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jacquihertz 's review for:
The Summer Tree
by Guy Gavriel Kay
A portal fantasy where five Canadian university students are transported to another world to celebrate a king being on the throne for five decades, but soon after their arrival in that world, it is clear the world is plagued by political turmoil, drought, famine, and rising dark forces. There is such a lyrical quality to Guy's writing like poetry or music, and that shines through even in this, his earliest work. Kay can weave a magic like no other fantasy writer just with his words alone--how he strings his sentences together--in my opinion.
This story has a mythical feeling to it, and though sometimes the legends and the history of this world are dumped on us, it is still a world that has more depth and complexity to it than many fantasy worlds.
I especially was moved by the passages where Paul hung on the Summer Tree and the sections focusing on the plains people. Kay can always capture that elusive mystical vibe with the magic of his worlds where the magic is very much designed as a sort of higher, inexplicable power not to be understood by mere mortals.
I still recommend reading Kay's later books first because to me they are stronger, but Kay as a novice is still far more of a master than 99% of authors out there.
This story has a mythical feeling to it, and though sometimes the legends and the history of this world are dumped on us, it is still a world that has more depth and complexity to it than many fantasy worlds.
I especially was moved by the passages where Paul hung on the Summer Tree and the sections focusing on the plains people. Kay can always capture that elusive mystical vibe with the magic of his worlds where the magic is very much designed as a sort of higher, inexplicable power not to be understood by mere mortals.
I still recommend reading Kay's later books first because to me they are stronger, but Kay as a novice is still far more of a master than 99% of authors out there.