Guy Kavriel Kay

Fantasy writer Guy Kavriel Kay is a unique voice in the fantasy genre. His books create vivid fantasy worlds and stories that live on in a reader's thoughts and heart. Though not a prolific writer, Mr. Kay's works are full of unforgettable characters and themes.

The first books were a High Fantasy trilogy called: The Fionavar Tapestry (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road). These books tell the stories of four students from Toronto that get transported to the fantasy world of Fionavar. Mr. Kay uses elements of Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend to create a rich world. It is hard to read these books without crying.

For his later books, he turned to Historical Fantasy. These books take place in some historical period or alternate historical period but have elements of magic or other fantastic things.

Tigana tells the story based on Medieval Italy. The kingdom of Tigana is under a curse and the characters fight to free the kingdom from it. This book is different from the usual battles between good and evil. There are many shades of gray. Kay produces a beautiful book of depth, plot and character.

In a A Song for Arbonne, Kay creates a fantasy Medieval Provence, France. The themes of war, love and destiny moves the characters of this world through trials and changes which leaves the reader haunted for days. Arbonne faces a war when invaded by the Norther kingdom of Gorhaut. The difference in Arbonne is religion; a dual paganistic religion replaces Christianity. This privides an equal amount of male and female gods, so women have as prominent a role as men. Music is a major theme in this book.

In his next book, The Lions of Al-Rassan, we are treated to an alternate Medieval Spain with cultures similiar to the Muslims, Christians and Jews. There is no magic in the book, but the reader is treated to Kay's usual depth of character and themes as his other books.

Sailing to Sarantium is Kay's latest book. It is part of a two book series called the "Sarantine Mosaic". Crispin is a mosaicist (an artist that makes pictures from colored tiles) who travels to Sarantium and gets caught up in political intrigue. This is a rich story of characters, prose and themes set in an alternate Byzantine empire.

Guy Kavriel Kay is a fantasy writer of high quality. He weaves complex themes and subjects (mosaics, poetry, music) into fantasy worlds of unforgettable beauty. Each of his books should be read by lovers of fantasy.

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