Bundori

Rating:
Summary: More Shogun Lite.....
Review: Japan is a magical place. I have been fortunate enough to visit Japan 2x and encourage anyone with the time and the means to visit Japan.

Shogun by James Clavell is one of the best books I have ever read. Shogun and Lonesome Dove are probably the only two books I have read that I was upset when they ended. They are great works and Shogun is great history and story.

The Sano detective stories take place a little after Shogun. They take place during the Tokugawa Shogunate but during the rule of Ieyasu's (Torenaga in Shogun's)third successor around 1700 I think.

The settings of these novels are good and the mysteries are ok. The problem I had with the series starting with Bundori was how graphic the sexual parts of the story have become. Very often I think it takes from characters and the setting.

These novels are fun. Great reading for the plane or the beach. These are not deep looks into Tokugawa Japan, however they are good historical mysteries with good settings.

Read Shogun and then work on these.

Rating:
Summary: Her best in the Series IMO
Review: Laura is a good writer...and seems to improve a little each book. Despite this being the second book in the series, I believe it is her best: (her writing style has improved in later books but this story is the most intense in the series). It deals with the investigation of beheaded corpses...where the heads have been prepared and left as "war trophies". It is the darkest of the series; and the most intensely sensual. Definately worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: Sano Ichiro, the Japanese shogun's (ruler's) official investigator, has "an inquisitive spirit and a talent for uncovering truth." His rather innocent pursuit of the Truth of a heinous ritual crime leads him into conflict with mendacious or frightened viziers who control his master. Like Sherlock, Sano acquires a dutiful assistant and applies esoteric lore (here ancient texts rather than chemistry) to solve crimes. A subplot entwined with unraveling the mystery is Sano's infatuation with a ninja priestess, with whom he shares graphic scenes of rape and hurt. One might say this story adds the love interest missing from the first book, Shinju, but it often takes graphically violent excursions or employs episodes of degrading homosexuality.

Joh has an engrossing style, a sensuous style that subtly wraps you in fleeting references to colors, motion, fragrances, odors, textures, and sense of place. She ingeniously uses the influence of institutionalized Shame within the samurai code as well as Sano's personal credo of Truth to drive the actions he takes. There is not a whole lot of mystery, unless it is the power of oriental codes of behavior unfamiliar to the reader, although the awesomely violent and desperate ending has its surprising twists.

This is one of those stories that is genuinely hard to put down even into the wee hours. Adding a glossary of the Japanes terms would be helpful, as would a map of 1689 Edo (Tokyo) where all the action transpires. In later printings the cover picture is different from that shown on amazon.com, and more appropriate, like a Japanese woodcut.

Rating:
Summary: Marvellous concept, beautiful setting, mediocre plot.
Review: The Denver Post reviewed "Bundori" saying, "Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you'll immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlow or Sam Spade." This review is fitting in more ways than one.

While the characters and concepts behind this book promise a brilliant novel, the plot is uninspired and could easily be translated to take place in 1930's L.A. And while the descriptions of the settings and characters were vivid, the dialog lacked the extensive rhetoric and polite double-talk of Japanese samurai and courtiers of the period.

An excellent setting, but a dull story.

Rating:
Summary: A fabulous second entry in the series!
Review: This is my favorite title in the wonderful Sano Ichiro series, in part because it sets up the pattern for most of the rest of the series: Sano, the born outsider, is thrust into the wildly backstabbing world of the shogun's court; the shogun's puppetmaster chamberlain, Yanagisawa, establishes himself as Sano's adversary in almost every way; a fun romance with a compelling warrior woman (Rowland treats both sex and death in a very non-conventional way in her novels); the addition of Sano's faithful sidekick, Hirata; and, of course, a explosive case for Sano to solve that challenges Sano's convictions and also gives us a window into an aspect of medieval Japanese culture. This mystery actually remains unsolved later in to the novel than is typical in the series, which adds to the pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but bit bland
Review: This is my second Laura Joh Rowland book and like the one I read before (Perfumed Sleeve), I found this book to be pretty interesting and its murder-mystery premises to be entertaining and easy to follow. Once more, Sano Ichiro goes forth against all evil to overcome and solved the crime.

I think this is a pretty decent book and it could have been better if the main villian wasn't so one dimensional. The Yanagisawa character proves to be very cardboard like in its characterization. Once more, I think that the author's understanding of Tokugawa politics appears to be very limited. Nobody with Yanagisawa's personality and tact as described in the book would last very long in samurai politics. Another thing is that the author seem to think that homosexual politics was paramount within the Tokugawa bakufu. Unfortunately for the author, homosexual activities in Japan was no more and probably no less then those in Europe. Why an all powerful Yanagisawa would ever fear a relatively nobody just because the Shogun seem to be mildy fond of him proves to be totally illogical. Another interesting oversight was the fact that Sano wears a Tokugawa crest when he works. That crest alone, would historically give him almost unlimited powers. No mere police officials would stand in his way or anyone's way if that individual was wearing the Tokugawa crest on his back. It appears that the author seem to be putting artifical elements in her story to created artifical dangers for her hero.

While good reading overall, the writing proves to be relatively lightweight in material and plot.

Rating:
Summary: Better Than the First Novel
Review: This is the second installment in Laura Rowland's series of detective stories about Sano Ichiro, denizen of late 17th century Edo, now called Tokyo. Sano rises from being an obscure police commander to being a member of the Shogun's inner circle. On the way he earns the undying hatred of the most influential member of the Shogun's court. This book takes us through the mind of mad serial killer. Just as Sano learns more and more about detecting criminals, it is evident that Rowland is learning more and more about writing. It's a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, immersive escape!
Review: This wonderful book immerses the reader once again into feudal Japan, where the unconventional investigator Sano Ichiro must solve a series of horrible crimes while dodging the political intrigue and corrupt dealings that surround him.
Rowland capures this era of history brilliantly and paints a wonerfully vivid portrait of Japanese life hundreds of years ago. Her writing is clear and interesting and the story flows nicely with rarely a let-up in the action.
The character Sano Ichiro is a rebel - something that Japanese society really will not accept - but he is also someone who is desperate to work within the confines of acceptable behavior in order to honor his family... and often the only way to succeed is to do entirely that which should not be done.
The entire series of Ichiro mysteries is well written, but Bundori is one of the more interesting cases! Rowland balances action and suspense with a good deal of authenticity...

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, immersive escape!
Review: This wonderful book immerses the reader once again into feudal Japan, where the unconventional investigator Sano Ichiro must solve a series of horrible crimes while dodging the political intrigue and corrupt dealings that surround him.
Rowland capures this era of history brilliantly and paints a wonerfully vivid portrait of Japanese life hundreds of years ago. Her writing is clear and interesting and the story flows nicely with rarely a let-up in the action.
The character Sano Ichiro is a rebel - something that Japanese society really will not accept - but he is also someone who is desperate to work within the confines of acceptable behavior in order to honor his family... and often the only way to succeed is to do entirely that which should not be done.
The entire series of Ichiro mysteries is well written, but Bundori is one of the more interesting cases! Rowland balances action and suspense with a good deal of authenticity...

Rating:
Summary: A good samurai thriller!
Review: Who wouldn't enjoy a book with a psychic female ninja and a serial killer who is carrying on a century's old blood feud?