Today I finished Lian Hearn’s amazing first book in the “Tales of the Otori” series, “Across The Nightingale Floor”. Ninjas and samurai are totally sweet!
In all seriousness though this story was fantastic. I experienced this as an audiobook and I’m so glad I did. Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone do a masterful job of bringing the world of feudal Japan to life with their reading. This book had all the political intrigue of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song Of Ice And Fire” series but it is told in a simple but powerful language that seems so appropriate for a culture that brought us their beautiful calligraphy and painting.
For someone such as myself who works with sound, to have a book that paints such lush scenes with descriptions of the sounds that can be heard is a real pleasure. After finishing the story, I tried to imagine what it would be like as a sound editor to be given the task of creating the world that Takeo hears as his Tribe (ninja) skill of super-hearing develops.
If you’re like me—loving Akira Kurosawa and hating “The Last Samurai”—you’ll dig this book.