The Harsh Cry of the Heron, by Lian Hearn

2006, Macmillan

631 pages

The epic tale set in feudal Japan which started with Across the Nightingale floor ends the tale of Takeo and his family in this installment.

As ever, the style of the writing took me to a land full of betrayal, fighting and sorrow. This book was by far the darker of the 4 books. The ending is satisfactory, not necessarily a HEA, but for those who read the previous three books knew there would be sorrow here.

The story is tied up well. Both old characters (Kaede, Takeo) and relatively new ones (his children - all of them) have their stories in a way that lets me access their characters on a deeper level than when they were mentioned by a different point of view. Lots of female POV's for this reviewer!

I do have several small gripes. Initially, (for about 60 pages), I felt a lot of back story was told. I feel this back story, filling in around 16 years from the last book, could have merited a novel of its own. Considering that Takeo's daughters, the twins Maya and Miki, and their elder sister Shigeko have a significant role in this book, having a book before it to introduce their characters and how they came to be who they are would have cut the feeling of being 'told' events.

I did like the level of darkness surrounding the twin's tale. There are several story twists which I won't put here, but my spine shivered in several places where Lian guided the story. Almost verging on the horror genre for me.

The paperclip level is high, due to the content of this book. Concepts that were touched upon in other books were depicted in more detail, that was too much for me. I only read on because I wanted to learn of the end. The fifth book, Heaven's Net is Wide, hit 5 paperclips and I put it down. I can possibly see why the content was put in, although there were a few points that I felt the imagination was quite capable of filling in the blanks. If you're looking for a PG book, this isn't one. It deals with adult situations, and a variety of relationships.

Paperclip rating: 4

Tissue rating: 3

Dagger rating: 3

Overall rating: 3 (due to content and more telling).

Despite the ratings, I'm glad I read this book to discover how the story ended. I feel there is room for more books in the series about Takeo's daughters' lives, which are bound to be interesting.

It was well written, and there is little to say