Brilliance of the moon by Lian Hearn
September 21st 2006 02:46
Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn
Brilliance of the Moon is the third novel of the Tales of Otori trilogy.
Takeo and Kaede are now married and resolved to strengthen their domains, Maruyama and Hagi, respectively. Their marriage has displeased Arai, the most powerful lord in the The Three Countries and Lord Fujiwara who considers Kaede to be betrothed to him. Takeo's claim to Hagi is contested by the cousins of Lord Otori and he has to defeat them to get his inheritance.
Then there is the quaint prophecy that Takeo has to wage five battles, four to win and one to lose. As soon as Takeo sets out for the war, Fujiwara seizes Kaede and forces her into a wedding with him. Fujiwara is a homosexual with a cruel streak towards women and Kaede suffers greatly in his captivity. This part forms probably the most static and boring part of the whole series. On the other side, Takeo suffers huge reverses in his initial battle itself.
The series is based on medieval Japan and the era is romanticized without apology and by the end of the series, Japan’s fateful encounter with the modern world is also depicted.
But, the novels also refrain from making any kind of negative judgements about the end of the era and do not cast a mournful backward glance like The Last Samurai did. That adds to their already considerable appeal.
Lian Hearn writes a spare and unassuming prose but still manages to evoke the lush beauty of the landscape. It is a risky business because sometimes the prose feels too flat but for most of the time, she gets away with it.
The three novels all have intricate plots and plentiful action and all of them suffer from a lame climax. I don't have anything else to pick on except for those climaxes. They hugely readable and I finished the entire series in one week.
All in all, for sheer entertainment, Lian Hearn's creation is one of the best in the fantasy genre ever. And I have read somewhere that she is going to continue the series with more novels, which is good news.
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