Scan barcode
A review by singsthewren
The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay
4.0
This book is absolutely beautiful. The writing is simply gorgeous, and I could not put it down. It's been awhile since I've read a traditional fantasy, and it was a nice break in stride. This book has an absolutely beautiful voice - I could not put it down. The narrative is really different; fast-paced and sort of staggering, like it's stumbling towards beauty. It was really different, and I loved it.
Great plot and wonderful weaving of disparate stories into a great narrative with a satisfying conclusion. The sense of history and layers of the past was amazing.
I had two issues with it. First of all, the sexism was sort of annoying. It was definitely the society and not Kay (there were some strong female characters who helped alleviate the pall), but why is every society so freaking sexism? Especially when a society is based so strongly on Vikings, and there's a lot of evidence that women were completely equal in Viking society; or at least certainly not treated the way medieval Europe treated its women.
The other problem I had is that fantasy trope of taking Earth cultures, giving them new names, and then slightly altering their society. The best parts of Kay's world are the parts that diverge from the Earth societies he's copying: the three part rhyming structure of one society, the melodic voices that come down to fae ancestry, etc. Why not just dive away from Earth entirely? We would be just as hooked.
Great plot and wonderful weaving of disparate stories into a great narrative with a satisfying conclusion. The sense of history and layers of the past was amazing.
I had two issues with it. First of all, the sexism was sort of annoying. It was definitely the society and not Kay (there were some strong female characters who helped alleviate the pall), but why is every society so freaking sexism? Especially when a society is based so strongly on Vikings, and there's a lot of evidence that women were completely equal in Viking society; or at least certainly not treated the way medieval Europe treated its women.
The other problem I had is that fantasy trope of taking Earth cultures, giving them new names, and then slightly altering their society. The best parts of Kay's world are the parts that diverge from the Earth societies he's copying: the three part rhyming structure of one society, the melodic voices that come down to fae ancestry, etc. Why not just dive away from Earth entirely? We would be just as hooked.