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)

Beautiful language, setting, plot, characters

This is a fantastic book - amazing sense of time and place. It's obvious that the author cares about her language, and the writing is highly sensory and full of atmosphere. The plot is engaging and the characters interesting and fully-realized. I highly recommend this book.

Story continues to be great; narration diminished

If you could sum up Harsh Cry of the Heron in three words, what would they be?

I continue to enjoy the Tales of the Otori and really enjoyed the 4th book. However, the narration was disappointing. The pronunciation of the Japanese words and names are unsatisfactory, and the male narration is soft, gentle, and without impact. I will the earlier narrators could have been used. The story, however, continues to be fascinating.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Harsh Cry of the Heron?

The challange with Lord Saga

Would you be willing to try another one of Julia Fletcher and Henri Lubatti ’s performances?

no

Annoying Narration

Lucky that the story is good. The narration stinks.

The female reader's efforts to change her voice for the male parts makes her sound like Erma Bombeck. Nasty. Painful.

The male reader stumbles through the dialog sounding either asleep or entranced, making it hard to stay awake listening to him. Maybe I could get him to read bedtime stories for my kids --- they'd be out in no time.

But, as with the prior books, the story line is compelling. Compelling enough for the listener to work to overlook the deficient narration.

Well it ended...

I feel like the story came full circle. It ended with a few loose ends still hanging. Nothing wrong with the narrators in this book, but I prefer the ones from the 1st 2 books. By the 3rd book I was use to the characters voices, changing it up kind of ruined it a bit for me.

not crazy about the narrator. I was excited to h

I was excited to hear John Lee's voice at the start, them disappointed that he only did the intro