Hare in the Moon. (24)
Brilliance of the Moon: Battle for Maruyama by Lian Hearn.
The ogre's iron bones
creaking hollow in the dark,
blood-gift of Fu Leng.
The first half of the end of the Tales of the Otori, though there are both a sequel & a prequel out there, as well. Things are starting to fall into place...which means that bad things are on the horizon. There are more than enough "I'd underestimated so-&-so, thought I didn't know it at the time" or "if I only knew then that these things were happening elsewhere" or "I had no idea when I said goodbye it would be for the last time" sort of things that you can't miss it. The dominoes are in play; fate & destiny have toppled them ove, in equal shades of black & white. Like watching Go, tiles are flipped, & you just wait to see how it will go. This volume focuses on the ascent of Takeo Otori, & you see how he sows the sees of discontent against him even as he does so. When you arm farmers, when you consort with outcasts, you alienate your warrior caste, & Hearn is a serious enough voice to not gloss that over with platitudes about equality. He is transgressing against purity law, tabboo, & civil law; the talents from his Tribe bloodline have marked him as a witch, & trouble is brewing. Kaede Otori has similar problems-- she is acting more assertively than a woman in the Three Kingdoms is "supposed" to, & Lian Hearn isn't going to sugar coat it by having her do so without consequences. The groundwork for a greater conflict has been laid bare; the final volume will be the shake of the cup & the toss of the dice. I think the books will probably deliver a happy ending, but I'm not sure what it will cost, in the end analysis.