The Harsh Cry of the Heron - Softcover

Hearn, Lian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330449613 ISBN 13: 9780330449618

Publisher: Young Picador, 2007

Synopsis

‘Their realm is held in balance by their union . . . Break that union and the Three Countries will fall apart.’

Otori Takeo and Kaede have ruled the Three Countries peacefully for over sixteen years, following the events laid out in the epic Tales of the Otori. They have three daughters: Shigeko, fifteen years old and heir to the Otori, and Maya and Miki, thirteen-year-old twins who have inherited the supernatural skills of their father. Kaede knows nothing of the prophecy that Takeo will die at the hands of his son and longs to give him a male child. Nor does she know of the boy he fathered sixteen years ago – a boy whose heart is filled with hatred and whose skills as a Ghostmaster give him the power to incite the dead.

Takeo is determined that clan conflicts will never again ravage the Three Countries, but warriors are born to fight: the warlord Arai Zenko has deadly ambitions, the Emperor himself has challenged Takeo’s rule and, despite a delicate truce between the deadly Tribe and the Otori, revenge still eats at the heart of renegade leader Kikuta Akio . . .

Against these gathering threats Takeo draws strength from his love for Kaede, but even this is not beyond the reach of their enemies . . .

About this title

Review:

Much to enjoy – treacherous plots, possession by the spirits, cracking battle scenes, and Lian Hearn writes with a delicate attention to detail that creates an all-encompassing world around her characters. (Sunday Telegraph)

[The Harsh Cry of the Heron] builds to a climax that proves both fittingly cataclysmic and wholly satisfying. (Independent on Sunday)

An exquisite story . . . An involving adventure. (Daily Telegraph)

Gorgeously violent, complex and well-written. (The Times)

From the Publisher:

Lian Hearn is an amazing author. She can write believably and movingly about war and peace, love, poetry, politics, philosophy, nature, realism and magic and weave them all into a compelling plot of grace, compolexity and simplicity. I well remember when I first read Across the Nightigale Floor, the first of the otori books. I knew within a few pages that here was an author who had written a novel that was destined to become a classic, to be read as avidly many years from now. The Harsh Cry of Heron is the sequel to the three volumes of the Tales of the Otori. It is just as beautiful, poignant, frightening and compelling as Lian's earlier novels. Please read it. I know you'll enjoy it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Young Picador
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0330449613
• ISBN 13: 9780330449618
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 640