Grass for His Pillow (Tales of the Otori) - Softcover

Hearn, Lian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330415263 ISBN 13: 9780330415262

Publisher: Young Picador, 2004

Synopsis

The second book in the Tales of the Otori trilogy continues the epic story of Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede, the young lovers whose fate is played out in an ancient Oriental world, where ritualised codes of high honour counter the cruelty of savage blood-feuds.

Takeo has pledged his life to the Tribe, a secret clan of spies and assassins who claim his legendary supernatural skills for their own ruthless purposes, in doing so he must deny his birthright as an Otori lord - and his love for Kaede. If he does not serve them, the Tribe will kill him.

Kaede, separated from Takeo, must use her intelligence, beauty and cunning to assert her place in a world of all-powerful men - who must never know that she is carrying Takeo's child.

In growing from boy to man, Takeo must make a choice - and the dangerous path he undertakes is a journey of high adventure, treachery and passion that establishes this extraordinary trilogy as one of the most brilliant and enduring works of modern fiction.

GRASS FOR HIS PILLOW, the sequel to ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, is one of the most eagerly-awaited novels of 2003. Lian Hearn has created a brilliantly imagined culture. Here is epic storytelling whose appeal crosses genres, genders and generations.

About this title

Review:

Grass for His Pillow is the second volume of Lian Hern's "Tales of the Otori", a medieval Japanese fantasy saga that opened with the critically acclaimed Across the Nightingale Floor (2002). Towards the end of book one, our hero Takeo and his lady love Kaede--with help from both friends and enemies--brought down an unpleasant warlord. But regime change doesn't mean an automatic happy ending. Although honour demands that Takeo accept the title of his adoptive father Otori Shigeru and continue revenge on his behalf, he's claimed by the secretive Tribe who are his blood kin. The Tribe runs an underground network of spies and assassins, and Takeo himself has inherited the special powers of an assassin: fantasy talents which build on the legend of perfect Japanese warriors. The power of stealthy movement extends to periods of literal invisibility; uncanny speed becomes the ability to translocate to a "second self" and be momentarily in two places at once. Our man is harshly trained by the Tribe in readiness for a mission calculated to strain his new loyalty.

Meanwhile Kaede, pregnant by Takeo, returns to her dilapidated family estate and--without any magical talents to help her--determinedly begins to consolidate power and fight with all her intelligence, personality and beauty against the universal view that women are of no account except as wives. Her inheritance, she's told, will make her future husband a key player in the feudal power-struggle. So she thinks: "why should I not become a key player myself?"

The sense of place is strong and effective, as is the irony that in these times of unrest and upheaval the warrior class also cultivates appreciation of exquisite things. Elaborate preparation of tea, for example, or watching snowfall by lantern-light, or collecting ceramics too fine to be kept on display for profane eyes. This, Kaede fears, is how that lordly collector would like to keep her: beautifully wrapped and hidden away.

Inevitably Takeo breaks with the Tribe again and learns more about his other heritage as an Otori Lord. He also learns that there's a prophecy that he himself can buy peace for the troubled land after five battles: "four to win and one to lose". Compelling and evocative, Grass for His Pillow ends on a high note of suspense. The trilogy is to conclude with Brilliance of the Moon. --David Langford

Review:

"Lian Hearn has created a world I anticipate returning to with pleasure."

"As exciting a debut as any in recent years--part Shogun, part Lord of the Flies and entirely enchanting."

"Contains the same fantastic characters and fabulous events as its predecessor. The second in the series will certainly appeal to readers who enjoyed the author's popular Across the Nightingale Floor."

A welcome sequel to the deliciously readable "Across the Nightingale Floor" ("New York Times Book Review")

A welcome sequel...deliciously readable. In this new volume, we find ourselves once again transported to a medieval Japan of the imagination: a harsh land ruled by local warlords, an essentially static social order in which family ties bind tightly, a culture that mixes great refinement with unspeakable brutality...Reads like a fine translation from the Japanese. —The New York Times Book Review

This is the second installment in Hearn s trilogy and astonishingly it s even better than volume one...the emotional power of the story is vastly magnified. Time and destiny are almost tangible in the novel...The beauty, savagery and strangeness of Hearn s gripping tale is heightened by her exquisite, crystalline prose. —The Independent on Sunday (UK)

"

"A welcome sequel...deliciously readable. In this new volume, we find ourselves once again transported to a medieval Japan of the imagination: a harsh land ruled by local warlords, an essentially static social order in which family ties bind tightly, a culture that mixes great refinement with unspeakable brutality...Reads like a fine translation from the Japanese."--The New York Times Book Review

"This is the second installment in Hearn's trilogy and astonishingly it's even better than volume one...the emotional power of the story is vastly magnified. Time and destiny are almost tangible in the novel...The beauty, savagery and strangeness of Hearn's gripping tale is heightened by her exquisite, crystalline prose."--The Independent (UK)

About this edition

• Publisher: Young Picador
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0330415263
• ISBN 13: 9780330415262
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352