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Guy Gavriel Kay


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I got into ASOIAF about a year ago and I just finished The Prince of Nothing. Looking for a new book to read and this guy seems interesting from what I've read. Anyone have anything good or bad to say? Thanks

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I got into ASOIAF about a year ago and I just finished The Prince of Nothing. Looking for a new book to read and this guy seems interesting from what I've read. Anyone have anything good or bad to say? Thanks

It's Chick Lit ;)

Oh, okay. Hmmm. Kay's my Jordan. Meaning that he used to be my favourite fantasy writer, before I read ASOIAF, and then along the way I started liking him less and being annoyed by some of his gimmicks. He is, overall, a very good writer. Top of second tier if not first tier - not quite to the level of Barker but definitly the level of Robin Hobb I'd say. He's a very decent stylist up until the point when his gimmicks start being annoying. He writes very good and likeable characters, and his stories are very much character driven. His characters tend to be very charismatic, witty, intelligent and beautiful - all of them - which can be slightly annoying though. His writng is lyrical, and most of the themes he writers about are bittersweet and melancholy, with little manicheism. He's remarkable as a fantasy writer for writing lots of standalone fantasy. There's usually little magical elements to his writing as well, and the most popular of his novel are very closely patterned after historical periods. As a result his plotting seldom involves epic element.

His best novels are Lions of Al Rassan and Tigana. The Sarantine Mosaic and Song for Arbonne are also pretty good. I was a bit disapointed by Last Light of the Sun, and I haven't read Ysabel. The Fionnavar Tapestry is usually not reccomended to start of with Kay because it's different from his other novels - being a trilogy, High Fantasy, and of a very obvious Tolkienite influence (he collaborated to the writing to the Silmarillion and said he needed to get it out of his system or some such), I still have a personnal fondness for those novels but they're generally less well written and mature than his other works.

Edited by Stranger
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Yes. Very much recommended. I read everything that was translated over here (Tigana, Fionavar, Lions of Al-Rassan and Serntine Mosaic) and loved them all.

Fionavar is very different form the rest, very conventional, 'cliche' fantasy but very well written. All the rest are like historical fiction - based in worlds that are very much alike certain historical periods. I think Lions of Al-Rassan is my favorite, but they're all good. I'm sure you'll enjoy

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"Little did she know she would lose a piece of her heart this evening"

Seriously now, I only read Lions of Al-Rassan, and apart from noticeable writing quirks, he writes consistent and very enjoyable stories, with memorable characters and a good sense of breath of the world. Lions feels a bit similar to asioaf in that it actually has multiple unreliable PoV, and it works pretty well, despite an important amount of third person narration.

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Thanks for the feedback. So which book of his would be the best one to start with given that I've never read him? I feel like that's a slightly different question than "Which is your favorite?" I'm leaning towards Lions of al-Rassan just cause I like the title.

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Thanks for the feedback. So which book of his would be the best one to start with given that I've never read him? I feel like that's a slightly different question than "Which is your favorite?" I'm leaning towards Lions of al-Rassan just cause I like the title.

I started with Tigana and don't regret it. It's one of his best work and very easy to get into.

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Thanks for the feedback. So which book of his would be the best one to start with given that I've never read him? I feel like that's a slightly different question than "Which is your favorite?" I'm leaning towards Lions of al-Rassan just cause I like the title.

That's why I picked that one to be my first as well.

Just don't start with "Ysabel", it wasn't up to his usual standard IMHO.

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I think the consensus (as much as one is possible) is that Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan (in development as a movie at the moment) are his finest works. I also rate A Song for Arbonne and The Last Light of the Sun very highly. The Sarantine Mosaic was okay but too long. I think he could have told the story in one volume. Haven't read Ysabel and couldn't get into The Fionavar Tapestry.

It's worth noting that his works are all set in the same two worlds (which in turn are probably in the same universe) but the links between his books are usually very tenuous:

SPOILER: GGK
A Song for Arbonne and Tigana may be set on the same world, but in different landmasses, as Fionavar. There are some very vague hints that this might be the case, but I think most people wouldn't even notice. The plots and characters are completely self-contained.

Ysabel is more directly a sequel to Fionavar, with some of the same characters turning up in major roles. However, the events of Fionavar are apparently only referred to obliquely in Ysabel and the book can be enjoyed by itself.

The Sarantine Mosaic, The Last Light of the Sun and The Lions of Al-Rassan take place in the same world, a parallel-history version of our world. They take place in roughly that order IIRC (since Sarantine is based on the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora from the 6th Century; Last Light is based on King Alfred the Great from the 9th Century; and Al-Rassan is based on El Cid from the 11th). They are totally independent though and you can read them individually with no problem.

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Nearly everyone I know has different Kay favourites. I loved The Sarantine Mosaic- its probably my second favourite fantasy work after A Song of Ice and Fire, and I reccomend that you read it. However, all of his books, with the exception of The Fionavar Tapestry (which I actually completely hated but which many others like) and A Song For Arbonne (which I found to be too melodramatic and overlong, but overall an all right book) are fantastic; read them all and form your own opinions.

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Tigana is very heavily influenced by Italian history and culture, while A song for Arabonne looks to be heavily influenced by Provence.

Oh, forgot to add favourites:

1)Lions

2)Tigana

3)Sarantine Mosaic

Edited by Peadar
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It's Chick Lit ;)

His best novels are Lions of Al Rassan and Tigana. The Sarantine Mosaic and Song for Arbonne are also pretty good. I was a bit disapointed by Last Light of the Sun, and I haven't read Ysabel. The Fionnavar Tapestry is usually not reccomended to start of with Kay because it's different from his other novels - being a trilogy, High Fantasy, and of a very obvious Tolkienite influence (he collaborated to the writing to the Silmarillion and said he needed to get it out of his system or some such), I still have a personnal fondness for those novels but they're generally less well written and mature than his other works.

It's not chick lit! :P

I agree with everything else Stranger said, however. :) I'd put Tigana as my favorite Kay novel, and it's also one of my favorite fantasy books ever.

Methinks everyone should read Guy Gavriel Kay and that's that!

Patrick

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Hahaha, I remember a certain someone who's also on this site saying that Guy Gavriel Kay is like God only better and I tend to trust her judgement. I'll definitely get my fingers on some Guy Gavriel Kay soon. Probably Lions of al'Rassan because I like what I read about it so far :)

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Tigana, Lions of Al-Rasan and Last Light of the Sun were my favourites, with the Lions nominally in the top slot. Lions and Tigana probably have the bigger stories, as far as epic events go. The story in Last Light is a lot smaller in scale and doesn't really cover any earth shaking events. The Sarantine Mosaic is good, Crispin (the protagonist) is probably my favourite Kay character. I didn't care for Fionnavar at all.

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It's not chick lit! :P

:lol: Well, I can see where she is coming from.

And I do adore Kay but like people suggest, best stay away from Fionovar at the beginning. While some do love it, most don't find it near as impressive as the other books. It is worth reading at some stage though. Tigana is my favourite.

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I've only read The Fionavar Tapestry books, and they aren't that great. Really super derivative, fairly disappointing ending, and overly florid prose are my biggest complaints. All that being said, I did read all three books twice, so they aren't that bad either.

Fionavar is so different to his other books that I'd actually take the position that if all you've read of Guy Gavriel Kay is The Fionavar Tapestry, then you actually haven't read Guy Gavriel Kay at all ;)

he collaborated to the writing to the Silmarillion and said he needed to get it out of his system or some such

GGK's contribution to The Silmarillion is usually dramatically overstated (not by GGK himself, who has said in the past his contribution was relatively minor). He helped Christopher Tolkien smooth over some of the rougher passages towards the end of the book. Amusingly, given that CT unfairly gets a lot of flak for the (relatively small) parts of the Sil that did involve the creation of new material, most of that stuff was actually GGK's.

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Thanks for the feedback. So which book of his would be the best one to start with given that I've never read him? I feel like that's a slightly different question than "Which is your favorite?" I'm leaning towards Lions of al-Rassan just cause I like the title.

As you have already noticed, opinions differ. Many people recommend Tigana, which I disliked intensely. My favorite is The Sarantine Mosaic, closely followed by The Lions of al-Rassan. Because the latter is a shorter book, it's probably a good place to start.

If you start with Tigana and don't like it, please give GGK another chance. It's quite possible that you will enjoy the later books a lot more.

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