A FREE ebook exclusive short story, including a personal letter to readers, by the bestselling Australian author of TALES OF THE OTORI, Lian Hearn.

The publication of my new series, THE TALE OF SHIKANOKO, sees me celebrating a career that has spanned fourteen years and nine novels. ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR was published in 2002 and I'm delighted that new readers are still discovering the Tales of the Otori. I'm very grateful to all my readers - many of you who've stayed with me from the beginning.

To show my gratitude I'm making available this very short story, HIS KIKUTA HANDS (first published by Ragnarok in their anthology Blackguards). It takes place behind the scenes of BRILLIANCE OF THE MOON, the third Otori novel. I'd always wanted to expand these pages where a lot happens in a short space of time: Otori Takeo has come to Maruyama, the furthest city to the west in the Three Countries, to confront the Tribe families and secure what is his by right. The Tribe don't believe he possesses the requisite ruthlessness of a competent ruler. They will be proved wrong.

I also hope you will enjoy this early extract from my new novel, EMPEROR OF THE EIGHT ISLANDS, set 300 years before Otori.

Lian