An ambitious warlord leaves his nephew for dead & seizes his lands A stubborn father forces his younger son to surrender his wife to his older brother A mysterious woman seeks five fathers for her children A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne These are the threads of an intricate tapestry in which the laws of destiny play out against a backdrop of wild forest elegant court & savage battlefield Set in a mythical medieval Japan inhabited by warriors & assassins ghosts & guardian spirits Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn is a brilliantly imagined novel full of drama & intrigue
- the beginning of an enthralling epic adventure The Tale of Shikanoko