"Dragon Bones"

Dragon Bones (2003) is a good mystery novel that is very entertaining to read.  In the two previous Red Princess Mysteries, the two main characters are China herself and Liu Hulan.  Since the time frame of these two books is relatively short (the Cultural Revolution and the years after), their complex plots follow a number of characters as they ride the hurricane ups and downs of this period.

At the center of both novels is Hulan.  The complexity of her character matches the complexity of the China in which she lives.  On the one hand, she is the ice princess, cold and unfeeling in her MPS investigations.  On the other hand, she is a woman deeply wounded by her past and haunted by guilt for what she has previously done.  David Stark, the talented American attorney who loves Hulan, is in many ways the interpreter of China for the reader.

In Dragon Bones Hulan and David return with China once more as their world.  Now David’s role is expanded and Hulan moves more to the background.  The problem in doing this is that Hulan is the heart and soul of the Red Princess Mysteries.  In making her role smaller, the reader tends to read Dragon Bones as a good mystery rather than a fine novel, which its predecessors are.  David is now more central to the story and his character is more rounded, but since he is a simpler character than Hulan, he can’t substitute for her.  Nevertheless, his emergence as an action hero is interesting in its own right.  (Is it physically possible to do all that David does after his beating near the end of the novel?)

Some random impressions:

·         In the beginning the death of Chaowen seems more told than shown; later, when the lovers attempt to regain their love from the past, their grief and guilt become more real for the reader

·         The scene in which Hulan shoots the mother at the All-Patriotic Society rally is extremely well done, bringing back memories of Hulan and her own daughter.  The treatment of Brian’s mistress and child are also effective in this regard.

·         Paradoxically, China herself doesn’t seem as rich and significant as the country appears in the previous novels; the paradox lies in the fact that Chinese history is now treated from the perspective of 5000 years or more.  The much shorter and more contemporary time frames of the previous two books may make them more real to some extent.  My lack of knowledge of Chinese history and the various dynasties may be an issue here as well.  I still don’t completely understand the significance of Brian’s discoveries or why the Site 518 ruyi is so important as a contemporary symbol that transfers great power to its possessor.

·         Hulan’s resolution of many of her deepest conflicts at story’s end seems somewhat rushed.  The power of Michael’s words and her throwing her guilt and pain from the past into the river make sense, but Hulan’s healing in real world terms would take a long time.

To sum up: Dragon Bones is a good mystery.  Flower Net is a fine novel that transcends its genre.