Guy Gavriel Kay

[SeanF]

I would probably recommend the Sarantine duology to start with, but then, I’m a sucker for anything to do with the Romans of the East.

[Jaxom 1974]

1 hour ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

One of the small business owned shops here in milwaukee I tried today also didn't have it, but they offered to order it for me. That defeats the purpose of putting it my hands now.  That's my sad tale. 

And I was forced to order it.  Will have it Tuesday...bah.

[SpaceChampion]

Just went back to the Chapters/Indigo that didn't have any Kay book but Fionavar a month ago, still don't have anything else on the shelves.  I asked an employee for the latest one, he said he's preordered it himself, and Kay is his favorite author.  They have it in the back but it's not suppose to be available until Tuesday.  Arggh.  Also that they just don't carry Kay anymore, it's become an online only thing. 

[Zorral]

Tigana.

My library just informed me All the Seas of the World  is 'in transit' for me to pick up very soon.

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Zorral

[SeanF]

8 hours ago, Zorral said:

Tigana.

My library just informed me All the Seas of the World  is 'in transit' for me to pick up very soon.

 

I've only come late to e-books, but I've decided that getting a book the minute it is published is worth it.

[Zorral]

This morning the book is available for me to take home.  Well, then!  A fillip to a perfect day in May, speaking of the weather. 

I have skipped Kay's YA centered books -- do not like them, very dull.

But I've read all the others.  Fore me, none of the subsequent books them have reached the originality and engagement of Tigana.  For me, his language and history file-off-serial numbers has become generally more unsatisfactory as the books have gone on. Yet, I read them, don't I?  

Edited May 23, 2022 by Zorral

[Ran]

His only YA book is Ysabel.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Ran

[HoodedCrow]

I recall that I got The Fionavar Tapestry from a “staff picks” section. The cover was interesting and not “Flash Gordon” like. I was delighted right away because of the setting. It was lovely to read something good, after some of the bad Tolkien knockoffs. It is faster paced then some of Kay’s other books, I thought. I read the rest in the order of release, and that solved some problems that others have. I didn’t read YA.

[Ormond]

35 minutes ago, Ran said:

His only YA book is Isabel.

Though Ysabel has a 15 year old main character and would certainly be "appropriate" for young adults, even it doesn't seem to be marketed as a YA book in the USA. There is no "reading age" designated for it on Amazon like there is for books marketed as YA like Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes, and at BooksAMillion it actually says Ysabel's "reading level" is "18-up". 

[Zorral]

And this reader felt cheated because the promo etc. for Ysabel didn't tell me it was the sensibility of kids running this narrative.  I didn't finish it because, for me uninteresting, and what were the stakes there again? If I'm recalling at this late date correctly, it seemed to just keep going and I kept wondering ????? 

This goodreads review says it better:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104078.Ysabel

Edited May 23, 2022 by Zorral

[Jaxom 1974]

6 hours ago, SeanF said:

I've only come late to e-books, but I've decided that getting a book the minute it is published is worth it.

I cannot do e-books. Just can't. I need the physical copy. That's why this weekend was such a disappointment when three stores didn't have a copy. Boggled my mind.

Honestly, I read Tigana and Arbonne first amongst Kay's works. I know I need to re-read them both as it's been close to twenty years now since I read them...but I find myself so much more invested in the shared worlds of Lions and the other stories (even though I know Under Heaven isn't part of the shared universe, I still want to believe...) The Fionavar Tapestry...I actually haven't read the third book...

 

[Ran]

1 hour ago, Ormond said:

Though Ysabel has a 15 year old main character and would certainly be "appropriate" for young adults, even it doesn't seem to be marketed as a YA book in the USA. There is no "reading age" designated for it on Amazon like there is for books marketed as YA like Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes, and at BooksAMillion it actually says Ysabel's "reading level" is "18-up". 

Interesting. I distinctly recall early marketing and buzz around it as YA, but perhsps in the decade since the publishers have recalibrated. Or maybe I’m misrecalling.

[Ran]

3 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

I actually haven't read the third book

Looking at the Kay AMA for All the Seas of the World, he was asked about lines from his books that particularly resonated with him still, which got us to thinking. Linda remembered a line from Fionavar, but she wasn't sure if it was from the character's introduction or from their final scene, so I went and checked The Darkest Road... and almost instantly, just skimming a page, my eyes started watering because of all the remembered feelings that brief encounter with the book had. It is laden almost to the point of emotional torture with genuine pathos. 

[Jaxom 1974]

I know I need to revisit the series, but I remember struggling with it because it wasn't resonating with me at the time.  But back then, I read to enjoy things without necessarily thinking about what I was reading.  That's something that's changed in me over the past decades now...and it means I need to go back and look at things like this again...

[SpaceChampion]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

Looking at the Kay AMA for All the Seas of the World, he was asked about lines from his books that particularly resonated with him still, which got us to thinking. Linda remembered a line from Fionavar, but she wasn't sure if it was from the character's introduction or from their final scene, so I went and checked The Darkest Road... and almost instantly, just skimming a page, my eyes started watering because of all the remembered feelings that brief encounter with the book had. It is laden almost to the point of emotional torture with genuine pathos. 

"For the honour of the Black Boar!"

I picked up The Summer Tree in the summer of 1985 from the local library and the other two were published the next year so I didn't have wait long for the rest.  As a middle schooler just hitting puberty I definitely related to Paul's self-torture as a character, and therefore Galadan's too, and loved the emotionality of the series.

I hadn't realized until reading this essay last week that Diarmuid himself was from Celtic legends, a Lancelot like figure, so made Kim's fear he was the third side of the triangle more justified than I had realized.

I think the point of all those mythic influences living out familiar stories is to contrast with the themes of wildness, choice and free will, and how that is very much a part of romanticism.  Being in middle school at the time, Kay was the first time I realized thematic resonance was a thing, and could be pretty cool.

[SeanF]

4 hours ago, Ran said:

Looking at the Kay AMA for All the Seas of the World, he was asked about lines from his books that particularly resonated with him still, which got us to thinking. Linda remembered a line from Fionavar, but she wasn't sure if it was from the character's introduction or from their final scene, so I went and checked The Darkest Road... and almost instantly, just skimming a page, my eyes started watering because of all the remembered feelings that brief encounter with the book had. It is laden almost to the point of emotional torture with genuine pathos. 

“Uncrown.  The Lord of Emperors awaits you now” always moves me.

[mcbigski]

On 5/22/2022 at 10:41 AM, Jaxom 1974 said:

When recommending Kay to someone for the first time, do you start with Lions or one of the other stories...?

I started with Tigana.  Wasn't out of place.

Taking the question from the other side, if you've only read one or two of GGK's stuff, which ones are coming too late into a series or even a related work where you'd miss too much?

[Jaxom 1974]

I don't think that that matters too much beyond needing to read Sailing to Sarantium before reading Lord of Emperors...

[Calibandar]

14 hours ago, Ran said:

Looking at the Kay AMA for All the Seas of the World, he was asked about lines from his books that particularly resonated with him still, which got us to thinking. Linda remembered a line from Fionavar, but she wasn't sure if it was from the character's introduction or from their final scene, so I went and checked The Darkest Road... and almost instantly, just skimming a page, my eyes started watering because of all the remembered feelings that brief encounter with the book had. It is laden almost to the point of emotional torture with genuine pathos. 

I definitely remember Fionavar having some real standout moments. Which one are you thinking of?

[Ran]

22 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

I definitely remember Fionavar having some real standout moments. Which one are you thinking of?

Spoiler

The specific line Linda was trying to recall involved Imraith-Nimphais and Tabor, and it's actually Imraith-Nimphais's first words to Tabor, " We will have only each other at the last." Which Kay repeats several times in The Darkest Road, as they fight in the last battle, and just before Imraith-Nimphais and Tabor launch themselves at the dragon.

For me, there's way too many, but the entire passage from Uthach's challenge and Guinevere's attempt to deny fate by calling on Lancelot to Diarmuid doing the impossible -- "For the honor of the Black Boar!" indeed -- and on to Diarmuid's death are... I'm just glad I have it on Kindle now, the pages of the book would have been destroyed with tears if we had to turn to the physical thing for re-reads.