What do you think?
Rate this book
Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist
Change is in the hair.
Ninjas are wreaking havoc by cutting people’s hair without their permission. Behind this follicular terrorism is a master ninja, the Ninja Hairstylist, whose chaotic hairstyle embodies the anarchy that is about to tear the city apart.
The Samurai Barber must step up and cut down the evil strands on the Ninja Hairstylist’s head. It is not just keratin that is at stake. The Samurai Barber must fight for one of the cornerstones of modern civilization; the freedom and self-determination to choose your own hairstyle.
Ninjas are wreaking havoc by cutting people’s hair without their permission. Behind this follicular terrorism is a master ninja, the Ninja Hairstylist, whose chaotic hairstyle embodies the anarchy that is about to tear the city apart.
The Samurai Barber must step up and cut down the evil strands on the Ninja Hairstylist’s head. It is not just keratin that is at stake. The Samurai Barber must fight for one of the cornerstones of modern civilization; the freedom and self-determination to choose your own hairstyle.
202 pages, Paperback
Published November 28, 2020
15 people want to read
About the author
Zed Dee
2 books13 followersZed Dee grew up in Malaysia where he was exposed to three languages; English, Malay and Mandarin. Then he moved to Singapore when he was nine, where he studied English as a first language and Malay as second, because he couldn't read Chinese.
He has a BA in Sonic Art but found out he wasn't really that good at it. So, he decided to work in the games industry, starting off as a game tester, then becoming a programmer, and writes on the side. Oh, and somewhere along the way he got diagnosed with autism.
He has a BA in Sonic Art but found out he wasn't really that good at it. So, he decided to work in the games industry, starting off as a game tester, then becoming a programmer, and writes on the side. Oh, and somewhere along the way he got diagnosed with autism.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 11, 2020
When I was a kid, I remember in a reading lesson moving on to the class reading The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Initially I was super excited, finally we got to read a superhero comic. Then I discovered it was not that, it was a weird anti-war kids prose poem type thing. But even I was won over by it, and certainly the bits that are the plot of the Iron Giant are great. And then the giant bat-angel turns up in the last chapter and any sense of a thematic whole is squandered. Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist reminded me of that. Its a silly bit of fluff, which then becomes a really powerful allegory, before taking a weird final act turn into a weird family space soap opera.
The good, because most of this is good. It really is what it says on the tin. In the future everyone lives in the city of Lionfish, including the Samurai Barber who is an itinerant barber who lives to give people the haircut that will complete their lives. Tā come across a ninja on a (sentient) train who is cutting someone elses hair without tāde permission (did I mention Malay (actually Mandarin see below*) sourced gender neutral pronouns - there are and it is easy to get your head around to the degree its a little sad that they are latterly explain in quite so much detail). To cut someone elses hair without permission is anathema to the Samurai Barber so a fight ensues. The hairdressing is a metaphor of course for political thought, free will and within the structure of the book revolution. Do you have the right to change someones life for them, to instigate revolution of behalf of others even if they don't believe they need it. This stuff is really good, particularly as the futuristic bits are nicely peppered in (phones being like pets are a lovely touch), and it builds to a nice climax where the problems of this hyper-capitalistic society are going to be challenged by the newly radicalised Samurai Barber. And then the Giant Bat-Angel Thing turns up (it doesn't but it sort of does).
I found the last section of SBvNH quite disappointing because for all the initial clunkiness of the political allegory, it was actually a good one. The lightness of touch, the silliness of the conversations about the perfect haircut leant itself surprisingly well to the allegory and the potential violence inherent in the anarchy suggested had a nice match in the violence of the state and the perceived violence of the haircuts themselves. Its a quick read, and perhaps sticking the landing for any kind of cosmetology revolution would have been tricky, but I would have liked to have seen Zed Dee try because I think tā could have pulled it off.
[NetGalley ARC]
*The author contacted me - and I got this wrong, the source of the pronouns is Mandarin not Malay. Tā were very gracious about this, but I apologise for my lack of detailed reading and reference.
The good, because most of this is good. It really is what it says on the tin. In the future everyone lives in the city of Lionfish, including the Samurai Barber who is an itinerant barber who lives to give people the haircut that will complete their lives. Tā come across a ninja on a (sentient) train who is cutting someone elses hair without tāde permission (did I mention Malay (actually Mandarin see below*) sourced gender neutral pronouns - there are and it is easy to get your head around to the degree its a little sad that they are latterly explain in quite so much detail). To cut someone elses hair without permission is anathema to the Samurai Barber so a fight ensues. The hairdressing is a metaphor of course for political thought, free will and within the structure of the book revolution. Do you have the right to change someones life for them, to instigate revolution of behalf of others even if they don't believe they need it. This stuff is really good, particularly as the futuristic bits are nicely peppered in (phones being like pets are a lovely touch), and it builds to a nice climax where the problems of this hyper-capitalistic society are going to be challenged by the newly radicalised Samurai Barber. And then the Giant Bat-Angel Thing turns up (it doesn't but it sort of does).
I found the last section of SBvNH quite disappointing because for all the initial clunkiness of the political allegory, it was actually a good one. The lightness of touch, the silliness of the conversations about the perfect haircut leant itself surprisingly well to the allegory and the potential violence inherent in the anarchy suggested had a nice match in the violence of the state and the perceived violence of the haircuts themselves. Its a quick read, and perhaps sticking the landing for any kind of cosmetology revolution would have been tricky, but I would have liked to have seen Zed Dee try because I think tā could have pulled it off.
[NetGalley ARC]
*The author contacted me - and I got this wrong, the source of the pronouns is Mandarin not Malay. Tā were very gracious about this, but I apologise for my lack of detailed reading and reference.
January 27, 2024
This is the story of a Samurai, who sees the inner struggles and strengths of a person and gives them the perfect haircut to bring out their inner winner. And yet tā[1] can’t afford dinner. I … sorry, I don’t know where I was going with that but I couldn’t just stop at two rhyming words. Anyway it’s true. Our protagonist walks the strange futuristic Earth, dispensing free life-changing haircuts and failing to monetise tāde extraordinary gift. When tā runs into a Ninja who is performing a similar (but inferior) “service” against the wills of tāde “customers”, a battle ensues and things go from bad to worse.
The story takes place in a fascinating world where technology has developed in a more bio-mechanical and organic way. Smartphones and social media, money for clicks, is all still in evidence but phones (and other things) are alive and have names, googly eyeballs, and eat batteries you have to buy for them. They have feelings. It’s a marvellous bit of unique sci-fi conceptualisation and I loved reading it. Trains (also alive) and buildings have fireflies that act as lighting, which is actually something I’ve employed in my own writing too, so this was really exciting to see.
The plot develops in interesting and unexpected directions. First I thought it was going to be a fairly standard depressing story about the Samurai trying to solve tāde money woes, but that was taken care of quite quickly by a classic viral lightning-in-a-bottle type situation, which was great. Capitalism, still a looming meta-villain of the piece (and a far less weird villain than any of the actual antagonists), is de-clawed by toxic streaming revenue. There’s no time to linger on the ideological ramifications of this, though, because now people are being melted by a gross melt-gun. And there’s a deeply, deeply weird haircut flashback thing with the ninjas. And … and…
We eventually come full circle and find out what Ali (the ninja from the opening scenes of the book) was really doing with the Samurai, and it’s all pretty mind-blowing. Psychedelic and weird, while remaining a mostly-linear and very page-turning story with heartfelt characters and beautiful interactive scenes. Like all good sci-fi, the WTF is a spice on top of the protein, instead of a self-indulgent distraction from the narrative. Also … let’s talk about the cultural and psychological importance of hair for a second.
Another thing that jumped out at me, not specifically about hair but in fact tangentially about hair – are the phone plugs people have for their bio-phones and net connectivity … are they an analog (no pun intended) of the queues worn by Jurchen and Manchu folks in Manchuria, and henceforth kind of used by USian entertainment to denote “Chinese man” in everything since the 1960s? The importance of that connection, and the brutality of its loss, seemed to fold perfectly into the hair narrative so I was forced to wonder. Hairs are your aerials, indeed.
The intertwining narratives work from the Samurai to Ali, and then to Greta, the lady from the train who shows the Samurai how to take advantage of viral clout, all of them completing and enhancing each of the other stories. And it all comes to – yes I’m going to say it, you can’t fucking stop me imaginary review reader – a head at the action-packed and gorgeously bizarre conclusion of the tale, which I wouldn’t spoil even if I could put it to words. Which I can’t. So I’m not gonna.
Sex-o-meter
Ehh, there wasn’t really any sex in this one, it wasn’t the point of the story. There were some sexy, sexy haircuts, though. Does that count? It should. A barbershop quartet out of a possible barbershop threesome for Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist.
Gore-o-meter
Dismemberment and trainslaughter (oh my God, I love that term even if the incident itself made me super sad), and goo leaker melty guns and an assortment of body and mutilation horror (quite aside from the haircuts) made this one actually a pretty gory effort, even if it wasn’t off-puttingly gory. Four flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
Boy howdy. This is a bizarre one. Quite aside from the “how did we end up here?” of the bio-leaning tech of the Samurai’s world, we have the over-arching plotline and menace of the great cthonian things falling from space that – look, just go and read the gorram story, how about that?
My Final Verdict
You know what? Real talk, I thought this story was going to be fucking stupid. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! I’m so glad this book entered my to-read pile, and I feel like a better person for having read it. Four and a half stars … no, screw it. Five stars!
---
[1] Let’s divert for a second and look at the pronoun use here, because it could be a distraction. Dee uses tā / tāde pronouns throughout the narrative, not universally but at least to refer to the Samurai. At first I wondered what the point was. I mean, my literal note was “okay (why though) (but okay) (it’s just that I’m not sure why, since they are described as men and women, husbands and wives, and so on) (but maybe in the future every language is as sensible as Finnish (and Malay and Mandarin), I get it)” and I got steadily more mired-down from there. But as it happens, there was a good reason for it,. and I was sort of on the right track – we’re dealing with a future lingua of sorts, but also just … other languages that aren’t English have elegant ways around this problem. Finnish has hän / hänen. Ultimately it doesn’t matter.
By the way, the author expresses curiosity about this in the end-note, so I will address it here: I read the Samurai as male, myself. Why? No real reason, I suppose. Just that every depiction of Samurai I have ever seen in movies or TV shows or read in books, the character is male. So that was where my mind shortcut to. Now you know!
The story takes place in a fascinating world where technology has developed in a more bio-mechanical and organic way. Smartphones and social media, money for clicks, is all still in evidence but phones (and other things) are alive and have names, googly eyeballs, and eat batteries you have to buy for them. They have feelings. It’s a marvellous bit of unique sci-fi conceptualisation and I loved reading it. Trains (also alive) and buildings have fireflies that act as lighting, which is actually something I’ve employed in my own writing too, so this was really exciting to see.
The plot develops in interesting and unexpected directions. First I thought it was going to be a fairly standard depressing story about the Samurai trying to solve tāde money woes, but that was taken care of quite quickly by a classic viral lightning-in-a-bottle type situation, which was great. Capitalism, still a looming meta-villain of the piece (and a far less weird villain than any of the actual antagonists), is de-clawed by toxic streaming revenue. There’s no time to linger on the ideological ramifications of this, though, because now people are being melted by a gross melt-gun. And there’s a deeply, deeply weird haircut flashback thing with the ninjas. And … and…
We eventually come full circle and find out what Ali (the ninja from the opening scenes of the book) was really doing with the Samurai, and it’s all pretty mind-blowing. Psychedelic and weird, while remaining a mostly-linear and very page-turning story with heartfelt characters and beautiful interactive scenes. Like all good sci-fi, the WTF is a spice on top of the protein, instead of a self-indulgent distraction from the narrative. Also … let’s talk about the cultural and psychological importance of hair for a second.
Another thing that jumped out at me, not specifically about hair but in fact tangentially about hair – are the phone plugs people have for their bio-phones and net connectivity … are they an analog (no pun intended) of the queues worn by Jurchen and Manchu folks in Manchuria, and henceforth kind of used by USian entertainment to denote “Chinese man” in everything since the 1960s? The importance of that connection, and the brutality of its loss, seemed to fold perfectly into the hair narrative so I was forced to wonder. Hairs are your aerials, indeed.
The intertwining narratives work from the Samurai to Ali, and then to Greta, the lady from the train who shows the Samurai how to take advantage of viral clout, all of them completing and enhancing each of the other stories. And it all comes to – yes I’m going to say it, you can’t fucking stop me imaginary review reader – a head at the action-packed and gorgeously bizarre conclusion of the tale, which I wouldn’t spoil even if I could put it to words. Which I can’t. So I’m not gonna.
Sex-o-meter
Ehh, there wasn’t really any sex in this one, it wasn’t the point of the story. There were some sexy, sexy haircuts, though. Does that count? It should. A barbershop quartet out of a possible barbershop threesome for Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist.
Gore-o-meter
Dismemberment and trainslaughter (oh my God, I love that term even if the incident itself made me super sad), and goo leaker melty guns and an assortment of body and mutilation horror (quite aside from the haircuts) made this one actually a pretty gory effort, even if it wasn’t off-puttingly gory. Four flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
Boy howdy. This is a bizarre one. Quite aside from the “how did we end up here?” of the bio-leaning tech of the Samurai’s world, we have the over-arching plotline and menace of the great cthonian things falling from space that – look, just go and read the gorram story, how about that?
My Final Verdict
You know what? Real talk, I thought this story was going to be fucking stupid. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! I’m so glad this book entered my to-read pile, and I feel like a better person for having read it. Four and a half stars … no, screw it. Five stars!
---
[1] Let’s divert for a second and look at the pronoun use here, because it could be a distraction. Dee uses tā / tāde pronouns throughout the narrative, not universally but at least to refer to the Samurai. At first I wondered what the point was. I mean, my literal note was “okay (why though) (but okay) (it’s just that I’m not sure why, since they are described as men and women, husbands and wives, and so on) (but maybe in the future every language is as sensible as Finnish (and Malay and Mandarin), I get it)” and I got steadily more mired-down from there. But as it happens, there was a good reason for it,. and I was sort of on the right track – we’re dealing with a future lingua of sorts, but also just … other languages that aren’t English have elegant ways around this problem. Finnish has hän / hänen. Ultimately it doesn’t matter.
By the way, the author expresses curiosity about this in the end-note, so I will address it here: I read the Samurai as male, myself. Why? No real reason, I suppose. Just that every depiction of Samurai I have ever seen in movies or TV shows or read in books, the character is male. So that was where my mind shortcut to. Now you know!
November 10, 2022
3.5 stars rounded up
This quirky anti-capitalist gem of a story isn’t for everybody, but it worked for me!
Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist by Zed Dee is a self-published dystopian sci-fi novel where the style of your hair reflects who you are at the core…and your ability to choose your own style is suddenly at risk by an anarchist Ninja Hairstylist!
The unconventional storytelling, the very stark yet playful writing style, the satire… I was intrigued.
You may have to branch out of your colonial story structure mindset to get the most out of this charming tale. Don’t expect your typical world-building or character development. Embrace a refreshing approach with this one!
If you’re down for…
– Thoughtful hair symbolism (the health/style of your hair reflects the health of your inner world + wellbeing)
– Sentient technology (the phones/trains/buildings have names + feelings!)
– Critiques of capitalism and meritocracy, with a strong dose of anarchist advocacy
– The use of Chinese-language pronouns, which are gender neutral, and the occasional Malay slang
…then you should check this one out for yourself!
If you can roll with...
– An ending that leaves you with many unanswered questions
– Some uneven plot development that can make the last third of the book feel like a new story (personally, I liked the direction it went nonetheless)
– Heavy use of pronouns over proper names (they are especially pronounced in this book where the MCs’ names are barely mentioned through the story’s entirety, which appears intentional)
– Some telling-more-than-showing political commentary
...then definitely jump on the wild ride that is Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist.
Content warnings: some graphic violence and death
Samurai Barber is one of the books in my first-round allotment as a judge for the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2). Its ultimate status will be determined in conjunction with other team members. Meanwhile, my thoughts here are my personal opinion.
This quirky anti-capitalist gem of a story isn’t for everybody, but it worked for me!
Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist by Zed Dee is a self-published dystopian sci-fi novel where the style of your hair reflects who you are at the core…and your ability to choose your own style is suddenly at risk by an anarchist Ninja Hairstylist!
The unconventional storytelling, the very stark yet playful writing style, the satire… I was intrigued.
You may have to branch out of your colonial story structure mindset to get the most out of this charming tale. Don’t expect your typical world-building or character development. Embrace a refreshing approach with this one!
If you’re down for…
– Thoughtful hair symbolism (the health/style of your hair reflects the health of your inner world + wellbeing)
– Sentient technology (the phones/trains/buildings have names + feelings!)
– Critiques of capitalism and meritocracy, with a strong dose of anarchist advocacy
– The use of Chinese-language pronouns, which are gender neutral, and the occasional Malay slang
…then you should check this one out for yourself!
If you can roll with...
– An ending that leaves you with many unanswered questions
– Some uneven plot development that can make the last third of the book feel like a new story (personally, I liked the direction it went nonetheless)
– Heavy use of pronouns over proper names (they are especially pronounced in this book where the MCs’ names are barely mentioned through the story’s entirety, which appears intentional)
– Some telling-more-than-showing political commentary
...then definitely jump on the wild ride that is Samurai Barber Versus Ninja Hairstylist.
Content warnings: some graphic violence and death
Samurai Barber is one of the books in my first-round allotment as a judge for the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2). Its ultimate status will be determined in conjunction with other team members. Meanwhile, my thoughts here are my personal opinion.
January 17, 2021
I have to say this book lost me. It starts well enough with the Samurai Barber hunting for the Ninja Hairstylist, who is cutting hair against people's will. This was enjoyable especially the world building (pet phones!). But then it moved into more of a social commentary, concerning society structures, free will and unwired consequences. It took several turns which I wasn't expecting but, again, it was good. I did find the pronouns a bit confusing but that is more my ignorance showing that any error by the author. However, the ending was frankly baffling, to the extent that I was surprised when the book finished. I either missed something or it finished extremely abruptly. This did spoil it somewhat for me. I'm not sure this is something I would ever go back to.
I received a free copy from the Author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review
I received a free copy from the Author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review
March 25, 2021
This short story is set in the future and has plenty of fighting, deaths (some gruesome), and last but not least, clones. You definitely have to suspend reality when reading this short story. Inanimate objects (phones, trains) are alive and have feelings such as jealousy.
This book is not in my usual genre but I wanted to try something different and the title sounded really fun. Sadly, I didn't really like it all that much. I can't say I always understood what was happening and I didn't always know what some of the words meant, and I definitely didn't understand the ending, but it kept my interest enough to finish it.
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is not in my usual genre but I wanted to try something different and the title sounded really fun. Sadly, I didn't really like it all that much. I can't say I always understood what was happening and I didn't always know what some of the words meant, and I definitely didn't understand the ending, but it kept my interest enough to finish it.
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 6, 2021
I received a free review copy from voracious readers only but I just could not get into it, the way it is written is kinda confusing and i really struggled to get through it, I just wasn't really sure what was going on. Might be someone's cup of tea but wasn't mine unfortunately!
October 13, 2021
The primary conflict in this book is poorly illustrated and the hard right into a subplot 3/4ths through the book doesn't help.
November 20, 2020
In a story which combines hairdressing and societal issues, the Samurai Barber faces a Master Ninja hairstylist who threatens everything the Samurai believes in by cutting people’s hair without their permission.
I was expecting this book to be light-hearted yet thought provoking, and it did deliver on that. However, I did find it hard to be invested in the concept as the pronouns were unfamiliar to me and the society was written in a way that made it seem like normality, so although I understood the dependence on technology, I didn’t get how people were quite literally plugged in, and how their phones were like pets.
That aside, the metaphor behind the story was powerful. I liked that both sides were illustrated as anarchy vs hierarchy is never as straightforward as good vs evil, and I like that that was illustrated.
I think it’s a fun read, but I think the clunky storyline and a lack of distinct voices either side of the conflict makes it harder to be fully engrossed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was expecting this book to be light-hearted yet thought provoking, and it did deliver on that. However, I did find it hard to be invested in the concept as the pronouns were unfamiliar to me and the society was written in a way that made it seem like normality, so although I understood the dependence on technology, I didn’t get how people were quite literally plugged in, and how their phones were like pets.
That aside, the metaphor behind the story was powerful. I liked that both sides were illustrated as anarchy vs hierarchy is never as straightforward as good vs evil, and I like that that was illustrated.
I think it’s a fun read, but I think the clunky storyline and a lack of distinct voices either side of the conflict makes it harder to be fully engrossed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews