Brilliance of the Moon
Fantasy, High Fantasy, Japan
Tales of the Otori, Book # 3
Riverhead Books
June 3rd 2004
Paperback
346
English
February 7, 2022 February 25, 2022
Finishing The Series, Mount TBR, The Backlist Reader
A beautiful, haunting evocation of the medieval Japan of Lian Hearn's imagination, this thrilling follow-up to Grass for His Pillow and Across the Nightingale Floor delves deeper into the complex loyalties that bind its characters from birth. Filled with adventure and surprising twists of plot and fortune, this final volume travels beyond the Three Countries, to the outside influences that threaten to intrude upon this isolated realm.
About the book
Last book in the first trilogy of the Tales of the Otori series. Takeo and Kaede got married without Arai Daiichi’s permission and this unleashes his anger. In addition, the noble Fujiwara, a great friend of Arai, considered himself to be Kaede’s fiancé and therefore feels betrayed by the woman. If we add Takeo’s uncles who don’t recognise him as the heir of the noble Shigero, Takeo faces a tough battle. But a prophecy awaits him: “You will have to fight five battles to obtain peace: four you will win, one you will lose”. And it seems to come true. But what became of Yuki’s son? Will he meet his father?
What I think
I liked the third book a little less than the other two and the blame goes precisely to Fujiwara. In fact, I don’t like the fact that he subdues Kaede and acts like a spoiled child. The rest of the book, however, was a beautiful journey.
The saga really deserves it, especially for those who love feudal Japan even if, as the author has specified several times and myself, too, in the first review, it is the fruit of her imagination.
The chapters are a bit long and I often had to stop mid-chapter, but the narrative did not stop at all. I read the last few lines of the previous section and I found myself immediately. The point of view is of Takeo in the first person and of Kaede in the third person.
I want to read the rest, but I don’t think they have been published in Italy. I hope that the publisher will translate them (since the editions I own are new), to have a continuation on my library otherwise I will look for them in English.
