Customer Reviews

Empress

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While the cover may be a thousand years off, we would do well to attribute this mistake to the publisher not the author. As a scholar currently researching the Empress Wu Zetian I can tell you that coming up with historical information on her can be tricky and difficult. Yet, Evelyn McCune does a masterful job of filling in the historical outlines of Wu's life into a believable and somewhat plausible (although a bit romantic) account. If the job of historical fiction is to make historical sympathetic, then McCune certainly achieves this end- a laudable feat given that the historical figure in question was one of the most violent and ruthless despots in Chinese history. McCune not only humanizes Wu Zetian, but justifies many of her actions (even if some of the less noble moments are glossed over.) The book should not to be taken as the gospel truth, but it is a very enjoyable novel. Then again, that's why they call it historical *fiction* isn't it?

The novel, Empress, by Evelyn McCune, is an extraordinary epic of one woman's journey through life to become a powerful ruler of China. This story begins with the young Wu Jao, an insignificant child, who is summoned to the palace to become one of Emperor Taitsung's new concubines. Because of Wu Jao's honesty, intelligence and logic, combined with her innocence and beauty, she earns the friendship and love of the great emporer. Upon his death though, she finds herself banished to a convent.

The new emperor, Emperor Kaotsung, remembers Wu Jao from his childhood, how fond of her he was, and sends for her to return to the palace. When she returns, she finds herself in a place of horror. She fights for justice in this land that has changed for the worse since Emperor Taitsung's death. Evelyn McCune writes wonderful descriptions of seventh-century China, both the land and customs, and the character of Wu Jao is bold, strong and inspiring, though she doesn't go into much depth on other characters. Some parts were long while reading, but this is a novel rich in content and enchantment. She combines sophistication with treachery and creates the perfect atmosphere for her story. This was a wonderful reading experience.

A cover illustration that is off by a thousand years creates a credibility problem. Imagine the reaction if an author in China wrote a biography about George Washington, but the cover illustration had him wearing Abe Lincoln's outfit. The artist and publisher would be scorned for not doing research. Accuracy in visual and costume detail is every bit as important as accuracy in content.

I discovered this book while browsing amazon on my kindle. I am an avid reader of historical fiction, and recently, I've been enamored with books about the ancient East. When I discovered this book, I went ahead and bought it for my kindle despite the 3 star rating. I had assumed that the criticism was from the kitschy and inaccurate cover art, and decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt (and adhere to the adage about judging books by their covers). However, after plowing determinedly through this book, I seriously regret my purchase. The product description says it is a "captivating epic" - I beg to differ for several reasons.

1. There is little to no character development, even the protagonist, Jao, is decidedly one-dimensional. Part of this is due to the author's struggle with the third person narrative. The novel is told in a very objective fashion, and only very rarely so we see the subjective, third person omniscient. As a result, a huge portion of the book is wasted on Jao's actions - she walks, she sits, she sometimes does somersaults, and she chatters pointlessly with other characters. While actions are described with excruciating detail, they do not tend to give the reader any glimpses into any of the characters' feelings, thoughts, or motivations. The other characters in the book are little more than cardboard figures, with little purpose other than populate the book. The author also seems to have difficulty introducing characters other than having them introduced through pure dialogue with the main character. Imagine if an entire book consisted of characters making their appearance by saying, "Hi Jao, my name is so and so, I am from this family in this area of China, and I am a servant/eunuch/concubine/etc, I am so happy/unhappy to meet you."

2. The character interactions are very stiff and awkward. Oftentimes, it seems as if a character is introduced and a conversation is held only in order to interject some trivial historical fact about the time and place. Clearly the author has done some research about ancient China. This research must have been tediously awful for her, since she sees the need to make sure we're aware of everything she's discovered by injecting facts everywhere, regardless of the plot flow or appropriateness of the moment. Furthermore, the author seems very inconsistent in her characterizations, even for minor characters. An early example of this in the novel is Nurse Wang, Jao's nurse from her family home who accompanies her on her journey to the palace. During the journey, the nurse discovers that Jao's half-brother has stolen the jewels that Jao's mother had packed for Jao for her future life as a woman in the imperial harem. The nurse only sees fit to tell Jao this when Jao specifically asks about her belongings, and does so in a careless, off-hand manner that seems very unusual. Then when Jao begs her to help her retrieve the stolen jewels, the nurse insists she must be paid until she is shamed into helping by the other characters who overhear the conversation. Later, when Jao arrives at the capital, the nurse discovers she is going to be sent away. Suddenly, the author inundates us with various characters, including Jao, saying how Wang is a good nurse, and Wang herself is suddenly portrayed as the loyal old servant, who won't touch her mistress's money, even when offered to her.

3. The writing is not tight at all. This novel sorely needed a good editor. The author is unable to make the story progress without going through every step relevant or not. A week long journey in the story is exactly that - seven days splayed out before us, with the minutiae of the character's daily actions, regardless of whether or not the days contain anything that contribute to the plot. Better authors make the time flow, cutting tedious journeys where nothing happens to one line, "ie. It took a week of hard travel before we arrived..." and then fleshing out the really interesting parts of the story where action occurs by going into detail when appropriate.

All in all, I would not recommend this book to anyone. In fact, it was bad enough that I deleted it from my kindle after reading it even though I have plenty of memory space. I just couldn't bear the reminder of such a waste of time and money.

Loved this book. Regardless of the costume errors that other reviews mentioned on the front cover, the content of the story is great, I couldn't put it down, and it is historically accurate. Enjoy!

Ignore the cover and the complaints about it. Yes, the COVER is grossly inaccurate, but the NOVEL is a decent work of historical fiction. It maintains the basic facts and presents interesting/reasonably probable "what ifs" to fill in the gaps (which are many). Be warned: this is by far the most sympathetic and favorable presentation of the Empress Wu. Mccune's desire for a strong, intelligent, female protagonist somtimes blinds her to Wu's very real ruthlessness and love of power. Take it from someone's who has read the book (more than once) and not just seen the cover.

I seriously agree with the other poster. how could the book jacket looks so terribly off? it does say something about the content when the book cover references Qing Empress Dowager Ci Xi and not Empress Wu of the Tang.

I have decided against buying Evelyn McCune's book upon seeing the cover. A Tang Dynasty empress and her attendants depicted in costumes of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty is as ludicrous as Queen Isabella garbed in Victorian dress. Who says a book shouldn't be judged by its cover? Especially one that is glaringly inaccurate.