Posted Wednesday, 7 January, 2015 by jorielov Laura Joh Rowland, MacMillian Publishers, Minotaur Books, Sano Ichiro Mysteries, St. Martin's Publishing Group, The Iris Fan 0 Comments
It isn’t often when I have the chance to *catch a series* whilst the breadth of the series has been written, released, and on the fringes of bowing out of the public eye! A few of the series I am attempting to read further inside during 2015 dance around this same fact, as I haven’t been able to read the books as quickly as they have been produced! However, it was such an honour to host Ms. Rowland on the curtain call for her series set in 17th Century Japan! There were moments of the story wherein I found myself a bit unsettled but overall, I felt a growing curiosity in seeking out more information surrounding Reiko and Sano — how their lives would continue to knit together and what might befall them in the end!
I had no idea as I was reading the stories I had selected from the Sano Ichiro series, that within The Concubine’s Tattoo would await the fuller back-story on how Reiko and Sano came together! I never would have guessed Rowland might have considered giving Reiko a lesser role of importance in the series — as I must confess, I appreciated the change of broadening her appeal and giving her such a strong presence within the interior structures of where the stories within the series take the reader! To me, Reiko was quite the asset to have alongside Sano!
As I mused about what I wanted to focus my conversation with Ms. Rowland upon, most of my emerging questions were fuelled by wanting to understand her journey with the series, and how the series evolved from Book 1 to Book 18; there were twenty years between the two bookends, and for me, it provided me with an unending muse to draw out the questions I wanted to broach of her! I hope as you read this conversation, you will not only be inspired by her answers, but perhaps, will feel inspired to tackle reading a series of this length and/or of attempting to write an ongoing series if your a writer! Read More
Posted Wednesday, 7 January, 2015 by jorielov in 17th Century, Blog Tour Host, Crime Fiction, Family Drama, Family Life, Ghost Story, Good vs. Evil, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Japan, Japanese Fiction, Japanese History, Library Love, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Martial Art History, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Uncategorized
Posted Tuesday, 6 January, 2015 by jorielov Laura Joh Rowland, MacMillian Publishers, Minotaur Books, Sano Ichiro Mysteries, St. Martin's Publishing Group, The Iris Fan 3 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Iris Fan” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I requested and borrowed the first novel (“Shinju”) as well as the 16th (“The Incense Game”) and the 17th (“The Shogun’s Daughter”) in the series to better understand the flow of continuity and the origins of the Sano Ichiro mysteries series of which I borrowed via my local library and their ILL services.
I read portions of these three novels back to back for the blog tour and was not obligated to post a review for them. I received a complimentary ARC copy of “The Iris Fan” direct from the publisher Minotaur Books, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Interested in reading:
Due to my intense love of the Shinobi mysteries by Susan Spann, of which I previously blogged about during the Blade of the Samurai blog tour via TLC Book Tours I was motivated to sign myself up for this tour! I was not entirely sure if the context of this series would be similar to the former, but I had hoped to become wholly enthused by a new author’s interpretation of a past era of Japan, whilst being able to soak inside a new version of samurai history and the variants of where an author could take the central theme of their narrative arc! Read More
Posted Tuesday, 6 January, 2015 by jorielov in 17th Century, ARC | Galley Copy, Blog Tour Host, Content Note, Crime Fiction, Excessive Violence in Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Fly in the Ointment, Ghost Story, Good vs. Evil, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Japan, Japanese Fiction, Japanese History, Library Love, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Martial Art History, Uncategorized