Scan barcode
A review by mary_soon_lee
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
5.0
I have loved Guy Gavriel Kay's fantasy for many years. I loved this book too. I tried not to gobble it up too quickly, because it's such a fierce joy for me to read his work.
"All the Seas of the World" is one of Kay's many novels that exist in a world very similar to ours, but one step sideways, so that they are not history per se. This story is set in a close parallel to the Mediterranean, soon after the fall of what, in our world, was Constantinople. While there are overt fantasy elements in Kay's fiction, they are often, as here, sparingly used. I note that I thought the principal use of fantasy in this book (in connection to Lenia) was particularly well done.
The novel takes place between two of Kay's earlier books: "A Brightness Long Ago" and "Children of Earth and Sky." While it stands in its own right as a very fine novel, the overlap of some characters between the three books means that it gains even more from prior familiarity with those characters. (My heart sang when one particular character, Guidanio Cerra, resurfaced here.)
It is the characters that I love most in Guy Gavriel Kay's work. He writes of them with such piercing compassion. Indeed his writing, if anything, seems to me to have matured in the last couple of books. There's a heft to them, an awareness of the passing of things. His prose is beautiful, his storyteller's voice honed to great effect. Usually, I am most affected by fiction when the prose is invisible and I slip straight into the story. But there are exceptions. Guy Gavriel Kay is one; Ursula K. Le Guin was another; authors whose prose stands out from invisibility, but does it well enough that I love it all the more.
If I have any quibble, it is that Kay has a fondness for pointedly withholding pieces of information from the reader. Often this seems unnecessary to me. But it's only the merest of quibbles, never stopping me from being carried up in his stories.
I loved this book. A pure joy. Five out of five stars under the twin moons.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
"All the Seas of the World" is one of Kay's many novels that exist in a world very similar to ours, but one step sideways, so that they are not history per se. This story is set in a close parallel to the Mediterranean, soon after the fall of what, in our world, was Constantinople. While there are overt fantasy elements in Kay's fiction, they are often, as here, sparingly used. I note that I thought the principal use of fantasy in this book (in connection to Lenia) was particularly well done.
The novel takes place between two of Kay's earlier books: "A Brightness Long Ago" and "Children of Earth and Sky." While it stands in its own right as a very fine novel, the overlap of some characters between the three books means that it gains even more from prior familiarity with those characters. (My heart sang when one particular character, Guidanio Cerra, resurfaced here.)
It is the characters that I love most in Guy Gavriel Kay's work. He writes of them with such piercing compassion. Indeed his writing, if anything, seems to me to have matured in the last couple of books. There's a heft to them, an awareness of the passing of things. His prose is beautiful, his storyteller's voice honed to great effect. Usually, I am most affected by fiction when the prose is invisible and I slip straight into the story. But there are exceptions. Guy Gavriel Kay is one; Ursula K. Le Guin was another; authors whose prose stands out from invisibility, but does it well enough that I love it all the more.
If I have any quibble, it is that Kay has a fondness for pointedly withholding pieces of information from the reader. Often this seems unnecessary to me. But it's only the merest of quibbles, never stopping me from being carried up in his stories.
I loved this book. A pure joy. Five out of five stars under the twin moons.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).