Tales of the Otori

• Tales of the Otori is a Series of historical fantasy Novels by Lian Hearn, set in a fictional world based on feudal Japan. The series initially consisted of a trilogy: Across the Nightingale Floor (2002), Grass for His Pillow (2003), and Brilliance of the Moon (2004). It was followed in 2006 by a sequel, The Harsh Cry of the Heron, and in 2007 by a prequel, Heaven's Net is wide.
• The books follow a young warrior named Takeo in his struggles to avenge an adoptive father, escape the legacy of his biological father, and pursue the love of his life in the midst of an enormous power struggle involving dozens of clan lords and thousands of warriors.

The Trilogy

The story is told primarily in first-person narrative by Otori Takeo. He was born as Tomasu in Mino, a small village of religious outcasts referred to as the "Hidden". The Hidden are persecuted throughout the Three Countries for their beliefs, and in the opening chapter Mino is destroyed by the warriors of Iida Sadamu, Lord of the Tohan Clan. Takeo is rescued by Otori Shigeru, a young Lord of the Otori Clan, and led back to the Otori stronghold of Hagi. There, Shigeru adopts Takeo and begins to instruct him in the ways of a warrior.

Shigeru's uncles, hoping to rid themselves of their popular and powerful nephew, send him to Iida's capital city of Inuyama. Takeo's biological father was of The Tribe, a group of families with special powers, and they abduct Takeo, making a claim upon him because of his ancestry. Shigeru is betrayed and killed, Iida ultimately perishes, and the country is overrun by the army of Arai Daiichi.

Takeo is torn between conflicting obligations: to avenge Shigeru's death and claim leadership of the Otori clan; to submit to the Tribe's claim on him; and to follow his heart and marry Shirakawa Kaede. These conflicts drive his actions throughout the trilogy, placing him at odds with the Tribe, the Otori Lords, and the armies of Arai Daiichi.