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eososray's review
1.0
I was very excited to find a mystery series set in medieval Japan. I thought for sure that it was going to be a good book based on the reviews I had read but I couldn’t even finish it. I’m not sure if this was affected by the fact that I listened to it instead of reading the story but I found it tedious and frustrating and the characters were annoying in the extreme and very stereotypical. I can’t say much about the plot or the story as I didn’t make it that far but after listening to the end it felt a little predictable.
frater's review
4.0
A very entertaining historical detective novel set in medieval japan, during the Heian era before the time of the Samurai. The story starts off a bit awkwardly but finds it's groove and is afterwards paced brilliantly.
It was well plotted, full of colourful characters and set in a beautifully painted world. Highly recommended.
It was well plotted, full of colourful characters and set in a beautifully painted world. Highly recommended.
rosseroo's review
2.0
Around twenty years ago, I stumbled across Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro historical mystery series and enjoyed those for a whole, getting a nice taste of 17th century Japan. The other day, I stumbled across this first in a long-running historical mystery series the other day and picked it up hoping to repeat the experience (although this series is set in the 11th century). Unfortunately, this one didn't really grab me in the same way. Part of this may be down to my own shifting tastes, but the writing felt really flat on the whole -- descriptions felt rudimentary and dialogue felt quite stilted at times. (I subsequently learned that English is not the author's first language, so that might explain why.)
Kicking off a mystery series is tough, and this initial outing with a minor nobleman/bureaucrat just never seemed to get out of gear. Even though there were plenty of interesting elements (the murder of a young woman, several years of vanished tax receipts, some colorful sidekicks), it never really grabbed me. Before this book, the author wrote about ten short stories featuring the hero, and I wonder if that somehow sapped some of the freshness or energy from this. A more fundamental problem, perhaps, is that the main villain in the book is made pretty obvious early on, which really diminished the tension. And after what should be the climactic scene, the book chugs along for another 30-40 pages or so. I guess I'd consider reading the next in the series just to see if it improves, but I'm certainly in no rush to do so.
Kicking off a mystery series is tough, and this initial outing with a minor nobleman/bureaucrat just never seemed to get out of gear. Even though there were plenty of interesting elements (the murder of a young woman, several years of vanished tax receipts, some colorful sidekicks), it never really grabbed me. Before this book, the author wrote about ten short stories featuring the hero, and I wonder if that somehow sapped some of the freshness or energy from this. A more fundamental problem, perhaps, is that the main villain in the book is made pretty obvious early on, which really diminished the tension. And after what should be the climactic scene, the book chugs along for another 30-40 pages or so. I guess I'd consider reading the next in the series just to see if it improves, but I'm certainly in no rush to do so.
dohldrums's review
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
julieputty's review
3.0
The plotting is okay. The pacing is off. The mystery is very oddly predictable, so that I kept expecting twists where there were no twists. The characters are anachronistic but pretty entertaining. The writing is solid.
cindyc3689's review
3.0
adegan klimaksnya kurang seru, terlalu sesuai rencana dan tanpa twist yg mengejutkan, tapi alur ceritanya sendiri bagus dan jalinan misterinya menarik untuk diikuti. endingnya benar2 aku suka... biasanya epilog yang rada panjang begini bikin bosan, tp di novel ini malah mampu menyimpulkan semua misteri cerita dan membuatku penasaran mengira-ngira nasib akitada setelahnya.
Review lengkap ada di:
http://readbetweenpages.blogspot.com/2014/09/dragon-scroll.html
Review lengkap ada di:
http://readbetweenpages.blogspot.com/2014/09/dragon-scroll.html
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