Grass For His Pillow Tales of the Otori Book II by Lian Hearn.

In the delightful Across the Nightingale Floor, we met Otori Takeo, an extraordinary young man, born to the (pseudochristian) Hidden, adopted by the powerful (samurai) Otori Clan, and descended from the mystical assassins,(ninja) the Tribe.

Lord Tohan Iada, a powerful lord ordered the destruction of his village, and destroyed his adopted father. The tribe, not wanting to loose his bloodline with the remarkable powers it possesses, acute hearing, invisibility, illusionary duplication and the ability to send anyone looking into his eyes into a deep sleep. Thus, they kidnapped him, preventing his assassinating Iada, and incidentally betraying his stepfather Shigeru to his death, and separating him from his betrothed, the lovely Shirakawa Kaede. The Tribe trains him, and only expects his complete and absolute loyalty and obedience.

Meanwhile, Kaede recovers from the sleep Takeo sent her into to stop her from following him. She dreams of the White Goddess, who tells her to be patient that Takeo will come for her. She therefore turns her attention to her immediate future, and the child she carries inside her. She returns home. The impression is put forward that she was married to Shigeru before he was killed, and that the baby is his. This ties in well with the legend that any man who loves her will die.

However, she finds her home barren and her coffers bare. Her mother is dead, and her father broken by his series of defeats. She must rule Shirakawa. She enlists the aid of an imperial noble, Lord Fujiwara, who wishes to add her to his collection of exquisite things, trading her secrets and beauty for his assistance, keeping him like a fish on the line, in the right state of tension, with out ever allowing him to land her….

Takeo’s time with the Tribe is equally fraught with peril. The Tribe does not see why Takeo should be upset with them for allowing his stepfather to be crucified, and for keeping him from his love. They instead assign him a teacher jealous of his natural talents to complete his training. Then, upset when he is not joyously obedient, they give him one last chance; he must traverse the nightingale floor in his old castle and search out his father’s notes on the Tribe. He is the only one who can do it….

But they have trained him well, and no single Tribesman can keep him in check. Armed with the intelligence, why should he return?

These books have all the tired elements of standard romances and fantasy fare, handsome heroes, beautiful heroines under a cloud of tragedy, evil villains and callus relatives and even more callus ninja. Lian Hearn takes them and breathes life into them making them fresh and vital. It really reads like a cross between Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Oliver Twist… or perhaps Harry Potter versus the Shogun.

Her style is light and lyrical, but with a powerful restraint. She deals with many fantastical elements, and with powerful emotions, and violence but always they are held back to add flavor and savor to the dish, not to overwhelm and cheapen.

Here, in the second volume, we see much better development of the characters, the only weak point of the first novel. Further, the story follows two lines, following the adventures of the two leads, Takeo and Kaede. Neither story suffers for the others, nor does the book suffer from the shuttling back and forth between their tales.

These books are a delight, wedding the romance and elegance of feudal Japan with the adventure and daring of fantasy. Superbly written, the language flows, and the plot races, and the reader is pulled in the wake of this irresistible force.

A most excellent volume in a brilliant trilogy.

Like Takeo, this review is Lean-N-Mean. Inspired by Sleeper54’s write offs, the style encourages concise writing by limiting it to 666 words. This one is logs 666 words exactly.

Tales of the Otori

Across the Nightingale Floor
Grass For His Pillow
Brilliance of the Moon

Check out my reviews of all things Japanese:

My Neighbor Totoro
Across the Nightingale Floor
Grass For His Pillow
Brilliance of the Moon
Onmyoji II
Onmyoji
The Hidden Fortress
Hellboy: Storm of Swords
Vexille
Sanjuro
The Hidden Blade
Yaji & Kita: Midnight Pilgrims
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Gay Tales of the Samurai
Howl's Moving Castle
Ghost Dog
Memoirs of a Geisha (Book)
Memoirs of Geisha (Movie)
The Last Samurai
The Sword that Cut the Burning Grass
Taboo
Forbidden Colors

Recommended: Yes