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Master Assassin Baian #1
Master Assassin: Tales of Murder from the Shogun's City
Baian, a specialist in acupuncture and, secretly, murder, becomes involved with a scheming prostitute, an important witness, two assassins hired to kill him, a victim of natural causes, and a doublecrossing underworld boss
184 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 2, 2018
Nu mi s-a parut cine stie ce. Nu stiu daca neaparat pentru ca am citit-o repede, dar oricum, se putea si mai bine.
August 23, 2012
A doctor who was also an assassin....cool. Hey, aren't all doctors like that? Kidding....peace to all doctors around the world. Including the one who assassinated my thyroid gland. Btw, this book is exactly the same as Ninja Justice: Six Tales of Murder and Revenge. I ended up with both, lucky me.
Women, women, women. The world is kept turning round and round by women. Good women, evil women, a very thin line between them.
Women, women, women. The world is kept turning round and round by women. Good women, evil women, a very thin line between them.
April 6, 2012
It's been a while since I read this book, but I remember immediately being whisked away into this long lost Japan. The stories were smart and interesting. But what really stuck out to me was the food. The loving detail with which authentically pre-oil-cooking Japanese dishes were described made my mouth water. So, yum.
April 7, 2022
Ikenami Shotaro writes historical detective stories, set in the Eddo period. Was quite popular and also filmed for TV. The Japanese originals are quite good, and written in a literary style. However, the translations we have here are abominable - more like excerpts or summaries - everything that is beautiful in the original is left out. Avoid. (The original Japanese stories would get 4 stars...)
June 19, 2015
3rd time reading it... still a favourite
December 10, 2022
Short stories which are a fun read, but somewhat formulaic. Unfortunately some of the attitudes towards women are very outdated.
February 4, 2017
Initially I picked this book up because I'm in charge of the weekly reviews for the anime adaptation of Ikenami's Onihei Hankachō and I was hoping he'd put in an appearance in this series. As it turns out, the two appear to be totally unrelated in terms of characters. What is more interesting is the amazing level of masculinity in the tales. This reads like men's fiction of the mid-twentieth century pulp magazines: women are untrustworthy for all things but sex, men are paragons of manly virtue and skilled in (awesome) violence, and male bonding is the the best bonding. The action of the stories is engaging and the character of a doctor/assassin definitely interesting, but I'm left hoping that Onihei Hankacho's adaptation will be at least a little updated in its attitudes as it goes on.
March 29, 2017
An ok assassin-fantasy book. None of the techniques or payment systems were actually used... and it's quite heavy on the fantasy side of things... not to mention abundant rape, abuse, and misogyny.
Not an author I'll read again.
Not an author I'll read again.
August 23, 2012
This is the same as Master Assassin: Tales of Murders from the Shogun City
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews