An ambitious warlord leaves his nephew for inactive and seizes his lands.

A stubborn dad forces his younger child to surrender his wife to his older brother.

A mysterious woman looks for five fathers for her children.

A robust priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne.

They are the threads of an intricate tapestry where the laws and regulations of destiny play out against a backdrop of crazy forest, elegant courtroom, and savage battlefield. Set in a mythical middle ages Japan inhabited by warriors and assassins, spirits and guardian spirits, Emperor from the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn is a brilliantly dreamed novel, full of play and intrigue – which is just the start of an enthralling, epic experience: The Tale of Shikanoko.