Dragon Bones: A Red Princess Mystery

Loved the information on China. Stopped reading to go to internet to view in pictures, if possible, on places/people mentioned. Sparked in interest to learn more about China and the people of China.

What a writer ! Lisa See educates without being pedantic. In Dragon Bones, she has created a complex mystery while including enormous amounts of information on Chinese culture and environmental effects of the Three Gorges Dam. I learned much and was entertained as well.

Mystery novel. Hulan is a Chinese police investigator, married to an American lawyer. A foreigner dies at an archaeological excavation near the Three Gorges dam that will shortly destroy the Three Gorges [one of the great ecological, archaeological, and social crimes of our time – any “villain” trying to stop the dams by almost any means is a good guy to me]. Hulan + David’s investigation is complicated by strange doings among the foreign and Chinese archaeologists, unscrupulous artifact collectors and the market for stolen antiquities, and the All Patriotic Society, a cult (illegal in China), not to mention the unhappy locals who will be forcibly relocated. The novel starts well, with an interesting premise of a decent cop whose duty is to support a vicious regime. But the writing and plot both go downhill by the end, in favor of the struggling relationship between the two heroes (boring!). The description of the antiquities market is suitably grim to the archaeologist, although I can’t speak for its realism. However, See does not even attempt the bare bones of a realistic archaeological project - artifacts are apparently dug like potatoes out of holes at “Site 518” with no cultural context at all, except a fabulous tomb which is never described. The discussions among the archaeologists are stilted and relate only to the absurd mythology that supposedly provides the excuse for the archaeology, and the flimsy context for the couple of artifacts that See bothered to research. I did not find the characters or story compelling. It is lazy writing to set plots around subjects you don't bother to research or understand.

Lisa See has used the genre of mystery fiction to write literate sociological comment. Her series of Red Princess books is fascinating. Having read one of her books I consider lighter fiction, I was not expecting the level of literary merit of these books. I am now a Lisa See fan no matter what she writes. Her writing is superb, and this series illustrates not only life in China past and present, and the issues inherent in that life, but the conflicts of one person who wants to stay in her homeland and still live by her own moral sense. While reading this particular book, I did research the dam and its consequences. Appallingly accurate writing. I will be reading Lisa See's work whenever it is released in future.

Dragon Bones is Lisa See's third contemporary Chinese mystery featuring Inspector Liu Hulan. I read the first one, Flower Net, and somehow the second passed me by. Like Flower Net, Dragon Bones is both a great detective story and a window into modern Chinese culture. Lisa See manages to show us a lot about a rapidly modernizing China without bogging down the story. Liu Hulan is the kind of character I'd like to have a meal with: smart, interesting, with pain in her past but not consumed by it. Lisa See has a gift at making the character seem completely Chinese to the Western reader yet sympathetic at the same time.

Having recently read, and loved, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel, , I understand more about Lisa See's strengths as a writer. Depiction of foreign culture: fantastic. Male characters: not so much. This wasn't as apparent in Snow Flower because the men lived in a different world from the women characters that were the focus of the story. In Dragon Bones, Hulan is married to an American man, David Stark. David's character never comes to life like Hulan's. Although he and I (and the writer) have more in common than Liu Hulan and I do, never the less, Hulan is fully three-dimensional and believable where David falls flat.

If you like mysteries that are different without being gimmicky, you will enjoy this book. There's no need to read them in order although I'm sure there are some benefits from doing so. There are some graphic crime scenes, as a warning to the squeamish.

The two previous Liu Hunan mysteries explored contempary Chinese topics. This one explores China's long history and the hold that history, be it fact or myth, has on a modern nation.

Twice in China's long history, a tyrant has tried to eradicate the past. The first emperor, Qin Shi Huang (221-210 BC) ordered the destruction of all books that covered China's (then) history, as well as the eradication of schools of social/political thought that did not accord with his strict legalism. Much more recently, Mao Zedong carried out a vicious campaign against the "Four Olds" during the Cultural Revolution. Contemporary Chinese are eager to recover what they have lost.

This mystery is set at an archeological site along the Yangzi's Three Gorges, a site that will soon be drowned by a massive dam. When the site turns up evidence that a legendary/mythical king of four thousand years ago, Da Yao (Yao the Great), may have existed, several factions try to seize and control the artifacts. One of the most sinister is a shadowy man who calls himself Xiao Da (Little Big), who controls a growing mass movement.

The story is interesting and has good information about the Chinese, but the narrator requires adjustment for Westerners. It sounds as if she is reading from the book, and her voice keeps going up, even at the end of sentences. A western voice goes down at the end of a sentence, unless asking a question. She also talks fast at times, and her breath is tense. The dialogue between characters is good. If you are aware that she may be using the style, accent, and diction of the Chinese, this will help. It may be that this audio book has been produced for the Chinese in America or those of Chinese decent. I have heard many educated Chinese who speak excellent English who do not adopt this style. Lisa See gives a good perspective on Chinese life.

"Dragon Bones" is the third book in a series featuring Inspector Liu Hulan and her attorney husband David Stark. Five years have passed since the tragedy that punctuated "The Interior." And Hulan and David are still grappling with a personal crisis in their lives.
Hulan has become a fully realized character in this novel. Author See does some things with her that she has not done before. For the first time there is a feistiness about her. She has certainly become more assertive in her role as an inspector. She remains the only female in a world of law enforcement dominated by men.
Hulan's sexuality also comes into play in "Dragon Bones." There is a sassiness about the way she carries herself around a certain male character. She is put in more than one situation where she must walk a fine line between remaining faithful to her husband or cheating on him.
In the end, Hulan is able to exorcise her demons. All of her issues get washed away by the Yangzi River. And like Andy Dufresne, she comes out clean on the other side. Hulan has reinvented herself and in so doing has returned to the character we first met in the opening pages of "Flower Net." The author could not have written a better ending. She has effectively set the stage for the next installment in this series.
Lisa See's storytelling, like her character development, has improved since "Flower Net." The plot is tight and well conceived. We are thrust into the story when the first dead body shows up in the opening sentence of the prologue, unlike her previous novels where we had to wait for several pages.
In conclusion, Lisa See has once again opened up a world that most of us will never experience first hand. She doesn't just take us to contemporary China, she takes us off the beaten path. Like the caverns that are so much a part of this story, the country is an organic entity. It is at times an antagonist, and even when it isn't, it is never neutral. I am fully captivated by it.
We are not just entertained in "Dragon Bones," we are educated as well. And isn't that what a good novel is supposed to do?

I really enjoyed this book. I plowed through it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

Don't look for any deep symbolism or meaning here - it's pure entertainment. The main characters are well drawn, and the plot interesting - a Chinese woman and her estranged American husband trying to solve a murder and theft of artifacts at an archeological dig. Liu Hulan and David Stark are an intense, powerful couple, and you are drawn into their anguish in the first few pages.

Lively supporting characters at the dig site make the book even more fun. The plot twists and turns, changing your opinion of the characters multiple times before the book's fantastic finish.

I did learn some things about Chinese culture and politics, but they were overshadowed by the luminous characters and gripping action.

All of the ingredients were present to make Dragon Bones the perfect novel: the characters were so developed and complex they practically jumped off the page; the plot was multi-layered with interesting twists and turns; Lisa See's engaging writing style and pace made for an enjoyable read; and the depth of information about Chinese culture and way of life rounded out the storyline.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a five star engrossing read that you just won't be able to put down.

I read one other book by the author, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I also loved, and was impressed by how different this novel was, and yet how much I enjoyed it. Clearly, Ms. See is an extremely talented writer capable of tackling very different types of novels. I can't wait to read another of her books!

We include this novel because of the way it weaves ancient myths and the Chinese sense of history into a telling of timely contemporary events. The book is the latest in Lisa See's series featuring her fascinating sleuth Liu Hulan, an inspector in China's Ministry of Public Security. In this story, Hulan must deal with enduring beliefs about Yu the Great, thought to be the first person to regulate the China's rivers, and with problems surrounding China's ambitious Three Gorges Dam project. Hulan's haunting memories of her childhood during the Cultural Revolution and her uncertainties about her future with husband David, an American attorney working in China, serve as distractions as she investigates the murder of an American who worked at an archeological site next to the Yangzi. Surly peasants, bureaucratic obfuscation and corruption, the illegal selling of ancient artifacts, and the power of a semi-religious cult further add to Hulan's troubles. There are nice descriptions of the Yangzi in full flood, and of the millennia-old labor of the peasants.

The two previous Liu Hunan mysteries explored contempary Chinese topics. This one explores China's long history and the hold that history, be it fact or myth, has on a modern nation.

Twice in China's long history, a tyrant has tried to eradicate the past. The first emperor, Qin Shi Huang (221-210 BC) ordered the destruction of all books that covered China's (then) history, as well as the eradication of schools of social/political thought that did not accord with his strict legalism. Much more recently, Mao Zedong carried out a vicious campaign against the "Four Olds" during the Cultural Revolution. Contemporary Chinese are eager to recover what they have lost.

This mystery is set at an archeological site along the Yangzi's Three Gorges, a site that will soon be drowned by a massive dam. When the site turns up evidence that a legendary/mythical king of four thousand years ago, Da Yao (Yao the Great), may have existed, several factions try to seize and control the artifacts. One of the most sinister is a shadowy man who calls himself Xiao Da (Little Big), who controls a growing mass movement.

The story is interesting and has good information about the Chinese, but the narrator requires adjustment for Westerners. It sounds as if she is reading from the book, and her voice keeps going up, even at the end of sentences. A western voice goes down at the end of a sentence, unless asking a question. She also talks fast at times, and her breath is tense. The dialogue between characters is good. If you are aware that she may be using the style, accent, and diction of the Chinese, this will help. It may be that this audio book has been produced for the Chinese in America or those of Chinese decent. I have heard many educated Chinese who speak excellent English who do not adopt this style. Lisa See gives a good perspective on Chinese life.

"Dragon Bones" is the third book in a series featuring Inspector Liu Hulan and her attorney husband David Stark. Five years have passed since the tragedy that punctuated "The Interior." And Hulan and David are still grappling with a personal crisis in their lives.
Hulan has become a fully realized character in this novel. Author See does some things with her that she has not done before. For the first time there is a feistiness about her. She has certainly become more assertive in her role as an inspector. She remains the only female in a world of law enforcement dominated by men.
Hulan's sexuality also comes into play in "Dragon Bones." There is a sassiness about the way she carries herself around a certain male character. She is put in more than one situation where she must walk a fine line between remaining faithful to her husband or cheating on him.
In the end, Hulan is able to exorcise her demons. All of her issues get washed away by the Yangzi River. And like Andy Dufresne, she comes out clean on the other side. Hulan has reinvented herself and in so doing has returned to the character we first met in the opening pages of "Flower Net." The author could not have written a better ending. She has effectively set the stage for the next installment in this series.
Lisa See's storytelling, like her character development, has improved since "Flower Net." The plot is tight and well conceived. We are thrust into the story when the first dead body shows up in the opening sentence of the prologue, unlike her previous novels where we had to wait for several pages.
In conclusion, Lisa See has once again opened up a world that most of us will never experience first hand. She doesn't just take us to contemporary China, she takes us off the beaten path. Like the caverns that are so much a part of this story, the country is an organic entity. It is at times an antagonist, and even when it isn't, it is never neutral. I am fully captivated by it.
We are not just entertained in "Dragon Bones," we are educated as well. And isn't that what a good novel is supposed to do?

There's a lot involved here: Chinese history and folklore, artifact auction, the 3 gorges dam construction, a massive monsoon, ritual murders, ancient alliances and loyalty. It's quite complex but Linda See pulls it off. Nevermind the protagonist detective Liu who is also conflicted with her daughters death, her own history being raised in America, and the love or not of her lawyer husband.

I really enjoyed this book. I plowed through it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

Don't look for any deep symbolism or meaning here - it's pure entertainment. The main characters are well drawn, and the plot interesting - a Chinese woman and her estranged American husband trying to solve a murder and theft of artifacts at an archeological dig. Liu Hulan and David Stark are an intense, powerful couple, and you are drawn into their anguish in the first few pages.

Lively supporting characters at the dig site make the book even more fun. The plot twists and turns, changing your opinion of the characters multiple times before the book's fantastic finish.

I did learn some things about Chinese culture and politics, but they were overshadowed by the luminous characters and gripping action.

All of the ingredients were present to make Dragon Bones the perfect novel: the characters were so developed and complex they practically jumped off the page; the plot was multi-layered with interesting twists and turns; Lisa See's engaging writing style and pace made for an enjoyable read; and the depth of information about Chinese culture and way of life rounded out the storyline.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a five star engrossing read that you just won't be able to put down.

I read one other book by the author, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I also loved, and was impressed by how different this novel was, and yet how much I enjoyed it. Clearly, Ms. See is an extremely talented writer capable of tackling very different types of novels. I can't wait to read another of her books!

We include this novel because of the way it weaves ancient myths and the Chinese sense of history into a telling of timely contemporary events. The book is the latest in Lisa See's series featuring her fascinating sleuth Liu Hulan, an inspector in China's Ministry of Public Security. In this story, Hulan must deal with enduring beliefs about Yu the Great, thought to be the first person to regulate the China's rivers, and with problems surrounding China's ambitious Three Gorges Dam project. Hulan's haunting memories of her childhood during the Cultural Revolution and her uncertainties about her future with husband David, an American attorney working in China, serve as distractions as she investigates the murder of an American who worked at an archeological site next to the Yangzi. Surly peasants, bureaucratic obfuscation and corruption, the illegal selling of ancient artifacts, and the power of a semi-religious cult further add to Hulan's troubles. There are nice descriptions of the Yangzi in full flood, and of the millennia-old labor of the peasants.

Dragon Bones is Lisa See's third book featuring Inspector Liu Hulan and American Attorney David Stark. Several years have passed since the last book, The Interior, and during that time, our heroes have experienced much love, happiness, and a devastating loss. As See points out, the Chinese have a saying: "Things always change to the opposite". Soon after the novel begins, David and Hulan are sent on two separate assignments near the Three Gorges Dam: David is to investigate the theft of ancient artifacts, while Hulan is to investigate the murder of a promising, young American archaeologist.
With See's articulate, clear, and wonderfully descriptive writing style, Dragon Bones is well-paced and full of intrigue, making it a challenge to put down. Plot twists and murders constantly keep readers on their toes, demonstrating See's excellent skills as a storyteller.
One reason I've always enjoyed See's series is for the protagonists, David and Hulan. See has done a brilliant job creating in-depth, captivating characters with an interesting past. You can't help but care about them as they struggle to solve these crimes as well as mend their broken relationship. Sometimes we get a glimpse of David's perspective, while other times we get into Hulan's mind. This is one of my favorite aspects of See's writing--her ability to switch points of view subtly, yet so effectively. By getting into David's and Hulan's minds, it's evident that the two of them are meant for each other. But as the story progresses, readers will wonder if their relationship can survive after all the tragedies they have experienced. The answer is clear at the end of the novel.
Not only are some of the scenes extremely poignant, some are also very funny, particularly those involving the acerbic Pathologist Fong. And though this novel was entertaining, I also learned much, including Chinese culture, archaeology, and history of the Three Gorges Dam.
I would highly recommend this book!

Lisa See has written another winner. I love the Red Princess series and hope they continue. This is a very well written story with characters who will stay with you long after finishing the book. Highly recommend it and the other Lisa See novels.

A good yarn about thieving archaeologists and the biggest fungus on earth, Lisa See's Dragon Bones explores the tensions between western nations and post Cultural Revolution China. Set against the building of the Three Gorges Dam, this murder mystery also delves into the influence of Confucianism, Taoism, and Communism on modern Chinese identity. A jigger or two of smart mixed with equal parts thriller, the book is much better than the contrived hipster dadaism of Yu Hau's Brothers.

Imagine all the classic "mysterious things" that could irresistibly tempt you -- undiscovered caves, wild terrain, exotic cultures, ancient artifacts, mystical artifacts, lost treasure, hidden passages, the ominous powers of raw nature -- they're here. And not a carrot-wave, either. Then add well-done sex, grown-up views on social issues, multiple points of view, and lots of good ole' suspense and danger. I haven't read anything this enjoyable in a long time.

Lisa See always compels us to finish her intricately carved writings so that, even if we suspect one thing, we are knocked out by what follows. Surprises galore at the end of this book. Absolutely loved it! Cannot wait for the next one!

While I loved the "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" story, I felt this story was lifted right off the Indiana Jones adventures--trite and boring....been there, read that...nothing new...contrived. Found myself skimming thru many, many pages. Used plot, etc. I predicted the outcome from the first.....this is NOT a 5-star thriller!!!

I totally enjoyed this book. It was a mystery and suspense story with lots of background on the Chinese culture, archeology and how antiques get out of China that was fascinating. I am really excited that this is a series about the husband (American Lawyer) and wife(Chinese Detective). I look forward to reading the other two books. I understand Lisa See has written other awarding winning books, I intend to read them too!

Lisa See has me hooked!.....Housework and duties were calling my name...but they were easy to forget once I opened Dragon Bones.....See writes a compelling mystery, and it is impossible not to "get lost" in her books.

After finishing the Secret Fan, I figured I would give other books of hers a try. While the Dragon Bones mysteries are very different in nature from the Secret Fan, it was still a terrific read. Lisa See has a talent for pulling her reader into the environment of the story. Her words create vivid pictures of the scenes and I can see them easily creating a movie out of this one.

I heard Lisa See speak at the Los Angeles Prologue Society in May 2003, at which I also received a copy of her book. It starts slowly but then gets your attention very dramatically. Ms. See tells a good story. I look forward to getting her other books about Inspector Hulan.