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Cloud Pavilion (2009)

by Laura Joh Rowland(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0312652550 (ISBN13: 9780312652555)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

St. Martin's Press

series

Sano Ichiro

review 1: I enjoyed this book, but then I have enjoyed all of Rowland's Sano Ichiro series. This series of stories are an intriguing mix of crime detection, political intrigue and the ins and outs of Japanese culture at the end of the 1600s. All these elements come together well in "The Cloud Pavillion".Sano is approached by his estranged uncle who wishes him to investigate the abduction (and later rape) of his daughter, Sano's cousin. Rape, apparently, was not a crime in 17th century Japan. The husband, and family, could cast out the victim because of the "dishonour" she has brought on the family. The only reason why this "crime" is being investigated is because it is a matter of seeking revenge. In the process of investigating Sano uncovers two other abductions and rapes and the p... morelot becomes more complex. There is a degree of predictability in the "crime". The villains turn out to be quite predictable in the end but the investigation, and all the complications attached to it, are quite interesting.Then comes the politics. I have read criticism of the rolling feature of the political fighting between Sano and Yangisawa but don't totally agree with it. We are, after all, in the Shogun's court, in the almost neurotic and highly dangerous atmosphere of Samurai Japan. In the case of "The Cloud Pavillion" the politics becomes more subtle and the outcomes leave us with new possibilities.
review 2: This book landed in my lap and I picked it up. After 20 pages if it hadn't been set in the 1700s in Japan, and hadn't had a starred PW review, I would have dropped it. I should have. I'd never read Rowland before, and won't again, although I love the time period. Its characters were cookie-cuttered, laughably sexist and transparent; the storyline was simple and obvious; the "dangers" were regular and predictable; the feudal Japan details were interesting, but not nearly enough. Oh well. less

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