Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

4.5 Stars

GGK is one of my most favourite authors.  I love his writing! It's so beautiful and lyrical and all the while telling a great story with terrific characters.  Under Heaven is no exception.

Inspired by Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty, this is the story of a young man, Shen Tai, who, as the result of a two year sacrifice to honour his late father, is gifted with a most AMAZING gift of 250 Sardian horses.  These horses are like gold!  A gift beyond measure. A quote from the book - "You give a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You give him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor." Also a gift that will have a tremendous impact on Tai's life.  And the lives of many others.

Under Heaven is the story of the effects of this gift. 

I loved the characters. Kay has a way of bringing the people he writes about to wonderful and often painful life.  They're so real, even when they are bigger than life, if that makes any sense.  We follow mostly Shen Tai and his sister Li-Mei and while they are young, they do possess some wisdom and knowledge - also, they have faults.  I found both of them very likable and enjoyed reading about them.  I also grew very fond of Tai's friend, the world-renowned poet whose name I cannot for the life of me remember.  *LOL*

I wanted to know more about so many things.  I wanted to know more about the events that follow the book's ending.  I wanted to know more about the people on the steppe.  I think I just wanted more period.  But that's okay, the story of Under Heaven was complete in itself and ended very satisfactorily.

Guy Kay, as always writes with a light, deft touch and honest to God, his paragraphs are often like songs.  The man knows words!  And his plotting!  It never fails, all the disparate threads that begin the book always end up intertwining at the end with just the right amount of twisting and turning to delight the reader.  And there's always a little bit of an open-ended bit of 'what if' in conclusion, in Kay's books. 

I loved it.  :)

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

4.5 STARS

This man writes the most beautiful books. I can totally immerse myself in the worlds he creates, worlds that are almost ours but just a step to the left. :) He does things with words and sentences that should be so completely wrong, but they work! THEY WORK!

Along with amazingly real worlds, GGK creates the most real and intriguing characters, be they rulers or workers, priests or artists, they're all so complete and authentic. If I stop to think about it, it boggles my mind. In a good way of course!

I wish I was clever enough to write coherently about how I feel about this book, but I just want to stand up and shake my hands while jumping up and down. *LOL*

Here's a link to a review by someone who says things far more eloquently than I ever could.

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.ca/2016/04/children-of-earth-and-sky.html

30 Day Challenge - Day 24

Day 24 - A book that you wished more people had read.

I love this book SO much. I know a lot of people have read it, but I think that EVERYONE who loves historical type fantasy needs to read it. The location is fictional, the magic is light and sprinkled with a judicious hand throughout the book, and there is no Quest with a group of 7 or 9 to be found anywhere. And the story is complete in one juicy volume. No sequel, no trilogy, no series of 8 books. :)

The characters! OMG, the characters are so perfect. Flawed, real, bigger than life and yet everyman. The language that Guy Kay uses to tell his story is magic in and of itself. I honestly don't believe that you can rightfully call yourself a fantasy aficionado if you've not read this book.

If you love to read, do yourself a great favour read this book. :) Please!

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

5 STARS

This is one of the most beautifully written fantasy books I've ever had the pleasure of reading and rereading. It reads more like a historical novel than a fantasy novel and I find it just so very lyrical.

NOT your run of the mill fantasy novel at all.