I love historical fiction and not knowing much about this period of Japanese history I was looking forward to an opportunity to learn. From what I could tell the book has been well researched. Much of the plot was interesting and the gore added to the message the author was trying to get across, the bravery of the men and women murdered for refusing to renounce their religion. I admire this sentiment and agree that those people deserve recognition!
Religious martyrs are something we read about quite often, particularly when reading works based on the Tudor Period, however throughout this novel I found it extremely hard to empathise with the characters due to the hard religious stance that was taken throughout the book. I felt it was too extreme and towards the end it even appeared to be suggesting that religion is magic, all you have to do is believe and you can perform miracles all by yourself. It seemed far too simplistic, many of the characters were just as sceptical as myself which led me to believe that the author had a direction in mind for this aspect of the plot, perhaps there would be an explanation such as the beliefs of the characters were being reinforced by coincidences which fueled their religious fervour, but this was never suggested. I was disappointed by this and it spoiled my enjoyment of the rest of the plot.
There were so many religious sermons made by the characters that rather than being a historical novel 'The Swords of Silence' seemed to become propaganda for Christianity.
There were certainly some interesting sections in this book but unfortunately the strong focus on religion was just too much for me to overcome.
Religious martyrs are something we read about quite often, particularly when reading works based on the Tudor Period, however throughout this novel I found it extremely hard to empathise with the characters due to the hard religious stance that was taken throughout the book. I felt it was too extreme and towards the end it even appeared to be suggesting that religion is magic, all you have to do is believe and you can perform miracles all by yourself. It seemed far too simplistic, many of the characters were just as sceptical as myself which led me to believe that the author had a direction in mind for this aspect of the plot, perhaps there would be an explanation such as the beliefs of the characters were being reinforced by coincidences which fueled their religious fervour, but this was never suggested. I was disappointed by this and it spoiled my enjoyment of the rest of the plot.
There were so many religious sermons made by the characters that rather than being a historical novel 'The Swords of Silence' seemed to become propaganda for Christianity.
There were certainly some interesting sections in this book but unfortunately the strong focus on religion was just too much for me to overcome.