![]() Tokyo is another of Mo Hayder's deliciously chilling criminal outings, but probably won't produce the frisson of disapproval that such novels as Birdman and The Treatment did. The days are gone when Hayder was identified as one of a cadre of women writers who did something totally unacceptable: produce grisly crime novels quite as unsettling as the products of male imagination. People seem to have finally accepted that the tough crime novel needn't be an exclusively male preserve. ![]() From the author of the multi-million-copy selling Otori series, Blossoms and Shadows is a compelling tale of women and men, love and war, and the rise of a nation. ![]() Dans le Japon féodal du XIVe siècle, la guerre des clans fait rage. Sur les montagnes, les premières neiges viennent de tomber et Takeo, seul héritier de la puissante famille des Otori (après la mort de son maître Shigeru), a promis de rejoindre la Tribu, renonçant à la fortune et au pouvoir. Guerrier courageux, prêt à affronter les pires dangers et à assumer les plus lourds sacrifices, Takeo nen est pas moins homme. Le souvenir encore brûlant de la mystérieuse Kaede – celle quil aimerait tant épouser – hante encore son cur et son esprit. Mais la belle doit elle aussi suivre son destin et sa vie ressemble à un long combat sans répit pour retrouver sa liberté et cesser dêtre un objet de convoitise dans un cruel monde dhommes. Les deux histoires entrecroisées de Takeo et Kaede plongent le jeune lecteur dans une intrigue menée de main de maître où poésie et violence saffrontent avec une rare beauté. ![]() Lian Hearn's third installment in the Tales of the Otori series Brilliance of the Moon brings a mystical and violent conclusion to the saga of Takeo Otori as he fulfills his destiny to reclaim the Otori lands. At the climax of Grass for his Pillow, Takeo's passion for his beloved Kaede was finally realized with their secret and forbidden wedding. As spring approaches, Takeo and Kaede prepare for war and embark on a campaign to reclaim their respective realms. But just when victory seems certain, Hearn characteristically uproots her characters with unseen treachery and the two lovers are again separated. Takeo must summon courage from his conflicted heritage as he marches towards his destiny. The fates of other Otori characters are also determined in a succinct and magical finale. ![]() Lian Hearn's second novel in the Tales of the Otori, Grass For His Pillow continues to enrich and expand his mystical imaginings of feudal Japan. Picking up where Across the Nightingale Floor left off, Takeo fulfills his debt of honor and accepts his heritage as a member of the superhuman cabal of assassins known as "The Tribe," and is thus ingested into their plots. But his heart yearns for Kaede, his one true love, and secretly wishes to fulfill the final wishes of his adopted father, Otori Shigaru. Meanwhile, Kaede returns to her homeland to find her father's estate in ruin and her inheritance in jeopardy. The two each encounter vast political machinations and deadly consequences as they unconsciously move toward their overwhelming urges to reunite and defy (or perhaps embrace) fate. |