book data
316 ratings,
4.02
average rating, 56 reviews
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published
June 6th 2008
(first published 2007)
by Picador
binding
Paperback, 560 pages
characters
isbn
0330447459
(isbn13: 9780330447454)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 615)
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5 stars (108)
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avg 4.02
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in March, 2009
I bought this in London for Alex to read (teen literature section)- and ended up reading it myself.
The author is a British author who developed a facination with early Japan. Hers is a fictional world of 3 Japanese warrior clans a tribe with valueable skills (hired as spies and assasins) and a hidden group with alternative religious views.
I like the story and the writing. At times it seemed a bit slow, but the characters are strong and well developed with beliefs and ac...more
The author is a British author who developed a facination with early Japan. Hers is a fictional world of 3 Japanese warrior clans a tribe with valueable skills (hired as spies and assasins) and a hidden group with alternative religious views.
I like the story and the writing. At times it seemed a bit slow, but the characters are strong and well developed with beliefs and ac...more
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recommends it for:
Japanese Epic Fiction Lovers
Segera terbit di Indonesia!!! :D
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Lian Hearn has given me an appreciation for this culture. The beautifully woven story. This is a classic and will live forever. I have the entire series. I love giving them as gifts. This is an awesome writer. This series has become like a friend you go back to again and again when you need to get lost in an entirely different society. I have read Lian Hearn's online story, I so wish a story this incredible could fall into my mind. I thank Ms. Hearn for the Tales of the Otori, it is a gi...more
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Read in June, 2009
Heaven's Net is Wide by Lian Hearn is the prequel to the Tales of the Otori, particularly before Across the Nightingale floor. It is seen as the first and last book of the series, as it brings the series full circle.
Heaven's Net is Wide details the life of Otori Shigeru, Takeo's adoptive father. Not much is revealed about the man in the three books of the trilogy, which serves to create interesting milestones for readers of the book who have already finished the rest of the books.
...more
Heaven's Net is Wide details the life of Otori Shigeru, Takeo's adoptive father. Not much is revealed about the man in the three books of the trilogy, which serves to create interesting milestones for readers of the book who have already finished the rest of the books.
...more
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Read in June, 2009
Over the years I have appreciated the work of many writers often marveling at the brilliance of their stories or their masterful use of words. There are books simply to be enjoyed and others to be savored. Some stories challenge my own beliefs, some create an alternative world to retreat to, a dream state between the covers where reality and imagination intermingle to the point where it no longer matters.
More than a few years have passed since I happened across Lian Hearn's first boo...more
More than a few years have passed since I happened across Lian Hearn's first boo...more
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Read in February, 2008
I enjoyed this more than The Harsh Cry Of The Heron, though it wasn't all that much happier! I always liked the characters of Shigeru and Naomi, so it was quite interesting to read about when they were younger and when they first got together. There was interesting background for Shizuka, too, and Iida Sadamu. I'm not sure it added terribly much to their characters that I couldn't have extrapolated from reading the original trilogy and The Harsh Cry Of The Heron, but it was interesting and enjoy...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who enjoyed the original Otori books enough to want to read a tedious 600 page prequel
This is the "first book" or prequel to the brilliant Otori Trilogy and "last book". Unlike the other books though, which were so good because as part of a ensemble they served their purpose of standing alone as great books as well as giving enough away (and leaving you hanging) that you'll want to read the next book ASAP, this was not so to my disappointment.
This was the least enthralling or engaging of the Otori pentalogy. It did maintain my interest though. I t...more
This was the least enthralling or engaging of the Otori pentalogy. It did maintain my interest though. I t...more
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Read in January, 2008
The first half of this book is a novel, the story of Otori Shigeru's rise to power. Unfortunately, that storyline has a natural climax several years before the start of Across the Nightingale Floor, and we still have half a book to read. Hearn uses it to tell an unconvincing love story and make a half-hearted attempt to flesh out some of the motivations of characters who will later be important. This gets three stars based only on the first part, which is as good as Across the Nightingale Fl...more
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bookshelves:
books-i-ve-named-pets-after,
fantasy,
fiction,
histocial-fiction,
japanese,
own,
young-adult
Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
anime fans, light fantasy fans
Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori" series is amongst my favorite reads. A fictional tale set in feudal Japan, the books and the entire series has been a refreshing change from the tired old feudal fantasy genre.
Heaven's Net is Wide is the final book and also the first book in the series. It tells the back story of Otori Shigeru, it is a story about patience and redemption. Like all the books in the series, it seems predictable, but will pull unexpected twists. Small things...more
Heaven's Net is Wide is the final book and also the first book in the series. It tells the back story of Otori Shigeru, it is a story about patience and redemption. Like all the books in the series, it seems predictable, but will pull unexpected twists. Small things...more
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Read in March, 2008
This is so sad, and very disapointing.
I have loved this entire series, even more by the fact that I feel like I happened upon it myself years ago and how it seems to have a small audience. You know how it is when you have a favorite book or movie thatyou don't think anyone else knows about about but you, and that it seems made for you? That was how it was for me and the Tales of the Otori series.
This book, technically the fifth in the series but written as the "first", is ...more
I have loved this entire series, even more by the fact that I feel like I happened upon it myself years ago and how it seems to have a small audience. You know how it is when you have a favorite book or movie thatyou don't think anyone else knows about about but you, and that it seems made for you? That was how it was for me and the Tales of the Otori series.
This book, technically the fifth in the series but written as the "first", is ...more
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
People interested in Japanese culture and/or adventure books with magnificent plots
This is the prequel to the "Tales of the Otori" trilogy, and its sequel. This book has its focus mainly on Otori Shigeru's childhood and way up to adulthood. The book tells about his training, his coming of age, the The Battle of Yaegahara and how he got his nickname of the Farmer. The book is the grand explanation to all questions you'll have after reading the trilogy. This book is much more than just biography about Shigeru. The author, Lian Hearn (pseudonym for Gillian Rubinstein), ...more
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Read in December, 2007
Heaven's Net Is Wide charts the life story of Otori Shigeru, heir of the Otori Clan. It was strong and taunt as it builds up to the battle of Yaegahara, but after the battle and the falling action, the narration seems to drag. The book stops being about Shigeru, and becomes a prologue to The Tales of the Otori Series. Which was ok, the writing was still solid and lyrical, with enough interesting tid-bits about Japanese history and mythology to keep my interest, but then the author began to "...more
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Read in March, 2008
This seems to be the last book in my very favorite adult series, Tales of the Otori, a fabulous feudal Japanese fantasy series. (It's so strange to me how much I love this series because I normally am not attracted by this topic or genre at all...which just goes to show how great it really is!)
This last volume is a prequel to the others and tells the story of Otori Shigeru who is an important character in the rest of the series, but not the protagonist. This volume sets up the hi...more
This last volume is a prequel to the others and tells the story of Otori Shigeru who is an important character in the rest of the series, but not the protagonist. This volume sets up the hi...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
historical fantasy readers.
Read 9/22-9/29/07
Heaven's Net is Wide is a prequel to The Tales of the Otori trilogy. It tells the story of Shigeru, the rather mysterious adopted father of Takeo, the narrator of The Tales of the Otori. The book is a fantasy, set in a version
of Medieval Japan. This is a marvelous book, both for Hearn's lovely writing style and for the vivid, complex charactarization of Shigeru. I don't usually like prequels but this one was fascinating. The moment I put down
Heaven's N...more
Heaven's Net is Wide is a prequel to The Tales of the Otori trilogy. It tells the story of Shigeru, the rather mysterious adopted father of Takeo, the narrator of The Tales of the Otori. The book is a fantasy, set in a version
of Medieval Japan. This is a marvelous book, both for Hearn's lovely writing style and for the vivid, complex charactarization of Shigeru. I don't usually like prequels but this one was fascinating. The moment I put down
Heaven's N...more
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Read in March, 2009
This was the weakest of the five Otori books, as others have said, but it answers many of the questions I had in the first book. Hearn normally throws more curve balls with her characters (thinking of the shocking end of Book 4!) but it's understandable that in a prequel, she has to reach a predetermined point.
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Read in February, 2008
A quick read, but this book wasn't particularly satisfying, I must say. I've read the whole series now, and I think as often happens, the first book was the best. It's a strangely ordered series, as well, and I'm really not sure what this book added to it - it didn't exactly tell a new story or provide any particularly useful insight into the character. I guess if you like the series, you'd probably like this, but I wouldn't really recommend it otherwise. If you're interested in the series, ...more
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Read in October, 2008
recommends it for:
people who love samurai
I am a sucker for feudal Japan. Slap a samurai into a story and I will probably like it. Consider the movie "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. Stupid movie that centers around a white man who becomes the last samurai. Yet, I can't hate it.
This book is a bit like that. Parts of the book are great. Hearn's word choices are very affective and enjoyable. The story itself is interesting, about a family in Japan, deposed from the ruling class, trying to survive and seek reve...more
This book is a bit like that. Parts of the book are great. Hearn's word choices are very affective and enjoyable. The story itself is interesting, about a family in Japan, deposed from the ruling class, trying to survive and seek reve...more
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Read in March, 2008
This has been such a treat! Even though I complained that there is not enough magic/fantasy in this prequel to my beloved Tales of the Otori series, it is so wonderful to read about Shigeru's and Naomi's personal histories and all the political intrigues before the tale of Tomasu/Takeo started. I'm also conscious throughout how Lian Hearn's sentences are in such deliberate and crisp rhythms -- almost as well-written as Across the Nightingale Floor which remains to be the best title of the enti...more
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I am not generally thrilled with sequels but I thought this one was donc very nicely and blended in with the previous novels. I think I would read this one first if I were just starting the series.
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Read in January, 2008
This is my favorite book out of the whole series. Shigeru was one of my favorite characters in of the series, and I don't think even this book did him enough justice.
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