Tales of the Otori (Book 1)
This book, Accross The Nightingale Floor, is the first book of the Tales of the Otori trilogy.. but will have 5 books not only three… you’ll see them all in my reviews, it might not a complete one, but i try the best.
Tales of the Otori is a series of fantasy novels by Lian Hearn, takes place on the fictional island referred to as the “Three Countries,” comprised of the East, the Middle Country, and the West. Each country is ruled by a specific clan, the East by the Tohan, the Middle Country by the Otori, and the West by the Seishuu. The Three Countries are a part of a much larger nation ruled by an emperor who is referred to only in passing and holds little influence over the area.
Social structure in the Three Countries strongly resembles that of feudal Japan, with a samurai-like warrior caste comprising the upper ranks of society and men legally dominant over women.
The four present novels are: Across the Nightingale Floor (2002), Grass for His Pillow (2003), Brilliance of the Moon (2004), and The Harsh Cry of the Heron (2006). The books follow a young warrior named Takeo in his struggles to avenge an adopted father, escape the legacy of his biological father, and pursue the love of his life in the midst of an enormous power struggle involving dozens of clan lords and thousands of warriors.
The story is told primarily in first-person narrative by Otori Takeo (first introduced as Tomasu), who was born in a small village of religious outcasts referred to as the “Hidden.” The Hidden are persecuted throughout the Three Countries for their religious beliefs, and in the opening chapter Takeo’s village is destroyed by a band of warriors led by Iida Sadamu, Lord of the Tohan Clan. During this attack, Takeo is rescued by Otori Shigeru, a young Lord of the Otori Clan, and led back to the Otori stronghold of Hagi. There, Shigeru adopts Takeo and begins to instruct him in the ways of a warrior.
At Hagi, Takeo learns that his father — Kikuta Isamu, who died before Takeo’s birth — was a member of the “Tribe,” a secretive network of spies and assassins known for supernatural traits. Takeo finds he has inherited many of his father’s talents: invisibility, silent movement, the ability to create a mirror image of himself, an extremely good sense of hearing, and a stare that can put dogs and humans to sleep. Under the tutelage of Tribe member Muto Kenji, Takeo learns to employ these skills in the role of an assassin, expecting to take part in Shigeru’s coming conflict with Iida Sadamu.
Shigeru’s uncles, hoping to rid themselves of their popular and powerful nephew, send him to Iida’s capital city of Inuyama. Bound by honor and loyalty to his clan, Shigeru follows their wishes despite suspecting a trap, and takes Takeo along with him. Shigeru’s wariness proves warranted when Iida imprisons and tortures him upon his arrival in Inuyama. Meanwhile Takeo is taken hostage by the Kikuta family, relatives of Takeo’s father who plan on forcing Takeo to take up his father’s legacy as a full member of the Tribe. Before he submits to their will, however, Takeo sneaks into Inuyama castle and frees Shigeru, but not before the Otori lord becomes mortally wounded. Filled with a thirst for vengeance, Takeo returns to the castle intent on slaying Iida, but finds him dead at the hands of Shirakawa Kaede, a young woman Takeo fell in love with on the road to Inuyama, and the female heir to the western domain of Maruyama (Kaede’s story is a secondary plotline and is intermittently told in third-person chapters).
As Takeo escapes Inuyama with Kaede and the Tribe, word of Iida’s death spreads and his Tohan clan is overrun by an army led by Arai Daiichi. In the following weeks, Takeo is torn between three conflicting obligations:
- Avenge the death of his adopted father Otori Shigeru and claim his rightful place as leader of the Otori clan;
- Honor his promise to the Kikuta family to develop his Tribe skills and place them at the employ of the Kikuta;
- Sanctify his love for Kaede through marriage and help her claim the lands of Maruyama.
This conflict is the driving force for the bulk of the series and eventually places Takeo at odds with the Tribe, the Otori lords, and the armies of Arai Daiichi.
The first book ends, Takeo lives by his word and after putting Kaede to sleep with his eyes, he goes to join the Tribe.
