An intelligent and enjoyable cross-cultural adventure.
An Englishman on the run from assassins befriends a famed Japanese samurai in Dohmen’s historical tale set in the late 15th century.
In 1483, Simon Lang finds himself in unenviable circumstances: He’s a pilot aboard the Venetian ship Tigre, sailing off the western coast of Japan, and the crew is starving to the point that some have resorted to cannibalism. He fears their days are numbered. Off in the distance, they spot a ship and attack it in order to plunder its supplies, and in the process, Simon makes the acquaintance of Kojiro Takeda, a legendary samurai being held captive by an enemy clan. Amid the confusion of the attack, Kojiro frees himself, slaughters his captors, and joins the crew of the Tigre. Simon and his mates follow Kojiro home to his village on the Japanese island of Shikoku,and as they stay there for months to recuperate, they get drawn into a war that threatens Kojiro’s people. Later, Kojiro embarks with Simon back to England, where he feels compelled to seek revenge: King Edward’s imperialistic encroachments led to the death of Simon’s father in battle and the ignominious execution of his mother. As he’s being pursued by the king’s henchman, he becomes motivated not only by vengeance, but also a solidarity with fellow Lancastrians besieged by the king.
In a style that’s inventive and pleasantly humorous, debut author Dohmen explores the cultural divide not only between Japanese and European customs generally, but also between different interpretations of soldierly honor. Just as Simon is deeply moved by Kojiro’s combination of humility and dutifulness, Kojiro comes to appreciate the qualities of the “barbarian ghost warriors” he has come to know. The plot is generously stocked with action, and the author conveys it thrillingly; overall, the story speeds along at a nearly frenzied pace that compensates for its length of more than 350 pages.The author strives more for crackling entertainment than plausibility; for example, it’s astonishing, if not simply unbelievable, how quickly Simon learns to wield a katana well enough to successfully oppose samurais. Also, although the cultural differences between Simon and Kojiro are usually handled with sensitivity and humor, some stereotypes appear occasionally, as when the samurai treats Simon to platitudes as counsel (“Invincibility lies in one’s self”), even in the middle of a battle. Also, the prose sometimes flirts with a style that comes off as more quippy than comic. For instance, after a samurai tells Simon a story about a battle with extraordinary modesty, the Englishman thinks to himself: “By God, these buggers are humble….I’m going to have to teach them a thing or two about showmanship before I leave. ‘Well, that’s a bloody good story,’ he said aloud. ‘If even half of it’s true, you chaps should be the stuff of books and song.’ ” Despite these minor flaws, the book as a whole is a genuinely rollicking adventure, and it’s one that offers readers both lighthearted enjoyment and immersive drama.
An intelligent and enjoyable cross-cultural adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-93064-9
Page Count: 380
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Sharply drawn characters, a “locked-room” location, and a tension-filled WWII setting illuminate this wartime thriller.
During World War II, a female police officer investigates a spate of murders on a tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Oren’s novel opens arrestingly with a local police captain discovering a fisherman’s unexpected catch of a human body. Then, an initial assessment of death by drowning goes distinctly south when it turns out that the man was strangled. Things only get trickier from there since it’s wartime, 1944, and the corpse is that of a prisoner of war: The island, along with its docks, trawlers, and cranberry bogs, includes a prison camp of Italian POWs and a U.S. military emplacement headed by a lieutenant who’d prefer to be on the front lines (his wealthy family ensures that he’s not). To complicate matters further—especially when another murder victim emerges—the police captain is Mary Beth Swann, who took over her husband’s law enforcement role when he shipped out to the South Pacific. Being a female police officer was already challenging enough; Mary Beth, originally from Boston, also has to tolerate the disrespect of the island’s inhabitants. What elevates this intriguing story—comparisons with television’s always engaging Foyle’s War are inevitable—are the wonderfully delineated specifics of the location and characters. This island may be fictional, but it’s drawn directly from the author’s experiences on Nantucket, and each of the characters sparkles with their own vitality, including the town’s brothel madam, the Acadian short-order cook missing two fingers, a visiting gangster, and the nearly 90 Italians waiting out the war in a remote corner of a foreign land.
Sharply drawn characters, a “locked-room” location, and a tension-filled WWII setting illuminate this wartime thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-950539-60-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dzanc
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Admirable in its aims but needed more finesse.
In 1944, the lives of a newspaper reporter, a newly ordained minister, Japanese internees, and a Japanese scientist intertwine around a mysterious illness.
“There’s a long history of violence against Asians in America. If you’re unaware of this, it’s not surprising: it doesn’t make the history books, it’s not taught in classrooms,” the author writes in an afterword. Her novel combines historical events, such as Roosevelt’s executive order forcing Japanese Americans into internment camps, with supernatural elements from Japanese folklore. Chapters alternate among the perspectives of minister Archie Mitchell, reporter Fran Gurstwold, Camp Minidoka internees Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko, and scientist Wasaburo Oishi’s journal entries. What unites these disparate characters becomes clear as more is revealed about the illness spreading through the internment camp and the dangerous balloons or parachutes that have begun appearing in several states. While at first the plot moves at a dizzying pace, especially in Archie’s first chapters, a balance of incisive detail and steady progression is struck toward the middle of the book. What appears to be a story of supernatural suspense mixed with historical fiction transforms into an important reminder of the United States’ short memory of its own atrocities and its long history of anti-Asian sentiment, violence, and racism. Didactic writing is both a strength and a weakness here. At first, important parallels are created; for instance, “America was not Nazi Germany. Rounding up citizens in camps in order to kill them: it was impossible. It went against everything America stood for—everything Americans said they stood for. Yet here she was, dying in an internment camp.” Unfortunately, by the end, these notes become too frequent and heavy-handed. Even so, it's enjoyable to experience the ambitious, weblike weaving of the book's many elements.
Admirable in its aims but needed more finesse.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-32833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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