Rating: 
Summary: A Very Pleasant Surprise...
Review: This novel is a refreshing departure from the typical mystery/whodunit. The author gives us insight to Japanese society as it must have been in ancient times, but more than that, gives us a terrific read!
You may not have the pleasure, as my Book club members and I did, to meet the author in person, but this book is time well spent. We're looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Meeting the author, impressed all of us, with her scholarly research to ensure historical accuracy in addition to the excellent narrative. The characters are richly developed; the scenery beautifully described; the story unfolds delightfully unpredictably!
In addition to the mystery, it's also a love story, with tenderness and depth. Ms. Parker tells from a male narrator's perspective, and captures that voice accurately.
Tired of the current offerings? Try this engaging story!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Pleasant Surprise...
Review: This novel is a refreshing departure from the typical mystery/whodunit. The author gives us insight to Japanese society as it must have been in ancient times, but more than that, gives us a terrific read!
You may not have the pleasure, as my Book club members and I did, to meet the author in person, but this book is time well spent. We're looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Meeting the author, impressed all of us, with her scholarly research to ensure historical accuracy in addition to the excellent narrative. The characters are richly developed; the scenery beautifully described; the story unfolds delightfully unpredictably!
In addition to the mystery, it's also a love story, with tenderness and depth. Ms. Parker tells from a male narrator's perspective, and captures that voice accurately.
Tired of the current offerings? Try this engaging story!
Rating:
Summary: The Dead Wait At Rashomon...
Review: When it comes to Japanese detective stories tailored for Western readers, Laura Joh Rowland leaps to mind. Here stories of Sano Ichiro, set during the 17th Century Shogunate have become a staple of what is admittedly, a niche genre. Now a new writer, I. J. Parker has appeared (her short story, "Akitada's First Case," was published in 1999. and promptly won a Shamus award). Parker's stories feature Sagawara Akitada, a low ranking noble in the service the Emperor in Heian Kyo (Kyoto). The time is 600 years earlier than Rowland's books, and the culture immensely different. Japan was still heavily influenced by all things Chinese, and still forming its own social and political architectures.As Parker ably demonstrates in Akitada's first adventure, there was nothing primitive about the Heian period, regardless of its antiquity. Akitada, whose career in the Japanese bureaucracy has come to a standstill, accepts a request from an old mentor to come to the University as an instructor while investigating an attempt at blackmail. Akitada and his servant, Tora, find themselves enmeshed in a web of plots including the murder (or transcendence) of a prince of the realm, the strangling of a joy house musician, and a series of deaths at the University itself. Both Akitada and Tora have their own romantic interests, which are fleshed out by Parker's careful sense of detail and character development. There are countless things that can be gotten wrong in historical fiction of this sort, but Parker manages to avoid all but trivial errors. Partially because she does not delve into the politics of the times the way Rowland does. Akitada is not a 'player' in the same class as Sano Ichiro. His frustrated ambition keeps him on the outer edges of polite society. This is an excellent first novel. Indeed, the only clue that it is a first novel is that the publicity says it is a first novel. The writing lacks the uneasiness that often mars early efforts. There is every reason to look forward to the next volume in what is giving all the signs of a successful series.
Rating:
Summary: The Dead Wait At Rashomon...
Review: When it comes to Japanese detective stories tailored for Western readers, Laura Joh Rowland leaps to mind. Here stories of Sano Ichiro, set during the 17th Century Shogunate have become a staple of what is admittedly, a niche genre. Now a new writer, I. J. Parker has appeared (her short story, "Akitada's First Case," was published in 1999. and promptly won a Shamus award). Parker's stories feature Sagawara Akitada, a low ranking noble in the service the Emperor in Heian Kyo (Kyoto). The time is 600 years earlier than Rowland's books, and the culture immensely different. Japan was still heavily influenced by all things Chinese, and still forming its own social and political architectures. As Parker ably demonstrates in Akitada's first adventure, there was nothing primitive about the Heian period, regardless of its antiquity. Akitada, whose career in the Japanese bureaucracy has come to a standstill, accepts a request from an old mentor to come to the University as an instructor while investigating an attempt at blackmail. Akitada and his servant, Tora, find themselves enmeshed in a web of plots including the murder (or transcendence) of a prince of the realm, the strangling of a joy house musician, and a series of deaths at the University itself. Both Akitada and Tora have their own romantic interests, which are fleshed out by Parker's careful sense of detail and character development. There are countless things that can be gotten wrong in historical fiction of this sort, but Parker manages to avoid all but trivial errors. Partially because she does not delve into the politics of the times the way Rowland does. Akitada is not a 'player' in the same class as Sano Ichiro. His frustrated ambition keeps him on the outer edges of polite society. This is an excellent first novel. Indeed, the only clue that it is a first novel is that the publicity says it is a first novel. The writing lacks the uneasiness that often mars early efforts. There is every reason to look forward to the next volume in what is giving all the signs of a successful series.
|
