Guy Gavriel Kay's reading...

[fajrdrako]

Guy Gavriel Kay did a reading from his new book The Last Light of the Sun at the Clocktower Pub on Bank St.

It was a nice environment - a room lined with padded benches, and a number of comfortable chairs, though I was on a stool and there were many people standing. Pool tables with red felt were filled with piles of the book. There was a cosy fire in the hearth, and a good atmosphere, though I didn't see anyone drinking - odd, considering it was a pub.

Guy prefaced his remarks by talking about his current publicity tour - how he was doing telephone interviews with people in Quebec City while at a hotel for a reading in Victoria, and so on across the country. He made a funny story of it - "Don't make your publicist angry, she can exact revenge."

He read from the very beginning of the book, explaining that this solved the problem of having to explain who the characters were and risk putting the audience to sleep before you even start reading. He said it took him a while to learn this; I found myself wishing he'd unlearn it, as the first reading I heard from him was from the middle of Tigana and I was mesmerized. It might have been as effective if he had read from the very beginning of the book, I don't know, but I doubt it.

Certainly the very beginning of The Last Light of the Sun is not my favourite part of the book. It's based on an account in the writings of Ibn Fadlan of a burial of a Viking leader in Russia in the 10th century - Ibn Fadlan being the chronicler who inspired Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead and the movie based on it, The 13th Warrior. I do not necessarily consider this an auspicious connection.

So Kay's Ashurite comes to a Viking village to trade just as a funeral is about to start; the local leader had died and is to be burned in the boat with his horse and his serving girl. But someone has stolen the horse. The Ashurite, appalled by the drunken, rowdy, and stinking barbarians, fears he will be blamed for the horse-theft, but no, they find the real culprit and go riding off after him. The real culprit is one of the protagonists of the story. We never meet the Ashurite trader again.

Kay likes this introduction of his culture through the eyes of an outsider, but I was much happier when the book settled into the midst of the viewpoint characters belonging to the cultures he was describing.

It didn't matter. Kay read superbly and, whatever the scene, his writing style is beautiful enough to engage the attention and carry the day even in a lesser passage. My only complaint: I would have liked to have heard more. And more. And more.

Comments

[kathyh]

I am deeply envious. I don't think the book is even out in the UK yet, but I will look out to see if he'll be doing a publicity tour here. At least I've been able to experience the event vicariously though. Thanks.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed hearing about it! I was really glad I was able to hear him read again - it's always a pleasure. He doesn't come to Ottawa very often.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed hearing about this too! It's on my wishlist - wonder if I'll like it as muh as the Sarantium ones? :-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

We'll find out when you finally get to read it. Are the Sarantium ones your favourites? I loved them but Tigana is still my favourite, I think.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Definitely my favourites! They were the first ones I read - and I was just slightly disappointed by all the rest - particularly the fantasy trilogy, which felt too derivative. I'm hoping I'll really like the new one - would you say it's more similar to Sarantium or to the earlier stuff?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I agree with you about The Fionavar Tapestry - I think of it as his 'early work' when he was just getting a feel for his style and what he was doing artistically. I tend to think of all the rest of his novels as being of a similar high quality, though admittedly I haven't reread for a while and might find differences if I did. There are difference in quality of style, I think, but within the individual books - not between one book and another.

So given that caveat - yes, I'd say The Last Light of the Sun was of equal calibre, but I don't see the difference you do between the Sarantium books and the others.