The Harsh Cry of the Heron by Lian Hearn

This is the last book in the Tales of the Otori series, a wonderful series about the adventures of Otori Takeo and his love and future wife Shirakawa Kaede in feudal Japan. The original trilogy began with Takeo as a young boy whose village was destroyed by an evil warlord. He escaped and was adopted by a nobleman, Otori Shigeru. Takeo is trained as a warrior and discovers that he has special skills known only to those of the Tribe. The Tribe abilities allow him to turn himself invisible, to project the “second self” (an illusionary duplicate), and to use the Kikuta Gaze (when you stare into his eyes you fall into a deep sleep). The original adventures follow Takeo and Kaede as they fall in love, and fall in love, get captured, and eventually reunite, all in the process of uniting the Three Countries. Early on a prophecy is revealed to Takeo:

Your lands will stretch from sea to sea…Five battles will buy you peace, four to win and one to lose. Many must die, but you yourself are safe from death, except at the hands of your own son.

By the end of the third novel the prophecy is fulfilled (except for the dying part ).There is magic, romance, adventure, action, and political intrigue. Its a great series of novels.

The Harsh Cry of the Heron is billed as the Last Tale of the Otori. It picks up 16 years after the third novel. Takeo and Kaede still rule the Three Countries and peace and trade have prosperped. This novel fulfills the last part of the prophecy Takeo heard earlier in life, that he can only die by the hand of his own son. The plot focuses on the political intrigue of the previous novels. The Emperor of Japan has let Takeo rule the Three Countries but has now called his right to rule into question. At the same time Arai Zenko is developing firearms in order to challenge Takeo’s rule in the west. Also we finally get to read about Takeo’s long lost son, and how he has been raised to despise his father. Sounds like a great read huh? Unfortunately the novel focuses too much on side plots and details that never contribute anything to the ultimate climax and resolution. I would estimate that at least half of the novel could have been trimmed down with no loss to the major plots. In the last hundred pages it finally comes around to the concluding battles and they are just as exciting as the battle scenes Hearn wrote before. There is just not enough of them. Takeo seems to hem and haw all through the novel. Nothing really gets accomplished until more then halfway through the book.

For this reason I would recommend this book only to more advanced readers who have read the previous Otori tales and absolutely loved them. I liked the ending to the series but wished it got to the good parts quicker.

Posted under a librarian reads, review