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holley_cornetto's review against another edition
4.0
This book is something like fantasy meets historical fiction. The characters and setting are interesting. We have a warrior, a merchant/sailor, a spy, and an artist that the story mostly follows (although there are other characters that the book follows at some points of the story). The story would be of interest to those who would like to read about action or adventure in a low magic historical fantasy setting, with clashing cultures.
megbeck's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
j_wrathall's review against another edition
4.0
Similar thoughts to Lords of the Horizon though fiction. Probably closer to 3.5 stars. Didn't realise it would be a standalone but liked how it wrapped up, though the historical parallelism became more overt. I liked it and it was certainly intentional but can feel derivative. The dialogue may be a bit weak at times, and I think some of the many stories he tells could have been done more interestingly or less predictably. Maybe will make more sense if I read other works in the same world, thinking next of Lions of Al Rassan. Nevertheless, loved the setting and especially Pero and Leonora most - teared up at the end. Eudoxia and other bit characters great too. Liked the eastern Jaddites' heterodoxy. Keen to see more of Asharites and Kindath in Lions, depending on how he handles it (wouldn't mind as much if the parallelisms weren't so abject).
debchan's review against another edition
4.0
i know i should talk about the dynamic characters, intricate plot, amazing world as it always is with kay
like his books that are set in this word give me nostalgia… do i want to live in 15 century europe? with trade and art and politics and war? maybe i do. it was so beautiful the way he portrayed it
but all i can think about is that vegetable scene… damn
like his books that are set in this word give me nostalgia… do i want to live in 15 century europe? with trade and art and politics and war? maybe i do. it was so beautiful the way he portrayed it
but all i can think about is that vegetable scene… damn
jammasterjamie's review against another edition
4.0
I got exactly what I wanted out of this - classic Kay giving a sprawling drama with beautiful prose and illustrious world-building. If you were a fan of the Sarantium books, this is a must-read.
ginnikin's review against another edition
3.0
There was so much frustration about how women were treated in this book. So much sex-as-currency — by women only, of course. So much of it didn't contribute to the narrative in any way.
It was very well crafted, of course. That's what Kay does. I'm not as susceptible to his emotional roller coaster anymore. Now I spot it and see what he's doing and go along for the ride, but my gut stays in place, and my tears no longer flow.
I'm also realizing that when Kay writes great love, he writes people in love, not actually falling in love. They're in love because the narrative says they are. Someone realizes he's in love with someone else. Someone suspects that character Y has fallen in love with character X. The story tells us they're in love; it doesn't show us how they fall in love. That's a shame. I want to see that. (It's also a lot harder to write.)
It was very well crafted, of course. That's what Kay does. I'm not as susceptible to his emotional roller coaster anymore. Now I spot it and see what he's doing and go along for the ride, but my gut stays in place, and my tears no longer flow.
I'm also realizing that when Kay writes great love, he writes people in love, not actually falling in love. They're in love because the narrative says they are. Someone realizes he's in love with someone else. Someone suspects that character Y has fallen in love with character X. The story tells us they're in love; it doesn't show us how they fall in love. That's a shame. I want to see that. (It's also a lot harder to write.)
astrocat42's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sarahmsklar8's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
- While this is slotted as a fantasy, there is the smallest dabble that I would argue it doesn't even count. It's more of a literary Renaissance, in a fictitious world that mirrors our own.
- Children of Earth and Sky is a prime example of "It's not where you go, but how you get there". There are number of key characters, all on similar roads but with unique goals.
- I know a lot of fantasy readers want standalones and love this book for being one, I wish it was broken up into at least a duology. There are so many stories overlapping without enough time to establish a connection. I found myself often either lost or expecting of something to connect the dots only to be let down, which left me numb to the journey and disconnected from the characters.
- Children of Earth and Sky is a prime example of "It's not where you go, but how you get there". There are number of key characters, all on similar roads but with unique goals.
- I know a lot of fantasy readers want standalones and love this book for being one, I wish it was broken up into at least a duology. There are so many stories overlapping without enough time to establish a connection. I found myself often either lost or expecting of something to connect the dots only to be let down, which left me numb to the journey and disconnected from the characters.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars, actually.
What can you say after reading a Guy Gavriel Kay book? One basically exists in a timeless past where honor and promises cause men and women to give up all that they hold dear to play a long game for the sake of their countries. Countries that are alternate, historically compelling versions of the ones we see now.
But many Kay is getting a little less political in these later years. Children of Earth and Sky follows multiple players in an alternate Renaissance Europe (Ottoman Empire, Venice, etc) but instead of the main focus being on the political-- it's more on the paths the smaller players end up on because politics forced them onto the road. There's a fierce, female pirate, a merchant, a painter, a nun, and various others, but where I'm used to multiple POV in Kay's books, what I am not used to -- and which is used throughout this book-- is the detours into the futures of each character (even the slightly minor ones.)
There is a softness about this book, a desire to return to the pleasures of hearth and home, that I don't remember being so prevalent in Kay's books before. One of the main characters does not die, does not get a fiery defiance scene, but quietly, slowly, thoughtfully makes of his life something different than you'd think at the end.
But this is Kay, so there is political intrigue, and passion, and a kind of distancing wisdom about fundamental sadness and beauty of humanity. And saometimes the potential futures of the characters made me lose track of the main threads of the book, or diluted the impact of their emotional journeys, thus the minusing of the half star.
"You met riders on a road in Sauradia, in the wilderness of it, and everything altered in a moment, with the long flight of an arrow, with a question and an answer, with the hard needs of the heart coming home."
and
"Courage takes many forms. A truth not always understood. Sometimes it is a man managing to hold his head up, control his shaking hands, remain on his feet, when the desire to drop to the ground, head to a tiled floor is so strong. But the artist Pero Villani, at the edge of the chasm that was his death, changed the world in his time (and for a long time after) by telling truth on a morning of sun and cloud in Asharias."
So we read Kay, even this gentler, less strident Kay, to be reminded of how the world also contains these things: courage, beauty, forgiveness, remembering.
What can you say after reading a Guy Gavriel Kay book? One basically exists in a timeless past where honor and promises cause men and women to give up all that they hold dear to play a long game for the sake of their countries. Countries that are alternate, historically compelling versions of the ones we see now.
But many Kay is getting a little less political in these later years. Children of Earth and Sky follows multiple players in an alternate Renaissance Europe (Ottoman Empire, Venice, etc) but instead of the main focus being on the political-- it's more on the paths the smaller players end up on because politics forced them onto the road. There's a fierce, female pirate, a merchant, a painter, a nun, and various others, but where I'm used to multiple POV in Kay's books, what I am not used to -- and which is used throughout this book-- is the detours into the futures of each character (even the slightly minor ones.)
There is a softness about this book, a desire to return to the pleasures of hearth and home, that I don't remember being so prevalent in Kay's books before. One of the main characters does not die, does not get a fiery defiance scene, but quietly, slowly, thoughtfully makes of his life something different than you'd think at the end.
But this is Kay, so there is political intrigue, and passion, and a kind of distancing wisdom about fundamental sadness and beauty of humanity. And saometimes the potential futures of the characters made me lose track of the main threads of the book, or diluted the impact of their emotional journeys, thus the minusing of the half star.
"You met riders on a road in Sauradia, in the wilderness of it, and everything altered in a moment, with the long flight of an arrow, with a question and an answer, with the hard needs of the heart coming home."
and
"Courage takes many forms. A truth not always understood. Sometimes it is a man managing to hold his head up, control his shaking hands, remain on his feet, when the desire to drop to the ground, head to a tiled floor is so strong. But the artist Pero Villani, at the edge of the chasm that was his death, changed the world in his time (and for a long time after) by telling truth on a morning of sun and cloud in Asharias."
So we read Kay, even this gentler, less strident Kay, to be reminded of how the world also contains these things: courage, beauty, forgiveness, remembering.