Lord of the Darkwood cover art

Lord of the Darkwood

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Lord of the Darkwood

By: Lian Hearn
Narrated by: Neil Shah
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £24.56

Buy Now for £24.56

About this listen

Against a background of wild forest, elegant castles, hidden temples and savage battlefields, the adventure that began with Emperor of the Eight Islands draws to its thrilling conclusion in Lord of the Darkwood, the second instalment of Lian Hearn's the Tale of Shikanoko.

The rightful emperor is lost. Shikanoko is condemned to live, half-man and half-deer, an outlaw in the Darkwood. Yet the mighty lords who now rule the Eight Islands are prey to suspicion and illness, and drought and famine choke the realm. Only Shikanoko can bring healing, by restoring the preordained ruler to the Lotus Throne. And only one person can bring him back from the Darkwood . . .

 Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

A thrilling tale of love, violence, loyalty and betrayal (Guardian on 'Tales of the Otori')
The plot is gripping and the writing is beautiful, packed with authentic, atmospheric detail (Daily Mail on 'Tales of the Otori')
The writing is extraordinary . . . Virtually pitch perfect (Evening Standard on 'Tales of the Otori')
An enthralling and original work of fantasy (The Times on 'Tales of the Otori')
Across the Nightingale Floor remains quite simply the best story of magic, love, sex, revenge and suspense to have come this way since Philip Pullman (Independent on Sunday on 'Tales of Otori')
An original and exquisitely wrought adventure story (Observer on 'Tales of the Otori')
Across the Nightingale Floor was described to me by the young man in Borders bookshop as a "Japanese Harry Potter, only better". In fact, it's a different beast entirely. Much darker, much sharper, much less predictable (Daily Telegraph on 'Tales of the Otori')
All stars
Most relevant
Full of fun concepts, this story would have benefited from a little more action and a little less scheming in my opinion, but it was excellent nonetheless, i loved all the mysterious magic particularly the eyes and the guardian spirits. Recommended reading

Fun stuff

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
really enjoyed listening to this dark fable. great story and well read. Lian Hear is brilliant

awesomely dark

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.