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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Long Lost Gem,
By
This review is from: Aiki (Mass Market Paperback)
I was thoroughly surprised when I finished reading this book and found that it was the authors first and apparently only book to date. The original was published in 1986 and it really catches the full flavor that many of the great gritty, futuristic 80's classics. I sincerely wish the author would release a sequel as the book does end in the middle of a potentially fantastic saga, that will most definitely appeal to die hard martial artists as well as dedicated Science Fiction fans.
To set the scene, you have a world where martial arts became a very popular staple to those who would wish to live virtuous, free thinking lives. The only problem is, the government doesn't much like free thinkers. As such New York is divided into a basic caste system where you have the rich or at least well off "Professionals," and you have the dispossessed "Untouchables." In order to completely subject the minds of the "Untouchables," and thus have them accept their low lot in life, they devised a ruthless plan. The first step was to take out the martial arts centers of the world. The best way to do this was to infiltrate the martial world with government agents, discredit the true warriors and their ways, and then have the implanted agents take over and finally wipe away the positive traits associated with the arts. To give the people an outlet the government created "The Arena." At first a public combat spectacle governed by reasonable rules and regulations. However, as time passed the matches grew more and more bloody until killing was a given. Enter Mantis. The Ultimate Killer. A man possessed of a power equaled by few, but of a vision equaled by none. The Arena is his playground, but through it he will set about his new vision of the world. From the streets of Brooklyn the book focuses on young Bimbi who is a street punk who wishes to be the one who takes down Mantis and becomes the next big thing. This leads to the meeting of two old school warriors, Sten and Captain. Sten, having been one of those old time instructors replaced by sleazy "Fight Guru's," who train souls for nothing but the blood shed of the arena, also seeks to take Mantis down. Not for his own glory, but for the people. Captain, on the other hand, finds his fate irreversibly entwined with the that of Mantis, as he soon finds out that he and Mantis share a common trait. Both were taught by the same master; the mystical Hoshima, founder of the AIKI movement and Shin-Do, the way of the mind. Will the AIKI movement be enough to stop Mantis' twisted new world vision? Only by connecting point A to point B can one truly find the answer. Joshua Livingston
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