The third book in this cycle of the Otori picks up where the second ended seamlessly, continuing the ongoing romance... and subsequent tragedies (yes, plural) that befall them.

Mostly Kaede, I think. She and all women have it the hardest in these books.

But that's kinda the point. Feudal Shogunate-ish as this is, with a sprinkling of fantasy clan magic makes it feel more ninja action than anything else. But un Naruto, this doesn't have that many happy moments to balance out the dark and sad.

Let's hear it for realism!

This is a tragedy. We know it is a romantic tragedy. So why is it so hard to keep going with this?

Perhaps because I've gotten to love these characters.

I kinda loved to see a lot of these other people die. Bunch of thugs. The politics is only barely better than the outright bloodshed. Are all men this evil? Or is it just how I feel after reading this book?

Anyway. A delightful read, if difficult and disturbing. The author does have a way with words.2019-shelf fantasy25 s Alina797 303

A great series about ancient Japan with its samurais and their conduct codes, ninja- fighters, Christians' persecutions; it has political scheming, interesting turnabouts, intriguing liaisons between characters, sword fights, love, treachery, friendship.
The characters are well-developed, complex, with inner turmoil and weaknesses. “You should never despise people because they haven’t had your opportunities.” 19 s Trish2,136 3,653



This third installment picks up right after Takeo's and Kaede's wedding. The Otori uncles are sending threats and it's clear that to have any position amongst the warring clans, indeed any chance to stay alive, Takeo and Kaede must first gain men and power themselves so after defeating the Otori army, they travel to Kaede's domain to reclaim it (after the death of Lady Maruyama, some men took over despite the law being different in that region).
Meanwhile, Takeo is still hunted by the Tribe as well (and boy, weren't there some "nice" developments there?!) and he has therefore no other option than to use Shigeru's records and hunt them.
Following part of the prophecy, he also tries to gain an advantage by sea so he and Kaede split up, with terrible consequences when Kaede is reckless enough to go to her homeland.
And then there is still Lord Arai and he's still very furious - now with both Takeo and Kaede.
We get a lot of battles therefore, just the prohecy foretold, and a lot of bloodshed.

Fujiwara is still alive, Arai is still alive, the Tribe is still plotting, ... thankfully, there are some good people in this, though, too. an old friend of Takeo's from book 1 for example.

Nevertheless, the death toll in this one was brutal.
I only realized how much I d Ichiro, for example, when his head was presented to Takeo, making me cry. He was one of the hardest hitting losses here apart from the outcast Jo-an whom Takeo had to kill despite owing his life to the man.
As a complete opposite, I didn't feel sorry for Yuki or Kenji one bit. Sure, some will make excuses for Yuki because she was a pawn and in love with Takeo and was forced to kill herself because of that love after she had given the Tribe what they had wanted - the child - but she was old enough and made those choices herself. She also knew the Tribe and still went along. Not to mention that her father had betrayed Shigeru and Takeo so wretchedly so I actually d how he suffered after the forced suicide of his daughter.

The most torturing part was Kaede's obduction. Sure, it's obvious that there will be some sort of rescue attempt but from the overall tone of the books, I wasn't sure whatever plan was set in motion would work and in time. Just think of the plot in book 1 and how that ended! Not to mention how disgusting and appalling Fujiwara was. The only consolation, for me (and, I'm sure, Kaede) was that he wouldn't rape her as he was pretty much uninterested in anything sexual. But that this despicable excuse for a human being actually caused the death of loyal Kondo made me furious beyond description.

As was to be expected, the amount of betrayal didn't let up in this third book either. I had actually had hope that Arai would just die in battle or something but no, of course he had to turn on Takeo after defeating and killing the Otori uncles with his help. *sighs*

This book also marks the first time, that we learn of this fictional feudal Japan getting in contact with the rest of the world - namely through the firearms invented after some run-ins with "white barbarians". Isn't it interesting how any given side always calls the other "barbaric" or "savage"?

The ending, at least, was very satisfying what with the battles having been won, Takeo and Kaede both being disfigured - because that ensured they remained equals - and ruling the three countries.

One detail I always love and which the author continued through all the books so far is how she incorporates the title of the next volume in the text of the current one. I only figured this out now (maybe because the German translation didn't have it, I'd have to go back and check) but find it a pretty feature.
And I have to once again state how much I the narration of the audiobooks. Not only are the narrators very good with the pronunciation, it's also nice to have a male and female narrator since the chapters are from Takeo's and Kaede's point of view.16 s Karlo433 26

Having purchased all five books on the strength of the first, I am at a crossroads. This book delivered the lyrical, descriptive language that I found so enchanting in Book 1, and it also provided some plot twists that kept me on my toes. Where I felt it faltered was in the resolution of the story; which seemed to get wrapped up in what seemed 15-20 pages or so. The denouement was even less palatable, with a fell of "and 20 years later...."

***SPOILER ALERT: The pivotal role that the pirates and their lone musket play in the plot felt quickly inserted and somewhat deus ex machina to me SPOILER ENDS***

Lastly, I felt that Hearn's language failed me in two ways; her descriptions of the earthquakes that so strongly impact the characters and plot, and her descriptions of battle / fighting. Both left me struggling to visualize what was happening.

Having read the first 3, I'll read the remaining 2 books, but with greater reservation. YMMValt-history9 s Vaso1,362 197

Very interesting and nice story!!!!10 s CA707 99 Shelved as 'series-abandonadas'

No voy a completar la serie. No me acuerdo de prácticamente nada y lo que si recuerdo no me da ganas de leerlo.6 s PetrosAuthor 1 book163

Up until the middle of the third book, the plot was an almost uneventful build up towards the final showdown. All that was going on was Takeo traveling around for gathering various factions to his side. He was also winning in skirmishes by using field tactics, which don’t really count as intelligent since his enemies were idiots who were falling for the most obvious traps.

Characterization took a nosedive at this point, since the enemy warlords turned into one dimensional madmen who love to kill and torture peasants for fun, while the noble samurai faction has no problem in accepting pirates and exiles to their army, even if that makes them look dishonorable. For people who are gutting themselves when they lose their honor, this made no sense.

In the second half things get more interesting, since the evil Arai also gets smart. He uses Kaede’s relatives as bait to capture her, and then uses her as bait to capture Takeo. This is the darkest moment for the protagonist, since he needs to compromise, execute his own allies, and hand over his armies as means to stay alive. This right here could have been the point where we get a cool story about having to work for your worst enemy and perhaps slowly learn how to destroy him from within his own hierarchy.

And then everything goes to hell because the author had no idea what to do with her own story and threw in a Deus Ex Machina to wrap up everything in a hurry. Remember how Takeo is destined to win in the end, no matter what, because of a prophesy? Well, guess what, an earthquake strikes out of nowhere which magically fixes everything.

The enemy army gets devastated, while leaving Takeo’s army unaffected. The traitors get stranded and commit suicide. The evil feudal lord’s house is set on fire with him burning alive, and Kaede conveniently escaping in the chaos. Even the dozens of women and children Takeo had captured by the enemy ranks and was forced to execute as traitors, were conveniently killed by falling debris. He didn’t even need to do a horrible act and face the consequences of his actions; the earthquake resolved everything for him.

This is exactly why destiny is a terrible plot device that everybody uses for lazy resolutions and can only ruin an otherwise interesting plot. Whatever the characters are doing does not matter because the ending is predetermined and needs to happen no matter how stupid the method is going to be.

Anyways, we get a forced happy ending with Takeo wiping out the evil warlords and uniting the land, as the prophesy foretold. But wait, that’s not the ending because there is a fourth book were the other part of the prophesy needs to be fulfilled as well. You know, the one where his own son is the one who kills him. Let me spare you the disappointment by telling you it’s not worth it at all. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review5 s Jennifer42 27

The stories take place in a fantasy world based on ancient Japan. The stories follow a boy, Takeo, as he is thrust into a warrior-based society after his family is slaughtered. It also follows the tale of Kaede, a beautiful, but cursed girl who becomes the love and passion of Takeo's life.

The stories are derivative of many boy-hero books, you'll see hints of Lord of the Rings, and even Star Wars if you look carefully enough. While the book relies heavily on this style, it doesn't take away from the fact it remains a good and delicious adventure of a read.

The story ends up being not as predictable as it seems on the surface. Just when you think you know what's about to happen, things will pop up to throw you for a loop and keep the books in your hands. Be warned, these are impossible books to put down. The prose is light and breezy, but the story is heavy. There are things that happen in these books that will rattle around in your head for days.

I only had a few complaints about the books. Many times the symbolism was extremely easy to pick up on. I also found several of the passages, mostly dealing with the sexual encounters of the characters to be unnecessary or just painful to read. Then again, I've rarely found a prose description of sex to be anything other than forced and awkward sounding. This book, unfortunately, was no exception.

But barring those minor complaints, these books were *good* Go out and read them.fantasy fiction japanese ...more5 s Cecilia308 449

3,5
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