Jian

Rating:
Summary: DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Review: I don't see the hype. This is the first and only novel by EVL I plan on reading. I find his writing tedious and decriptive to a fault. I have no problem with description, but it ended up being a history lesson rather than a adventure story. I wanted the story to move along, but it kept getting bogged down with politics of various subjects. Now I'm sure there are a few out there who think that EVL is too deep for most, but I disagree, in the course of the book there were numerous [personal]scenes which are so graphic.
I guess EVL was told by his editor to add them in order to sell a few more copies. Don't waist your time folks. In Lustbader's defense, I must admit the story is very well thought out and complex, but I think EVL should of told it to a person who could have put it down on paper better. Clancy and Ludlum don't need [intercourse] scenes to sell books. It would be ok to describe one in detail then mention; they went to bed and then woke up, but not go into such detail for every encounter beacuse we get the point. EVL had about 5 of them,to add his creativity to. I have no problem with [personal] scenes. But I can read [other publishings]for that, here I just want a good story...

Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Read
Review: I'll start this off by saying this is the first EVL book I've read, that halfway through it I picked up two more, and that I plan on reading as many as I can get my grubby little hands on. While some of the plot twists were painfully transparent, they were written in such a way as to keep the reader hooked long enough to find out for sure. The insight into Chinese culture Jian provided was valuable enough to make the book worth the read in much the same way as Chrighton's Rising Sun was for Japanese culture; the masterful plot was just an added bonus. The graphic sex got a little repetetive, but the scenes were short enough that the book didn't get bogged down in them.