spoil things for you but the author is not afraid to kill off a seemingly main character in order to help the story progress or to provoke emotional reactions amongst his characters (and his readers).

Blood Ninja published by Corvus Books and is available to buy right now It is the first book in a trilogy, with book two due out at the same time next year, and I can't wait. Next week i will be publishing an interview that Nick Lake kindly did for The Book Zone, and hopefully giving away a couple of copies of Blood Ninja.