{"id":5988,"date":"2016-08-12T19:23:33","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T23:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5988"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:13:42","slug":"black-arrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5988","title":{"rendered":"Black Arrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black Arrow<\/a><\/em> (2006) I.J. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Black-Arrow\"<\/a>Set in Echigo Province, JAPAN GODS-ABSENT MONTH (NOVEMBER), A.D. 1015<\/p>\n

Akitada has been sent to Echigo as provisional governor, and discovers that there are many problems at his new post, from the decrepit compound to a possible revolution to outcasts possibly harboring fugitives.<\/p>\n

Plus the fact that the winters are long and isolating.<\/p>\n

I liked the historical and political aspects of this story, as well as the murder mysteries. <\/p>\n

Under the Chinese system, a judge had to watch as his sentence was carried out, and Akitada wondered at Hisamatsu\u2019s interest in the various torturous methods of killing a man or woman. He seemed to take inordinate pleasure in detailing their finer points.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And I really like Akitada. He’s quite human.<\/p>\n

Akitada chafed at this and at the fact that Kaoru had taken over and was giving the orders, but he submitted. He felt badly out of his depth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s an interesting series, and I’m enjoying it.<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Penguin Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Arrow (2006) I.J. Parker Set in Echigo Province, JAPAN GODS-ABSENT MONTH (NOVEMBER), A.D. 1015 Akitada has been sent to Echigo as provisional governor, and discovers that there are many problems at his new post, from the decrepit compound to a possible revolution to outcasts possibly harboring fugitives. Plus the fact that the winters are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,31,33,8],"tags":[393,549,118,558],"class_list":["post-5988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-asian","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-akitada","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-i-j-parker","tag-song-dynasty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1yA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3053,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3053","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":0},"title":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Akitada and the Way of Justice (2011) I. J. Parker This is a collection of eleven short stories featuring the 11th century Japanese \"detective\" (there wasn't such a term at the time) Akitada, over the span of his career, from the first mystery he was involved in to one towards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/akitada-way-of-justice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6022,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6022","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":1},"title":"The Crane Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Crane Pavilion (2014) I.J. Parker I skipped the book before this after reading the blurb for this book. After the loss of his wife and newborn son, Akitada returns home, ostensibly to care for his motherless children, but really to withdraw from the world into his grief. When his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Crane-Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Crane-Pavilion-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5800,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5800","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":2},"title":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"April 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Tales of Love and Murder (2012) I.J. Parker Set in Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) in 11th century Japan. These are three Akitada short stories\/novellas, all about love and murder (of course, from the title). Death and Cherry Blossoms Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Flowery Month (May) This finds Akitada at the start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Three-Tales-of-Love-and-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6002,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6002","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":3},"title":"The Masuda Affair","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Masuda Affair (2011) I.J. Parker Akitada is struggling to deal with the death of his son in a smallpox epidemic, when he comes upon a small abused boy alone in the rain. Rescuing the boy has far greater consequences than he could have imagined, when this draws Akitada into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Masuda-Affair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Masuda-Affair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6011,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6011","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":4},"title":"The Emperor’s Woman","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Emperor's Woman (2012) I.J. Parker Set in 1028. She was intended to be the emperor\u2019s concubine, but she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira\u2019s private villa. The palace covered up the scandal. Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Emperors-Woman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Emperors-Woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5985,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5985","url_meta":{"origin":5988,"position":5},"title":"The Hell Screen","author":"Michelle","date":"August 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hell Screen (2003) I.J. Parker I was trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read, when I stumbled across The Hell Screen and remembered that I have the Lord Sugawara Akitada mysteries. Akitada is returning to the capital after receiving notice that his mother is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Hell-Screen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Hell-Screen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}