05-31-2010, 06:12 PM
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.
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.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit