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Cithrin's Ale

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  1. I am very biased and forgive Kay for most of his faults, but I'll give my thoughts on this. Under Heaven feels like Kay is writing 'about' characters rather than from their perspective. It doesn't feel as 'personal' as Lions of Al-Rassan or Song for Arbonne. It's hard to describe, admittedly. I do love the work, however. I like the descriptions of the nature in the work and feel that Kay's commentary on historical forces works best in this work. River of Stars is interesting in that it explores the eventual consequences of the political conflict in Under Heaven. It makes the books feel like a duology of sorts. I also appreciate that it has a character who is thinking of his role in history. The book is very much focused on military events. In all honesty, it sort of feels like Kay tried to do his version of a Bernard Cornwell novel. SeanF, I never made the association between Suleiman and Gurcu. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I always found myself thinking of Suleiman when I read about Brandin in Tigana, however; Brandin and Dianora feel like a parallel to Suleiman and Roxelana to me. In fact, I sort of see Tigana as a hypothetical scenario in which the Ottoman Empire (as symbolized by Ygrath) manages to become a dominant power in the Italian peninsula. Not quite sure what this makes Alberico, admittedly. Maybe some amalgamation of French/Spanish/Norman influence?
  2. This places the novel before Children of Earth and Sky in Kay's European setting, chronology-wise. Thank you for telling us! I'm not quite sure if Kay succeeded in his goal of balancing the five principal characters of Children of Earth and Sky. Marin didn't feel like he had quite the same emphasis placed on him in the work as Danica, Pero and Leonora. I still really like the work, however. A novel depicting the fall of Sarantium would allow Kay to juxtapose Gurcu (his version of Mehmet II) in Children of Earth and Sky with his younger self, so I'd be interested in that. As a tangent, I can't recall if there's any references in Children of Earth and Sky to the Fourth Crusade, which is one of the key events that broke the back of Byzantine power.
  3. The new novel sounds very similar to Children of Earth and Sky in terms of setting and themes, which is disappointing to me. I'm certain I'll enjoy the novel, but I would've liked Kay to explore new ground.
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