Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori Book 1 - Softcover

Hearn, Lian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330412981 ISBN 13: 9780330412988

Publisher: Picador, 2003

Synopsis

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About this title

Review:

Across the Nightingale Floor more than lives up to its billing as an exceptional new literary sensation, from the tragic excitement and drama of a sacked village on the opening page, to the later multi-layered court intrigues and tales of family revenge by ancient Japanese dynasties. The engaging story and appealing characters combine incredibly well to produce a highly readable book that should appeal to many different-aged readers.

Takeo is just 16 when he loses his family to the evil Lord Iida and it seems like incredible luck when he is saved from death by the noble Shigeru, rightful heir to the Clan of the Otori. As Takeo travels into new territory and towards a new, unknown life, the tribal rivalries, romances and histories at large in this new world are revealed to him. These are treacherous times. Everyone is at risk, and few can be trusted. Takeo also has a special gift--inherited skills that mark him out as different from other men. He is at once desirable and highly dangerous to those in power. His life is soon in danger.

It's a fascinating landscape and a riveting story; it's genuinely very difficult to put down once you've started it. Unusually for a children's book with so many characters, several with strange-sounding names, the story is easy to follow. The writing is exceptional, with very few words out of place. The author, a pseudonym for Australian writer Gillian Rubinstein, is generous enough to paint the characters and scenery in great detail, yet keeps the writing clipped enough for the plot to move along at a steady pace. Importantly, there are no slow bits.

The book does not flinch from adult content and is certainly a mature read. There are numerous deaths, several beheadings, torture, cruelty and even a little lovemaking. All, however, are within context and not gratuitous. (Age 12 and over.) --John McLay

Review:

...set in a mythical, feudal Japanese land... Against this savage backdrop two teenagers find their destiny in a doomed love. -- The Times 28 August 02

...starts well and just gets better and better... an exciting mix of civil war, secrecy and supernatural skills. -- Sainsbury's Magazine, 01 September 02

In a genre as full of traps for the unwary as the nightingale floor itself, Hearn has crossed the first part with honour. -- The Times (T2), 21 August 02

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0330412981
• ISBN 13: 9780330412988
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304