Harsh Cry of the Heron (Tales of the Otori Series #4) Book

Trying to keep an excellent series going beyond the natural end is always complicated. I was optimistic for this one, however, because Lian Hearn has quite a talent for epic storytelling, and the first three Otori books gripped me from about paragraph 2. In this 4th book Hearn brings some of the more historical threads served as a backdrop to the earlier books to the fore in a story that by its own logic really can't end the way the previous did. The era of feudal kingdoms is over. It is an interesting set up: Otori Takeo, although destined by prophecy to be a great ruler and unifier, also is destined to fall in the way of a Greek trajedy. He believes it, and so can only fight so hard against it. But it isn't just prophecy that determines his fall, and it isn't just Takeo's family that will bear the brunt of this change. Hearn writes the inevitable aftermath of the epic trilogy as the story of outside forces (Portuguese explorers) and the internal logics of nationmanking coming back to undo the very ruler who brought them in. So I like this book on a meta-level, but I was left mostly unsatisfied by the character development. Seeing Takeo as the older, wiser father was a fun change, as was seeing some of the youngest characters grow up. And yet there were so many of them that the book lost focus. It seems like Hearn couldn't decide between writing another trilogy with this new generation of characters or tying up loose ends with one book. Because of this, the reader gets many choices of characters and subplots with which to to identify only to watch them all die, or fade out, or do something stupid before they can really develop before our eyes. It is frustrating. I wanted to really root for someone and watch them survive valiantly despite all obstacles, and I kept getting the rug yanked out from under me. Now, there are books where this kind of disappointment is endemic, and those books are often really good. But I didn't start reading the Otori books for a lesson in pessimism or realpolitik, and greek tragedy has never really been my thing. So I understand what Hearn was trying to achieve, but I was frustrated by all the interesting people left along the way. Still, there undoubtably will be a book in the future about Takeo's daughter, and I will undoubtably read it. Hearn's focus on strong female characters has always been a selling point in this series for me and I'm willing to bet that the new book will be more focused and hence a whole lot better.