Saturday, April 21, 2012

A to Z Challenge: S - Samurai

Samurai

Man, as you can probably tell from the time of day this post is going up, I hate blogging on the weekends. But that's part of the A to Z Challenge, to push yourself.

sam·u·rai [sam-oo-rahy] n. (pl.) 1. the Japanese warrior caste that provided the administrative and fighting aristocracy from the 11th to the 19th centuries 2. a member of this aristocracy

Synonyms: there are no direct synonyms, but it is similar to the European knight

Etymology: 1727, from Japanese samurai "warrior, knight," originally the military retainer of the daimyo, variant of saburai, nominal form of sabura(h)u "to be in attendance, to serve."

Space Battles

For a special bonus today, I'm covering a second topic. My friend and critique partner, Simon C. Larter, has a short story in the new anthology: Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6. It should be a very exciting read, so if you're into Sci-Fi, I highly recommend you check it out at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Flying Pen Press.

Now, if you don't know Simon, you should definitely visit his blog, where you can read about a fun and unique clause in his author contract for this story.

26 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Professional Ninjas!
Knew about Space Battles as I follow Bryan Thomas Schmidt's blog. (And I didn't even know Simon was still blogging.)
I figured your post wasn't going up until now because you'd pre-scheduled it and it didn't post like everyone else's.

Cassie Mae said...

I first learned about the Samurai by watching Power Rangers.

And my post went up late today too. Weekend posts are tough.

Susan Kane said...

We are long-time Japanese Samurai fans. Yokiro Misumi is a family reference for our group.

The Drunken Master is one of my husband's favorites.

Steve MC said...

I knew we'd see this one!

Donna K. Weaver said...

Love that pictures. It's included in some of my SciFi research.

M said...

Oh...so it isn't just my scheduled posts that aren't posting!? Mystery solved.

Will have to look into that book for my boys...who love everything ninja.


Happy A-Z April!

Elise Fallson said...

I've got a samurai written in my wip. (;

Leslie S. Rose said...

Now Space Battles is an anthology that floats my boat. Thanks for the rec. Hopping over to Simon's blog to check out the clause. The whole Samurai culture fascinates me. Talk about intimidating.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

I've always been fascinated with the Samurai Warriors...always intrigued me...:)JP

Angela Brown said...

Being a bit of a Kung Fu theater fan from back in the days, I hold a special place in my heart for samurai...their way of thinking, their code of ethics, their honor, their duty.

Unknown said...

Cool! Japanese knights! When I went to Japan, I used to watch many samurai movies.

Luanne G. Smith said...

Love their armor, and would love to see some of it up close in a museum some time.

Andrew Leon said...

See, samurai are cool. Way cooler than ninja. Because the samurai could actually fight. And they wore cool, freaky masks!

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

Samurais are possibly the coolest looking warriors of all time. I wish I could go back in time and see them in action.

And Space Battles? No relation to "Star Wars", or is that the clause in his contract?

Anonymous said...

CAPTAIN MATT?
He's with CAPTAIN CRAWL?
And they're all with WERPRICS and PRICSJ?
He's with CATSSWE and they 're all with BANSWE and that means they got WOLVES and OWLS and FROGS?
But now, those CATS that went CATTON got KITLERS?
And those CATES - LA got MAPPES?
And MARIA LOPEZ is talking about MARCIA MELSO and
TAKKO 888 and GED?
QQQ...EQUIRST ....EQISA.....QUESSO.
It's all about FUKEL - FAMIT- FAMAK.
And FPALL .
RYAN SEACREST?

Unknown said...

I love samurai and their history. We have a Japanese cultural center here in Chicago and they have traditional samurai armor and weapons on display. It is spectacular. Off to check out Space Battles. :)

Kristen Pelfrey said...

Samurai rule.

Jay Noel said...

The saburai play a prominent part in my book, Dragonfly Warrior, since my main character is a nobleman and warrior.

Interestingly, many believe idealize the samurai (i.e. bushido), when in reality, they were treacherous and deceitful.

And although the sword was an important symbolic weapon, often handed down within noble families, they didn't employ it on the battlefield unless they had to.

The bow and arrow, the naginata, and even the rifle were much better weapons.

Nancy Thompson said...

I know this one! I know this one! And man, I wish I could've gotten a clause like that one from my publisher, only for some Silver Patron.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the shout-out, bro. Much appreciated! Now I owe you some of that vodka once I win it, yes? :D

Jemi Fraser said...

Congrats to Simon - that's awesome! :)

Theresa Milstein said...

I don't know how those samurais moved.

Congrats to Simon!

Susan Oloier said...

My older son really likes samurais...and knights...and basically anything that fights... like Jedis and ninjas. You get the picture.

Eric W. Trant said...

There is a full-sized samurai suit of armor in the front lobby of my day-job. It is wicked cool.

Anyone who has never read Shogun should do so.


- Eric

Pat Tillett said...

Having married into a japanese family. This is one of my favorite words. while in Japan, I've seen several full-on, vintage Samurai outfits. Amazing and sinister looking things...

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Matthew - I'd never seen a definition of Samurai before - so that was interesting - thanks .. Hilary