The Snow Empress

Rather simplistic good guy/bad guy characters, including the "noble savages" who are much better than the more sophisticated people who dominate them. But the story clips along well. And there are some bright spots: Takere is a wonderfully evil character (although it is the colonizer race that made her that way) and Wente is a more complex character than most. But still. No more of this series for me.

This book is set in a historical period and culture that I usually enjoy reading about, however I found this book a particular struggle. Firstly, it suffers from the usual 'modern' complaint of the noble savage view of history - the more tribal/'living in nature' people in a story are always the 'goodies', the more 'civilized' people are the 'baddies'. But I can overlook that. Would really dragged this book down was the writing - the word that sums it up best for me is plodding. It is simplistic but not in a sparse, spare poetic way, just in a clunky, often boring way. Which is a pity, as this could have been a really good book.

This book is set in a historical period and culture that I usually enjoy reading about, however I found this book a particular struggle. Firstly, it suffers from the usual 'modern' complaint of the noble savage view of history - the more tribal/'living in nature' people in a story are always the 'goodies', the more 'civilized' people are the 'baddies'. But I can overlook that. Would really dragged this book down was the writing - the word that sums it up best for me is plodding. It is simplistic but not in a sparse, spare poetic way, just in a clunky, often boring way. Which is a pity, as this could have been a really good book.

So Far, my favorite of the Sano series. Poor Ichiro and Reiko son kidnapped and carted to the desolate north island of what is now Hokkaido. Of course a search is started and the pair find themselves faced with a madman, ghosts, and the indigenous Ainu tribe to deal with. Loved the story