Lao She is an unassuming, respectable young scholar from China who has emigrated to London and now teaches Chinese language at Oxford and wants to write a novel. Then he is called to the home of philosopher Bertrand Russell who needs his assistance - in breaking a friend out of jail. It's during this errand that Lao meets Judge Dee Ren Jie. I do have to say it's an interesting meeting and sets the tone for the rest of the book. Judge Dee is in London to investigate the death of Mr. Ma, a fellow member of the Chinese Labor Corps who served in France during the First World War and was allowed to come to London afterward. Lao, who is more familiar with the city, offers to help Dee, but soon another Chinese man is found dead and the whole situation becomes more complicated.
Lao is our Watson to Dee's Sherlock. I listened to the audiobook, which worked well....
I loved about 80% of Prophet. It's a slightly creepy sci-fi thriller with a slow-burn romance between the two leads. The end kind of went off the rails for me, but I liked Rao and Adam enough for it not to matter. Wonder if they could get a sequel?
Prophet is set circa 2010, in more or less our world, but a sergeant has died in a mysterious fire on a US base in the UK. Around the base, dozens of objects appeared ranging from familiar, nostalgic childhood toys, to a full American-style diner in the middle of an empty field. Enter Adam, a surly American military officer, and Rao, a sort of ex-MI6 spy pulled out of rehab who can tell what's true, whether it be if something's real and not a forgery or if a statement is true - a power that conveniently doesn't work where Adam's concerned. It's up to them to figure out what's going on. Oh,...
First of all Harrow is not an easy read. It's absolutely necessary to read Gideon the Ninth first then take a short break before reading this one. At least, I had to take a break. I tried going from one right into the other and found I wasn't quite ready to immerse in that world again, but maybe that's just me. It's a dark, tense world and the writing style is very distinct, which is both good in the fact that it makes it mysterious and memorable, but also meant I needed a breather.
Harrow has become a lychtor, a superpowerful, immortal magical necromance knight to the Necrolord Prime, the Undying Emperor — we know that — probably. In the present, told in the second person, Harrow is having a tough time. While she is an amazing bone magician, she's finding the process of becoming a true lychtor difficult, if not impossible. Sadly enough, we have no Gideon here, just...
So I loved Gideon the Ninth. She sucked me right in with her attitude, her snarkiness, her sword. She's a fabulous character. She will tell the world she doesn't care, but at the same time is fiercely loyal and honestly cares about the other on this adventure. She is Cavalier to Harrowhark, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House, ruler of their home planet. Harrowhark and the necromancer heirs of the other houses have all been brought Canaan House with possibility of becoming Lyctors, powerful, nearly immortal generals in the Emperor/God's army.
Gideon the Ninth is maybe sci-fi. It takes place in space, there were a couple of space shuttles, but it is much more fantasy/horror. All the combat is hand to hand or with swords. Gideon and Harrowhark, her master/crush/frenemy, are exploring what basically a gothic space castle with skeleton servants and words written in blood that appear on the walls. Or maybe it's a murder mystery. The Emperor has...
Cass is angry. Angry that Father Ray, Pop, is dead. Angry that an incompetent detective has caught the case and is ready to dismiss it as a murder/suicide, which Cass knows is not true. Cass is determined to get to the truth, no matter how many favors she has to call in. She's also got some friends who are ready to back her up no matter what.
Broken Places is a riveting story full of action, but Cass isn't the loner she may seem to be. Yes, she's tough and willing to do things on her own, but she's got some loyal friends, both in the police force and on the other side of the law. She's brave and stubborn, but also vulnerable at times. She cares about people, her friends, the homeless man she meets, her former partner. I'm hoping though that she gets a little more time to be a person in the next entry in the series. This...
It's probably not a surprise to anyone that I'm a book lover, and I love the setting of the original crime here, a library in Venice. The descriptions of antique and rare books are fabulous. The original crime is that someone is stealing pages, mostly illustrations, from rare books as well as stealing whole books. I really found the whole topic of book theft pretty interesting.
Of course, the thefts are followed by a murder, but it takes a little while to get there. The investigation was not particularly interesting, but I do like Brunetti. He and Venice are what keep me returning to these books. This one wasn't as rich as some of the others, but it's an enjoyable, quick read.
Once again, we have an abrupt ending, something I realize I should just expect from Leon. We learn who the killer was and the why, but there's no wrap up that's become traditional with mysteries.
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