Guy Gavriel Kay

[Jaxom 1974]

18 minutes ago, Lord of Oop North said:

Really excited about this one! Beautiful cover.

I am actually finally reading A Brightness Long Ago right now, and it is fantastic. I've read almost all of his work, and it is definitely up there among the best.

When I read A Brightness Long Ago, I remember feeling mildly underwhelmed, despite my enjoyment of it.  I wasn't sure I'd rank it among the tippy top, but I knew I liked it more than some, just not as much as others.  

I'm actually listening to it now, and it's helping me re-evaluate how I feel.  It's certainly stronger than I originally thought. 

[Lord of Oop North]

1 hour ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

When I read A Brightness Long Ago, I remember feeling mildly underwhelmed, despite my enjoyment of it.  I wasn't sure I'd rank it among the tippy top, but I knew I liked it more than some, just not as much as others.  

I'm actually listening to it now, and it's helping me re-evaluate how I feel.  It's certainly stronger than I originally thought. 

Maybe it is just speaking to me perfectly. His novels all meditate on themes in very evocative ways. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the past, choices made, etc. All of those are big primary themes in this book.

I also haven't yet read Under Heaven and River of Stars (despite owning both), so perhaps those will be favourites one day.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Lord of Oop North

[HoodedCrow]

It’s a powerful book with a lot of good qualities. I’m still digesting it and I’m making progress:)

[Ran]

1 hour ago, HoodedCrow said:

It’s a powerful book with a lot of good qualities. I’m still digesting it and I’m making progress:)

Which book are you talking about?

[Jaxom 1974]

All of them...?  

[HoodedCrow]

I haven’t come to terms with A Brightness Long Ago. Don’t want to say why, so enjoy the great things. No spoiling alerts go off in my head:)

[Ran]

I really loved A Brightness Long Ago, and think it's one of the best things he's written since The Sarantine Mosaic, personally. Made me re-read Children of Earth and Sky, which is also very good (they're all very good) but one section felt flawed.

[Ran]

Thanks to the very good graces of GGK himself (he has been aware of our love of his work for years, and seemed uncertain as to why we weren't on his publisher's radar for ARCs and the like), Linda and I have gotten the chance to read All the Seas of the World. It goes without saying, if you like his work, you'll like this.

And, more specifically, if you like A Brightness Long Ago, this book is very intertwined with it -- a lot of characters from that appear or are referenced in this one. 

[Jaxom 1974]

11 minutes ago, Ran said:

Thanks to the very good graces of GGK himself (he has been aware of our love of his work for years, and seemed uncertain as to why we weren't on his publisher's radar for ARCs and the like), Linda and I have gotten the chance to read All the Seas of the World. It goes without saying, if you like his work, you'll like this.

And, more specifically, if you like A Brightness Long Ago, this book is very intertwined with it -- a lot of characters from that appear or are referenced in this one. 

You're such a tease, Ran!  

You could be sharing that ARC... 

[Ran]

Paging @Lord of Oop North @Fragile Bird and other Canucks who might be interested!

[Calibandar]

On 3/13/2022 at 7:45 PM, Ran said:

Thanks to the very good graces of GGK himself (he has been aware of our love of his work for years, and seemed uncertain as to why we weren't on his publisher's radar for ARCs and the like), Linda and I have gotten the chance to read All the Seas of the World. It goes without saying, if you like his work, you'll like this.

And, more specifically, if you like A Brightness Long Ago, this book is very intertwined with it -- a lot of characters from that appear or are referenced in this one. 

What kind of story is it Ran? What would you say about it outside of what is already known from the rather vague synopsis? 

More of a larger scale war book, or more about political intrigue/assasinations etc, or something else?

[Jaxom 1974]

That's a good question.  @Ran says it's intertwined with A Brightness Long Ago (which i do believe was a superior book overall to Children of Earth and Sky), but does this new story impact Children in any way, also...?

[Ran]

44 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

What kind of story is it Ran? What would you say about it outside of what is already known from the rather vague synopsis? 

More of a larger scale war book, or more about political intrigue/assasinations etc, or something else?

It's certainly about the conflicts taking place around and on the  Mediterranean Middle Sea, and does feature intrigues and assassinations, and there's even a military campaign (but you only see a sliver of it). This particular book feels very firmly like something Dunnett might have written featuring Niccolò.

One of the main characters is very loosely inspired by Samuel Pallache.

ETA: Re: Children of Earth and Sky, there's a significant character in this book that appears in that book, and another one that appears indirectly (well, actually, there's two). There's also a passing reference to a family from Children (which turns out to be a bit of retconning, when I re-read bits of Children).

Also, a couple of nice callbacks to the Sarantine Mosaic and a few explicit ones to The Lions of Al-Rassan. It is the most referential book he's written, I think.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Ran

[SpaceChampion]

I have unread on my shelves both A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth And Sky.  The first was written after the second but is a prequel, right?  Should I read in that order?

 

[Ran]

27 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

I have unread on my shelves both A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth And Sky.  The first was written after the second but is a prequel, right?  Should I read in that order?

 

I do think you read them in published order. I think an aspect of A Brightness Long Ago that really works well is that the resonances it has with Children of Earth and Sky enhance both stories, but I'm not sure if those resonances will be felt as strongly if you flip them around.

[Jaxom 1974]

Downloaded an audio book of Lions of Al-Rassan to listen to.  It's read by Euan Morton.  Now I'm used to hearing Simon Vance read Kay books, as I think each of the other four or five I've listened to at this point it was Vance.  But this is just as good.  A strong voice really does elevate Kay's prose above and beyond my own head...

[Jaxom 1974]

For any interested...

https://www.tor.com/2022/04/15/excerpts-all-the-seas-of-the-world-by-guy-gavriel-kay/

 

[Werthead]

Almost finished. I've really enjoyed his intervening novels, but I think this is his best book since Under Heaven. Just the right mix of low-key Kay characterisation and subtle writing and a bit more political intrigue and military action (though mostly offscreen, as normal) than in some of his books.

It feels like it works well as both a standalone and the concluding volume in a linked thematic trilogy (continuing from Children of Earth and Sky and A Brightness Long Ago). It does make me wonder what he's going to do next.

[polishgenius]

13 minutes ago, Werthead said:

It does make me wonder what he's going to do next.

 

I really want him to do something or a linked set of somethings based on Poland around partition times. It'd be a later setting than he usually goes for, of course, but so many of the themes of national memory, things lost, cultural endurance etc would be mineable. Maybe something based around the Deluge, too, though that'd just make me guilty for never reading The Trilogy yet. 

[Zorral]

My copy of the new one has been ordered. It shouldn't be too long now.

In some ways, as I listen along to Cameron's second volume, it's as though his Traitor Son Cycle has taken Kay's modus of "expying" history's cultures and places, but gone berserk with them!