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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Once very few years I have this inner yearning to read something reminiscent of my early steps into Fantasy. Something archetypical. Something treading the paths of the likes of Middle Earth. Fionavar Tapestry seems to be exactly that. Generally i was snobbish towards these books but this time the call was heard and fortunately I made the right decision of starting The Summer Tree. It grabbed me from the beginning. A haunting epic tale with strong imagery in the veins of Silmarillion. The writing is poetic and romantic and weaves a beautiful and dangerous world full of symbolism. I guess its not for everyone, especially if u only like modern writers with either the trendying YA or grittier grimdark ( I love grimdark) approach. If on the other hand, u want to read something that feels classic, that it is beautiful and strongly into the primordial battle of Good Vs Evil then these books might be exactly what u need!
I really enjoyed this fantasy book and I can see why many consider it a classic. It has all the elements of what makes great fantasy and it's one of those that I will put in my reread pile for someday in the future. Guy Gravriel Kay has a unique writing style that draws the reader into the story and simply enthralls. He weaves magic through his words and creates a fantasy world that is alive and real.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
so, judging by this first book, pretty much every guy in this series should be gay or bi, but i know they won’t be because this is 80s fantasy written by a straight dude.
that particular agony aside, i thought this book was pretty good (aside from the very last chapter, which was so shocking and gratuitous as to knock a whole star off my rating, because seriously, what the hell. big tw for sexual assault).
that particular agony aside, i thought this book was pretty good (aside from the very last chapter, which was so shocking and gratuitous as to knock a whole star off my rating, because seriously, what the hell. big tw for sexual assault).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
I'm incredibly conflicted about this one. I found the world to be far too derivative of Tolkien's. On the other hand, I thought the fusion of Norse and Celtic mythologies helped the feel of Fionavar as the "first world," though this is obviously a limited view of world mythology. The characters feel at the same time like mere sketches and as though they were sketched with depth. I connected particularly well with Paul and Dave, and Paul's death and resurrection on the Summer Tree alone makes me feel like I should rate this book even more highly.
Overall, there's definitely a lack of polish and the fact that this was Kay's first book is obvious. The second half(once Paul goes to the summer tree) felt infinitely stronger than the first half, however, and in the end was well worth the read.
Overall, there's definitely a lack of polish and the fact that this was Kay's first book is obvious. The second half
Bootleg Lord of the Rings
Mercifully, this book comes with a list of characters at the beginning which I found myself returning to quite a bit throughout the course of the story because from the start you just get assaulted with an overwhelming amount of characters in a short span of pages and it only gets worse from there.
Now, as I said, this is literally just a bootleg Lord of the Rings, and I sincerely mean this. There's the old gray mage, the dwarven King who lives in the mountains, the etheral "lios" who "sail west" when their immortal lives come to an end, the big bad ancient being who has gotten stronger after many years whose power is centered around a volcano, the "svarts" that are basically orcs/goblins, the heroes from another world are the hobbits and so on. There's so many other comparisons I could mention, but these are just the ones off the top of my head.
The only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 was that the author does have a nice writing style and I feel that if he wasn't unabashedly ripping off Tolkien, he could have actually written a very good book.
Mercifully, this book comes with a list of characters at the beginning which I found myself returning to quite a bit throughout the course of the story because from the start you just get assaulted with an overwhelming amount of characters in a short span of pages and it only gets worse from there.
Now, as I said, this is literally just a bootleg Lord of the Rings, and I sincerely mean this. There's the old gray mage, the dwarven King who lives in the mountains, the etheral "lios" who "sail west" when their immortal lives come to an end, the big bad ancient being who has gotten stronger after many years whose power is centered around a volcano, the "svarts" that are basically orcs/goblins, the heroes from another world are the hobbits and so on. There's so many other comparisons I could mention, but these are just the ones off the top of my head.
The only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 was that the author does have a nice writing style and I feel that if he wasn't unabashedly ripping off Tolkien, he could have actually written a very good book.
I can't remember too much about this series only that I was a little disappointed in the subject matter. I love almost every other books of Kay's except these three. Maybe because I'm not a fan of the Arthurian legend or anything about it, I don't know but I did read all three of them hoping it would get better (for me anyway) in the end.
When The Summer Tree was chosen as a group read for the Fantasy/Science Fiction book of the Month group, I was torn. Kay's Tigana is on my very short list of favorite books, but I have never been a fan of fantasy novels where someone from our world/time gets transported into a fantasy world. I have always felt that it prevents me from becoming immersed in the fantasy world because the real world sentiments of the characters from our world always pull me out. The Summer Tree has shown me that in the right hands, this is not the case. A sorcerer from the world of Fionavar has brought five university students from our world into his world. He has told them it is for a celebration of the King's 50th year ruling and that they would return to their reality in about a week. However, once they are in Fionavar, it becomes clear that their destiny is to become major figures in a battle to overcome an evil that threatens not only Fionavar, but all the different worlds, including Earth. I loved all the characters, those from Fionavar and those from Earth. They were complex and believable. As the characters were drawn more into the society of Fionavar, it never felt awkward nor did the fact that they were from Earth become irrelevant. The story drew me right in and I am going to continue with the next book in the series right away.
It took me a while to get a grip on what was going on but all the while I was still loving it, it was just a story with descriptions that just pulled at me.
I've now experienced the true knife-to-the-heart storylines of Guy Gavriel Kay long may it continue.
Can't wait for the next one.
I've now experienced the true knife-to-the-heart storylines of Guy Gavriel Kay long may it continue.
Can't wait for the next one.
Couldn't get into it, found the premise/character reactions too incredulous, even for a fantasy book.