Thirst

THE SHOGUNATE HAS FALLEN. THE SWORD STILL HUNGERS.

The age of the samurai is ending.

For generations, Isamu's family has wielded Nomibane, a legendary Muramasa blade said to be cursed. The sword demands blood, whispers to its wielder, and leaves Isamu unable to escape the violence that has defined his life.

But the world is changing.

The Tokugawa shogunate is gone. Japan is entering a new era, and the old ways of the warrior are becoming obsolete. Isamu has no master to serve, no battlefield to conquer, and no purpose beyond the blade at his side.

Yet Nomibane is never satisfied.

As the whispers grow louder, Isamu begins to question whether the sword truly controls him-or whether something far more terrible lies within himself.

THIRST is a haunting novel in verse set during the turbulent transition from the samurai era into the Meiji Restoration. Through spare, atmospheric poetry, Ian Knowles explores war, identity, guilt, faith, and the desperate search for purpose when the life you were built for no longer exists.

The sword hungers.
The warrior obeys.
But who is truly holding the blade?