I have just finished "Tigana" & feel a deep sense of loss. I can't bring myself to read anything else at present. The book developes complex characters & explores their struggles in a world where good & evil are intermingled in ways which don't allow for simplistic judgements.

This is a "can't put it down " novel that spans the imagination and time. The characters grow into real people. They learn, they love they suffer as we all do. The struggles of these characters become your own. Fantasy is the wrong word for Kay's book it is in fact reality written in beautiful prose. Kay creates a picturesque world with expressive passages. He creates haunting love stories set against war, prejudice and death. There is such truth and such beauty in this novel that I personally recommend it to all lovers of history and to all readers of philosophy and to all readers who enjoy a damn good read

Differences in religious viewpoints really can destroy the world, as we know it. However, some relationships can survive a radically different viewpoint, which shows that there is hope for us all.

But first things first: this has to be the best fantasy novel I've read in a long time. I couldn't put it down! The writing style was incredible; the characters magnificent - I could relate to each and every one of them on some level. The female characters in particular were breathtaking - strong, yet feminine. Not a stereotypical one among them. I loved the way Kay kept me guessing as I read as well. Things never turned out quite the way I expected, and the plot twists were exciting and well executed. Kay has an amazing grasp of language. Some of the descriptive passages left me in complete awe. I also appreciated the use of our own religious background to infuse this novel's history. I could see glimpes of Jews (the Kindath), the Muslims (Asharites), and the Christians (Jaddites).

Kay has an incredible writing style - uniquely descriptive, captivating, and enchanting. It leaves you breathless with anticipation and eager to turn the next page.

The plot line was superb. It was complex, yet it flowed beautifully, and every small detail was eventually explained.

As far as characters go, I loved Jehane. She was strong, brave, and willing to enter into dire circumstances without a second thought to her own welfare. I also loved her father. He was the epitome of a courageous, kind physician. He overcame a terrible handicap to return to his family and his practice, to a degree. I also liked both Ammar and Belmonte. They were both so... real. Very much alike, very stubborn, well-spoken, brave military leaders.

I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy, historical fiction, and fans of a darn good story alike.

The Lions of Al-Rassan is, yet again, a work of poetic prose. One point to recommend this book above some of his others is that it does not rely on "magic" as a centerpoint theme. The characters and plot, along with his incredible command of the English language, solely carry the reader to an alternate universe.

His characters are, in usual Kay style, poignant and alive. His plot twists, especially at the end, make for lively reading.

One of the advantages to writing about the medieval culture set in an "alternate" universe is that the author can play with variations on themes. It is very unlikely that a Jewish female physician would have been welcomed in a Moorish Andalusian court in our own world.

About the only element I would like to see more of is characterization of the "villian" in Kay's work. In many of his works he does a good job, but I feel there could have been more exploration in Lions.

All and all an exceptional read, and I think this would be a good introduction to fantasy for the novice "fiction" reader wanting to try something new.

I know that I'm swimming against the current here, but I must say that it took me several tries to finish 'The Darkest Road'. After having read Kay's brilliant and unforgettable book 'Tigana' with characters so rich that they permanently become part of your mind, I found the entire Fionavar trilogy to be somewhat shallow and disappointing. On the one hand, the overall direction of the plot is unsurprising and the characters and their soap-opera dialog are utterly predictable. And on the other hand, the story is filled out with a tiresome and endless succession of unpresaged 'wonders', magical surprises and ancient myths come to life. To me, this combination was difficult to bear throughout the trilogy, but especially in the ending, which is an especially concentrated mixture of predictability, soap-opera and 'deus ex machina' including an 'invincible' and horrible dragon that appears from nowhere, only to disappear from the story just as quickly. That this trilogy is often compared with Tolkein's 'Lord of the Rings' should be no surprise because a great many of the plot elements and character types in the Fionavar trilogy are nearly identical to those in Tolkein's work. In my opinion, 'The Darkest Road' and its predecessors are more like juvenile literature. Kay's 'Tigana' is for the grown-ups. Go read THAT.

It is said that the best way to learn is learn from the best and Guy Gavrial Kay worked for years with Tokien and his son compiling " The Silmarillion " and "The Unfinished tales" This has moulded Kay into one of the finest authors I have ever had the pleasure to read. The Fionavar Tapestry follows the destinies of five people from this world whose fates are intertwined with the fates of another. All the elements of great high fantasy are here, the plot is complex and involving the characters are some of the most well developed I have ever read and the way in which Kay slips in human legends and gives them a whole new spin is sheer genius. Given the time and the energy I could wax lyrical about this series for hours but I won't. To sum up, Kay has a unique writing style that borders at times on the poetic and yet he keeps the story running at a flying pace. I cannot stress strongly enough the quality of these texts. If fantasy is your thing then buy,buy,buy.

The Darkest Road is the conclusion to a bittersweet story that touches the heart in ways that long after the reader has savored the final words the "melody lingers on" and on. The entire three book series starting with "The Summer Tree", followed by "The Wandering Fire" tells a story of five friends from Toronto who are gathered together one evening on campus to attend a lecture by an outstanding speaker. Unbeknown to the audience the speaker is actually from another world and is a mage by name of Loren Silvercloak who is accompanied by his magical source Matt, a dwarf king. They have crossed the dimensions of time and are on a quest to find these five friends, several of whom have alternate histories in other lifetimes. They have essential roles in this parallel universe to aid the people of Fionavar who are locked in a struggle against the god Rakoth Maugrim called the Unraveller in a near hopeless battle between the forces of chaos vs order.

The story delves into the vilest recesses of evil perpetuated by Rakoth Maugrim who captures and nearly destroys the very beautiful and queenly Jennifer/Guinevere. Amidst this horror is another that consumes her friend Paul who is haunted by guilt over his belief that he caused the death of his lover Rachel in a car accident that transpired on a rainy night in Toronto. Paul establishes a quasi friendship over a game of chess with the king of Fionavar and learns the reasons behind the drought that is destroying the land. In his desolation of guilt and grief he volunteers to be the sacrifice on the Summer Tree in the Godwood in place of the aged king so that rain will come and and halt the devastation of drought caused by Rakoth's malevolence.

The sacrifice he makes transmutes Paul from mortal to that of an andain/god-man. He becomes a channel for Mornir the god of thunder. Kim, who is a doctor in Toronto is fated to become the seer of Fionavar and to wield the warstone in defense of the beleagured kingdom.

Dave, a truculent law student locked in an angry power struggle with his father and mad at the world in general had become separated from the others during the magical translation from Toronto to Finovar and has wandered into the lands of nomads called the Dalrei. He learns to love these people as he lives among them and becomes both a brother and a warrior helping them defend their herds of eltor from ravening wolves and other evil forces sent by Rakoth Maugrim to destroy the Dalrei. In the process of seemingly insurrmountable odds he finds inner peace and himself as a man. The sweet tempered, good hearted, fun loving, irreverent Kevin is the only one who finds he has no real purpose to serve Finovar until one special night, guided by mystical forces, he travels to the place of a goddess and chooses to sacrifice his life in order to be with her again for in his moment of death, he has discovered that they were beloved of each other in a past lifetime. His sacrifice brings another shift in the stuggle of Light in its battle to overcome the darkness and destruction wrought by the Unraveller.

There are many threads to this tapestry and Kay, as usual, weaves them together in ways that can render the reader breathless with wonder over his stunning mastery of his art as he brings this magnificent saga to a close. The celtic lore of Arthur Pendragon, Guinivere, Lancelot du Lac and the dog Cavall are irredescent threads that glisten like teardrops throughout the weave for they are so heartbreaking and yet beautiful. Kay's inclusion of these figures from arthurian legend in this story adds a new dimension to a mythos that has lingered in the hearts and history of the celts.

And yet, the weaves of past lives, past loves is believable in the sense that in in the vastness of potential realities all things are possible. Who really knows?

With this saga, Kay stretches the reader's mind to encompass notions of immortality, parallel universes, alternate realities and the timlessness of love that transcends all things. The depth to which a human will strive to embrace the reality of a grand passion or to resolve an unrequited love is the ultimate power of this story. I deeply respect this author's writing for he seems to understand life from a perspective unfettered by the limitations of others' beliefs. Indeed this is a spiral of parallel universes and of celtic lore, within another spiral of the mystical and magical god-men, gods and goddesses within another spiral of contemporary human time and place and it is unforgettable.

My husband is a huge sci-fi and fantasy reader; I've never really cared for the genre. I let him talk me into reading this book while I was recuperating from surgery, and I am eternally grateful to him. It is one of the best novels I have ever read. To call Tigana a "fantasy novel" simply doesn't do it justice; it is so, so much more. It is a love story, a political thriller, a swashbuckling adventure, a grand fairy tale, and a character study. The characters of Tigana are not one-dimensional figures of pure good or pure evil; they are complex mixtures of both. The elements of magic and mythical creatures are secondary to the story, rather than central to it. Kay has done a marvelous job of flushing out his characters and the land they inhabit, giving it a complex history and mythology all its own. The overlapping stories and sometimes wordy prose can bog you down, but it's worth working through. The people of Tigana could be the people of Israel, Russia, Czec! hoslovakia, Germany when the wall fell. . .anyone who has ever sacrificed everything he had for the good of the world. This book and its people will stay with you long after you are done reading. A permanent edition to my collection!! Maybe there is something to this fantasy stuff after all. . .

And I do not say so lightly. I read it first a number of years ago, and was blown away by everything about the book. The characters are fully realized, every single one, even the villains; it is rare that an author can make you so sympathize with his villain that you can imagine yourself, in his position, doing exactly as the author had him do -- and hating yourself for it, even as Brandin does.

The basic plot is nothing new -- a band of freedom fighters struggling against tall odds to throw off an oppressive foreign yoke -- but then, the Bard himself stole virtually all of his material. And what is done within that framework is fresh and original, captivating and engrossing enough that I read it in one sitting (and this is a 400+ page novel).

The setting is, as others have noted, loosely based on the historical balkanized Italy (and he has gone to Spain and France in Al-Rassan and Arbonne, since then). This is perhaps the only place where Kay does not measure up to others in the fantasy craft; Tolkein, Williams, and LeGuin have proven their ability to pull worlds out of whole cloth. But even if Kay has plagiarized history in his foundation, the fact that it is historical makes it firmer, and the details that he builds atop it glitter without threatening to collapse under its own weight.

The wordsmithing is worthy of a master of the craft. It is clear that Kay learned something from his work in Fionavar, which I thought was good but not great; this was great.

And back to the characters, again. The characters are the heart of the story, and what makes everything, ultimately, work. There have been two novels that I have read to date that have made me cry while reading them. One was Hugo's Les Miserables; the other was Tigana. Kay knows how to tug the heartstrings and cut to the quick, but all the pathos in the world will do nothing if the reader does not believe in the character; Kay makes you believe.

Read this book, if you have not already.

Kay started out writing fantasy like most fantasy writers, incorporating arduous voyages, magic and spellcraft, prophecy, and the conquering of ultimate evil. YAWN! Haven't we seen enough of the same basic story? Apparently, Kay's realized this, and his later books focus just on people and deeds, resulting in refreshing, hard-hitting, and ultimately satisfying fantasy. And "Tigana" is the crowning masterpiece.

There is some minor spellcraft in "Tigana." Well, it is a fantasy novel, after all. But the story's depth and poignancy place such magic well into the background. At its heart is a story of a conquered land struggling to regain its freedom and identity from two invaders. But it's also a human story, as the reader discovers the emotional ties developing between our interpid protagonists as they rally the land.

There's more: again, unlike most fantasy where the ultimate bad guy is a detestable demon driven by instinctual evil, the two invaders are human beings: one's driven by greed, and the other by revenge over the death of a son. A sister of the intrepid band has taken it upon herself to bring down one of these invaders, and this becomes a second scintillating story in itself.

The ending is awe-inspiring and cathartic as it brings these two threads together, but not necessarily happy either. I won't give it away, but the bittersweetness I felt was wonderful.

"Tigana" will remain in my memory like a blade in the soul. That's a good thing.

I have greatly enjoyed Guy Gavriel Kay's writing, and even found "The Fionavar Tapestry" engaging, if not equal to his later, more mature work. Kay is certainly one of the best and most original writers fantasy has to offer, and this work remains a favorite. Like "The Lions of Al-Rassan" and "Sailing to Sarantium ", the story is loosely based upon a historical period and culture, in this case the troubadour era of Mediterranean Europe. Kay interweaves his tale with the customs of medieval knighthood as well as the conflicting worship of a patriarchal sun god and an older, magical veneration of a goddess familiar to anyone having studied Robert Graves. Interlaced into these plot motifs are elements of court intrigue, mystery, and familial skeletons in the closet. Yet out of this seeming disparate stew Kay is able to distill a complicated tale of conflict that is not only believable but attains a life of its own. Unlike much fantasy fiction, the characterization is mature and complex, both in thought and motivation, and Kay's characters evolve with the story. Further, neither the plot nor the players always follow what is expected, yet at no time does the action become contrived or a stretch of one's credulity. Kay obviously loves the unforeseen twist, and cleverly calls it to use. And I think you'll find the aftermath to "A Song for Arbonne" an unsuspected delight.

It was the recommendation of other fantasy reviewers that pointed me towards Guy Gavriel Kay's books. The first one I picked up was A Song for Arbonne. I must admit that I am not easily impressed, but this story simply bowled me over. Kay's writing moved me, and sometimes to tears. This was undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read! What a beautiful and powerful story! What occurred to me throughout was the fact that this book was written with such PASSION!! You find yourself actually swept into the roles of the principle characters, allowing you to feel the strength of their emotions, particulalry their passions -- for their land, their culture and each other. This is truly a one-volume epic, proving it can be done. No pages are wasted on trivialities. Everything ties together nicely. The story keeps right on ticking, and keeps the reader anxiously turning the pages and lovingly absorbing it all. The only bad thing about the book was that it eventually ended. ! This is a MUST addition to anyone's collection. HIGHLY recommended! A classic! Enough said.

I have read many of the GGK reviews and find that most people are not agreed on which of his books is the best...they go into all sorts of nick-picky fits about how this book or that wasn't thought provoking

Who cares! I have read many of his books and believe them all to be the best fantasy I have ever read. McCaffrey pales in comparison. All the characters in Kay books are highly developed and nothing expected....

Read Song for Arbonne because it is a wondrous love story with an incredible outcome...read it because there is a war between two countries...read it straight through without stopping because in the end everything works out (in its own painful way), every minor plot line is resolved...read it because there is so little good fantasy out there and what is out there does not compare.

A Song for Arbonne is a good read for women who like strong female characters in their books, a good read for men who like stong male characters, and a good read for anybody who would love nothing else but to be transported into a world where the poetry and music is woven into the very soul of the tapestry.

I read "Lord of Emperors" in two days. I thoroughly enjoyed "Sailing to Sarantium" and gave it five stars without hesitation; I think its sequel surpassed it in many ways. The novel is not only concerned with many of the old friends from the first one (Caius Crispus the mosaicist, Scortius the charioteer, the imperial couple Valerius and Alixana) but also introduces us to new characters (the physican Rustem and his family) and gives us more information about lives that had previously only been glimpsed (Kyros the cook's apprentice, Pardos the mosaicist, Shirin the dancer, the family of the senator Plautus Bonosus). As in all of his books, Kay is able to paint a richly detailed picture of each of his characters, even those that don't figure importantly into the story.

The plot, as in the first book, is full of scandal, secrets, politics, and emotions running wild. I never found the plot twists to be predictable, yet they never seemed arbitrary or unreal (a trap that too many authors fall into when they try not to be predictable). And for action fans - the chariot racing is simply stunning!

This duology takes place in the same world as Kay's earlier novel "Lions of Al-Rassan". Although it is chronologically earlier, I would recommend reading the books in the order that they were published. There are several points (particularly near the end) that foreshadow the way the world is to become, that will only be appreciated by those who have already read "Lions" (also a fantastic book and highly recommended).

Events in this novel do not always turn out the way that the reader's sense of justice would want them to, which is what makes Kay's writing so real. All of the main characters have "sailed to Sarantium" - they've embarked on life-altering adventures and come through irrevocably changed. Read "Sailing to Sarantium", and then read "Lord of Emperors". Kay provides a new interpretation of our own world's history that is worth reading.

I didn't think it was possible for Kay to get any better. I was wrong. Lord of Emperors moved me to tears. I'm always amazed at how intricate his stories are and Emperors is no exception. The thought that must have gone into the chariot race just boggles my mind. It's worth the price of the book just to read the wonderfully detailed description of the chariot race. If you have not read Guy Gavriel Kay before I would definitely recommend The Sarantine Mosaic, starting with Sailing to Sarantium and ending with Lord of Emperors. It is quite involved and there are numerous characters, but it is worth it to keep track of them all.

Guy Gavriel Kay just keeps getting better and better. This is by far, coupled with Sailing to Sarantium, the best book I have ever read. Kay is a master at subtlety and intrigue. The plot twists and turns pulling you deeper and deeper into the story. Kay uses all the tools at his disposal to keep you guessing. Character identities are kept secret until the last possible moment to heighten the mystery, cliffhangers abound from chapter to chapter elevating the suspense and scenes are replayed from different viewpoints to capture the richness and significance of the events taking place. Guy Gavriel Kay has also become wonderful at creating memorable minor characters by using dialogue and description that fully renders the character's past, present and future in a few brief paragraphs. In this way, you come to appreciate how some people can come, quickly in and out of your life but somehow completely change it. Lord of Emperors is also successful at triggering your emotions. From humour to sadness to excitement and joy, Kay plays with your heartstrings effortlessly. Lord of Emperors is about the individual struggle for immortality by leaving a legacy for everyone to remember. Whether it be by bearing children, moving and shaping the course of history or by creating a timeless piece to be admired for centuries. If you have not had the opportunity to explore the worlds of Guy Gavriel Kay, please do so. You will not be disappointed.

While the three books that form the "Fionavar Tapestry" are engaging, they all suffer, to varying degrees, from a loosely scripted, and at times, implausible plot, as well as the inclusion of Arthurian elements that remain contrived and unnecessary except as a "hook" pandering to the appeal the Camelot legend holds for many readers, and that has already elsewhere been overworked. Further, I question the plot device of characters that are transported by varying means from "our" world into parallel fantasy realms that appear popular with many fantasy writers: Effectively used to inform the story in Donaldson's "Covenant" series, other writers turn to its use solely as a clever artifice by which to move characters around.

While better than most of the fantasy fiction about, this trilogy lacks the focus of Kay's later, more mature and individual works, such as "Tigana" or "Song for Arbonne." Read these if you are seeking serious and original fantasy tales. Save the "Fionavar Trilogy" for moments of simple, unexamined diversion.

I have now read this and its prequel, The Summer Tree, and am earnestly searching for Book Three, The Darkest Road (as usual with trilogies and suchlike, bookshops never have the one you're looking for!). When I read about the Fionavar Tapestry at the back of The Lord Of The Rings, of all places, I was immediately attracted by the idea of people from our world becoming characters in a fantasy epic.

Very frequently I have seen the Fionavar Tapestry compared to the works of Tolkein. In my opinion it is hard to compare them as they are very different. Tolkien's is a created mythology, supposedly preceding recorded history; Fionavar is a parallel world, and our own modern world is involved in the story by the use of the five protagonists. The characterisation is also different: Kay develops the relationships between his characters far more, at the expense of the much more complex and richly developed world of Tolkien. This is not to say that either is superior to the other, they are simply different, possibly because of their differing times of writing: Tolkien reads like classical epic or tragic poetry, whereas the Fionavar Tapestry is more modern in its treatment of characters and events, though the themes in both are the same.

Comparisons with Tolkien aside, I feel that the glowing reviews of the Tapestry are well deserved. The characters, particularly the five people from our world, are believable and easy to sympathize with. The story rarely descends into cliche (I say rarely - there are one or two moments which I thought could have been more originally handled, but they were still enjoyable and it is almost impossible to avoid cliche entirely, as I have just discovered - _descends into cliche_ is itself a cliche!) and blends real folklore and the author's own ideas excellently (I recognised a lot of things, such as the lios alfar, from the work of Alan Garner, which uses folklore as well). With respect to The Wandering Fire, I thought that the new spin it brings to the legend of King Arthur was extremely clever and original.

All in all, a cleverly constructed non-genre version of the classic war between Good and Evil.

As a final thought, be sure to read the Summer Tree before this one, otherwise it will have a lot less impact.

As I mentioned in my review of The Summer Tree (first in the Fionavar Tapestry), Mr. Kay is the one and only reason I read fantasy now! This book just reinforced what I learned about his writing ability while reading The Summer Tree.

The Wandering Fire picks up where The Summer Tree left off, taking the reader further into the development of five former college students and their encounters in a beautifully depicted world of magic, mythology and Arthurian legend.

I knew the basic story of King Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere, but Mr. Kay's incredible ability to convincingly combine his created world of Fionavar with Arthurian legend and mythology made this second book even more interesting, exciting and rewarding than The Summer Tree. The story never slips and the characters are even more engaging this time around.

Anyone who immerses himself/herself in this Trilogy will wish it would never conclude. Thank goodness Mr. Kay continues to write more fabulous stories!

Some reviewers complain that this novel "drags" a bit more than Kay's other novels. Since I have not read any of his other works--yet--I can't support or refute that claim. But I have noticed the afore-mentioned sluggishness that appears at times. I find myself skimming a five-page description of a city scene. Most of the time, though, it behooves the reader to have a very detailed picture of the surroundings, as the minor details can sometimes contribute to the plot or character development. And indeed, Crispin views the world in this way, and the style is suggestive of the "mosaic" theme of the series.

Any sloggishness that may hinder progress through the book cannot, however, detract from the wonderful characters and intricate workings of an empire and its citizens' lives. The romance between Petrus and Aliana, although it is not in the foreground during most of the story, is beautiful to behold. Crispin is a refreshingly human and yet intensely likable character. The supporting characters are quite well-developed, yet the author does not diverge too much from the main storyline for the sake of their development. An almost constant and very dry sense of humor makes the book's frequent tragedies easier to bear.

I suppose I have rambled overmuch for a review. Needless to say I love this book, in spite of its minor flaws. I have already purchased its sequal, as well as _A Song for Arbonne_ and look forward to devouring them as well.

I found this book to be exceptional, because of what it was, and was not destracted by what it wasn't. Guy Gavriel Kay in Sailing to Sarantium creates a captivating story of an artist, without it flowing quietly into the depths of cliche. The characters are multifaceted, and he captivates you with the beauty, love, and power that flow from his writing. He takes a story that in most author's hands would have come across very boring, and the fact that Kay pulls it off is a testament to his ability. He even managed a rather frustrating cliffhanger at the end of the book, what a place to pause the story. It almost made me wish that I had waited until all the volumes were out, before I started reading them. In STS Kay's court intrigue is so complex that at times the monarchs seem almost psychic with their ability to reason out what is going on in the shadows of their palace. In most cases this would have made the story seem unrealistic. Guy Gavriel Kay manages it very well and to astonishing effect.Instead of a feeling of unreality, I was struck wondering how long Crispin could exist in such a hostile and duplicitous environment. This book is recommend to fans of Kay's past work. If you are new to Kay, however, start at the beginning with The Fionavar Tapestry, and work your way to the present.

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite fantasy authors, because he is able to portray some of the most believable characters I've ever read. After a string of fabulous single-volume novels, he has now published the duology "The Sarantine Mosaic". This story appears to be set in the same world as "The Lions of Al-Rassan", but in a different country and time. Still, there are references to Esperana, Trakesia and other countries in both novels. And once again this is a historical novel disguised as a fantasy novel. Magic doesn't play a very strong part, and anyone with some basic notions of history can draw easy parallels between this novel's characters and settings, and their real-world counterparts. Still, the novel will be enjoyable even if you are not familiar with the historical period. When someone says they are "sailing to Sarantium" (an obvious reference to "Sailing to Byzantium" by W. B. Yeats), it means they are going through a time of change, even upheaval, in their lives. Likewise, the major characters in this novel are experiencing change. The mosaicist Crispin, the guard Vargos and the former slave Kasia arrive in the city of Sarantium. This is the story of how they arrive there, and how the city influences them, and vice versa. I can't urge you enough to buy this novel, and any others by Guy Gavriel Kay you can find.

While the three books that form the "Fionavar Tapestry" are engaging, they all suffer, to varying degrees, from a loosely scripted, and at times, implausible plot, as well as the inclusion of Arthurian elements that remain contrived and unnecessary except as a "hook" pandering to the appeal the Camelot legend holds for many readers, and that has already elsewhere been overworked. Further, I question the plot device of characters that are transported by varying means from "our" world into parallel fantasy realms that appear popular with many fantasy writers: Effectively used to inform the story in Donaldson's "Covenant" series, other writers turn to its use solely as a clever artifice by which to move characters around.

Though better than most of the fantasy fiction about, this trilogy lacks the focus of Kay's later, more mature and individual works, such as "Tigana" or "Song for Arbonne." Read these if you are seeking serious and original fantasy tales. Save the "Fionavar Trilogy" for moments of simple, unexamined diversion.

(As "The Summer Tree" is the weakest book in the trilogy, I have only rated it individually two stars, whereas I have rated the series three stars overall in my review of "The Darkest Road.")

I've read many - at least a thousand, certainly - fantasy books, and The Summer Tree (and the entire trilogy) is simply one of the very best. The 'Fionavar Tapestry' is so painstakingly crafted that it must have been a labor of love (and probably a first book), and I can never understand why I don't hear far more about it.

The language is frequently lyrical, far above the usual standard for fantasy writing; "words more strung with fire", to use one of Kay's own phrases, than any but the likes of, say, Bradbury's. The whole really IS a tapestry; a complex and intricate interweaving of different characters, plot strands, and fantasy elements. And so tightly and carefully woven that it's unbelievable - half a sentence in one book can subtly foreshadow a major event in another book three hundred pages later - yet it's never slow, as I'd expect given all the connections and resonances. You just don't normally find this level of plaited storytelling, even in the endless 300 pound series.

Obviously I was blown away by this trilogy - will probably read it every few years for life - but many of the Amazon reviews were negative and I'd like to address some of the comments. First, a number of the reviewers seemed to be giving Kay low marks mostly because he hadn't written some other book. For instance, some would have preferred a book in which all the characters came from the one world, not some from Fionavar and some from earth. Or some would have preferred a book that was more like Tolkien, or less like Tolkien, etc. I'd say that these are simply valid alternate choices as to the form, and he should be judged on the job he did, not downgraded because he didn't write another book entirely.

A few reviewers thought the plot cliche or even PREDICTABLE. I'll just flat-out claim that noone could have predicted his plot; it was simply too complex and detailed. It could only be honestly considered cliche or predictable if you simplify it to the level of Good vs. Evil; who's going to win? If that's the criterion then many, if not most, fantasy books just fail.

I do agree with some reviewers that it seemed like the 'earthlings' adapted amazingly well to an entirely new existence on another world and seemed to cut loose of their pasts with almost no remorse. Though I'd almost bet that Kay had that all worked out in his mind, not enough justification made it into the pages of the books. He did give us a few reasons(and hints)to think that some of the 'earthlings' had no strong personal ties back home, and that the one who did frequently thought about that tie, (his father), but I too think that he could have fleshed that out more.

And I agree that the two female main characters weren't
delineated well enough at the beginning. At first it was hard to really tell them apart, (though after a critical event in one of their lives that problem was taken care of).

There are some smaller imperfections as well, but compared to the vast majority of fantasy books out there...!

This was the first Guy Gavriel Kay book I read and at the time I picked it up I was having a hard time finding any fantasy novels I liked (Kept reading Mckinley over and over). This book introduced me to the Fionavar Tapestry that is key to understanding his other books such as Tigana. I have since read the Tapestry trilogy, Tigana and Song for Arbonne. This book is about a group of college students who are taken to a world where each discovers their true identity. In finding that identity, they also learn more about the new world they are now woven into. There is, of course, an impending war, gruesome creatures, deaths, deceptions and deep romance. If you are looking for a new author to read (as I was), I would suggest starting with the Fionavar tapestry and try Kay out! I look forward to and hope to enjoy all his works.