Guy Gavriel Kay

[Zorral]

I finished the novel early this week.  There were some lovely tributes to the Sarantium first novel in particular.  But there was just a bit too much of what one might have wished to witness that happens off stage and is summarized. Also a rather too much telling the reader what to think philosophically, etc. by the narrator.  But it was a satisfying read, and very novels are that for me these days.

 

[peterbound]

Can we just put *spoilers* in the title.  These fucking tags are annoying as all get out. 

[unJon]

Finished Children of Earth and Sky. Loved it. Agree with what others have said above, but those points didn't bother me while reading. Kay has a way with prose that when he meanders into philosophy or pulls back into omniscient narrator that weaves tells offscreen events, I still resonate emotionally with the text. He's never heavy handed with the philosophy in the same way that, eg, Bakker can be. 

Loved all the references to Sarantium. Some excellent Easter eggs. 

[williamjm]

Speaking of Children of Earth and Sky I saw link on Goodreads to this painting, it was suggested this was one of Kay's inspirations for the story.

[sagewich]

On 3/10/2012 at 9:13 PM, Sis Who Swears said:

Oooh exciting! Currently on a GGK kick, read Under Heaven first, then the Sarantine Duology, next is Lions or Last Light... So far Under Heaven is my favourite though.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

Yes, Under Heaven is my new favorite.  I like Tigana, but the ending bothered me a bit. Not that everything must be tidy, but it was a little jumbled

[jurble]

Began reading the new book, noticed it's in the same fictional world as Sarantine and Lions.

 

I wonder if his Chinese books actually take place in the same world.  We wouldn't know, would we, given the setting and isolation?  It wouldn't surprise me if they do.

Since he's slowly going forward in time, I suppose we'll know in the next few books, since it seems this one is right at the start of the Age of Discovery.   Should be interesting.  I'm willing to make a small bet we're going to get an alternate history of either the Aztec or Inca conquests.

 

Edit: Book done, it was aight, but nothing astounding.  Why does my Kindle copy have Questions for Discussion at the end? 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Claustrophobic Jurble

[Werthead]

It's weird. A nation called Khitai certainly exists in the Sarantine/Lions/Children world, but the world has a different number of moons in the eastern novels. So either the sky is different (like in Elizabeth Bear's excellent Eternal Sky trilogy) or they're set in slightly different parallel versions of one another.

[SeanF]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 11:34 AM, Lautrec said:

So, anyone else finished with Children of Earth and Sky? What did you think about it?


I loved it, as I expected to. His books have yet to disappoint me. Still not sure where I'd put it in regards to his other novels, because it's still so fresh, but I'm thinking somewhere among the better works like Lions and Sarantine.

Spoilers for Children below.
 

  Hide contents

Was anyone else really surprised by how happy the ending was, compared to his other works? The Osmanlis invasion doesn't succeed, Cemal is exposed, Orso Faleri becomes the Duke, Leonora and Pero fall in love and live long, fulfilled, loving lives, him becoming a renowned painter and her an accomplished Eldest Daughter of Jad, same thing with Marin and Danica, and they have children too, he becomes a successful banker and she reunites with Neven, her brother.

 

I've now read it and enjoyed it.  I agree it had a happy ending for all the main characters.

 But a much less agreeable ending for Prince Kemal. 

In this world, the fall of Sarantium and the Balkans to the Osmanlis seems to have been far more rapid than it was in real history.  Assuming that Woberg is meant to be somewhere like Vienna, they've moved very far in the 25 years since they conquered Sarantium.  Also, Sarantium seems to have remained a great power until Empress Eudoxia's husband apparently screwed everything up.

Kurcu seems to be an amalgam of Mehmet the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent.

 

[scortius the charioteer]

I think River of Stars is criminally underrated if we're talking Kay's output in general.  The Sarantine Mosaic remains one of my favorite pieces of genre fiction maybe ever.  The settings, the writing, the characterization is vintage Kay, who is one of my favorite authors of any genre of fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest book, I'd put it up as a top 5 book of the year.  For some reason I stopped reading it because the Great Ordeal arrived in the middle of my reading this book, but I wouldn't have put it down for any other reason.

I think it odd he won his World Fantasy Award for Ysabel, which I really enjoyed, but compared with his other output isn't his best.

[Calibandar]

8 hours ago, scortius the charioteer said:

I think River of Stars is criminally underrated if we're talking Kay's output in general.  The Sarantine Mosaic remains one of my favorite pieces of genre fiction maybe ever.  The settings, the writing, the characterization is vintage Kay, who is one of my favorite authors of any genre of fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest book, I'd put it up as a top 5 book of the year.  For some reason I stopped reading it because the Great Ordeal arrived in the middle of my reading this book, but I wouldn't have put it down for any other reason.

I think it odd he won his World Fantasy Award for Ysabel, which I really enjoyed, but compared with his other output isn't his best.

What did you like about River of Stars?

Agreed btw on the World Fantasy Award, he should be on that every time he releases a book because he writes the sort of stuff they generally like to reward anyway, and he's actually both popular and very good. And that popularity can be a strike against him with these sort of awards, I feel.

 

[SeanF]

10 hours ago, scortius the charioteer said:

I think River of Stars is criminally underrated if we're talking Kay's output in general.  The Sarantine Mosaic remains one of my favorite pieces of genre fiction maybe ever.  The settings, the writing, the characterization is vintage Kay, who is one of my favorite authors of any genre of fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest book, I'd put it up as a top 5 book of the year.  For some reason I stopped reading it because the Great Ordeal arrived in the middle of my reading this book, but I wouldn't have put it down for any other reason.

I think it odd he won his World Fantasy Award for Ysabel, which I really enjoyed, but compared with his other output isn't his best.

The Sarantine Mosaic has some brilliant descriptions of chariot racing.  I also enjoyed

Valerius II's brilliance when confronted with his assassins.  He manages to drive a wedge between them, through the power of his arguments, only to be cut down by his secretary. 

Edited August 23, 2016 by SeanF

[Darth Richard II]

So, to resurrect old topic, I finally started The Last Light Of The Sun, and I can't tell if I love it or hate it. Well written so but so far veyr predictable, although I am not that far in and I do read way to much Viking fiction, and these things all tend to start out the same.

This thread also reminds me how much I HATED Tigana in high school.

 

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

So, I've been trying to get into Guy for a while now. And there is just son many and I don't even begin to know where to start or what would be to my liking. You all know I'm a Bakker fan, but I'm not expecting anything like that and I love all sorts of authors in fantasy. Abercrombie, Bakker, Abraham, Malazan dudes, Lynch, Rothfuss and quit a few others. I'm not necessarily Loki g for anything dark, or should I say Grimdark. I like mystery, intrigue, great plot and good characters, oh and world-building is up there too. Could I have some recs that would fit my tastes?

[Darth Richard II]

You know as I'm sitting here reading my first Kay book in a long enough time it might as well be my first, I was just thinking Kay has the tendency to go on the occasional short philosophical rant in the way Bakker does. I mean, I wouldn't call them similar at all, but one of two Ever are Men deceived wouldn't be too out of place.

And I can't comment personally but everyone always says to start with Lions. I just happened to get Last Light Of The Sun cause VIKINGS.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

28 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

You know as I'm sitting here reading my first Kay book in a long enough time it might as well be my first, I was just thinking Kay has the tendency to go on the occasional short philosophical rant in the way Bakker does. I mean, I wouldn't call them similar at all, but one of two Ever are Men deceived wouldn't be too out of place.

And I can't comment personally but everyone always says to start with Lions. I just happened to get Last Light Of The Sun cause VIKINGS.

Have you enjoyed all of his works? Or, are there some that your not too keen on? I dont read Bakker for the philosophy, lol! 

[Darth Richard II]

Eh, do you mean Kay? I just started my first really. I read his fantasy trilogy in middle school..so...almost 25 years ago.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

32 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Eh, do you mean Kay? I just started my first really. I read his fantasy trilogy in middle school..so...almost 25 years ago.

Yea, Kay. Isn't all his stuff fantasy? Or does he do historical fiction, too?

[Darth Richard II]

Its historical based fantasy. Most the the stand alones are based on some time peroid/event in history but it's all secondary world.

[Jo498]

Fionavar Tapestry is fantasy-fantasy, the other ones are loosely based on historical settings but with changes and fantasy elements. He is a far better prose writer than most genre writers but the plots can sometimes be predictable, I guess. Admittedly, I only read the trilogy and Tigana quite a while ago, I always wanted to try another one but never got around to it. He is good enough to deserve a try, almost regardless of what one has read before. If you want snarky action thrillers with swords you might become disappointed, though.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Jo498

[Lyanna Stark]

3 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

So, to resurrect old topic, I finally started The Last Light Of The Sun, and I can't tell if I love it or hate it. Well written so but so far veyr predictable, although I am not that far in and I do read way to much Viking fiction, and these things all tend to start out the same.

This thread also reminds me how much I HATED Tigana in high school.

 

I just ordered Tigana and now you make me nervous when you say you hated it. It was a used copy tho so if I end up hating it I haven't lost a lot of money!

How're the vikings coming along?

2 hours ago, Michael Seswatha Jordan said:

Have you enjoyed all of his works? Or, are there some that your not too keen on? I dont read Bakker for the philosophy, lol! 

I read the Fionavar ages ago, and it's...long? Derivative, nicely written, some of it will probably feel very formulaic nowadays, but it's also beautiful, in its own way. A lot of mythology. Lions of Al-Rassan is 100% brilliant. If it does not tug on your heartstrings you are made of stone. The Sarantine mosaic was very good. Clever, stylised and with amazing symmetry. The setting, especially in the second novel, is amazing and second to none, I think. Sarantium is really a place, you can feel it when you read. Kay's prose is very, very good too. Beautiful, but at the same time not complicated. You don't need to sit with a thesaurus next to you to get through the text (I am looking at you China Mieville) or trudge through a bazillion songs (Tolkien) or meandering/rants about philosophy (Bakker/Erikson). More...lyrical, perhaps?

Haven't got to the others yet tho, but so far they have been absolutely worth reading, despite their flaws (which are very, very few for Lions btw).