Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192810 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

I'm not sure how I feel about this book...
Across the nightingale floor was a little step away from my usual reading material but the rave reviews intrigued me so I gave it a shot. I rashly bought all 5 books in the series and now I'm doubting the widsom of that.

Just because it's aimed at a lower age group, doesn't mean it has to be childish (think Harry Potter) but if I'm honest, I found it quite slow despite the killing and violence and love interest. The lead character finds he isn't the person he thought he was and discovers special talents he didn't know he had. He falls in love with a girl he shouldn't and loses most of what he holds dear.

I'm not actually sure how I feel about the book. I liked it enough to get through it and I kept turning pages to see where it was going but I never really connected with the charcters and I'm not left hungry to find out what happened next. Considering I've already spent money on the remaining books, I expect I'll get around to finding out eventually though.

It has a feel of feudal Japan to it and reminded me in parts of 'House of Flying daggers' (which is one of my favourites), and that may be why I persevered with it.

It's aimed at younger readers but has adult themes running though it and perhaps that's where my ambiguity is coming from....it's adult enough to make it enjoyable, but not enough to make it engrossing.

I don't know. I'm torn, hence the 3 stars.

It's not a bad book though. Despite all the violence and killing, it's actually quite a gentle book and I wouldn't hesitate to reccommend it to younger readers.

Think of it as 'House of Flying daggers' meets 'Crouching Tiger' for a younger audience.

Imaginative history.
Across the nightingale floor is a mixture between real Japanese history and Hearn's imagination.
Set in feudal Japan we follow a young boy (Takeo) who sets out for revenge against the war lord that killed his family. He is accompanied by a self appointed mentor who teaches Takeo how to master special abilities he has been born with such as acute hearing and stealth.
The story is original and has some terrific scenes in it. The book misses out on five stars because I felt it could have incorporated a lot more of the surrounding beauty of the Japanese countryside and tradition into it.
Adults of all ages will enjoy this tale.
As for it being childrens book I'm not so sure. It has no scenes of an explicit nature but it does have a few gory ones and it does deal with sexual attraction. I see no problem with a young person reading this book but I'm not so sure the average child under twelve would be interested in the subject matter. I would suggest from the age of fifteen upwards as this is the age of the lead character.
I thoroughly enjoyed the read and am looking forward to the next installment.

An incredible book
I have always enjoyed fantasy novels, but long ago got thoroughly sick of the d&d mages and mercenaries, evil-dark-lord-of-the-north-taking-over-the-world-with-an-army-of-trolls. This is the sort of fantasy book that grabs my attention now, and it really did grab it by the throat.

As you'll have realised, it is set in Japan, and I think that it must some time in the early modern period as the 'hidden' people amongst whom the main character, Takeo, grew up sound remarkably like Japanese Christians. It has all the clichés, two lovers torn apart by war, etc, etc, but it is far from a cliché. Takeo is far from 'flat' as I've seen one reviewer describe him, he is an enormously complex character dragged this way and that by his upbringing amongst the Hidden, his powers and ties to the 'Tribe', his inheritance from the Otori and his love of Kaede. His struggles to resolve all of these different currents will take far more than one book, and having read the second (Grass for his pillow), will take more than two. If you are looking for a beautifully written historical novel with breathtaking characterisation and some magic thrown in (and let's face it, who isn't!) then this book (along with the other two in the series) will be just your cup of tea.