Harsh Cry of the Heron

The Last Tale of the Otori

De: Lian Hearn

Narrado por: Julia Fletcher, Henri Lubatti

An epic fantasy set in a mythical, medieval Japan, Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori series has crossed genres, generations, and genders. Grand and complex in its themes, elegantly written, each book in the original trilogy has become a worldwide best seller. This surprise fourth installment (and real conclusion), The Harsh Cry of the Heron, achieves new heights of drama and action.

16 years of peace and prosperity have passed since Lord Otori Takeo united the Three Countries. Takeo and his beloved consort, Kaede, have three daughters and a happy family life. Their success has attracted the attention of the distant Emperor and his general, the warlord Saga Hideki, who covet the wealth of the Countries. Meanwhile, the violent acts and betrayals of the past will not lie buried, and other secrets will not stay hidden. Everything that Takeo and Kaede have achieved is threatened.

In full ninja versus samurai fashion, Hearn delivers a kinetic, heartbreaking, and uplifting resolution to a thoroughly gripping saga.

Don't miss the rest of the Tales of the Otori series.©2006 Lian Hearn (P)2006 HighBridge Company

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Seizes you from start to finish." (The Washington Post)
"Hearn seamlessly fuses fact and fantasy to create a sprawling, bewitching realm of magic." (Publishers Weekly)
"The Otori saga gets better with each book, and this is the most absorbing entry in the series, complete with intrigue, magic, romance, and action. A perfect final chapter." (Booklist)

Very disappointing!

After loving the previous books in the series as a sort of "guilty pleasure", this last book ruins all of the joy and spirit of the series. The characters I sympathized with in the previous books are rendered flat, and to make matters worse the new characters added (of which there are a ton) are not compelling or sympathetic either. I found myself actually yelling at the audiobook towards the end - Kaede and Takeo both wind up making terrible, out-of-character decisions just to fit a bad "prophecy" plot device.
I'd advise folks to skip this one, and stick with the better, more ambiguous ending of the first 3 novels.

What a disappointment!

I gave up on this book after three hours. The author spent so much time confusing the reader with previous characters and events that the story barely moved forward. But even then, I might have continued on if it hadn't been for the terrible narrators. They have been well vilified by other reviewers, so I will only add that they were terrible.

narration sinks this book

I will not even finish listening to this book. They should have kept the original narrators. I couldn't stand one more minute of the voices that drone on and the western pronunciation of Asian names.

Not worth your time

I really loved the first 3 books. They were engaging and the characters seemed alive and stong.

Harsh Cry was a bitter disappoint, Kaede's personality completely changed. From the strong woman in the first three book, she now turns into a superstitious weak woman of the age long gone.

It was pain to listen to this book and it took many many attempts to start/continue this book on the drive to and from LA to SF bay area. (6 hour one-way)

Don't waste your time, if you loved the series, consider it ended at part 3.

Thoroughly Depressing Tale

I really enjoyed the first 3 Tales of the Otori from the characters, their circumstances, and how they dealt with them. I grew to love the characters and I was left satisfied with the ending never dreaming there would be a fourth book. Imagine my surprise and elation when I discovered 'Harsh Cry of the Heron."

As the title suggests, the book is not a cheery one. In fact I'll go so far as to say it's thoroughly depressing from beginning to end. There are a few shining moments, but the ending completely negates them. I found myself trying to rationalize the story as it unfolded. The story of Camelot and Shakespeare's tragedies came to mind. However the ending seemed to contrived, too artificial, the character's actions too unreal as if the author had an end in mind, but no clear path to reach it.

As for the narrators, I didn't find them disagreeable.

If you enjoyed the first three Tales, my advice is to steer clear of this one.

DIsappointing

This was, in my opinion, a disappointing way to end a series that I had loved. It didn't seem consistent with the central "truths" of the other three books. I almost wish I had stopped at the third installment and made up my own ending.

Hated it

I'll admit up-front that I only made it through the first couple of hours of the audiobook, but that was really all that I could take. I greatly enjoyed the previous three volumes of the Otori. This one, however, seemed artificial, juvenile, and without spirit.

I would not recommend it based upon either the story itself, or upon the narrators.

narration is GOD AWFUL

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

boring going through the motions/words.

Did Harsh Cry of the Heron inspire you to do anything?

Not buy "Heaven's net is Wide". I'm struggling to finish "Harsh cry of the Heron".

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyed the first three.

Dissapointed

I really liked and highly recommend the first three books of this series. Also I feel there are some people that will like this book, perhaps even see it as profound.

However, I'm listening for entertainment and this story just didn't come together for me. In this book the heroes repeatedly make agonizingly poor decisions. These decisions were based on some kind of radical pacifist honor/philosophy, the "way of the who" which was billed as the best thing since sliced bread but in the end produced nothing positive. To the story's credit these descisions or lack of decisions resulted in fairly realistic outcomes. Outcomes for the heroes that the book tries to show as honorable but to me were pitifully tragic.

I had such high expectations for this book. I kept expecting things to come together but in the end it just made me feel depressed.

Disappointing end to a fantastic series

The first three books drew me in, but this one, not so much. All of the characters that were so warm and enlightened became flat and cold.