Across the Nightingale Floor

Across the Nightingale Floor (2002) Lian Hearn

I first read these several years ago, and, as I said at the time, couldn’t wait for enough time to pass so I could reread them.

Far more time than I expected has passed, but when I came across other books in the series, I had to read these books again.

Takeo was raised among the hidden, with a different name. But when Lord Iida slaughters his village, Takeo is saved by Lord Otori Shigeru, and becomes a piece in the politics of the middle land.

Lady Kaede Shirakawahas spent the past several years as a hostage to Iida, living as a servant with the Noguchi, until Iida sees her as a piece in his plot to destroy Shigeru.

Reading this after having read Heaven’s Net is Wide is very different from the first time I read this. For one thing, I’m older now, but more importantly, I spent several hundred pages with Shigeru, so as much as I was interested in what happened to Takeo, I cared even more what happened to Shugeru, even knowing he was doomed.

But I still enjoyed the world, and the characters who live in it.

The writing reminds me a bit of Sean Russell, and a bit of Guy Gavriel Kay, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.

It’s not a fast romp, but a leisurely stroll, which is something you will want to take into consideration. But as a leisurely stroll, it’s just the kind of path I like to wander.
Rating: 9/10

Published by Riverhead Books

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