Rating: 
Summary: Light on the Fantasy, but an excellent story.
Review: What a great book! I'm so pleased to have discovered a new Sci-Fi Fantasy author. If you're into the heavy version of the Fantasy genre, this book may not be for you, as there's not a lot of fantasy, but there's enough that it can't be classified as just fiction. I'd say it's rather like a King Arthur novel in that sense. The story is set in feudal Japan, but there's not much historical background in the book. There really doesn't need to be, as the story could have been set in feudal anywhere, but some of the details work best in Japan (such as the Nightingale Floor). Our hero, Takeo, is found living quietly in a remote mountain village. After the villagers are massacred by Lord Iida's men, Takeo (Tomasu at this point) meets up with Shigeru, Lord of the Otori clan. Takeo goes to live with Shigeru, takes lessons in many subjects (including writing, art and swordplay among other things), learns of his true background and the abilities he has because of his background, and is eventually adopted by Shigeru as his heir.In the meantime, a lovely young woman named Kaede is being held by Lord Noguchi as a hostage. She is being treated badly, even though she is nobility. Noguchi is allied with Lord Iida, the most evil guy around. Eventually, Noguchi decides that Kaede would be most useful as a pawn and she is betrothed to Shigeru. Sadly, Shigeru is in love with Lady Maruyama. It's a nice underlying love story to go with the adventure. Takeo, it turns out, is a member of the Tribe. The Tribe has magical abilities that are passed on genetically. Takeo's father was of the Tribe. In Takeo, the powers are strong (Does this surprise anyone? If they were weak, we probably wouldn't have much of a story...Luke I am your Father...but I digress). The Tribe's abilities include super hearing, invisibility, and splitting into two, among other things. Everyone in the story seems to feel that all the world's problems would be solved if only Lord Iida were dead. Trouble is that he's quite powerful and pretty paranoid. He's had a Nightingale Floor built in his quarters. The floor has been built to be extra squeaky, so that no one can walk across it without making noise. But, perhaps Takeo, with his magical abilities can take care of this for us... All in all, I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the two sequels.
Rating: 
Summary: Much Different Than I Had Expected
Review: I just finished reading Across the Nightingale Floor - Tales of the Otori (Book 1) and am left wanting more - can't wait for the next release! I mistakingly expected the book to be very Harry Potterish with mystical creatures and magic, but found it to be much more - with true romance, much adventure, and a good amount of mystery, as well - always leaving you wondering what's coming up next or what just happened, making you suspicious of characters that you had previously grown to trust and adore. I found all of the pages filled with details that enabled me to totally visualize the setting - like I was a part of the events rather than just reading about them. Her depth and imagery was incredible - I could close my eyes and see the story unfolding in my imagination. Great book - a touch of Romeo & Juliet with a "Castles, Lords & Ladies" twist. P.S. - I thought it was cool that at the end of the book the author, Lion Hearn, gives you a "preview" of the upcoming book "Grass for His Pillow" due to be released in August!
Rating:
Summary: Elegant and to the point
Review: Just finished the book last night. I liked it a lot. There is a lot to be said for being able to write a coherent story and have strong characters who evolve before you and not spend 600 pages doing it. However, my own personal taste is to immerse myself in the world that I'm reading. I like a lot of detail. This book, by its simple length, couldn't offer that, so if you're looking for world-building, look elsewhere. This is about the characters and only the characters. In some markets, it is being billed as YA. I think that is clearly wrong. It was too gritty with too much violence. The author didn't pull any punches about how gruesome life in feudal Japan or a Japan-like nation would have been for the vast majority of people. Or the flaws of cruelty and brutality that infused the samurai. And of course, the temporary place of women, who lived at the whim of their masters, the men.
All in all, a fine read.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but far too predictable
Review: I was extremely excited when I heard of this book: I've been a great fan of the Japanese culture, and a book which was not exactly set in Japan, but in a "fantasy-Japan" held a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the book fell far too short of my expectations. The writing is simple and light, and that is perhaps the best part of the book, as it allows a simple and rather quick reading, making it rather fun to read in the bus or train. However, the story is EXTREMELY predictable -- the part which each character will play is far too easily guessed, and the plot never bears any surprises. The characters are introduced into the story too quickly (the word 'forced' springs to mind), and many of them have little if any psychological depth -- especially the evil guy, who, in this book, is nothing more than a typical evil guy -- so it's very hard to form any empathic bonds with them. Even the protagonist's pain for the losses he suffers falls short, and leaves the reader indifferent. The auther obviously tried to create her own ideal Japan (a less mysogenistic and more Christian place) and this effort shows up pleasantly in the map and the clan mons (or crests, if you will) that show up in the first pages of the book. But this quickly gets very confusing, as the readers are force-fed with the geographical, social and political environment in too little space - which obviously results in massive confusion and quite some headaches to the reader. The auther seems to have forgotten that worlds like Tolkien's occupied at least a dozen books just to present that kind of information. By all means read it, but don't expect an epic or something to read more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars it not enough!
Review: Not in several years have I read a book this good, and I have read most fantasy-type books out there. To tell you the truth, I have read so many books that are trash that I have grown used to, perhaps even expecting, poor quality when I read a fantasy novel. Pure drivel like Robert Newcomb's "The Fifth Sorceress" or Terry Goodkind's "The Naked Empire" are popping up like weeds these days. But amidst the piles and piles of rubble, sometimes you find that rose of exceptional beauty. And "Across the Nightingale Floor" is that rose. It's vastly different than the usual run-of-the-mill fantasy novels, unique even. The setting of the book takes place in a mythical Japanese-like society, though it's not a direct allusion to actual history, and it features a smattering of magic. It's a coming of age story, but not in the usual Robert Jordan type of way. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as a recipe: Take the majestic backdrop of "Shogun", mix it with the cool assassin factor of Stoover's brilliant "Hero's Die", imbue it with the oriental mysticism of Eric Lustbader's "Ninja", then toss in a fabulous plot, superlative characterization, a good dose of pathos, a chunk of romance and you have what I consider to be one of the best books, ever. If you have read "A Song of Fire of Ice" fifteen times, spun through the "Wheel of Time" more times than Nynaeve pulls her braid, consumed every Hobb novel, then give this book a shot; it won't disappoint. It's a sweeping epic of love, betrayal, loyalty, magic, and a high quest for revenge, and so damn fine a read you will want to lick the cover when you're done. I HIGHLY recommend you check this book out.
Rating:
Summary: Good book with a few flaws.
Review: The first book in the Otori series: Across the Nightingale Floor, by Lian Hearn, is a work of fantasy: It takes place in a semi-realistic world, somewhat like feudal Japan. The main character is Takeo: an adopted lord, and son of an assassin.
When Takeo's town is attacked, he is saved by Lord Shigeru. He later adopts Takeo after the village is completely decimated. At Shigeru's home, Takeo is visited by a stranger who turns out to be an assassin named Kenji. Kenji used to work with Takeo's father, and he came to teach Takeo the skills of an assassin. Both Takeo's new teacher and Lord Shigeru have different plans for Takeo. And while all this is going on, Lord Shigeru's bitter enemy Iida, is becoming more powerful. When wars erupt between Shigeru and Iida, Shigeru wants Takeo to assassinate Iida, much to the displeasure of Kenji. In this book Takeo is forced to choose between following either the man who saved him, or the man who taught him all his skills. He finally must decide whether to inherit his adopted father's place and become an important lord or follow his family roots and become a powerful assassin.
I thought Across the Nightingale Floor was a good book with a few flaws. The characters where really stereotypical, especially the villain Iida, Lord Shigeru, and the princes Kaede. The story itself was interesting and I loved the setting. The story takes place in an imaginary world with its own countries, laws, religions, class systems etc. This is what made the book worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant surprise - can't wait to read part II and III
Review: This is the story about a young boys destiny, his claiming of his heritage and the discovery of his identity. I really enjoyed this book, set in a medieval Japan-ish world.
It's disturbing, agonizing and in my opinion very well written. Takeo, as our main character is called, becomes involved in politics, and conflicts involving warlords, religion and love. He desperately tries to find out, where his loyalties and sympathies lie, but a mysterious past and friends and enemies who's motives are veiled, makes this a rather difficult task! The rigidness some reviewers criticize - I think is due to the myth-like nature of the story. I however find this very much in accordance with it's subject/style. This is an epic tale, written as a legend.
If you like legendary tales, and books like Clavells "Shogun", this is a book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Utterly engaging!
Review: yeah, it may have been written by a woman (someone seems to have a problem with that), but this book is great! There is also, of course, lots of action. The character development throughout the book is wonderful. You really feel like you know these people. Pick it up. No matter what, you will be entertained.
Rating:
Summary: not fooling anyone....
Review: "He grabbed her by the right hand and pulled her close to him pushing one leg between hers, forcing her thighs apart. She felt the hard bulge of his sex against her..." (Across the Nightingale Floor, pg. 40, Hardback) Someone tell me a woman didn't write that!? I have nothing against female authors J.K. Rowling is one of my favorites, but having read some Mercedes Lackey and some other female authors I had made a conscience decision to NOT read anymore Sci/Fi Fantasy written by women. The blurb about the author is totally gender neutral it's too gender neutral to be...it's fishy. I feel like i was tricked, I went in expecting a book about assasins and got a romantic drama centered around pre-arranged marriages. WITH LITTLE TO NO ACTION (i am on ch. 11 and unless the last two chapters can make up for the first 11...doubt it) and most of the descriptive language used to describe the female and her feelings, not a problem if the assasin was the female but she wasn't. I feel like this woman, in my opinion, thought if she could just get people to pick up the book they would like it. Maybe I am being prejudice but how many of these soft action-less books do i have to go through before i can justly say "it's women writers?" Call me a barbarian but I know what I like. If you are looking for a good story with lots of action, look somewhere else. Oh yeah, through 11 chapters 8 people have died (not including the protagonists village which was destroyed leaving him as the only survivor, but since that is the standard method for introducing these type of characters his village doesnt count) 4 killed by assisted suicide, 1 who was surprised by a guy behind a tree, and 2 beaten to death for standing in the street (seriously).
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: It was good, but light. For one thing, the author, who uses a pseudonym, claims she was trying to represent a fantasy world that was Japan-like without actually referring to the classes of people involved by their Japanese names and titles. So, while it was obvious that she was referring to ninja and samurai, she never used those terms, but instead used vague descriptions or descriptive words. To me, it seemed a little forced sometimes. Also, I felt as if the book was written for someone in about the 8th Grade. Of course, USA Today is written at that level, so maybe I'm just biased towards the more well read.
In any case, those two small issues aside, it was a good book. The story focuses on an orphan who is taken in first by a great lord in exile or disgrace, depending on your point of view, and, later, by a clan of enigmatic mystics who are basically ninja. There are numerous plot twists of varying degree, though none are too surprising to the well-read. The themes are classically Japanese and the author is unabashedly enamored with Japanese culture. In fact, on her website, she cites a trip to Japan as the inspiration for the novel. Well, series, actually. This is the first book in the Tales of the Otori series and the last has just recently been published.
As a fantasy book goes, Across the Nightingale Floor is rather similar to any of a number of others, but as a novel about a fantasy Japan, which is not historical fiction, it stands virtually alone. In fact, I haven't seen a book similar since I read Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds, which is about an Ancient China that never really was. And, though I have to admit Lian Hearn could have done more with her work, I still liked the first book enough to buy, and read, the rest of the series.
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