The Emperor of Any Place
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Narrated by Todd Haberkorn
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The ghosts of war reverberate across the generations in a riveting, time-shifting story within a story from acclaimed thriller writer Tim Wynne-Jones.
When Evan's father dies suddenly, Evan finds a hand-bound yellow book on his desk-a book his dad had been reading when he passed away. The book is the diary of a Japanese soldier stranded on a small Pacific island in WWII. Why was his father reading it? What is in this account that Evan's grandfather, whom Evan has never met before, fears so much that he will do anything to prevent its being seen? And what could this possibly mean for Evan? In a pulse-quickening mystery evoking the elusiveness of truth and the endurance of wars passed from father to son, this engrossing novel is a suspenseful, at times terrifying listen from award-winning author Tim Wynne-Jones.
Tim Wynne-Jones
TIM WYNNE-JONES is one of Canada's foremost writers for children. The author of over thirty-five books, he is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and of the Arthur Ellis Award. His short-story collections include Some of the Kinder Planets, Book of Changes and Lord of the Fries. He is also known for his Rex Zero series. Recently, he wrote the young-adult novels The Ruinous Sweep; Emperor of Any Place, which earned seven starred reviews; and Blink & Caution, which won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Tim is also the recipient of the Edgar Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. In 2012, he was made an Officer to the Order of Canada. He lives in Perth, Ontario.
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Reviews for The Emperor of Any Place
20 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Well done and beautifully written... but also not my kind of book. I was expecting historical fiction, so the paranormal twist took me by surprise.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a phenomenal book! Wynne-Jones does an incredible job of weaving the story of a long dead Japanese soldier into the life and imagination of a 17-year old Canadian boy who has just had his entire life rearranged when his father suddenly dies.I do not like war books and I'm not a huge WWII history fan, but I could not put this book down. The pacing and tension throughout the book had me on the edge of my seat. And I wasn't just interested in what happened to Isamu but I became invested in Evan's own story as well. The books moves seamlessly back and forth from present day Ontario to 1944 and a Japanese island dubbed Kokoro-Jima by the Japanese soldier who finds himself stranded there.The characters in this book have a depth that one doesn't typically find in these stories. From the protagonist Evan to that long-ago soldier, Isamu Oshiro, to Evan's retired marine grandfather, Griff, each character had his own complex reality that made him come alive.The book has everything a successful story has: adventure, mystery, heartbreak and resolution. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a great read. I think it will especially resonate with tween boys, who are reluctant readers.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evan's father died when he was 18 and the only other relative he had was his estranged grandfather, a veteran of World War II. As Evan tries to deal with his grief, he finds a self-published book his father had been reading. He begins to read the story of a Japanese soldier who was marooned on a small heart-shaped island in the Marshall Islands. Then his grandfather shows up, a military man who never forgave his son, Evan's father, for emigrating to Canada to evade the draft. The reader follows the days of tension between Evan and his grandfather and reads the story of the marooned soldier (the Japanese was joined by the navigator of a downed American plane). The story features ghosts of people not yet born, flesh eaters called jikininki, and an unkillable monster called Tengu.Will the two men be able to form a relationship? Will the truth of what happened on that island be revealed?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This novel traces the relationship of three generations of men – 17-year-old Evan, his dad who unexpectedly died at the beginning of this tale, and the grandfather who was never part of their lives due to the strained relationship with Evan’s father. However, due to the circumstances Evan’s grandfather is contacted and comes to stay with him to help Evan deal with all that surrounds a death in a family. What makes this book so compelling is the inclusion of the contents of the book that Evan’s father was reading just before he died – the diary of a Japanese soldier who had become stranded on a small island in the Pacific during WW II. Evan begins to read the diary and along the way comes to a greater understanding of his grandfather, changing their relationship forever. Included in this tale is a unique concept – preincarnation, where ghosts exist of those yet to be born, not just ghosts of those who died. This is a lovely tale filled with great insights.