Amanda Roberts (1)

Set in ancient China, at the start of the Ming dynasty, The Man in the Dragon Mask by Amanda Roberts is a re-imagining of Dumas' Man in the Iron Mask. It was neat to see a new take on this old story, especially set in China. I love historical fiction, and the cultures of Asia are always fascinating to me. It's a glimpse into cultures that are quite different from the past of my own. I loved the description in this book. It was easy to conjure the illusion of the Forbidden Palace or ancient Nanking.

Like it's predecessor, this is a story of intrigue, and deception. When rulership falls upon Hongdi after his father's death, he spirals into disaster. He makes the choice to move the capital from Nanking to Peking, a phenomenal and expensive undertaking. From there, his behaviour becomes more erratic. But unknown to Hongdi, and his mother Chun, his twin lives, smuggled to safety long ago. Far from being unlucky, he becomes a hidden blessing. Perfect for those who enjoy historical fiction!

***Many thanks to the author & publisher for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for Silver Dagger tours.… (mehr)

foot-binding, intrigue, historical-fiction, historical-places-events, historical-research, Qing-dynasty, 19th-century

***** A fascinating, well researched,and well presented story of a girl in China in the nineteenth century who went from worthless girl to Emperor's concubine on the strength of a perspicacious fortune teller and her own talent for intricate silk embroidery. The story drew me in from the beginning of a six year old who loved to run and play among the silkworms, through the torture that was foot binding, and eventually to the Emperor's court in the Forbidden City. The imagery is breathtaking and the characters impeccably done.
Leanne Yau adds much because of her British Empire English and my inability to pronounce the Chinese words.
I entered a giveaway and won this audiobook! I win!… (mehr)

As the Qing Dynasty draws to a close...
I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of this book - when faced with unpronounceable names in a foreign language, the audio is often the best solution and Leanne Yau had a convincing Chinese accent.

The main character is Yaqian, just a child when she is removed from her rural home province and sent to an embroidery school. As a young girl she had enjoyed working in the fields, where she had loved caring for the silk worms, but when the time came for her feet to be bound, she had to stay indoors and learned embroidery instead. She worked on her first pair of dainty shoes, intending to wear them herself, but they were so beautiful that they were taken from her and sold.

Her skills became recognised and she gained a place at a prestigious embroidery school, where the sales of her work were to pay for her education. The daily rigours of the school are covered in quite extensive detail, including music and traditional dance.
Yaqian is always striving to improve and when she develops a technique that allows both sides of the embroidery to be perfect, she starts to excel beyond the skills of her master.

A piece of her work is sent as a gift to the Emperor's favourite concubine and suddenly she finds herself whisked away to the capital and to a new life in the Forbidden City.
Through Yaqian we partake in events from the late 1800s into the early twentieth century, as she becomes Imperial Concubine Yi's personal embroiderer. As Concubine Yi rises to become Empress Cixi, Yaqian stays loyal and eventually becomes a personal friend. The Qing Dynasty is drawing to a close and events become tense and worrying, yet Yaqian keeps her head and proves herself well beyond her skills as an embroiderer.
How cool is it that we can now visit this Forbidden City, where so much of China's history once played out?

The author has lived in China for the past eight years and speaks the language. She researched extensively for this novel and I found myself becoming very involved in the history of Chinese embroidery. There was also the inevitably uncomfortable section on the ancient practice of foot binding, so be warned.

An interesting novel to listen to, slow moving but never static. This would appeal to lovers of historical fiction and historical romance.… (mehr)

Jiayi is a servant to the Empress. She possesses the clairvoyant gift of retrocognition. By touching an object, she can see its past- who owned it, who handled it, etc. She never knows when along the timeline of the object she will end up though. The Empress has her using her gift to attempt to find the missing Imperial Seal, which gives true legitimacy to the ruler. When Jiayi located a possible area to search, Zhihao is brought in to do the grunt work. As a fledgling archaeologist, he understands the mechanics behind searching.

But their trip is fraught with problems from the get-go. A cave-in kills one of their group, they must contend with tomb raiders pilfering China's cultural heritage (asshats), and Jiayi herself almost ends up a captive to be sold abroad as a 'bride’. Success with the Seal is one thing, but can Jiayi and Zhihao work together to make a greater difference in preserving their country's remaining treasures and sites?

Overall, I enjoyed the storyline. I did feel that they found the Seal too quickly. That revelation was… far tamer than expected. I really enjoyed the cultural insights into this time period in China. The author did a great job with that. I loved the scenes where Jiayi jumps into the past. She becomes a 'passenger’ in a woman relevant to the flashback. While she can't control the person in question, she does retain a measure of skill her hosts have, such as language facility, fighting proficiency, and riding. I'm interested to see the limits of her ability.

Another good proofing wouldn't be amiss. There were a few spelling errors, and more grammar errors. I didn't necessarily have an issue reading it, but that is part of what lowered my rating. A pronunciation guide would be nice. I have a vague idea of how some letter clusters are pronounced in Chinese, but there were words and names I stumbled over. Especially Jiayi. For those I just settled on a pronunciation and stuck with it. I have no idea how correct I am. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, to see how the pair continue to work together, and what they search for. I hope they get a proper excavation team. I love when books feature archaeology!

***Many thanks to Silver Dagger Tours and the author for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.… (mehr)