Brilliance of the Moon
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| Author | Lian Hearn |
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| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Series | Tales of the Otori |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Hodder Headline |
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Publication date
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2004 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 62537719 |
| Preceded by | Grass for His Pillow |
| Followed by | The Harsh Cry of the Heron |
Brilliance of the Moon is the third novel in Lian Hearn's popular Tales of the Otori trilogy, published in 2004. It describes the events during the months following Takeo and Kaede's marriage at the end of the second book, Grass for His Pillow, leading to Takeo's confrontation with the warlord Arai Daiichi. A period of about 8 months is covered, from Spring to the onset of Winter.
Soon after Kaede and Takeo's marriage, messengers arrive at Terayama from his Uncles with a threat, and the head of Ichiro, his old teacher. The Otori army lies in wait to ambush him, so Takeo leads them over the mountains, and across the river near Kibi, with the assistance of a bridge made by Jo-an and some outcasts. His second-in-command is the homosexual monk Makoto, a friend of his from Terayama; Makoto criticizes many of Takeo's unorthodox methods, but nonetheless is very loyal to him. After a minor skirmish with some bandits, they lead the army to Maruyama, the domain that Lady Maruyama left to Kaede. Lady Maruyama's son-in-law, Iida Nariaki, a cousin to Iida Sadamu, has marched in to Maruyama just ahead of them, but Iida's army gets caught between the Maruyama and Takeo's armies, and are defeated. Takeo takes up Maruyama as his base of operations, and he and Kaede prepare to restore the domain
Meanwhile, Shizuka and Kondo Kiichi arrive at the hidden Muto village, and are reunited with her uncle, Kenji, and her two sons. She fears the consequences that will come from Kaede's rash marriage. From Kenji she learns of the Kikuta's belief in the existence of records on the tribe compiled by Shigeru before his death. They decide to send Kondo to Arai, to gauge his reaction to Kaede's marriage, and his feeling towards his sons by Shizuka. Kenji also tells her how his daughter Yuki was recently married to Akio, but was forced to take her life after her son by Takeo was born, because the Kikuta were suspicious of her love for Takeo. The child will remain with the Kikuta, who have their own plans concerning the boy and Takeo's futures. Kenji's grief at his daughter's death has caused him to split from the Kikuta; regretful of his betrayal of Shigeru, he now tries to rally the other families of the Tribe to help Takeo.
In Maruyama, they start restoring the land and estates. Takeo is threatened by the local Tribe members, so using Shigeru's records, he has them rounded up and the adults executed. His mind turns to Hagi, and he concocts a plan to invade it by sea. He travels to Oshima island to meet his childhood friend Terada Fumio, whose family have now become pirates, to seek an alliance. Kaede wants to accompany him, but he tells her to stay. On the way he meets Ryoma, an illegitimate son of his Uncle, Masahiro. He makes an agreement with Fumio's father, but his return is delayed by typhoons, and he almost drowns in a storm.
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