I
struggle to call this book fantasy because Hearn's writing
makes everything so real and alive! "Across the
Nightingale floor" is set in medieval Japan in
the time of Clan rivalries and Samurai Warriors. This
book is a great adventure story filled with action and
tension. The conflict is both from clan warfare and internal
struggles of the heart and mind.
The
main character, Takeo, is a teenager whose family belongs
to a pacifist religious group called the "Hidden".
Takeo's peaceful existence comes to a violent halt that
changes the entire direction of his life. He will discover
that his father who died when he was a child had a dark
past as a member of "The Tribe" from which
he could not escape and indeed died because of it. Takeo
finds himself pulled in two directions by his dual opposing
natures as one of the "Hidden" and "The
Tribe".
"Across
the Nightingale Floor" is the first
of the Otori Trilogy the sequels are "Grass
for his Pillow", and "Brilliance
of the Moon". It is a great series!
Update: Volume
4: "The Harsh Cry of the Heron: The
last Tale of the Otori"
**
A Nightingale Floor is a wooden floor that is designed
to creak and sing like a bird when people walk on it.
This is for security when sleeping so that an enemy
cannot sneak up and kill you while you sleep.
|
