Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7976 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the murderous warlord, lida Sadamu, surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard. Brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people, Takeo has learned only the ways of peace. Why, then, does he possess the deadly skills that make him so valuable to the sinister Tribe? These supernatural powers will lead him to his violent destiny within the walls of Inuyama - and to an impossible longing for a girl who can never be his. His journey is one of revenge and treachery, honour and loyalty, beauty and magic, and the passion of first love.

Customer Reviews

Persevere!
I found this book a slow read but persevered. There was gripping action interweaved throughout the story and I found that it kept me occupied for a lot longer than other books of the same length. I found this a blessing as I often get through books in a week or two so when this book took me over a month to read I was swayed towards reading the next few. I would recommend this book for people of 13 upwards.

Solid characters and a complex plot with adult themes
This is a Young Adult novel with the emphasis on adult. There are some mature themes in here - death, sex, love, revenge and the philosophical nature of God and faith and Lian Hearn has created a complex world of people (to the extent that there's a helpful character sheet at the start of the book to help you keep track).

As a fantasy series set in medieval Japan, the premise really caught my interest because it's so different to what other YA fantasy writers are doing at the moment. Hearn has really researched her material and there are some lovely pieces of information that you pick up about the sociology of medieval Japanese society - the hierarchical and male-dominated nature of that society is especially well conveyed (and in a fairly believable way, from the perspective of the central characters). Hearn also has a dense and constantly twisting plot - the interests of the warlords, the pacifist Hidden and the machinations of the duplicitous Tribe have a lot of scope and keep you entertained.

Hearn also adopts an interesting structure to the story - splitting the narrative between Takeo's first person perspective and the third person retelling of Kaede's tale. Where she falls down slightly though is with the tensing - there are lines throughout the story that refer to later events (along the lines of "I would later discover"), which I found to be somewhat distracting and also served to reduce the tension. It's particularly irritating because there are moments where Takeo talks of facing death or worrying about being attacked and obviously, if he's looking back on these events, then they cannot have been fatal.

16 year old Takeo is an interesting protagonist. Whilst he has a number of incredible gifts, he doesn't come across as superhuman and in fact, because of his background, Hearn strives hard to make him more vulnerable. Hearn also doesn't shy away from having her hero use prostitutes and drink alcohol (although neither are described graphically). He makes mistakes, is a little too-trusting but his voice remains credible enough to hold your interst and forgive them.

15 year old Kaede is more of a problem. She's beautiful, a hostage and clever and becomes a good swordswoman. If it weren't for Hearn's skills as a writer, I'd totally despise her because she is every cliche in the book, that I've stayed with it is a testimony more to the qualities of the story and her part in it, which do hold my interest. Hearn brings them together in an assured way and separates them again at the end in an equally confident and natural manner.

The two best characters in the book are Shigeru Otori, the man who rescues and then adopts Takeo and his secret lover Lady Maruyama - an intelligent woman who holds the unusual position of heading her own clan and owning her own land. The relationship between these two is wonderfully etched out and each is fascinating in their own right. I thought that Maruyama's relationship with Kaede (poisoned though it is by Kaede's upcoming marriage to Shigeru) was credible - the older woman jealous and yet trying to be kind despite hating her unwilling rival. Shigeru is enigmatic but understandable and believable - in particular, his motivations. I was annoyed by the way Hearn disposes of these two interesting characters because it was done in such a contrived manner.

Given that the title is "Across the Nightingale Floor" and the main driving force of the plot is the idea of getting Takeo to cross Lord Iida's nightingale floor, without making it 'sing' in order to assassinate him, I'd have liked to see him actually cross it. He doesn't. The only floor he crosses is the tiny reproduction that Shigeru has put in his house. I felt cheated.

Annoyances aside, I thought this was well written, literary, and fast-paced. I'm certainly interested enough in the story to follow through with the second one and see where Hearn wants to take people with his trilogy.

A Must Have!!!!
A few weeks ago i had never even heard of Lian Hearn. After a friend told me about the book i couldn't wait to begin reading it. And believe me when i say this, this author, this book is one in a million, the elgeance of the writing grasps you and urges you to continue. This is the type of book that you don't want to put down, u don't want to finish but crave for more. After reading this book i bought the complete set and am reaping the literary rewards. I also urge you to buy this book. There is no doubt about it, this book is a masterpiece. I really cant find anything bad to say about this book, other than you will get very tired from staying up so late to read it!!

Enjoy just like i have!