The Last Light of the Sun...

[fajrdrako]

Guy Gavriel Kay's new book - at last. The Last Light of the Sun. This time, the subject is King Alfred the Great.

Not that you'll ever find such a character in his book. Kay's style is to take our history and weave it into a fantasy world where every character or culture is an echo of our own past - with magic, mostly naturalistic magic, thrown in. And he gives us the broad view, with glimpses of the lives of people of all stations of life, how they lived, what they thought - from a sour miller who witnesses a battle to a farm girl resenting the murder of her sister.

The protagonists reflect the three cultures: Bern and Thorkell of the Erlings (Vikings), Alum of the Cadyri (Welsh) and Aeldred of the Anglcyn (the English) and his children. The three cultures represent different religions, and three distinct ways of life - which could even be seen as past, present, and future, as the Erling way of life is giving way historically to something more settled, the Cadyri are adjusting to new ways and the worship of Jad, and the Anglcyn are bringing the civilization of Rhodias (think: Rome) to the 'corner of the world'. In historical scope Aeldred should be the hero, but the story isn't centred on him: it's the next generation that gets the focus, those growing up in the shadow of a great man and living in the world he has created.

I couldn't think of any way to pronounce Anglcyn but "Anglican", and that made me smile. Their lives interweave in various ways, sometimes over battle, sometimes through love, sometimes through happenstance. Alun has ... connections... to faerie, and I must say, it's the best depiction of faerie I've come across in fiction, barring Neil Gaiman's Auberon, which equals it. I myself didn't guess the magical secret of the "green ones", and loved the way the magical situation unfolded.

The real delight of this book is threefold - suitable, in a book where the Cadyri/Celt character keeps seeing events as triads. The first is the beautiful language, influenced by Dorothy Dunnett. The second is the history, the utterly convincing quality of these people in these cultures, so that the fantasy/fact distinction is blurred to irrelevance. The third is the depiction of the characters - many viewpoints, many personalities. The women are particularly effective, I thought, but then, I always like the way Kay writes women.

A bonus: the book has a good bibliography. How many fantasy novels need bibliographies?

Comments

[kathyh]

The third is the depiction of the characters - many viewpoints, many personalities.

That's one of the things I like best about his books. He builds a whole world through the eyes of the different characters. I can't wait to read this...though I'll have to.

How many fantasy novels need bibliographies?

Not many *g*. I have occasionally wondered why he doesn't write historical fiction but obviously the fantasy element gives him just that bit more leeway to experiment.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He builds a whole world through the eyes of the different characters.

Yes, and on just about every side of any given issue - two or three sides in every battle. He uses this effectively in the plot, too. His priest - Ceinon? I'm forgetting his name already - reminded me of Sulien in King Hereafter. I don't know if he was based on someone historical, but I plan to see if I can find out.


I have occasionally wondered why he doesn't write historical fiction

I wish he would, since on the whole, I find the history so fascinating in his books. However, he wants to make it fantasy, and I must say I thought the fantasy here was very effective - even if I'd have preferred straight history. Come to think of it, he could have made it history (with the Saxons, Welsh and Vikings) - and still added fantasy elements. I suppose he wanted the freedom to do what he liked with the personality and situation of, say, King Alfred or his wife, without someone saying he got it 'wrong'.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Sounds great. My favourite books of his are the two Sarantine Mosaic ones. In fact, they were the first Kay books I read and none of his older works has had quite the same impact.

I should wait for the paperback. We'll see how long I can hold out.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My favourite book by Guy Kay is also the first one I read - Tigana. I heard him read a scene from it before I actually read it, and it was wonderful. I've loved all his books since.

Aren't you able to get it from a library?

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Aren't you able to get it from a library?

::hollow laughter:: Our public library system is abysmal. I don't think they have any Kay books,and certainly not anything this recent. They have almost no money for new books, and to make matters worse, they have now shared out the books from the Central Library to a host of new branch libraries - without increasing the funding or number of books available. It's mad. And they won't send books between branches - the borrower has to do the running around.

So no, buying my own copies is often the only way to get to read the books that I want.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh - that sounds terrible! I guess I should be thankful for the library resources we have - though they are constantly threatened with financial cuts. I rely on them constantly.