Water Touching Stone

This the second in a 6-book series set in Tibet and featuring a Han Chinese investigator sent to a hard labor camp for looking too closely into official corruption in Beijing. The story takes up a few months after Shan has been unofficially released (technically he is an escaped criminal) after 3 years, and the hidden lamas who have been sheltering and teaching him send him to an area just north of Tibet where a lama is missing, a teacher murdered, and several orphan boys living among the herding tribes are being hunted down and killed. It took only about 100 pages to figure out why the children are a target (one is a reincarnate lama), but that didn't detract from how interesting the story is, or the suspense over whether the specific show more child will survive.

As in the first installment, the focus is on the damage done by the Chinese invasion, especially to tribal and religious life: tribes and families broken up and forced to give up their herds and nomadic life; temples, monasteries and religious artwork destroyed; and lamas, nuns and other practitioners killed outright or tortured and enslaved in work camps. Those few allowed to continue as monks are licensed by the government, which is dedicated to squelching Tibetan identity or, failing that, to finding a way to use what remains to strengthen China's hold. Honestly, it's sickening, and now every time I see something "Made in China" I'm reminded that, in China, "made by" now includes anything made by Tibetans, whether by slave labor or by invasion survivors forced into this "people's" society. Read this only if you don't mind being outraged.

The author includes a glossary and a narrative bibliography for those who wish to followup on the factual background of the novel. One of the incidental subjects in the book is collectors dedicated to making up whole choruses of crickets which have different songs. The bibliography includes a book on this too, which is neat. show less

More political than mysterious, Water Touching Stone is Eliot Pattison's second in the Inspector Shan series. In this one, Shan is asked by the Tibetan lamas to investigate the murder of orphans in the Kazakh region. The story is a decent police procedure with a distinctly Asian flavor, but what's so good about the series is the greater context. Here, the mystery is embedded in the breakup of Kazakh clans through enforced "modernization" by the Chinese government. At times, the story is heartbreaking.

I'm shocked that so few people have read books from this incredible series. They are intricate, full of mystery and wonder, and provide a good understanding of Tibet and it's subjugation by China. Shan is a complex character. The names can be overwhelming at times and difficult to keep straight, but every book is well worth the effort. I can't recommend them highly enough. These are not light-weight mysteries, but require thought.

This is the second story of Shan Tao Yun, the former Beijing investigator turned prisoner and Buddhist. He's sent to investigate the death of a venerated Buddhist teacher and lama and finds himself embroiled in the politics of a different kind.

There are stretches of this book that resonated deeply with me and pulled me in only for me to reluctantly surface but then the political message would jar me out of the pleasure of reading it. The message is very heavy-handed and I did want to occasionally slap the author and tell him to get back to the story.

The story isn't really all that wonderful either but the descriptions just held my interest. Shan is a great character and I really enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes.

I found Pattison's book to be drawn too starkly - the villains are too evil, the heroes too good. Which was frustrating because it's a intriguing setting and he's a knowledgeable author.

In the second book in this mystery series, we move from Tibet to western China's border regions where Muslim Uighurs, Kazakhs and others struggle to preserve their culture. Like the first book, this one makes me want to learn more about the area and the cultures, but I am beginning to wonder where in china Pattison will take us next?

Too ponderous in Tibetan lore, but I loved all that legend & Culture, Very enjoyable