More Judge Dee is always a good thing!
Qiu Xialong has now written a couple of continuation books to Robert Van Gulik’s 1950s – 1960s Judge Dee stories. The Conspiracies of the Empire is the second of these, and in it, Judge Dee, who is a real historical figure, is now older and more politically active than he was in the Van Gulik books. Not that he was unsophisticated before – quite the opposite – but he’s now a very high official in the court of Empress Wu, with all the political machinations and skullduggery that entails.
Like many of the folks I imagine will gravitate to this book, I have been a big fan of the Van Gulik/Judge Dee stories for years, and The Conspiracies of the Empire is a worthy successor. It has the feel, or at least what I imagine to be the feel, of that time, although I’m not an expert on seventh century China. But the emphasis both on the dynastical issues, and on the respect for poets and poetry, are consistent with what I do know. And one of these poets is Luo Binwang, who wrote the famous poem, A Call to Arms, which helped spark a revolution against the Empress.
The mystery itself is less of a whodunnit and more of a journey to resolve whether Luo has died in battle, or has somehow survived. Judge Dee is feeling old and creaky, and doesn’t want to pursue the investigation, but the Empress compels him to, claiming she wants to bring such a brilliant man to her court. But does she – or does the trail of dead bodies following Judge Dee indicate that she really wants to eliminate Luo? Or maybe even eliminate Judge Dee himself? Hence the “Conspiracies” of the title…
All-in-all, The Conspiracies of the Empire is well worth a read, but do be forewarned that it’s heavy on the poets and poetry, with quotations – some by famous orators/poets and some by the author himself – at the beginning of every chapter, as well as woven into the text. And in the historical notes at the end, in addition to providing a really nice background, Qiu also provides the text of A Call to Arms and other poems of the time. I enjoyed these, but if poetry is really truly not your thing, you might try a sample before buying. Otherwise, though, I have no hesitations in recommending The Conspiracies of the Empire. And if you are lucky enough to have started reading about Judge Dee with this book, you now have not only Qiu’s previous book, The Shadow of the Empire, to read, but the entire Van Gulik series as well!
And finally, my thanks to the publisher, Severn House, and to NetGalley for the review copy.
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