Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)

I had never heard of this book or the author until a new acquaintance suggested it to me, but I was instantly swept off my feet, from the very first paragraph. Right away, I was caught up in an epic saga—and I don’t use that word “epic” lightly. This story, rich in history and traditions, stretches across a vast landscape, peopled with three main warring tribes, plus The Hidden, which is what the young protagonist belongs to before his life is forever changed the day his village is destroyed.In addition to the author’s captivating use of language, the details of time and place bring the world she creates vividly to life. There are so many harrowing scenes, so much magical realism, and so many power struggles. And in the middle of such dramatic life and death dynamics, a true and lasting love takes root and holds, just like my attention did all the way through the book. I honestly came away feeling as if my life had been enriched by having gone on this fascinating adventure, from the safety of my own Kindle. I truly loved it!

This is a four book series that takes place in a country similar to Japan during its warlord days. It has many elements that make a book exciting to read: treachery, loyalty, revenge, romance. The author builds the tale of the Otori with such intrigue that I could hardly wait to get back to it. While it is fiction, it comes very close to historical fiction. Have given it to friends to read.

I wrote a full review on the third volume, Brilliance Of The Moon. This trilogy to my mind comes close to the profound enjoyment I have had since the 1960's in reading Lord of the Rings. This is a brilliant piece of work, involving a vast but well described cast of characters in over a period of roughly 40 years in a land invented by the author Lian Hearn, that resembles medieval Japan. There are warriors, there are many different cultures in this highly structured society. There is a deep love story that fits well with the warrior culture, and it is amazing to watch the growth of the two main characters (Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede) from their difficult early childhood into their ultimate success in forming a nation out of rival clans. It is filled with genuine tragedy, ninja-like skills, fascinating details of ordinary life. Mr. Hearn created an entire world extraordinarily well, and it is one of my all time favorite books, almost as good, certainly as enjoyable to read or listen to, as Lord of the Rings.

I had just started and was unable to finish a similar book in an imaginary China. This was superior. It is not, however, a classic, but a standard action hero novel with some inherited super-powers which come out with training and make him a powerful assassin, even in his youth. The descriptions of characters and scenery was better than usual. Some of the internal dialogue was very good. The characters were developed to the degree that they do not always act as you would expect and sometimes inconsistently, even the protagonist.The most important thing is that it was very readable (and I'm very picky and don't finish a lot of books). I look forward to the second installment.

Across the Nightingale Floor, Tales of the Otori Book One brings the reader into a truly unique fantasy world. Based on Feudal Japan, this world avoids the ancient Greco-Roman, European Middle Ages, or barbarian from the North stereotypical history and settings that most fantasy readers are so familiar with. The uniqueness however doesn't end there. Unlike most fantasy stories, neither dragons nor magic play a role. Instead the main character, Takeo, brings modest and quiet abilities that separate him from others around him. The female lead, Lady Kaede, as well as the Lady Maruyama don't (generally) sling swords alongside male counterparts as we often see in fantasy. Instead they act appropriately demure and reserved for the setting but still bring strength, conviction, independence, and power. Most of all, the story is unique because of the depth of the character development, the subtle intelligence of the writing and the ease to which the author transports us to another place and time. Don't worry though, the book brings plenty of action, battles, intrigue, treason, and murder too. If you read fantasy to imagine new worlds, though you are truly missing something if you don't delve into the Tales of the Otori.

I have to confess up front that the only reason I read this book was because Yohio (a Swedish vocalist) mentioned it in a few interviews as a book that inspired him to learn Japanese. I was curious what kind of book would inspire a child (at the time) to learn a third language that he then integrated into his singing career in the future.I can see the appeal the book might have to a child or an early teen (which is how old he was when he read it), but for a cynical adult I have to admit: it was pretty boring.The setting was really interesting. A fantasy ancient Japan, I mean what isn't to love?However, the “insta-love” subplot really sucked some of the life from the story. Instead of building the romance up across the three or four books, the author “Romeo and Juliet”-ed them (they fell in love instantly and began to proclaim they would “die” without the other, 20 seconds after their eyes met and without even exchanging a “Hello”) and then proceeded to spend the rest of the book shoving their undying three-day-old-love down our throats without actually building any chemistry between them. It didn't help they barely spoke three words to the other but seemed to know each other down to the freckle, how did they manage that? Gossip can only get you so far.I really wish the author had focused on the war, Takeo’s training, and building more on the relationship between Shigeru and Takeo and had let the romance plot be a slow burner that would build its relevancy in the subsequent books. It would have given more life to the plot and made me feel more connected to the characters and more eager to find out what happens in the future books.TL;DR: Loved the setting. Disliked the insta-love, it focused so much on that, that the characters were flat and hard to connect with.

I'm torn with this book. I loved the faux-feudal Japan setting, the political wranglings and the magical elements, but quite a few things let it down for me.Takeo and Kaede are both apparently about 15 and yet behave not at all like 15-year-olds. I know it's a fantasy world etc, but their demeanours most of the time seemed no different to the adults they were dealing with, so very often I forgot they were meant to be much younger.The love at first device was not to my liking at all - they take one look into each others' eyes and are immediately burned by passion and desire? Ugh, no thanks.Much though I enjoyed the magical system in general, it was presented very haphazardly which really let it down. I've read many great books where a young student learns a new magical craft and it can be presented in such a way that the reader learns along with the character and really gets a lot from it. Aside from Takeo's hearing which was introduced quite naturally and quite well, the reader didn't witness him learning any of his other Tribe-endowed skills. We learned that the second self was a potential skill because Takeo sees Kenji use it, but it's never shown being taught. Instead Takeo sets off to research a mission and states that here he will use his second self (oh OK, so he can do that now?), here he will go invisible (WHAT, there's invisibility now?!) and so forth. Very disappointing.There were however a couple of nice plot twists that kept me guessing right to the end and I was glad to see that Hearn wasn't scared to kill off some major characters in order to move the plot along. I probably will read the next to see what happens to Takeo now, but not in any big hurry.

I am a huge fan of books, but more so of feudal Japan. Any kind of sci-fi fantasy book, tv show or movie depicting Feudal Japan is right up my street. Some books and movies can often be a disappointment as they forget they’re based in a feudal era and can sometimes slip up by adding modern aspects into it.Not this story! It has Fantasy elements, a map of the lands which is awesome! I do love visual maps in books, it makes it that much more understandable and fun. I have gotten as far as chapter 2 and I am completely gripped by it. It’s like I’ve been transported through time and I’m watching everything happen before my eyes!Just amazingly beautiful so far and I definitely plan on getting all of the series.If you love Feudal Japan, Sci-fi Fantasy, Martial Arts, Swordplay and Clans then this book should most definitely be on your shopping list!Enjoy ☺️

This book is set in the fictional land of the Three Countries but it is pretty much identical to Japan from anytime between the 6th century to the late 18th. There are warriors like samurai and assassins like ninja's called the Tribe but there are groups of people that are entirely fictional like the Hidden who have very controversial religious beliefs that result in them being disliked by the rest of the Three Countries. In one of the Hidden villages called Mino we meet the main character Tomasu who is a young and adventures boy who likes to explore the nearby forest every day and it is this innocent habit that saves his life when his village is attacked by the most powerful man in the Three Countries which is Ida. Tomasu manages to escape after entering the village and as he flees from his pursuers he bumps into a man named Shigeru Otori and he saves Tomasu's life. From that point onwards Tomasu life changes forever and his name is replaced with Takeo Otori to prevent him from being discovered as one of the hidden. Shigeru protects him and brings him to the relative safety of his own domain in Hagi and teaches him many things but soon things become complicated as a member of the Tribe turning up who shows Takeo the skills he has inherited from his deceased father which allows him to go invisible, have sharper hearing than a cat, make a double of himself to distract opponents and put people to sleep with a few seconds of staring. And later he meets a beautiful girl called Kaede and they instantly fall in love with each other which makes things a lot more complicated and introduces the theme of Romance into the book. And so Across the Nightingale begins.This is a very intelligent book with war and romance at its centre along with believable characters that draw you even deeper into the story. This book is classed as a cross over from Young Adult to Adult audience and due to its contents of sex, occasional language intricate plot I would say 15/16 years old and above and it is a good book for adults too. Overall it was Fantastic and its sequels maintain the high standards of this book.

I've read this before after I borrowed it off a friend. This really evokes a feeling of Japan at that period in time. I don't really know tbh but it's engaging an a wonderful story. Hoping to get the rest.The book itself was sent fast an efficiently. Very happy.

I read this book a couple of years ago and was drawn in by the orient setting and the characters who at the times seemed interesting with enough depth and detail to keep the story flowing.However I'm older now and while I think the characters are good there isn't all that much detail too them and I not sure whether they will really be fleshed out in next two books or whether they will simply grow from their experiences which isn't a bad thing just may leave a few questions unanswered.As the story goes we follow two characters on their journeys of one with Takeo ( 17 years old I think) on his journey to the Otori clan and then on to revenge against the warlord who killed his family and destroyed his village. The second story is Kaeda on her trek through fantasy Japan to find a husband; this is against her wishes as she's only 15 (or maybe 16) and wants to love a man of her choosing. Their paths predictably cross as the adventure continues with both telling their points of view of the situation at hand. There's magic ninjas ,battles, sex, love all the things a teenager may be interested in, and that's all good but to say this book had a lot of depth is maybe flattering it too much. The book has detail yes but things seem only to be touched on and never really drawn out; maybe it's just me but from my experiences I found it hard to believe and kind of lame love at first sight? Really?, again it's not that bad but when two characters make love by a dead body it's just a bit creepy in my eyes and not romantic or a special moment like the books wants to get across. Takeo is a teenager and he fits the bill with his mood swings and lust for girls,the other Kaede seems like a standard teenage lass falling for boys and thinks about them constantly.One nit pick is the book is too black and white the bad guys are so obvious which in a film is a good thing to get that across to the audience, but this isnt a film its a book which constantly reminds us how bad the bad guys are and how noble and good the good guys are(it can get tiresome), again its just a nit pick its most likly aimed at a young audience.Final comments, it's a good book a bit basic however for my taste at 294 pages I suppose what do I expect. It was an enjoyable read short and sweet the characters interesting in a simple kind of way, nothing like "Sharp" from the Sharp series or "Salander" from the Millennium trilogy but still they keep the story going and you begin to feel for them as they struggle with tough world they live in. Will I read the next two books? Probably they're a fun read, easy for anyone to pick up and read I would recommend them to anyone who's curious or just wants an exciting read to kill a few hours.