February Fantasy Read - SPOILERS - Across the Nightingale Floor

Here you go. Cheaters.

:D

Early in the book Takeo talks about having eels for dinner then being restless and unable to sleep. I had the same reaction when I tried eel sushi. Definitely a spoiler.

So, I was wondering how much the Ninja stories are based on realistic exploits of warriors in ancient Japan? Any one have any information? Seems like there is definitely some Ninja behavior going on, don't you think?

Trained assassins probably existed pretty much everywhere at many times in history, nothing very unrealistic about that.

They probably weren't considered warriors or their deeds "exploits" in any of those places that had something like a honor code going on though.

So, are you thinking those warriors who held to some type of honor code for the most part did not approve of stealth and assassinations?

I am also curious to what extent the ninja skills included climbing up vertical walls in pouring rain storms.

What the Tribe does (and its historical equivalents did) is covert, unorthodox warfare without regard for the strictures of Bushido or whatever fictional equivalent code the warrior/upper caste is hinted to be supposed to follow in the book. Espionage, sabotage, poisonings, sneak-in assassinations, etc...

Of course those methods would be looked down upon, not to mention that those who did the deeds were commoners/lower caste, a good enough reason to look down on them already.

The book pretty much follows suit in that regard :

• Mention when Takeo takes up training with Kenji that Lord Shigeru's relatives would strongly disapprove of the contents if they knew.

• A short exchange/mention when Takeo goes for Lord Iida toward the end, about the longsword he insists in bringing along. From a practical PoV it is considered a hindrance in the sort of operations they're about to undertake because of its bulk, but that's just the surface of it IMO. There's probably also a ton of subtext running along the lines of :
- A certain mystique of the sword, who uses one and how.
- While some of the Tribe train with the sword and may use it when adequate (Kenji doesn't, or not with the degree of skill to be considered a swordmaster, he isn't the one to train Takeo in its use), they're more than ready to use an array of smaller, more easily concealed weapons, subterfuge or poison. Anything that gets the job done, honor isn't a concern to them.
- How inappropriate it could be to bring not just any longsword, the blade of an honorable warrior, for a covert murder.

• Lord Arai's disgruntlement toward the end, at owing so much of his victory to the Tribe rather than just open warfare.

As for the wall-climbing part, there are preserved historical artefacts that were intended just for that use, whether they belonged to ninjas or not is another matter.

Jarandel, I'm very happy you've got so much info that supplements reading this book. I am looking forward to reading books 2 and 3 in the series.

Fascinating that there exist historical artifacts for "climbing walls" and the like. Way cool!

I also appreciate your comment on Lord Arai's disgruntlement. Makes absolute sense that he would resent being assisted, in a central and vital manner, by "lower class" persons! La plus ca change, la plus la meme chose, eh?

oh, my, this is very interesting: A February fantasy read and no one is posting during February. Who is reading Across the Nightingale Floor? What do you think? No one? Really?

I simply haven't gotten to it. The fearless leader is failing... *sobs*

Actually, I've been sick and have been only reading some comfort books. Give me a few more days to feel better, get an overdue library book read and then I'll read and comment on Nightingale.

oh, I'm sorry, Morphy. Please get well soon! {{hugs to you}}

Feel better soon, Morphy!

Here are a couple general impressions so far.

I wish there was more 'world building'. There is very little detail provided about anything other than the main plot.

Would you fantasy readers call this a 'farm boy' motif? Takeo didn't actually have a farm, but being out gathering mushrooms to return to his village destroyed, being saved by a powerful mentor from whom he discovers he is of a magical people and can save the universe .....well to me it sounds like there should be a light saber in there somewhere.

I love that there are three women characters, (two of whom I see as strong women) and yes, they talk to each other and have unique positions and personalities.

>11 streamsong: Yeah, to me this falls within the farmboy + ancient magical bloodline motifs.

It isn't so much that there's no worldbuilding, but that despite supposedly situating the story in some slightly alternate world/history, the author does in fact draw wholesale from and builds upon a general background noise of vulgarized history & pop culture mythos of feudal Japan and Ninjas that most young readers or people not totally averse to anime or some Japanese video game franchises will be familiar with.

If you defined the world, it would sound very much like this page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja), with the only difference that the magical talents quoted as so much examples of quaint folklore are in fact real.

Wow! That was a mouthful, Jarandel, but I think I agree with you in most parts. I am embarrassed to say I know so little about actual Japanese culture and history that I can not recognize pop cultural myths about its feudal times.

Streamsong, are "farmboy" and "pigboy" basically the same moniker for fantasy stories motifs?

Thanks, Jarandel. I read the wiki article and now I understand what you and Karen are saying about the folk tale aspect of the book.

I ended up loving the last 40 pages or so--got into the 'can't put it down' mode which is the first book that's happened to in quite a while. So I'll be looking for the sequel.

Karen, I may have been using the wrong term when I said 'farmboy'. Maybe it is 'pigboy'. I'm a newbie to recently written fantasy writing and may have used the wrong term.

DD had shared some of her enthusiasm about this genre with me, --anime, manga & books-- but it never quite caught on. I thought this series of group reads would be the perfect chance to explore it a bit. So I'm picking your brains, and I appreciate having experienced guides.

I actually just finished it last night and love it. I'll be keeping an eye out for the sequels, too.

I don't know much about Japanese culture, and in my reading journal I mentioned that I didn't care for anything with a Japanese theme. This book was an exception though. I don't know if it was just me, but...as I was reading, I didn't read it as being loosely based on anything Asian (except the art described in it). I read it more as a complete fantasy world.

I didn't like the Tribe at all. I wanted so much for Takeo to completely escape them and run off with Kaede.

The farm boy and pig boy trope are basically the same thing. Per TVTropes.com:

"a staple of fantasy adventures. Farmy McFarmboy is just an ordinary humble farmboy/hunter/etc. living and working in a tranquil and pastoral land until destiny (and his Obi Wan) comes knocking, normally knocking down his house or town in the process. Farmy is typically very whiny and resistant to the idea of being the Chosen One but eventually accepts the idea. Generally, he's the son of somebody important — either the Big Bad or The Dragon — or else from an ancient line of wizards or kings and raised by an aunt or uncle."

Examples: The Belgariad by Eddings, Eragon by Paolini, A Wizard of Earthsea by Le Guin, Prydian Chronicles by Alexander, Star Wars, Kung Fu Panda, The Matrix

Not to mention King Arthur.

And I'd say this book qualifies, too.

I will encourage all who are tempted to find the sequels to do so. They are quite good, too. And I'm liking Heaven's Net is Wide which she wrote after the trilogy as a prequel. There is one more but I think I might try to take a bit of a break before I read it.

I read Across the Nightingale Floor in January, and really enjoyed it. Fortunately our library had the two sequels in the trilogy, so I read and enjoyed them, too. I didn't feel there was anything lacking in the world building. Now I have the prequel Heaven's Net is Wide and the last tale of the Otori, The Harsh Cry of the Heron, out to read, but haven't started them yet. I also enjoyed the inclusion of strong female characters, but felt a bit let down by what the author did with or to them in various ways in book 3.

edited to fix typo

Great! I'll be interested in what you think of Heaven's Net. I'll probably be finishing it in the next few days if my eyes cooperate.

I am recovering from having scratched my left cornea on Sunday night. Could not do a think until this morning and so I'm creeping slowly back into computer and book time.

I gave it a 6 out of 10. Here's my "review":

This didn't do a lot for me. Other people have done this flavor of book better, Wurts and Feist come to mind with the Empire trilogy for the Japanese-style intrigue and Hobb with the adopted assassin theme. For some reason, I couldn't connect to the characters. Perhaps because I simply didn't like them. I won't read the rest of the trilogy.

I'm looking forward to next month's read as I love Wrede's work and know I will enjoy it. I've been bummed with the first two books this year.

I liked the book. Maybe an 8. I agree with Morphidae that the Wurts-Feist Empress Trilogy is better. A book that I read recently with a historical oriental setting and intrique is Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. That was probably the best book I read in 2011.

I"m not quite finished yet, but I'll write something to post soon - right now, I have to get ready for work!

I'd rank it maybe a 7, a nicely flowing light read, but not really one that brings strikingly unique images or moments that linger in memory. The two main characters are a tad overdone in talent and perfection, and I was somewhat irked at suspecting, then knowing with increasing certainty that the female one, for all the attempts at painting her as her own person, strong willed, kick-ass, etc... was 'destined' to end up paired with the other.

I like the description of "a nicely flowing light read". Captures my experience quite well.

>24 Jarandel:: That matches the impression I had when I read this a few years ago. I enjoyed it while reading, but it didn't stay with me and I didn't feel the need to check out the sequels. I too was annoyed at the need to pair off the characters, but this seems to be characteristic of YA fiction in recent years.

One of the things that struck me when reading it was that it was caught between YA and adult fiction. It has a lot of the tropes (both useful and not useful) of young adult fiction, but then it also has straight up sexual violence and "onscreen" decapitation, which is unusual in contemporary YA fiction - usually it's off-the-page where it occurs.

The pairing off doesn't bother me - it's been a standard thing of just about everything I've ever read, so I pretty much expect it. When it doesn't occur, it's an interesting surprise. In fact, as far as Kaede was concerned, I was pleasantly surprised that she wasn't also part of the Tribe. That would be the "typical" way to do it. Then again, that may still turn up in a later book.

I was somewhat surprised at the major character that died. I was totally expecting a different one. I knew, as a pigboy story, one of the tutors had to die tragically, but I was expecting Kenji, not Shigeru.

For anyone interested, the Hidden are really based on historical group in Japan. The Christian missionaries were expelled just at the beginning of the Tokugawa period where Japan was isolated, but the converts continued secretly, and were heavily persecuted (they were tested by being told to step on an icon). When the Europeans forced their way into Japan again (thank you Commodore Perry), they were rediscovered by the church. Their "Latin" is linguistically interesting. More info.

<3 this series .....