I just finished ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR by Lian Hearn. It was not what I expected, which isn't to say it was bad. Really I'm still undecided about it.
Basically its set in fuedal Japan, although the country itself is never mentioned. I found it to be mostly political intrigue and while I went into it expecting lots of cool combat scenes I was disappointed in that respect. There was very little combat throughout the book, despite the fact that the main character is an assassin.
One thing I will say for it though, the not-Japanese culture is very immersive, even going so far as to mention that this character did or did not use the polite forms of speech.
I found the climax to be very disappointing as well. The author made promise after promise that the main character's quest was to assassinate the antagonist and save his father's life, only for the antagonist to be essentially stabbed in the back by another viewpoint character.
Despite this the book's last two paragraphs were possibly the most beautiful I have ever read.
Even though I found the majority of the book to be very slowly paced and in some places dull, I think I may actually pick up the next one. Don't ask me why.
Anyone else heard of this book? Read it? What did you think?
