AustLit

''It was as if they were pieces on a board which had been kicked over, each scattered in the dirt and alone.'

'Orphaned or left fatherless: such is the fate of many children of the Otori and the Tribe. Sunaomi and Chikara, sons of Arai Zenko, also carry the burden of their father's treachery, but their aunt, Kaede, is able to save their lives on condition they become novice monks and never leave the temple at Terayama.

'Sunaomi has been brought up as a warrior, yet his grandmother is Muto Shizuka. He cannot escape that he is also a child of the Tribe. As he discovers unimagined talents within himself he comes up against Hisao, Takeo's son, the ghostmaster, as well as Saga Hideki, the most powerful warlord in the realm, the Emperor's General.

'Taking place in the magical medieval world of Tales of the Otori and following on from The Harsh Cry of the Heron, Orphan Warriors is a coming-of-age adventure story in a human world of courage and sacrifice behind which always hovers a supernatural world of danger and dread.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.