Across The Nightingale Floor, Episode 1: The Sword Of The Warrior (Tales Of The Otori)

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Seventeen-year-old Tomasu lives in a remote mountain village, some of whose residents—including his mother—are members of the Hidden, a clandestine, peaceful religious sect. He has never met his father. One day, while Tomasu is out collecting mushrooms, a band of Tohan warriors descends upon and massacres the village. Tomasu confronts the warriors, but is rescued by the mysterious Lord Otori, who changes the boy’s name to Takeo, and wants to adopt him. As Takeo learns to read, and to fight with sword and pole, on and off horseback, he does not realize that he is the center of a bloody intrigue . . . until it is almost too late. Winner of the Alex Award A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Adult Book for High School Readers

Paperback: 276 pages

Publisher: Firebird (May 5, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0142403245

ISBN-13: 978-0142403242

Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.5 x 6 inches

Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (283 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #675,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #85 in Books > Teens > Historical Fiction > Asia #166 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Medieval #176 in Books > Teens > Historical Fiction > Medieval

Age Range: 12 - 16 years

Grade Level: 6 - 11

Across the Nightingale Floor is a well-paced and orchestrated historical fantasy set in an imaginary feudal Japan-like setting.Teenage Tomasu lives in a remote mountain village among a people called "The Hidden" who are a secretive and persecuted caste. One night his village is massacred by the chief warlord, Iida. Tomasu pulls a trick and escapes into the mountains and is saved by another warrior lord, Otori Shigeru. Otori takes Tomasu in as his son, renames him Takeo, and the young man begins to learn the way of the warrior. It soon becomes apparent that he possesses the skills of the assassin class known as "The Tribe" which include superior hearing, stealth, invisibility and the ability to leave a "second self" behind. Later, he learns to put people to sleep.Meanwhile, a second plot told in the third person involves Kaede, a young woman who is the daughter of a lord but held hostage to keep her family from considering an uprising. The warlords are to use Kaede as a pawn in an arranged marriage with Otori. Things get complicated because of a certain Lady Maruyama, and then Takeo's feelings toward Kaede. A little Shakespearean tragedy within a Japanese setting makes for plenty of intrigue.Takeo makes an interesting and likable protagonist, and I found myself cheering for him and all the challenges he had to face. The side characters were also colorful, with heroic Otori Shigeru, the mysterious teacher Kenji, the doomed Lady Maruyama, jinxed Kaede, and more. You know some of them will play larger roles in the following two books.I wondered about this book being a young adult novel, because while the language and sentence construction read fairly simply, there is graphic violence and some sex that should be for a more mature audience.

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