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Yang Shen, the God from the West, Book I (2nd Edition) by James Lande (4-Jul-2013) Paperback
This book is no longer available.A master in hell before a minion in Heaven. I'll be a prince in China, and lord over these heathen beggars, or I'll make a great many of them wish they'd better joss – better luck – than to cross my bow.Arriving in the midst of the bloodiest civil war in human history, Fletcher Thorson Wood takes up the imperial cause against the "Christian" rebels, trains and fights beside native Chinese troops, mandarins, and “Manilamen,” builds the most powerful Army in China, and as reward for his achievements grateful Chinese appoint Fletcher a mandarin of high rank, a general, and even honor him with a temple near Shanghai.Yankee Mandarin makes the reader see, feel, and understand the tumult of 1860s China – “the ships and weapons, the countryside with its intricate network of canals, the arcane maneuverings of Chinese politicians and merchants and the equally complex rivalries among the foreign powers, the squalid bars and brothels whose denizens simply struggled to survive each day, and the equally squalid conditions of the Chinese people in their villages.”Yankee Mandarin also is about the encounter, sometimes the clash, of Americans and Chinese. More than a historical adventure, this novel recreates times long past, places long lost in China, and long-silent voices of people in America, China, England and the Philippines who lived through cataclysmic events that echo still.
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First published August 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 2, 2012
Want to be picked up and dropped in the middle of a bloody civil war? Want to get stuck on a sandbar and battle a small fleet of pirates, while armed with only a six pound cannon and a few obsolete rifles? If this doesn't quench your adventurous thirst, then how about attacking a walled city guarded by blood-thirsty rebels, with less than a hundred intoxicated, undertrained mercenaries and deserters?
Or maybe you are in more of a social mood. How about mingling with rich merchants, decorated military leaders, dignitaries, and consuls at a palace by the Shanghai harbor?
If you find yourself suffocating or intimidated by the extravagant dress and arrogant behavior of the elite British, French, and Americans who are well-off and well connected; simply walk down a short way and enter one of the less formal establishments where the conversation, alcohol, and women are much easier to come by.
When you wake up the following morning, if your hangover allows it, take a trip to inland China on the Whangpoo River and tour a medieval landscape of ancient, walled towns and primitive farmers and their huts along the waterway. You might as well get bullied by a petty king of the rebels. Don't worry, he'll let you go if you pay him an extortion fee of a small fortune. By now, you should have had a full day and be ready for your bunk in the bowels of a side-paddle river steamer that is assigned to suppress murdering pirates up and down the Yangtze River.
Of course, if your blood's hot, and chasing pirates in their own familiar territory just doesn't scratch that itch for adventure, you can always join that mercenary, bull-headed American opportunist Fletcher Wood. This will give you the official Chinese seal of approval to jump right into the bloodiest civil war in history. You can shoot and kill, or get shot and killed. And if you need more risk to add some spice, just remember it is possible that you can go to jail for all this fun if the British or American powers-that-be decide you are violating their political instructions.
Anyone that likes historical novels with a little action, or action novels with a little history, should definitely try Lande on for size. The first chapters are a little awkward for me, because I know very little of China's history. However, Lande does a very good job of introducing the 19th century culture of the Yangtze Delta to the ignorant (in laymen's terms). It really is a good 101 lesson on some of the customs and politcal structures of that ancient nation.
If you like Shogun, you'll like this novel. If you like Master and Commander, or similar maritime tales, you'll like this book. My only surprise is that we don't see it on the New York Times' bestseller list.
Or maybe you are in more of a social mood. How about mingling with rich merchants, decorated military leaders, dignitaries, and consuls at a palace by the Shanghai harbor?
If you find yourself suffocating or intimidated by the extravagant dress and arrogant behavior of the elite British, French, and Americans who are well-off and well connected; simply walk down a short way and enter one of the less formal establishments where the conversation, alcohol, and women are much easier to come by.
When you wake up the following morning, if your hangover allows it, take a trip to inland China on the Whangpoo River and tour a medieval landscape of ancient, walled towns and primitive farmers and their huts along the waterway. You might as well get bullied by a petty king of the rebels. Don't worry, he'll let you go if you pay him an extortion fee of a small fortune. By now, you should have had a full day and be ready for your bunk in the bowels of a side-paddle river steamer that is assigned to suppress murdering pirates up and down the Yangtze River.
Of course, if your blood's hot, and chasing pirates in their own familiar territory just doesn't scratch that itch for adventure, you can always join that mercenary, bull-headed American opportunist Fletcher Wood. This will give you the official Chinese seal of approval to jump right into the bloodiest civil war in history. You can shoot and kill, or get shot and killed. And if you need more risk to add some spice, just remember it is possible that you can go to jail for all this fun if the British or American powers-that-be decide you are violating their political instructions.
Anyone that likes historical novels with a little action, or action novels with a little history, should definitely try Lande on for size. The first chapters are a little awkward for me, because I know very little of China's history. However, Lande does a very good job of introducing the 19th century culture of the Yangtze Delta to the ignorant (in laymen's terms). It really is a good 101 lesson on some of the customs and politcal structures of that ancient nation.
If you like Shogun, you'll like this novel. If you like Master and Commander, or similar maritime tales, you'll like this book. My only surprise is that we don't see it on the New York Times' bestseller list.
January 29, 2012
Having recently finished the unabridged version of Les Miserables, when I began Yang Shen I immediately noticed a similarity between the technique of Mr Lande with the work of Victor Hugo. Both authors have interspersed chapters containing a wide variety of historical detail with other chapters which weave the threads of exciting, action stories. The drama of Yang Shen extends from fighting pirates on the high seas to negotiating passage through vicious rebel armies on the upper reaches of the treacherous Yangtze River. I am as yet only half way through this book but I can heartily recommend it to scholars of history as well as any others looking for “page-turning” action. The meticulously researched volume includes many maps of the times and supplementary data to support most readers interests.
Just remembered I needed to finish this review. The last part of Yang Shen flows even better than the beginning. Our hero, Fletcher Thorson Wood, looking to make his fortune, agrees to help the imperial Chinese forces against rebels threatening Shanghai. The story of the ebb and flow of his efforts to raise, arm, train and commit to battle a rag-tag force of drunken has-beens is a complicated tale full of intrigue and nail-biting action but described most capably by Mr. Lande. The cast of characters range from pompous, ornately dressed mandarins to scruffy native junk men in dirty padded jackets, as well as a variety of soldiers and riverboat crew. The close of the story leaves us anxiously awaiting Book II.
Just remembered I needed to finish this review. The last part of Yang Shen flows even better than the beginning. Our hero, Fletcher Thorson Wood, looking to make his fortune, agrees to help the imperial Chinese forces against rebels threatening Shanghai. The story of the ebb and flow of his efforts to raise, arm, train and commit to battle a rag-tag force of drunken has-beens is a complicated tale full of intrigue and nail-biting action but described most capably by Mr. Lande. The cast of characters range from pompous, ornately dressed mandarins to scruffy native junk men in dirty padded jackets, as well as a variety of soldiers and riverboat crew. The close of the story leaves us anxiously awaiting Book II.
March 21, 2013
Yankee Mandarin
by James Lande
Old China Books
www.oldchinabooks.com
publisher@oldchinabooks.com
blog.oldchinabooks.com
Yankee Mandarin is a work of love by a person who has extraordinary and detailed knowledge about the subject, the time, and the tensions of the area. It is very carefully crafted, and I respect the work that is represented here. Personally, I found that there was too much detail, too much precision in the descriptions of the changing of sails and charting the navigation and the different kinds of powder in the guns and the sudden changes of perspective from observation to internal monologue. Sometimes, I thought it felt more like reading a technical manual on tall ship sailing and warfare or a history text on China --- so, I have found it hard to follow - but, again, that could be me. If I knew more about sailing for example, I may have a different view entirely - I may see it as an escape into a different and big world, and may relish these very things. I may not be the audience Yankee Mandarin deserves.
Some books don't get their audiences right away. It's a shame, but a lot of really great stuff gets missed when it's relatively new. Dickens was popular, but he was also serialized in print, and he didn't have a lot of competition. (He was one of my favorites in high school. He and Jane Austen. She wasn't popular during her life, either. :D) People hated James Joyce - still do - and Rushdie doesn't get as many readers as be does buyers. (People buy his books to be daring, but they can't get through the first chapter. The loss is theirs.) People buy Stephen King, but don't understand his stories. They ignore Irving. they read paranormal romance and confuse it with science fiction a la Huxley and Bradbury.
As an alternative to my usual review format, this time, I'm going to include segments from a conversation with the author about the work.
I have to come clean here: I've run into my deadline, and I need to post my review without finishing the book. It is my hope and plan to submit a more thorough review of the whole book as I finish it - but this one takes more than a few days to read respectfully, and it has earned the respect and attention of its readers. I don't want to short-sheet it. I do have every intention of completing this book, and giving it the attention it deserves.
James Lande (because he describes YM much better than I can):
Yes, there is much detail. It comes of asking, generally speaking, "how did they do that?" And "how did that happen?" instead of glossing over the possibilities just to get on to the next ripped bodice. For example, three chapters are taken up with the sailing of Essex from HK to Shanghai. Another book might have written "Essex left Ningpo and made Shanghai in thirty hours, delayed as she was in the Volcano Islands by the attack of Chinese pirates." And that story could then get on to the next exciting event instead of asking "what pirates." (Yang Shen has notes to explain that, but they were removed from YM as an encumbrance to the Amazon audience.) [Reviewer's note: Yang Shen is another, related novel by Old China Books.]
YM (and YS) are written to be read slowly, slowly enough to consider the detail of these events, as one might if one were actually there. Then, such detail might not seem quite so cumbersome. Of course, that's like saying that passengers on a cruise ship might stop to observe how that ship (upon which their lives depend) is operated, instead of just dining, dancing, gambling and cheating on their spouses. Such passengers may not pay attention until something happens, like a wheelchair-bound passenger is pushed over the side of the Achille Lauro and they watch the video of his fall into the sea.
This style hails back to, as I mentioned, Dickens and other 19th century writers whose audience had plenty of time and attention to devote to a book, and did not live in a society of people with drastically fragmented interests and significant attention span deficit. So, of course, such books paddle against a strong current and could not reasonably be expected to be warmly received by audiences that revere Twilight. For crying out loud - YM has a glossary! Can you believe it? "Hey, bro - whattya do with this?" Personally, if a book has a glossary, I read the glossary first, expecting that will make easier to follow along, without jumping back and forth. I did that with M. M. Kay's The Far Pavilions and was glad for it.
In the end, the author has to have faith that, like the small community of readers that escaped in Fahrenheit 451, there are still some number of readers who would welcome books that they can relish as they did when they read Trollope or Melville. The difficulty is figuring out how to reach them. Starting out, I thought that appealing to readers of Shogun would nourish readership for Yang Shen. Alas, it would appear that most of Shogun's 15 million readers have passed on to their reward, or become too old to hold a book up in front of their faces. Shogun is a recent example of the kind of book of which we speak - 1500 pages of such detail about Japan that high school teachers assign the book in history classes. Yang Shen is like that. So, why aren't there 15 million readers aching for a similar read?
Dickens is a kind of a measure to keep in mind. His best books have a convoluted density that requires readers to slow down and consume at a pace much different from that for reading a newspaper or graphic novel. They take place on a particular page of history that readers must learn about to truly appreciate the stories, and readers who like Dickens enjoy acquiring the history as well from companion sources. You would not want to swallow a Bordeaux chocolate in one gulp.
For readers not versed in Chinese history, the China in 1860 video is a brief intro to the historical background of the book (blog.oldchinabooks.com). I also put together a video, The Lower Reaches, that follows Fletcher's route up the Yangtze from Shanghai to Wuhu and back, believing some readers might like a better view of the locations, which in the book are broken up between chapters and liable to fade from immediate memory when reading, say, a chapter a day or week.
http://www.amazon.com/Yankee-Mandarin...
Review first posted on irevuo.com.
April 3, 2022
Brilliantly written novel set during 1860s China, with a Shakespearean breadth of language, dialogue and voices.
November 30, 2011
Continuing in the tradition of Shogun and Taipan, James Lande is writing a blockbuster novel about the adventure of a 19th century American soldier-of-fortune who returns to China to topple the Manchu dynasty and make himself a prince, even emperor, in China. Arriving in the midst of the bloodiest civil war in human history, Fletcher Thorson Wood instead takes up the imperial cause against the "Christian" rebels, trains and fights beside native Chinese troops and mandarins, builds the most powerful Army in China, and as reward for his achievements is made not a prince but a Chinese god. If you liked Shogun, you may also like Yang Shen. You'll find it at WWW.YANG-SHEN.INFO, and there is more info at WWW.OLDCHINABOOKS.COM. Yang Shen is at Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
When America's civil war began, China's civil war approached its horrific end. Late imperial China suffered severely from domestic disorder and foreign affliction - set upon by rebels within and Western "barbarians" without.
China's rulers themselves were a foreign dynasty of Manchu and Mongol conquerors who lived apart from native Han Chinese in walled garrisons in the heart of Chinese cities. Taiping insurgents professing a "Christian" faith conquered half the country and threatened to replace the old Confucian order. English, French, Russians and Americans warred against China over ratification of "unequal" treaties won by gunboat "diplomacy."
Into the midst of China's maelstrom came an American adventurer leading a ragtag army in defense of empire - a man from the West grateful Chinese made into a god, a "yang shen." Yang Shen tells a story of the encounter, sometimes the clash, of Americans and Chinese. Based closely on primary and secondary source material from both the Chinese and Western record, Yang Shen draws on the work of hundreds of scholars of late imperial China whose insights inspired much of the story's abundant detail. More than a historical adventure, Yang Shen recreates times long past, places long lost in China, and long-silent voices of people in America, China, and England who lived through cataclysmic events that echo still.
About the Author
James Lande was born in Los Angeles in 1945 and grew up in Southern California. He served four years in the U. S. Army, graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Chinese Language and Literature, and lived in China (Taiwan) for three years. James was seasoned by a variety of jobs (ambulance attendant, marine biology technician, hospital orderly, taxicab driver, policeman, swimming pool manager, ESL teacher, bartender, Chinese driving instructor, casualty insurance investigator...) before settling into a 30-year career as a commercial applications software developer and project manager. Over the years, James has attempted several novels - Yang Shen is his first novel to reach publication. More at James Lande's Author Page at Amazon.com.
When America's civil war began, China's civil war approached its horrific end. Late imperial China suffered severely from domestic disorder and foreign affliction - set upon by rebels within and Western "barbarians" without.
China's rulers themselves were a foreign dynasty of Manchu and Mongol conquerors who lived apart from native Han Chinese in walled garrisons in the heart of Chinese cities. Taiping insurgents professing a "Christian" faith conquered half the country and threatened to replace the old Confucian order. English, French, Russians and Americans warred against China over ratification of "unequal" treaties won by gunboat "diplomacy."
Into the midst of China's maelstrom came an American adventurer leading a ragtag army in defense of empire - a man from the West grateful Chinese made into a god, a "yang shen." Yang Shen tells a story of the encounter, sometimes the clash, of Americans and Chinese. Based closely on primary and secondary source material from both the Chinese and Western record, Yang Shen draws on the work of hundreds of scholars of late imperial China whose insights inspired much of the story's abundant detail. More than a historical adventure, Yang Shen recreates times long past, places long lost in China, and long-silent voices of people in America, China, and England who lived through cataclysmic events that echo still.
About the Author
James Lande was born in Los Angeles in 1945 and grew up in Southern California. He served four years in the U. S. Army, graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Chinese Language and Literature, and lived in China (Taiwan) for three years. James was seasoned by a variety of jobs (ambulance attendant, marine biology technician, hospital orderly, taxicab driver, policeman, swimming pool manager, ESL teacher, bartender, Chinese driving instructor, casualty insurance investigator...) before settling into a 30-year career as a commercial applications software developer and project manager. Over the years, James has attempted several novels - Yang Shen is his first novel to reach publication. More at James Lande's Author Page at Amazon.com.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews