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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
As you get older, you begin to wonder if books can affect you the same way they did when you were younger. If you can enjoy them as much as you enjoyed the books you read while growing up. This book answers that for me. It is so well done. Also, the narration of the audiobook is fantastic.
Refreshingly literary medieval-style fantasy. You'll either think the language is overblown and pretentious or lyrical and flowing, depending on whether you liked Tolkien's writing style (Kay tries really hard to emulate it and usually succeeds). Two qualms: the main characters are actually just empty, relatively uninteresting vessels to ground the narrative and provide a window into the secondary world, and stuff just seems to happen for no good reason half the time (a shortcoming that the author actually acknowledges in the first line of the book). If you can get over that, I haven't read a more competent, traditional, and yet original Tolkien-style fantasy in, well, ever.
Kay's tragic take on Lord of the Rings is an excellent book for reading on public transit. The portal fantasy structure allows him to be critical of--but also enamored of--Tolkien's work (like Grossman's take on his source material in the Magicians series). Kay's Song for Arbonne is a much better book, but I enjoyed the characters and familiar tropes in this one.
Starts off a little slow but if you keep with it it really gets good! Started the second book as soon as I was done this one.
I really, really wanted to like this one as much as most everyone else. I love immersing myself in a rich fantasy world, and even though I was fully prepared for new characters, a new realm and a new magic system, I just couldn't get on board with any of it.
There's a lot to unpack here.
The five main characters are flat, unemotional, and have no growth, and no arc. The are all the same, except the fact that two are girls and three are guys. The only way to tell them apart is by their hyjinks and fates. The dwarf and mage show up in their modern 1980's life and ask them if they want to travel to a different universe and be the saviors of their kingdom. None of them react to this in the slightest- not positive, not negative, just, NOTHING. Like they decided to go on a whim since they weren't doing anything else that weekend. Throughout the novel it's exactly the same. The only time they ever emote at all is when one of them decides to sacrifice themselves, and even then it feels forced. How am I supposed to care about characters that are completely flat and act nothing like an actual person would in that situation?
That brings me to my next point- hardly anything was explained. There was no glossary of terms, no description of the world and how it worked, no explanation of magic, no politics, NOTHING. We are thrown into the deep end and told to just wing it. A few things are eventually explained, like the mages and their sources, and what the seer sees and does, among other things, but it takes a long time for this information to come to the surface. There's no backstory, no rich history. Names are thrown at us like they are important, but they don't stick. There's no way to tell who we're supposed to remember and who is just being tossed at us Tolkien style just for the sake of it.
Then, there's no WHY. Why are these five college kids so important? Why is the prince taking these kids across the river? Why does Kim get the powers of the Seer? Why is the darkness encroaching? What is at stake? Why do I care?
There is a reason why fantasy novels are usually so large they can stop doors- it is because the genre typically demands it. You are creating an entirely new world, with new rules and characters that you want to believe in, root for, and cry with. There's absolutely none of that here.
There are very few good points here, but what IS here is very good. The idea is great- five college kids transported to this fantasy world and each have purpose and a calling. Also, the ending was surprisingly good, and I'm happy I stuck it through to the end. Everything came together very well and there was a decent cliffhanger. It's like if a professional diver tripped and fell off the board, flailed their arms like a Muppet while falling, and then executed a perfect entry into the water. It's rather baffling.
This is my first sojourn with Guy Gavriel Kay, and I was really hoping to find a new favorite. This isn't it. I think I'll go back to Robert Jordan.
There's a lot to unpack here.
The five main characters are flat, unemotional, and have no growth, and no arc. The are all the same, except the fact that two are girls and three are guys. The only way to tell them apart is by their hyjinks and fates. The dwarf and mage show up in their modern 1980's life and ask them if they want to travel to a different universe and be the saviors of their kingdom. None of them react to this in the slightest- not positive, not negative, just, NOTHING. Like they decided to go on a whim since they weren't doing anything else that weekend. Throughout the novel it's exactly the same. The only time they ever emote at all is when one of them decides to sacrifice themselves, and even then it feels forced. How am I supposed to care about characters that are completely flat and act nothing like an actual person would in that situation?
That brings me to my next point- hardly anything was explained. There was no glossary of terms, no description of the world and how it worked, no explanation of magic, no politics, NOTHING. We are thrown into the deep end and told to just wing it. A few things are eventually explained, like the mages and their sources, and what the seer sees and does, among other things, but it takes a long time for this information to come to the surface. There's no backstory, no rich history. Names are thrown at us like they are important, but they don't stick. There's no way to tell who we're supposed to remember and who is just being tossed at us Tolkien style just for the sake of it.
Then, there's no WHY. Why are these five college kids so important? Why is the prince taking these kids across the river? Why does Kim get the powers of the Seer? Why is the darkness encroaching? What is at stake? Why do I care?
There is a reason why fantasy novels are usually so large they can stop doors- it is because the genre typically demands it. You are creating an entirely new world, with new rules and characters that you want to believe in, root for, and cry with. There's absolutely none of that here.
There are very few good points here, but what IS here is very good. The idea is great- five college kids transported to this fantasy world and each have purpose and a calling. Also, the ending was surprisingly good, and I'm happy I stuck it through to the end. Everything came together very well and there was a decent cliffhanger. It's like if a professional diver tripped and fell off the board, flailed their arms like a Muppet while falling, and then executed a perfect entry into the water. It's rather baffling.
This is my first sojourn with Guy Gavriel Kay, and I was really hoping to find a new favorite. This isn't it. I think I'll go back to Robert Jordan.
This rating is from 17 year old me. I don't know what current age me would think. Sometimes current age me is a little jaded and unpleasant :P
Gorgeous high fantasy in the spirit of Tolkien and Lewis. Kay is by far the best living fantasy author, and each word from his pen is a pleasure to read.
I wanted to love this. I really did. I just had no idea what was going on. I kept getting the characters confused. I didn't care about any of them until Dave got hooked up with the Dalrei. Maybe it's because I read Tigana first and got spoiled. I already have the rest of the trilogy, so I think I'll give the 2nd book a go, but I'm not going to recommend this series to anyone.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Rarely any small plot points that left me dreading their resolution; always forward momentum on the plot, even when time-jumping back to see another perspective. Fun world-building, great characters, but some really tough emotions at the end (as often in a Kay book).