Emperor of the Eight Islands cover art

Emperor of the Eight Islands

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

An ambitious warrior leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands. A stubborn father forces his younger son to give up his wife to his older brother. A woman of the Old People seeks five fathers for her five children, the Spider Tribe, born from cocoons. A powerful priest trains a young disciple, Shikanoko, who has been made a sorcerer against his will. An intricate tapestry has been woven for two rival clans to enter a savage battle over who will be crowned emperor of the Eight Islands.

In an extraordinary story seething with intrigue, adventure and love, Lian Hearn masterfully brings to life a mythical Japanese world inhabited by assassins, ghosts, spirits, deer and monkeys. A spellbinding new work from the author of Across the Nightingale Floor.

©2016 Lian Hearn (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed the book but throughout the recording there are times when the words are hard to understand or simply missing makeing some sentences confusing.

some unfortunate audio bugs throughout

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting tale, original and unique, full of strange magic and political intrigue, but somewhat let down by the poor editing of the audiobook.

Good story, poor editing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a really good story, though I think I like Lían Hearn's Tales of the Otori a little bit more. The overall performance is quite good though I found some of the character voices a little grating, possibly because they didn't match the idea I had formed in my head when I read these books on my e-reader. So others may not have the same reaction.
This audio book is actually the first 2 books from the series in one.

The first two novels in the series in one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.