Set fifteen years after the seismic events of Brilliance of the Moon, The Harsh Cry of the Heron is an elegiac and bittersweet successor to the bestselling series by Lian Hearn, Tales of the Otori.
Their realm is held in balance by their union . . . Break that union and the Three Countries will fall apart.
Otori Takeo and Kaede have ruled the Three Countries peacefully for over sixteen years, following the events laid out in the epic Tales of the Otori. They have three daughters: Shigeko, fifteen years old and heir to the Otori, and Maya and Miki, thirteen-year-old twins who have inherited the supernatural skills of their father. Kaede knows nothing of the prophecy that Takeo will die at the hands of his son and longs to give him a male child. Nor does she know of the boy he fathered sixteen years ago - a boy whose heart is filled with hatred and whose skills as a Ghostmaster give him the power to incite the dead.
Takeo is determined that clan conflicts will never again ravage the Three Countries, but warriors are born to fight: the warlord Arai Zenko has deadly ambitions, the Emperor himself has challenged Takeo's rule and, despite a delicate truce between the deadly Tribe and the Otori, revenge still eats at the heart of renegade leader Kikuta Akio . . .
Against these gathering threats Takeo draws strength from his love for Kaede, but even this is not beyond the reach of their enemies . . .
'A beautifully realized setting, action and romance played out across a couple of generations, a high-class voyage to the long ago and far away - Lian Hearn has written a saga that will continue to give pleasure to many.' - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Middle Country, home of the Otori clan is ruled by a benign but weak leader while in the East, the warrior-like Tohan are gathering power. On the plain of Yaegahara the clans clash in a bloody battle that leaves Otori Shigeru desperate for vengeance. Meanwhile, in a remote mountain village, a boy is born gifted with the supernatural skills of his father, once the deadliest assassin of the Tribe.
Set in the years before the beginning of Across the Nightingale Floor, Heaven's Net is Wide by Lian Hearn is the first and last Tale, which both closes the circle and introduces new readers to the fantastical, beautiful and thrilling world of the Otori. It is an epic story of betrayal, revenge, magic and love.
In his palace at Inuyama, Lord Iida Sadamu, warlord of the Tohan clan, surveys his famous nightingale floor. Its surface sings at the tread of every human foot, and no assassin can cross it. But sixteen-year-old Otori Takeo, his family murdered by Iida's warriors, has the magical skills of the Tribe - preternatural hearing, invisibility, a second self - that enable him to enter the lair of the Tohan. He has love in his heart and death at his fingertips . . .
Lian Hearn's stunningly powerful bestseller, Across the Nightingale Floor, is an epic story for readers young and old. Set in a mythical, feudal, Japanese land, a world both beautiful and cruel, the intense love story of two young people takes place against a background of warring clans, secret alliances, high honour and lightning swordplay.
The first novel in the epic Tales of the Otori series, Across the Nightingale Floor is followed by Grass For His Pillow and Brilliance of the Moon.
Grass for His Pillow is the second novel in Lian Hearn's astonishingly beautiful series inspired by feudal Japan, Tales of the Otori.
In the ancient Oriental lands of the Otori, amidst a time of violent war, famine and treacherous alliances, the fate of the young lovers Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede hangs in the balance . . .
Takeo, heir to the great Otori clan, has pledged his life to the secret Tribe. His supernatural skills of virtual invisibility and acute hearing make him their most deadly assassin. But he must deny the solemn oath of vengeance he made, his adopted birthright of wealth, land and power - and his love for Kaede. If he does not devote himself entirely to the brutal ways of the Tribe, they will kill him. Whichever path he chooses, it will lead to hardship and sacrifice in the bitter winter of the high mountains, and test him to the limits of his being.
Kaede, heiress to vast lands, is now the valuable pawn of ruthless warlords. She must use her intelligence, beauty and cunning to assert her place in a world of all-powerful men - who must never suspect the dangerous secret she hides.
The third title in the compelling Tales of the Otori - the story that began with Across the Nightingale Floor and Grass for his Pillow, Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn is an epic tale of love, power and destiny, set in a mythical world inspired by feudal Japan.
Takeo and the exquisite Kaede, still only teenagers, are now married, but the implacable forces of destiny that rule their lives tear them apart. Takeo, a battle-hardened warrior at the head of an army fighting for his Otori birthright, finds his courage and leadership forged in the fire of bloodshed and sacrifice, while his legendary magical powers are tested to their limits against the invisible assassins of the Tribe. Kaede, determined to reclaim her own lands, is treacherously betrayed and forced into marriage. Their love will survive until death - but death, in this savage, beautiful world, is always only a moment away.
Against a background of wild forest, elegant castles, hidden temples and savage battlefields, the adventure that began with Emperor of the Eight Islands draws to its thrilling conclusion in Lord of the Darkwood, the second instalment of Lian Hearn's the Tale of Shikanoko.
The rightful emperor is lost. Shikanoko is condemned to live, half-man and half-deer, an outlaw in the Darkwood. Yet the mighty lords who now rule the Eight Islands are prey to suspicion and illness, and drought and famine choke the realm. Only Shikanoko can bring healing, by restoring the preordained ruler to the Lotus Throne. And only one person can bring him back from the Darkwood . . .
The rightful emperor is lost to the world, farther from the throne than ever before . . . The lord of the usurper clan has fallen ill, and further unrest looms . . . Shikanoko has withdrawn to the furthest reaches of the country, leaving his allies stranded and the Spider Tribe unchecked . . . Lakes are drying up, rivers receding-have the powers of Heaven abandoned the Eight Islands? The Tale of Shikanoko began with an unusual game of Go, as young Shikanoko's father sat down to an ill-advised match against a tengu. Now, in the last chapter of The Tale of Shikanoko, the stones are arrayed in their final positions on the board. In The Tengu's Game of Go, all are forced to confront the missteps of the past, as the wrath of Heaven weaves tight around its mortal players. Hidden identities are revealed, loyalties are put to their ultimate test, and death appears around every corner. Throughout The Tale of Shikanoko, Lian Hearn has masterfully captured the thrilling danger and beauty of the medieval and magical. In the final installment, Shikanoko risks everything for fate and justice-an exhilarating ending to an unforgettable adventure.
Shikanoko, at what should be a warrior's hour of greatest triumph, turns his back on those around him, in mourning for a secret love . . . The Spider Tribe, spurned by their guardian, explore the extent of their powers and ruthless ambitions . . . Hina, who alone knows the whereabouts of the true emperor, has to forge a new identity of her own. No one must ever know that she is Kiyoyori's daughter . . . As the traditional powers navigate weakness and disarray, old spirits and new figures enter the epic battle for the Lotus Throne . . . In Lord of the Darkwood, the major players of The Tale of Shikanoko are forced to deal with the consequences-expected and unexpected alike-of their past reckless actions. Each of them strives to achieve their destiny, but so far the paths they have followed seem to have done nothing but provoke Heaven's displeasure.
In book two of Lian Hearn's Tale of Shikanoko series, a self-assured warrior stumbles into a game of Go that turns fatal. An ambitious lord leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands. A stubborn father forces his son to give up his wife to his older brother. A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne. A woman of the Old People seeks five fathers for her five children, who will go on to found the Spider Tribe and direct the fate of the country.
An ambitious warlord leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands.
A stubborn father forces his younger son to surrender his wife to his older brother.
A mysterious woman seeks five fathers for her children.
A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne.
These are the threads of an intricate tapestry in which the laws of destiny play out against a backdrop of wild forest, elegant court, and savage battlefield. Set in a mythical medieval Japan inhabited by warriors and assassins, ghosts and guardian spirits, Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn is a brilliantly imagined novel, full of drama and intrigue - and it is just the beginning of an enthralling, epic adventure: The Tale of Shikanoko.
In the opening pages of the action-packed Book One of Lian Hearn's epic Tale of Shikanoko a future lord is dispossessed of his birthright by a scheming uncle, a mountain sorcerer imbues a mask with the spirit of a great stag for a lost young man, a stubborn father forces his son to give up his wife to his older brother, and a powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne, the child who is the rightful heir to the emperor barely escaping the capital in the arms of his sister. And that is just the beginning. As destiny weaves its rich tapestry, a compelling drama plays out against a background of wild forests, elegant castles, hidden temples, and savage battlefields. This is the medieval Japan of Lian Hearn's imagination, where animal spirits clash with warriors and children navigate a landscape as serene as it is deadly.
The prequel to the beloved "Otori" tales both completes and introduces the series while standing firmly on its own, recounting a mythical, medieval world of ninjas and samurais.
As Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" is to "The Lord of the Rings," Lian Hearn's "Heaven's Net Is Wide" is the backstory fans have been yearning for.
Set before the "Tales of the Otori" begins, "Heaven's Net" recounts the life of Lord Otori Shigeru, the series' spiritual warrior-godfather and adoptive father of the "Tales'" Takeo. We learn about Shigeru's training in the ways of the warrior and feudal lord; his relationship with the Tribe of mysteriously powerful assassins; his fateful meeting with Lady Maruyama, who would become his secret lover; the battle of Yaegahara, where his father is killed; and other turning points that shaped the "Tales," The first four volumes gave us only glimpses. Now we are treated to rich detail and more of Hearn's fantastical Japanese world.
Gripping and bewitching, "Heaven's Net" is a new beginning and a grand finale; a story of monumental battles, supreme loyalty, triumphant love, and heartbreak. It ends just before "Across the Nightingale Floor" begins, bringing the "Otori" epic full circle.
