Grass for His Pillow

Tales of the Otori, Book Two

By: Lian Hearn

Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Book II of the internationally best-selling Tales of the Otori trilogy, a sweeping saga set in a mythical, medieval Japan.

In Book I of the Otori trilogy, Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn created a wholly original, fully-realized fantasy world where great powers clashed and young love dawned against a dazzling and mystical landscape. Nightingale was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, one of Book magazine's best novels of the year, and one of School Library Journal's Best Adult Books for High School Readers.

In this second tale, we return to the story of Takeo (the young orphan taken up by the Otori Lord and now a closely held member of the Tribe) and his beloved Shirakawa Kaede, heir to the Maruyama, who must find a way to unify the domain she has inherited. In a complex social hierarchy, amid dissembling clans and fractured alliances, there is no place for passionate love. Yet Takeo and Kaede, drawing on their unusual talents and hidden strengths, find ways both to nurture their intense personal bond and to honor the best interests of their people.

Like its predecessor, Grass for His Pillow is a transcendent work of storytelling: epic in scope, shimmering with imagination, and graced in equal measure with rapturous writing and exhilarating action.

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

©2003 Lian Hearn (P)2003 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"With quick, direct sentences like brushstrokes on a Japanese scroll, [Hearn] suggests vast and mysterious landscapes full of both menace and wonder." (Publishers Weekly)
"Lian Hearn has created a world I anticipate returning to with pleasure." (The New York Times Book Review)

EXCITING

What made the experience of listening to Grass for His Pillow the most enjoyable?

It's a great story

What was one of the most memorable moments of Grass for His Pillow?

It is such a great story that I cannot pick out just one moment

What does Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love listening to stories, especially ones that are not of my nationallity because I can hear things pronounced the way they are supposed to sound and not just me guessing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Again, the story is so good that it is hard to pick out just one moment or two

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to hear how the whole story ends in Book 3 and I hate to have it end all at the same time.

Completely Captivated

I am absolutely in love with this story. It's one of those books that I can't wait to get to the end, but at the same time, I don't want it to end! I almost missed a flight last week, because I was so engrossed in this superb tale. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do. Intrigue, Politics, Magic, Betrayal, Forgiveness, Power, Love...it really has it all.

This second of the Otori Trilogy is no let down.

I still have nothing but high praise for Hearn and thank him for this wonderful gift he is sharing with us. I appreciate the continuing growth of Kaede and Takeo. I love the balance of characters....the evil are not unbelievably evil and the heros not unbelievably perfect. The conspiracies are not far fetched and overly complicated, yet they are layered and ever moving and changing as things have always been and ever will be in the real world. If you are new to the Otori Trilogy, be sure to read Across the Nightingale Floor first. Again, thank you Lian Hearn. Thank you Kevin Gray and Iiko Nakasone (forgive spelling please) for your wonderful narrations.

For Love or For Honor

The second book in the Otori Trilogy, and now after revenge has hardened his heart, Takeo must now live his life in the tribe. Hearn creates such an emotional split in Takeo, you truly feel sorry for his choices and honor that he upholds at all costs. The sacrifices that were made during these times become all apparent to the reader, and you begin to understand the rigid code that existed in feudal Japan.

This second book has more action from the Tribe (Ninja), and develops Takeo?s darker side, and begins creating the rifts for the third and final showdown book ?Brilliance of the Moon?. I can unquestionably recommend this second book, and encourage all readers to delve into this world of passion and honor headlong, as the third will leave you with a breathless conclusion.

Spending more time w/ Takeo and Kaede...

A wonderful, complex tale continues. Beware if you are driving! very distracting trying to keep all the characters straight. @ 65mph... Knowledge of Japanese helpful. However the narrator Aiko Naksone should be teaching gradeschool - she is sooo slow and overpronounces (is that a word?) everything. She drove me nuts but the story is a good one.

Solid, but not for the avid fiction reader

Fun book to read, but here's the deal: if you read fiction--particularly adventure/fantasy fiction--all the time, the story is not incredibly unique. It's well written for young adults, and pretty fun to listen to, but it was fairly predictable for me, and I was never impressed by any of the stor¥ features. It gives the sort of feel that there isn't enough time to tell the whole story because some characters are only developed in a paragraph, because there are so many characters... read if you're young, don't if you're not.

Story good, one narrator not so much

If you've read "Across the Nightingale" floor, you know what to expect here: a thinly disguised fantastical Japan, lyrical descriptions, etc. I thought the first book was stronger, but it could be that it was just more fresh, whereas this is more of the same. I will say that her Japan feels very well-researched to me (a bit of a Japanophile myself). Her place-names feel real, "woman's writing" vs. "men's writing" was a real distinction, and so on.

But I had only read, not listened to the first volume. In this volume, the woman reader was sooooo slow. I ended up putting my iPod onto double speed just to make her sound normal. I think that I'd have preferred just reading the book to listening.

overly interior

I recall the first of this series as being engaging and interesting . . . but this one falls short on both counts. It's a complex story with dual points of view; unfortunately, both povs are in closely-guarded people pretending to be what they are not, so this, combined with the whispered narration lacking in dramatic pauses, the book goes by like a warm breeze that isn't strong enough to rustle the grass or flutter the leaves . . .

Wonderful Books

I have derived tremendous joy from the audio versions of these books. Anyone who is a fan of Tolkien or Martin, should read Lean Hearn's Otori tales.

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Love this series

Great book and series! Intro narrator is rough but hang in there, the next guy is better!