Shike

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Shike is a two-volume novel published in 1981 by Robert Shea. It fictionalises and compresses Japanese history in order to incorporate the Genpei War and attempted invasion of Japan by the Mongols within the lifespans of two characters: Jebu, a fighting monk, and Taniko, the minor noblewoman with whom he falls in love on his first mission -- escorting her to an arranged marriage with a far older man. In that regard, the narrative structure of the Shike books bears a close similarity to Shea's later All Things Are Lights, which also focusses on star-crossed lovers.

Shike posits a clan of grey-clad fighting monks, the "Zinja", which, it is stated, is related to several other secret societies throughout history, including specifically the White Lotus Society in China, the Hashishim (assassins) in the Middle East, and the Knights Templar in Europe, among others. ^[1] Through an aside in All Things Are Lights, the Zinja are therefore linked, however tenuously, to Shea's other writings on secret societies, most notably his work with Robert Anton Wilson in the Illuminatus trilogy.