The Rose and the Crane

A Kinki samurai in King Henry’s Court? The year? 1483. The place? China-adjacent. If you had told young Simon Lang that he’d spend his best years piloting a boat for a trumped-up Venetian, instead of with his parents in their Exeter castle, he’d have laughed in your face. But King Edward IV stole the throne of England, and now the Lancastrian lordling has fled to the far reaches of the world to brood on revenge. He’s stranded in these strange waters with money-hungry Captain Aldo Mitacchione, his halfwit first mate Neno, and a crew of starving Italians. But if the strange vessel on the horizon or the unexpected ally on board have anything to say about it, things are about to get all the stranger. Join smart-talking Simon, legendary samurai Kojiro Takeda, and their band of misfit brothers as they outrun cannibals, outsmart assassins, outdrink Scotsmen, and help Henry Tudor oust the crown from the wicked Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Weaving among actual historical events in the Onin War and the Wars of the Roses, with elements smacking of Monty Python and The Princess Bride, The Rose and the Crane is an historical adventure that brings knight and samurai together for a raucous road trip across the medieval world. Note: The area of western Japan that surrounds the cities of Kyoto and Osaka is referred to as the Kansai or Kinki, region (so get your minds out of the gutter).