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Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book 1
- Narrated by: Aiko Nakasone, Kevin Gray
- Series: Tales of the Otori, Book 1
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Teen & Young Adult, Literature & Fiction
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Summary
In his palace at Inuyama, Lord Iida Sadamu, warlord of the Tohan clan, surveys his famous nightingale floor. Its surface sings at the tread of every human foot, and no assassin can cross it. But 16-year-old Otori Takeo, his family murdered by Iida's warriors, has the magical skills of the Tribe - preternatural hearing, invisibility, a second self - that enable him to enter the lair of the Tohan. He has love in his heart and death at his fingertips....
Lian Hearn's stunningly powerful best seller, Across the Nightingale Floor, is an epic story for young and old. Set in a mythical feudal Japanese land, a world both beautiful and cruel, the intense love story of two young people takes place against a background of warring clans, secret alliances, high honour and lightning swordplay.
The first novel in the epic Tales of the Otori series, Across the Nightingale Floor is followed by Grass for His Pillow and Brilliance of the Moon.
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What listeners say about Across the Nightingale Floor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 20-03-21
I love this book!!
I read the the Nightingale Floor many years ago, together with the rest of the series and keep them in my bookcase now. Finding them on audible was like a gift just for me. This version is wonderful and the two narrators are exceptional. I will be using my credits to buy the remaining books to enjoy all over again. Thank you audible for giving me this gift. It will follow me for the rest of my life.
1 person found this helpful
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- Sharmeen
- 06-05-22
fantastic story and very well narrated
I reas this book years ago a d wanted to revisit it with Audible. eautifully narrated and was a joy to listed every single inktense of it.
on to the next one!
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- Rachan
- 25-02-22
Great for the whole family.
Read the books, then brought these audios for my daughter who just loves to hear them over and over again.
Great themes especially if you find Japanese history and myth a big interest.
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- Charon Nix
- 14-07-21
Fascinating story ruined...
Fascinating story ruined by two awful narrators: a robotic, nasal American male and a woman who sounds like a 12 year old reading a bedtime story to a younger sibling. I am seriously considering switching over to a kindle book instead.
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- Peter
- 04-07-21
fantastic
Great story and well put together can't wait to get to the 2n book. grass for his pillow
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- Screen Touch
- 16-04-21
Brilliant Story of the Otori
Really enjoyed this story. The voice acting was spot on and the writing was incredible. I'm hooked on this series now.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-02-21
Utilize the playback speed if needed
Speeding up the female narrators chapters by 1.10x or 1.15x made it perfect.
Its a great series of old honor, and magic.
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- Josh
- 28-12-20
Great book
Great book, fantastic world, martial skills and special abilities.
Great narration and the two voices work perfectly
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- Tatiana / @TCLinrow
- 05-10-20
Action packed and otherworldly
This book really did have a touch of magic in every word, in my opinion. Takeo's loyalty to Otori Shigeru was haunting and so perfectly constructed and his determination and drive to do the right thing kept the story going forwards brilliantly. Kaede's innocence but also her determination and strength of character made her a force to be reckoned with all of her own. It was beautifully written.
In terms of historical accuracy for the setting, I really don't know... but the book has characters with literal magic powers so I'm sure it can be forgiven for any inaccuracies, because it's clearly not set in the world as we understand it anyway.
I'm excited to read the rest of the series. Definitely glad I took the time to listen to this book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-07-20
brilliant!
perfect story and narration... one of the best I've listened to....on to the next one
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- Blubbr
- 17-05-22
Fantastic book
Fantastic book with depth and a great story!
Sadly the reading of the chapters with the other main character are poorly dramatised and quite flat, which gives a bit of dissonance to the listening experience since the reading of the main character is so really well done.
But I would still recommend it!
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- Anonymous User
- 13-09-20
a great book ruined by the female reader
The book itself is well written, the story has nice twists and turns to it, and the depiction of the scenery doesn't take away from the progress of the plot.
however, the book is ruined in the chapters that are read out loud by the female vocal actor (Aiko Nakasone). i have never heard seach brutal disassociation from the content that is read out loud. it was very hard to listen to, and if it wasn't for the author's great writting i would have returned the book without finishing it.
this is even sadder when you think of the male voice actor (Kevin Gray) of this book which reading is spot on, but has to share the chapters with such low quality female counterpart.
please consider hiring another actress for your next books.
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- KZBenn
- 05-03-20
One of my all time favourites
I just love this story. it is great as an audio too. The narrators were excellent.
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- Anders
- 27-08-19
Exciting Japanese teenage drama
Family clans on the brink of war - who can you trust? The story is told in past tense from the perspective of two teenagers, a boy (1st person) and a girl (3rd person). The special gifts of 'the tribe' makes it a fantasy novel, but it does not go over the top. The story is charming and exciting, but can be both a bit rushed and a bit predictable. This is not the detailed and clever writing of George R R Martin, but it's still a coherent story that works, though I feel it takes some lazy shortcuts sometimes when I want a more detailed and true-nature-like story. This is how I feel it is intended for teenagers - more simple and short, action oriented.
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- Gvido
- 23-10-17
Predictable and flat
The story is quite predictable and flat, the characters lack depth and the performance could be better for the female voice. As a time killer, it has some usability and some ok fantasy aspects - but unfortunately the predictability made the story boring.