John Gilbert (2)

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Here is a richly imagined story that combines the thematic elements of "Rollerball" with the martial arts pyrotechnics of Marc Olden's Gaijin and eric Van Lustbader's Ninja.

In New york City the population has now divided along class lines, the "Professinals" occupying Manhattan, and the "Untouchables" (blue collars and minorities) occupying Brooklyn and Queens. At odds in all other aspects of life, the two factions find a common diversion in the Arena-professional wrestling taken show more to its extreme, a global televised spectacle that features trained gladiators fighting duels to the death with a bizarre assortment of weapons.

Ultimately, a titanic clash between two martial arts practitioners-one good, one evil-puts at stake the fate of te Arena itself, and with it the government's stranglehold on the hearts and mnds of thepeople. Aiki is a novel that, even as it thrills with its intensely visceral encounters, plays out a philosophical dialectic that attests to the ppower of the human spirit.

John Gilbert's background includes stints as a sailor, fisherman, amateur pilot, Tarot card reader, astrologist, political cartoonist and actor. Related by blood to Aaron Burr and by marriage to Martha Washington, he makes his home in New York City. This is his first novel. show less