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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but...,
By Amber (TN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dragon King's Palace: A Novel (Hardcover)
This book has the usual political intrigue and sensual moments readers have come to expect from Laura Joh Rowland's novels. However, I came away feeling less than satisfied with this tale and eager to read the next novel in her series. It seemed as if maybe this book is a "bridge" - it wasn't so much a story in itself but was there to set up for future events. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the book, but for anyone who is following the series, there should be a MAJOR shake-up of political power in the next book. That interests me more than what happened in this book.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fast paced and exciting -- an enjoyable read,
By tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dragon King's Palace: A Novel (Hardcover)
Another exciting and fast paced Sano Ichiro mystery novel! And truthfully speaking, if you're looking for a good historical mystery novel that will keep you at the edge of your seat, you need not look any further than this latest Sano Ichiro installment, "The Dragon King's Palace."It's June of 1694, and the city of Edo seems to be suffering from the effects of a particularly bad heat wave. In order to escape this stiflingly bad weather, Lady Keisho-in, shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (Japan's supreme military leader)'s mother has decided to mount a 'small' trip to Mount Fuji. And she's decided that Reiko (the wife of Sano Ichiro who also happens to be the shogun's Most Honourable Investigator of Events, Situations and People), Reiko's heavily pregnant good friend, Midori (who is also the wife of Sano's most trusted aide, Hirata), and Lady Yanagisawa (the wife of Chamberlain Yanagiswa, the shogun's second-in-command and Sano's arch enemy) should accompany her on this trip. But en route to Mount Fuji, the party is attacked; the ladies are kidnapped and Lady Keisho-in's entire entourage of servants and guards slaughtered. Who could have mounted such an outrageous attack, and why? Was it some power hungry daimyo trying to show just how weak and powerless the shogun actually is? Or could it be some enemy of the Chamberlain's retaliating for some past wrong? Or could it be as Sano fears, that the Black Lotus sect trying to seek revenge on Sano for having caused the downfall of their once powerful and wealthy sect? Thrown together because of circumstances, Sano and the Chamberlain must put their past distrust and dislike of each other behind them so that they can discover who actually is responsible for the kidnapping as well as mount a rescue of the ladies before it's too late. But even as the two men face the danger and treachery around them, neither is quite ready for the strange and amazing twists that this case will take, or the personal cost that each will suffer... I finished "The Dragon King's Palace" in one sitting. Fortunately, I had the day off -- a day I had planned to do a lot of weeding! Instead of which I found that I had spent the entire afternoon breathlessly turning the pages, reading along as Sano tried to discover who was behind this outrageous kidnapping and hoping that Reiko did not come up a cropper! What an exciting and suspenseful read this was. Laura Joh Rowland has written a cleverly plotted book that is full of wonderful and rich detail, and that fits in (comfortably) with the past books in this series. I particularly liked that this book really focused on the courage, intelligence and resourcefulness of Reiko. The novel unfolded smoothly, seamlessly and at an incredibly swift pace. All in all, a really good installment in the Sano Ichiro mystery series, and one not to be missed.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally!,
By Highlander (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dragon King's Palace: A Novel (Hardcover)
I appear to be a contrarian when it comes to the Sano Ichiro series. To now, I've enjoyed the Tokugawa milieu and have been captured by the culture and the actions of the characters within the culture. I have been disappointed by what I perceive as amateurish, illogical, and impulsive decisions by the characters to push an often plodding plot ahead and by the need for an ocasional lucky circumstance to resolve awkward plot logjams.
However, with DGP, I finally have seen Rowland let the plot horses run and the result has been a quickly moving, exciting plot structure with the characters in accord with events -- swept along perhaps -- rather than shuffling along behind a stiff story line. So, I finally read a Ichiro novel that had me keep turning the pages and one where I did not keep asking myself, "Why in the world whould he or she do something that stupid?" It was a good read and I hope the next story maintains the pace.
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