Dan
A new Guy Gavriel Kay novel is always a treat, something to savour for the lyrical prose, the wise eye, and the compassionate characterisation. This one returns us to the world of Sarantium, albeit around a thousand years on from those books, around the time of the Hundred Years War, or it’s equivalent in the Kayverse (I just made that term up and I hate it already).
It’s a briefer book than some of his best, and I missed the opportunity to wallow in the world and the characters. The shorter length means you don’t get under the skin of anyone apart from the lead in quite the same way as you do his longer works, but it also fits the fancy that this is a recounting of something that actually happened long ago. It’s like the best history lecture you ever went to, and Kay is still probably our greatest living fantasy writer.
A new Guy Gavriel Kay novel is always a treat, something to savour for the lyrical prose, the wise eye, and the compassionate characterisation. This one returns us to the world of Sarantium, albeit around a thousand years on from those books, around the time of the Hundred Years War, or it’s equivalent in the Kayverse (I just made that term up and I hate it already).
It’s a briefer book than some of his best, and I missed the opportunity to wallow in the world and the characters. The shorter length means you don’t get under the skin of anyone apart from the lead in quite the same way as you do his longer works, but it also fits the fancy that this is a recounting of something that actually happened long ago. It’s like the best history lecture you ever went to, and Kay is still probably our greatest living fantasy writer.