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johnthecrow 's review for:
Under Heaven
by Guy Gavriel Kay
This is my third GGK novel after Tigana and A Brightness Long Ago. Tigana is a top five novel for me and Brightness is probably top 25. That's why it pains me to only give this book three stars.
The pacing until the last quarter was just awful. Tigana was a story of a small group of rebels fighting for their homeland on two simultaneous fronts against evil sorcerers. Brightness tells the tale of a common man thrust into the violent political maneuverings of two mercenary commanders. For the first three quarters of Under Heaven we mostly follow a man trying get some horses to the capital.
There are bright spots in the gloom however, mainly in Li-Mei's struggle for survival in the Bögu lands, and we get Kay's beautiful prose throughout.
The final quarter is what saves this book from a two or even one star review. Our focus shifts from Shen Tai to a larger backdrop of civil war and the future of Kitai which makes for much more interesting reading. Finally, Kay sticks the landing in the novel's final few chapters.
After reading Tigana and A Brightness Long Ago I thought it was a no-brainer to read the rest of GGK's catalogue but it may be a long time before I work up the nerve to read River of Stars, this book's sequel.
The pacing until the last quarter was just awful. Tigana was a story of a small group of rebels fighting for their homeland on two simultaneous fronts against evil sorcerers. Brightness tells the tale of a common man thrust into the violent political maneuverings of two mercenary commanders. For the first three quarters of Under Heaven we mostly follow a man trying get some horses to the capital.
There are bright spots in the gloom however, mainly in Li-Mei's struggle for survival in the Bögu lands, and we get Kay's beautiful prose throughout.
The final quarter is what saves this book from a two or even one star review. Our focus shifts from Shen Tai to a larger backdrop of civil war and the future of Kitai which makes for much more interesting reading. Finally, Kay sticks the landing in the novel's final few chapters.
After reading Tigana and A Brightness Long Ago I thought it was a no-brainer to read the rest of GGK's catalogue but it may be a long time before I work up the nerve to read River of Stars, this book's sequel.