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(More customer reviews)Some 3500 years ago a blacksmith roamed China with his two children. One reason they wandered as much as they did is to keep people from noticing how slowly they aged and how healthy they were. Gao the Blacksmith had discovered a secret of meditation and movement that had amazing benefits. Zetain and her brother Sanfeng practiced the same secrets. Of course, discovery was inevitable, angry villagers suffering from a plague turned on Gao, and the children fled, surviving on their wiles and the special powers their 'qigong' practice gave them. 3500 years later, they have become secretive powers in the oriental world, and now, for the second time, the original plague has returned to threaten the world.
While Sanfeng and Zetian play key roles in this tale the real heroes are Dalton Day an unlikely gongfu instructor who has stumbled on a number of Gao's secrets, Leili Musi, whose son is an early victim of the deadly disease, and Monica Farmore, who has drawn the assignment of helping Dalton Day during a tour of Hong Kong to publicize his new book. There are quite a few other interesting characters, but these are the people who will either save or destroy the world. Zetian is a cruel and materialistic woman who cares not at all what happens to the world. She is opposed by her brother who has set in motion plans that will bring a glimmer of hope to a world dying from a disease that seems to have no cause. The others are the pieces in the complicated game of chess that Gao's children are playing.
Rosenfeld does an admirable job of keeping the plot moving without getting bogged down in various metaphysical and environmental discussions. Don't get me wrong, these do happen, but the author establishes a balance that keeps up the reader's interest. The tension builds slowly, but steadily. He introduces some interesting ideas (look up apoptosis) that make this more than yet another 'plague ends the world' story. I also appreciated the tour of Hong Kong and Indonesia as well as the insights into how well the world deals (or doesn't deal) with a major health crisis.
This is the second of Rosenfeld's novels that I've read (the first was The Cutting Season, a tale of a doctor who is more than a little handy with swords). This story is more maturely written and works on more levels than the first. Since they are completely unrelated tales I would recommend The Crocodile And The Crane for starters.
[Review copy provided by the author]
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