Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I love Kay. Under Heaven only reaffirms that love. I couldn't stop reading it.

Kay doesn't really write fantasy, he writes history dressed up in different clothes. He talked about the moors in Spain in the "Lions of Al Rassan". Sailing to Sarantium was what got me interested in the Byzantine empire. Under Heaven talks about the height of the Tang dynasty.

Basically, Tai while mourning his father is given a great gift that uproots and changes his life forever. It's full of character study and great scenes. There is a little fantasy in it but if you did a find and replace, it could simply be a story set in the Tang dynasty. And it's a one book wonder. The whole story is in one book. I don't have to wait years for books two and three and four. I read it and I'm done. Which is good. And it's bad. Because I hurried through it and I can't read the rest tonight.

The end did seem a little hurried, not the great satisfying conclusion and wrap up, but it did end.

I say read it.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Kay ROCKS (For a Canadian). His Viking-themed book was the last one I read and it was:

A) Only one book, not 20 volumes finished posthumously by a third party
B) Lyrical in its prose, yet unsentimental in its treatment of the characters
C) F*cking AWESOME!
D) All of the above.

"D" my friends, definitely "D".

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I read that one, too.

I concur.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Flash forward eight centuries and you have 'River of Stars'. It's not a sequel because of the time disparity but it is set in the same mileue. There were allusions to Under Heaven but I only vaguely got them. It probably would have helped to have read Under Heaven again, but the story in River of Stars is still self contained.

The warriors from the north are making inroads into the Kitai Empire. But a succession of emperors have become so afraid of there thrones being taken from them by ambitious generals that they are woefully unprepared to deal with the invading forces.

Except for Ren Daiyan who sees his future in heading armies and protecting his country.

For my taste, the book needed more Ren. GGK has a lot of people to talk about in this book and he gives, in my opinion, to these people. Yes, it fills out a whole story talking about the intrigue at the imperial court and the manuevering there, but I really like Ren and wanted to see more of his action packed adventures. DM will appreciate the fact that Ren joined up with the Outlaws in Marsh for quite a spell. My brief reading of those books gave me that pleasure of that echo in Rivers of Stars.

The pacing heats up in the second half of the book. All the pieces are in place so it gives a lot of time for Ren to do his thing. Ah, bloodshed.

I'm thinking this book wasn't as good as Under Heaven but it is still really good.