“Grass for his Pillow” by Lian Hearn: book 2 of 4.5
Our hero, Otori Takeo, is torn in three directions. He was brought up by the Hidden, a religious order that forbids violence. He was adopted by Otori Shigeru, a warrior with a long-term plan to reclaim his heritage from his uncles – a plan known and secretly embraced by his people. And Takeo’s genetic heritage binds him strongly to the Tribe, a group of assassins with special abilities, who would kill him rather than let him go.
The rest of this review is at Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
Felicity Banks 
W said,
February 17, 2012 at 7:50 pm
I’ve ordered Across the Nightingale Floor. Given your enthusiasm, perhaps I should be embarrassed I haven’t read them yet!
Louise Curtis said,
February 17, 2012 at 10:46 pm
W: Shame on you? Don’t slit your belly just yet, ‘kay?
Bonnee said,
February 17, 2012 at 10:02 pm
This sounds quite interesting, I’ll have to check it out some time…
(At this point, you should be imagining me adding it to an extremely long piece of paper with book titled written on it in tiny letters, and understand that I’ll probably never reach this goal.)
Louise Curtis said,
February 17, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Bonnee: Yeah, I understand the list thing 😉