Harsh Cry of the Heron

Hearn, Lian

ISBN 10: 1405092211 ISBN 13: 9781405092210

Publisher: Macmillan Audio Books, 2006

Synopsis

Lord Otori Takeo and his consort Kaede have ruled for over sixteen years. The Three Countries are rich, peaceful and prosperous. The sacred birds, the houou, nest at Terayama and a fabled creature, the kirin, has appeared on their shores. Heaven seems to smile on them.

Yet their very success has attracted the attention of the distant Emperor and his general, the warlord Saga Hideki, who covet all the wealth of the Three Countries, especially Takeo’s heir, his eldest daughter, Shigeko, now of marriageable age.

At the same time the violent acts and betrayals of the past will not lie buried. The renegade Tribe family, the Kikuta, seek revenge on Takeo for the murder of their leader; they have an eager ally in his brother-in-law Arai Zenko, who has never been able to forget or forgive his own father’s shameful death. No one escapes the Tribe forever.

Takeo has many other concerns, above all for his younger daughters, the twins Maya and Miki, whose strange talents lead them into the world of shadows and ghosts.

And other secrets that cannot be kept hidden.

Everything that he and Kaede have achieved is threatened.

About this title

Review

Much to enjoy – treacherous plots, possession by the spirits, cracking battle scenes, and Lian Hearn writes with a delicate attention to detail that creates an all-encompassing world around her characters. (Sunday Telegraph)

[The Harsh Cry of the Heron] builds to a climax that proves both fittingly cataclysmic and wholly satisfying. (Independent on Sunday)

An exquisite story . . . An involving adventure. (Daily Telegraph)

Gorgeously violent, complex and well-written. (The Times)

From the Publisher

Lian Hearn is an amazing author. She can write believably and movingly about war and peace, love, poetry, politics, philosophy, nature, realism and magic and weave them all into a compelling plot of grace, compolexity and simplicity. I well remember when I first read Across the Nightigale Floor, the first of the otori books. I knew within a few pages that here was an author who had written a novel that was destined to become a classic, to be read as avidly many years from now. The Harsh Cry of Heron is the sequel to the three volumes of the Tales of the Otori. It is just as beautiful, poignant, frightening and compelling as Lian's earlier novels. Please read it. I know you'll enjoy it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan Audio Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1405092211
• ISBN 13: 9781405092210
• Binding: Audio CD