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helenoflombard 's review for:
The Summer Tree
by Guy Gavriel Kay
I read this series countless times when I was a teenager in the 90’s. I’m happy to say that it is indeed a great series. The adventure is compelling and Kay’s writing is really beautiful. I’d recommend finding a physical copy of this book because the cover art is amazing. Every edition has different, gorgeous cover art. (They really don’t make fantasy covers the same way any more.)
Content warning for rape (see the end of my review).
Five grad students from Toronto are whisked away to the magical world of Fionavar. Each character ends up serving a vital role in their new world. Kay worked on the official edits of JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, so we know he was a big fan of Middle Earth. The main characters are very different from those in The Lord of the Rings, but the actual world is extremely similar. Like Middle Earth, Fionavar is an isolated continent divided into several countries with distinct characteristics. The three main countries are analogous for some old civilizations in our world: Native American, Norse and Persian. There’s also wizards, dwarfs, fairies, orc and dragons. And King Arthur.
This was published in the 1980’s and takes place in 1975. However, the characters seem completely modern. If the date weren’t listed, I never could tell that this didn’t take place in current times. There is little of the sexism that can be found in so much fantasy written in the 1980’s. There are still more men than women, but you can see that Kay is deliberately improving on the number of women in LotR. Some characters do sexist things, but that is part of the character flaws and not the author’s opinion. For example, there is an old-fashioned scene where the prince seduces a princess. The prince is very impressed with himself, but no one else really is impressed and he eventually learns that he shouldn't behave that way. (Of course, we as readers still had to read that seduction scene, so I could see how it doesn't really matter if it was "right" or "wrong" and matters more that it's in the book at all.)
I’ve thought a lot about why Kay decided to insert five people from our world into the action. I think it’s because he was deliberately playing with tropes. He’s showing that these characters have roles that repeat over and over across time and worlds. Since these characters are from a different world don’t care about how they’re “supposed” to act. (The characters barely seem surprised at being suddenly transported to a magical world; I think that’s to show that they always felt they had unrealized destinies that Fionavar suddenly fulfills for them.)
The characters physical appearances are not generally described in any detail. Kay just likes to tell us their heights and hair color. However, I’m concerned that despite the multi-cultural influences, the characters may read as white; some people from the “Native American” tribe are described as having blond hair. This might become even more important because recently the books were optioned for a tv show.
There is a rape storyline that begins in the last pages of The Summer Tree (the character is rescued, so it doesn’t end in that cliffhanger). In the next book, it’s described further how she was abducted, brutalized and then bore the child of her rapist. It is disturbing but not gratuitous. There is no minimization of the incident but it’s tough to read.
Content warning for rape (see the end of my review).
Five grad students from Toronto are whisked away to the magical world of Fionavar. Each character ends up serving a vital role in their new world. Kay worked on the official edits of JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, so we know he was a big fan of Middle Earth. The main characters are very different from those in The Lord of the Rings, but the actual world is extremely similar. Like Middle Earth, Fionavar is an isolated continent divided into several countries with distinct characteristics. The three main countries are analogous for some old civilizations in our world: Native American, Norse and Persian. There’s also wizards, dwarfs, fairies, orc and dragons. And King Arthur.
This was published in the 1980’s and takes place in 1975. However, the characters seem completely modern. If the date weren’t listed, I never could tell that this didn’t take place in current times. There is little of the sexism that can be found in so much fantasy written in the 1980’s. There are still more men than women, but you can see that Kay is deliberately improving on the number of women in LotR. Some characters do sexist things, but that is part of the character flaws and not the author’s opinion. For example, there is an old-fashioned scene where the prince seduces a princess. The prince is very impressed with himself, but no one else really is impressed and he eventually learns that he shouldn't behave that way. (Of course, we as readers still had to read that seduction scene, so I could see how it doesn't really matter if it was "right" or "wrong" and matters more that it's in the book at all.)
I’ve thought a lot about why Kay decided to insert five people from our world into the action. I think it’s because he was deliberately playing with tropes. He’s showing that these characters have roles that repeat over and over across time and worlds. Since these characters are from a different world don’t care about how they’re “supposed” to act. (The characters barely seem surprised at being suddenly transported to a magical world; I think that’s to show that they always felt they had unrealized destinies that Fionavar suddenly fulfills for them.)
The characters physical appearances are not generally described in any detail. Kay just likes to tell us their heights and hair color. However, I’m concerned that despite the multi-cultural influences, the characters may read as white; some people from the “Native American” tribe are described as having blond hair. This might become even more important because recently the books were optioned for a tv show.
There is a rape storyline that begins in the last pages of The Summer Tree