Asian Literature – Baskerville Book Reviews

Review: Daughter of the Yellow Dragon

Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winner

Genghis Khan united a nation and created a vast empire for his heirs. But after 200 years of civil war, his empire has fallen into the dark ages.

Mandukhai dreams of being a fierce warrior woman, but her dreams are shattered when she is forced to become the second wife to the Great Khan.

Unebolod spent his life in the Great Khan’s shadow, preparing for a day when he can seize control of the empire. But when he forms a dangerous alliance with Mandukhai, it swiftly transforms into a passion that could destroy them both.

Just as the two are certain their fate will one day bring them together and make Unebolod the next Great Khan, a young prince surfaces to steal the Great Khan’s attention and the hearts of the nation.

Daughter of the Yellow Dragon is the first book in a gripping, gritty historical fiction series based on the epic life of one of the most underrated women in history. The series draws you into a world of brutal Mongol steppe life, deadly political games, and supernatural beliefs.

Please be advised: This book contains adult situations, graphic violence, assault, and personal loss.

Daughter of the Yellow Dragon is the Winter 2021 NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winner for outstanding historical fiction.

Review: The Priestess and the Dragon

The Cruel Prince meets Inuyasha in this slow-burn romantic fantasy. You won’t be able to put down this action-packed fantasy adventure!

Exiled to a mountain shrine, Suzume trains to become a priestess serving the god of the mountain. As she toils at the temple, she longs for a life beyond its walls. Until she awakens the slumbering god and unmasks the temple’s centuries-old secret.

The god is a fake. Five hundred years ago, the shrine’s founder sealed a dragon in a stone. And now that he’s free, he wants revenge. Unleashing the dragon wasn’t an accident. As Suzume learns, she’s the first priestess’ reincarnation.

He spirits her away and Suzume plots to kill him before he kills her. But the more time they spend together, she starts to question her feelings for him. Tangled threads of fate bind them together and Suzume must decide: will she follow her heart or will history repeat itself?

Start the adventure today with this epic romantic fantasy sure to please listeners who enjoy aching slow-burn romance, twists and turns, complex characters, and villains you love to hate!

Review: Okami

A prisoner seeking his freedom. A woman chosen by the gods. To break himself of his centuries-long bondage, he must capture her.

Shin gave everything up for love. Uncaring whether he lives or dies, when he catches a spy in his master’s land, he lets her escape. What he hadn’t been counting on was just how cruel his master can be. Now he must catch the spy or be locked away for eternity in darkness.

Pretending to be a woman, he infiltrates a woman’s only temple. Akane the spy is headstrong and determined to not trust him. But when fate sets them on a quest to save a kidnapped girl, they’re drawn together. As he falls for her, Shin finds a new reason to live. But fail to bring her back to his master and he’ll never see the light of day again.

Review: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji’s Rescue Team

Ginji is a regular schoolboy until he wakes up one day as a Torchic!

Before Ginji can figure out how to change back, a friendly Mudkip convinces him to become his partner and form a Rescue Team. Saving adorable Pokémon from disaster is exciting work, but can Ginji save himself? Will he ever be human again? And has his transformation turned the Pokémon world topsy-turvy?

The adventure–and mystery–is on!

Review: Black Jade

Could an old-fashioned ballgown be used to commit murder?

Daiyu Wu is aware that fear of the Yellow Terror has made her nationality a rare breed in the Lone Star State. Being Chinese and blind makes her doubly unique in 1930 Dallas. Despite these impediments, anyone who dismisses her for either fact does so at their peril.

One day, at her family-owned laundry business, Dai detects the scent of burned garlic. With the help of her companion, Jacques, the source is soon discovered. It is a green ballgown. The gown has money pinned inside it to pay for the cleaning, but oddly, it came with no address label to identify its owner. Her extensive knowledge leads Dai to believe someone has committed murder using arsenic. The perpetrator is trying to use White Laundry to hide the evidence. But no mention of foul play turns up in the newspapers, and there’s not enough proof to convince the police there’s been a crime.

Her curiosity and intellect stimulated like never before; Dai ignores the possible consequences and sets out to solve the mystery with the help of her canine companion, Prince Razor, and her confidant, Jacques Haskins. It’s either that or let the killer get away with it – assuming a spoiled popinjay, his jealous self-appointed girlfriend, and Dai’s overprotective parents don’t get in her way.

Review: Edge Case

When her husband suddenly disappears, a young woman must uncover where he went—and who she might be without him—in this striking debut of immigration, identity, and marriage.

After another taxing day as the sole female employee at her New York City tech startup, Edwina comes home to find that her husband, Marlin, has packed up a suitcase and left. The only question now is why. Did he give up on their increasingly hopeless quest to secure their green cards and decide to return to Malaysia? Was it the death of his father that sent him into a tailspin? Or has his strange, sudden change in personality finally made Marlin and Edwina strangers to each other?

As Edwina searches the city for traces of her husband, she simultaneously sifts through memories of their relationship, hoping to discover the moment when something went wrong. All the while, a coworker is making increasingly uncomfortable advances toward her. And she can’t hide the truth about Marlin’s disappearance from her overbearing, eccentric mother for much longer. Soon Edwina will have to decide how much she is willing to sacrifice in order to stay in her marriage and in America.

Poignant and darkly funny, Edge Case is a searing meditation on intimacy, estrangement, and the fractured nature of identity. In this moving debut, YZ Chin explores the imperfect yet enduring relationships we hold to country and family.