Toru: Wayfarer Returns: 1 (Sakura Steam)

A Japan that might have been...Revolutionary young samurai take on the West in this alternate history steampunk technofantasy set in 1850s samurai-era Japan.In Japan of 1852 the peace imposed by the Tokugawa Shoguns has lasted 250 years. Peace has turned to stagnation however as the commoners grow impoverished and their lords restless. Swords rust. Martial values decay. Foreign barbarians circle the island nations closed borders like vultures growing ever more demanding. Tōru a shipwrecked young fisherman rescued by American traders and taken to America defies the Shoguns ban on returning to Japan determined to save his homeland from foreign invasion. Can he rouse his countrymen in time? Or will the cruel Shogun carry out his vow to execute all who set foot in Japan after traveling abroad? Armed only with his will a few books dirigible plans and dangerous ideas Tōru must transform the Emperors realm before the Black Ships come. Tōru: Wayfarer Returns is the first book in the Sakura Steam Series an alternate history of the tumultuous period from the opening of Japan in 1853 to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. This volume covers the year prior to the American Commodore Perrys arrival in Japan and follows the hero and his young allies as they lead Japan through a massively compressed industrial revolution dramatically altering that pivotal moment in history.While Tōru and his dirigibles are fictional the story unfolds against the backdrop of the real Japan of that period with historical figures and their political environment woven into the tale staying true to their motivations and agendas even as the alternate history warps their actions history and a few laws of physics. Underpinning the adventure plot is a young mans yearning for his fathers approval and an honorable place in his world.Readers who enjoy steampunk alternate histories more typically set in Victorian England or the American Wild West may enjoy this steampunk story made fresh by the Japanese samurai setting as well as readers who enjoy historical fiction set in Japan.