Steve Perry's latest Matador book came out just after Christmas. It's a prequel of sorts, going into the origins of sumito. As always, it's well written with a solid plot and interesting characters. It's also got really good fight scenes and martial arts. Well worth picking up.
Fantastic! I love the Matador series and have been quite disappointed that nothing has been out in a while. Now,I can't wait to get home so I can find it and buy it.
Wow. I thought all Perry was writing these days were Aliens novels. He and Steve Barnes (Street Lethal, Gorgon Child) wrote fun martial arts fight scenes. Thanks for the good word.
Well, I did find it and read it. Good, fun, read. It's the beginning of the Siblings, but it is def not the end. Lots more stories to be told. This one basically tells of the creation of Sumito, but not by name really. And no mention of the Siblings, only the promise of more to come. If you're a Matador fan, buy the book.
I always thought of Perry’s Matador books: The Man Who Never Missed, Matadora, Machiavelli Interface and The 97th Step, as an alternative route Lucas might have taken, if he had made martial arts a much more central part of his Star Wars stories, a road hinted at in Empire Strikes Back, but not fully explored or exploited. (The only one I didn’t care for was Albino Knife.) I’ll definitely have to find Musashi Flex. Try the Barnes I referred to above if you get the chance. Gorgon Child was the best of the two I mentioned above.
a bit behind the curve, here's my review... One of my students is a big fan of Steve's writing and recently loaned me this book. I wrote a review of it on another site, and figured I'd paste it here, on a forum I know Steve reads, so I don't get accused of doing this behind is back. Rather than start a new thread, I'll bump this one way up from over a year ago. I've interacted with Steve for years on-line, but I'd never read one of his books before. I put the review together for a general review site, which is why it's structured as it is and starts with a synopsis. (FWIW, one person let me know that he bought the book based on my review, though I haven't heard yet what he thought of the book). The Musashi Flex (2006) by Steve Perry ISBN-13: 978-0441013616 The Musashi Flex tells of the roots of the 97 Steps of Sumito and of The Matador series of books. In the distant future, a competitor in an illegal, truly no-holds-barred underground fighting game (The Musashi Flex) is about to retire when he figures out how to evolve his fight. Meanwhile, an ambitious journalist is set on creating a documentary of the Flex, a billionaire pharmaceutical mogul creates a drug that gives him the edge he needs to win the Flex, and a Confederation intelligence operative is sent on a mission that exposes her to the Flex. The Good: Great book for a martial arts geek, combining a science fiction setting with realistic writing about martial arts and fighting. Perry has been studying Silat for a number of years, and has poured his real-life love of martial arts into this book, talking about fighting in a candid, realistic way that is rarely seen in novels (to the point where one might actually learn something about fighting by reading it), without distracting from the story. The story and writing style are very engaging, and you won't want to put the book down. As you get towards the end, you'll find yourself wishing there were another hundred pages just so you can keep reading. The four main characters are all interesting, and you'll find yourself caring about all of them, even the villain (Shaw). All are built up pretty well. The Bad: This isn't "real" science fiction (i.e. hard science fiction based on actual science), but fairly standard-fare future-fantasy. Various sci-fi clichés are tossed into the story with no explanation (I suspect they're explained better in the other Matador books, since "real fans" would have read all eight of them before this was published), but an explanation is rarely needed because they are cliché. The story itself is also pretty formulaic and largely predictable. While incredibly entertaining, this book isn't deserving of any literary awards. The revolutionary new way of moving is hardly revolutionary (in the intro, Perry says as much by saying that he discovered that his "97 Steps" existed already, and were embodied by Silat training), and the idea that a fighter this experienced, this good, and this well-traveled would not have figured it out earlier seems far-fetched. It works really well from a storytelling sense, though, and may be necessary to fit in with the other books in the series (which I haven't read), most of which, I believe, were written before Perry's Silat training began. Other Comments: The book also contains what I felt were an excessive number of very explicit sex scenes. For some, I suppose this would be a good point, for others, a bad point. I'm not a prude by any means, but I felt this was a bigger focus than it needed to be. If you're a martial artist who likes light, addictive reading and science fiction, this is a great read (just don't expect hard sci-fi). Even martial artists who don't care for science fiction will enjoy this book. The sci-fi setting is just a backdrop, and plays a fairly minor role in the story. The various planets that this takes place on could just as easily be nations or cities or villages in a modern or historical setting, and virtually nothing else would have to change. I absolutely recommend it. Follow-on reading: Though written fifth in the series, the next book, chronologically, is The 97th Step (1989). After that, I believe they go in the order they were written, beginning with The Man Who Never Missed (1985). I haven't read any of the others yet, so I can't specifically recommend them. For me, the highlight of The Musashi Flex was the blending of good, realistic martial arts into a very engaging story. I'm a little hesitant to go on and read the rest, knowing that many were written before Perry's introduction to Serak (I don't recall much about his pre-Silat training history), but this book caught my interest enough that if I can get my hands on them (they don't seem to be in print any more, and my local libraries don't carry them), I'll do so.
To add to the Matador theme, while not a Matador book, The Omgea Cage is a must read. I place it somewhere between The 97th Step and The Man Who Never Missed for the timeline continuity.
From what I've seen on the web, The Omega Cage is a Matador book in the sense of being part of the Matador series (along with eight other books). The student who loaned me Musashi Flex has been loaning the others to me, so I'm sure I'll have read all nine before too long. They're great reads for my 45 minute subway commutes. I shut my brain off and enjoy the story, and next thing I know, it's time to get off the train. I've gotten through The 97th Step, The Man Who Never Missed, and am making my way though Matadora so far. Before I go on to the next one, I've got to read "American Shaolin," though. It's come highly recommended to me by a few people, so it's moved to "next" in the queue.
