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alanjbach 's review for:
Under Heaven
by Guy Gavriel Kay
This book was fairly enjoyable upon my finishing of it, and Kay's style while kind of meandering does set up the historic atmosphere well. However, thinking back on it there are way too many plot points that seem forced, which I think stem from Kay trying to shoehorn his own characters into the actual events that occurred. For example, the premise given out on the jacket sleeve was that Shen Tai is given 250 "heavenly" Sardian horses which puts him at great danger of being murdered to have the horses stolen from him, as he tries to deliver them to be of use to the empire. However, the significance of the horses, Shen Tai, or even his actions never come to fruition until the epilogue. Also, several characters are built up as evil while appearing benevolent later in the story, which probably mirrors their own actions in real life, but the way they are narrated makes them appear to go out of character. A similar thing is true for an actual villain who is built up as a major obstacle and just kind of self implodes later. Finally, the book trying to resolve everything with its epilogue makes it feel half-finished. Read it for the setting, but don't come in having high expectations for a well versed plot.