Across the Nightingale Floor

Tales of the Otori, Book One

De: Lian Hearn

Narrado por: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone

Duración: 8 h y 25 m

Resumen del Editor

A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.

Sixteen-year-old Takeo's village has been massacred by an evil warlord, and he is about to be slain by the men who murdered his parents and neighbors. At the last moment, his life is saved by a nobleman, who claims the boy as his kin and begins his education.

But nothing is as it seems. Takeo discovers that he has rare powers that are useful to those around him. As he grows into manhood, he must decide where his loyalties lie: with his noble master and adoptive father; with the Hidden, a secret, spiritual sect whose beliefs are forbidden; or with the Tribe, the assassins and spies who consider him one of their own.

A story of treachery, political intrigue, and the intensity of first love, set in a world ruled by formal ritual and codes of honor, Across the Nighingale Floor crosses genres, generations, and genders to captivate fans of all ages.

Don't miss the rest of the Tales of the Otori series.

©2002 Lian Hearn (P)2003 HighBridge Company

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The novel fills a unique niche that is at once period piece and fantasy novel." (Amazon.com)

brilliant reading of a brilliant series of novels

My wife and have lived in Japan several times over the past 40 years. We both learned Japanese and became interested in Japanese history and traditions as adults. These truly are wonderful novels inspired by much real history of Japan's civil wars. The narrators are outstanding in that they impute a Japanese sounding intonation to the characters. In other words, although they are speaking English, one can almost think they are speaking Japanese. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

A truly great book.

There are good books and then there are very good books. Across the Nightingale Floor is a work of fiction that transends into the range of a classic. The author paints a visual picture that transports a listener immediately into another world. I thought it would be difficult following the oriental names but not with these two readers. This is one book that I think is much better listened to in order to allow the listen to feel every emotion and every place as the author imagined. I love books that are written very well -- and few are. This is an exception. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Cool read, bad reader

I probably would have really enjoyed this book had it not been for the terrible reading of the female part. The girl who did this was awful!!!! I couldn't tell if she was trying to sound Asian or just slow. And I mean slow in the retarded sense of the word. It was so distracting I almost stopped listening.

A little to please everyone, not enough for anyone

Interesting characters, and a good story. But it waffles between being an entertaining escapist yarn involving samurai and mystic ninjas and political intrigue, and a dull historical romance about two star-crossed lovers fighting the cruel bonds of blah blah blah. In audio, it's much harder to skim over the dull bits.
The second book in the series switches almost entirely to dull historical romance. I think. I didn't finish it when nothing happened in the first two-thirds of the book.

I liked the readers

I saw that other reviewers did not like the reading. I thought that it was very good actually. It is kind of understated, but that seems appropriate for a story that takes place in feudal Japan and paints such vivid landscapes in very few words and simple language.

Female narrator is immature, boring, dreadful

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I would preferred that Kevin Gray be the only narrator. He is far from the best that I have heard and at times it feels like he is just reading rather than conveying the story through masterful narration, but he is sincere and often he gets it right. Aiko Nakasone is a disaster. She is clueless about narration. She sounds like she is reading a bed time story to children. She takes a book with an interesting story and delivers it so badly that every time she talks I just want to turn off my player. I am now debating the following - if she will be doing the sequels - can I endure listening to her any more. I think not.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Across the Nightingale Floor?

No one point in particular.

What aspect of Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone ’s performance would you have changed?

Aiko Nakasone is awful. Immature, silly, wrong for the part and clueless in knowing how to deliver good audio. Her male characters all sound like pre-pubescent little boys. The females are just plain wrong, asinine and boring.

Was Across the Nightingale Floor worth the listening time?

I am trying to be fair. I am interested in the story and the sequels. It is very worthwhile and would be great with proper narration. If you find that you do not mind Aiko Nakasone's delivery then it is time well spent. If you can force yourself to ignore her poor narration - then it also time well spent. I like the story - but I have major issues with her delivery.

Wonderful book!

I normally do not read or listen to a book more than once (there are too many!), but I have listened to "Across the Nightengale Floor" 3 times. The story is engaging and the characters are intriguing. The narrators are wonderful to hear. I have enjoyed all of the Otori books I have read, but this is definitely my favorite.

Enjoyable

Nothing to write home to mother about. But an enjoyable fantasy story set in a feudal Japanese society.

I liked it and may look for sequels.

A little too much on the romance side for me.

I like historical fiction, but I like mine more reality based. Did hold my interest.

Tragic, poetic, and magical

I absolutely love this book. It was tragic, poetic, and simply magical. The book has a feudal Japanese setting, and the author captures the concepts of honor, beauty, love, and sacrifice within a richly detailed narrative.

The book follows Takeo, a youth who is adopted by Lord Otori when his family is killed. He finds himself conflicted between worlds, the teachings of his past, the obligation and affection toward Lord Otori, and the mysterious Tribe. Meanwhile, they are in a time of political corruption and approaching upheaval.

Hearn created a wonderful cast of characters, each following their own conflicted path. These paths converge in a beautiful and melancholy story. Despite the tragedy within the book, there is also a strong sense of hope and honor.

I found myself so wrapped in this story that I wanted to hide away to finish the book. I look forward to reading the rest of the saga.

Note on narration: The narration of the story was well done.