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Guy Gavriel Kay


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I started with Tigana, and loved it, although - if I was going to recommend one - I'd definitely say The Lions of Al-Rassan, as it's one of my all-time favourite books.

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I started with Tigana, and loved it, although - if I was going to recommend one - I'd definitely say The Lions of Al-Rassan, as it's one of my all-time favourite books.

 

Thanks for the suggestion and after now reading the reviews and the 'Look Inside' content on amazon I have ordered a copy :smile:

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  • 7 months later...

Had to come over to this thread to see if the novel I'm reading is a stand alone or the first novel in a series. I was given The Lions of Al-Rassan as a Bday pressie and rather surprisingly I got sucked into the story when I picked it up on a whim yesterday. I've heard a lot of great things about Guy Gavriel Kay but I didn't honestly expect to like his stuff this much, being an avid reader of everything but sci-fi and fantasy, most of the time. If I love the novel as much by the end as I love it now, 62 pages in, I'll be sure to read Kay's other novels :blush:

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Glad you are liking it Frankie. I wasn't bowled over with it myself but I have 4 other GGK books on my kindle to read eventually so if you read any others by him let me know .

 

Sure thing, vodkafan :) What was it about the book that prevented you from completely falling in love with it?

 

I'm really liking the characters so far, I'm for some odd reason rooting for Jehane and I find her very likable and everything, eventhough I haven't yet really been introduced to her. I'm also liking Alvar de Pellino and Laín Nunez (and of course Rodrigo Belmonte, but to me he's sort of the character one's supposed to like, that it's a given that everyone likes him, so that makes him a bit less likable for me). I really don't even know why I like these people, because like I said earlier, I don't really even know them yet, not very deeply.

 

The

beheading of the guests was something that made me gasp. When I was reading the paragraph, and read that they came up to the open and were momentarily blinded by the sun, I actually thought this was a perfect way to maybe do something completely unexpected, maybe even kill them, and yet I was totally blown away and gobsmacked when that actually happened

:o Shocking!

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Hi Frankie, well, here is my review (if the link works!) Be careful it has a spoiler in it.

The story was OK I think I just expected something different. And because it is a fantasy I expected to see fantasy elements in it. Otherwise what is the point of making it just like real life history?

 

okay I didn't know how to do the link properly sorry . It's on page 11 of my 2012reading blog

 

http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/9534-vodkafans-2012-reading-list-and-genre-challenge/page__st__200#entry298898

Edited by vodkafan
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I was given The Lions of Al-Rassan as a Bday pressie and rather surprisingly I got sucked into the story when I picked it up on a whim yesterday.

 

:o

 

Fantastic! :woohoo: I really hope you like it, frankie, it's one of my favourite books :D

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Hi Frankie, well, here is my review (if the link works!) Be careful it has a spoiler in it.

The story was OK I think I just expected something different. And because it is a fantasy I expected to see fantasy elements in it. Otherwise what is the point of making it just like real life history?

 

okay I didn't know how to do the link properly sorry . It's on page 11 of my 2012reading blog

 

http://www.bookclubf...200#entry298898

 

Thanks for that, VF, but I think I'm going to save reading your review til after I've finished the novel, I don't want to read any spoilers :)

 

Edit: Yep, I'm wondering about the fantasy categorisation as well. I don't mind it that so far I haven't seen any fantastical elements in it, but I'm wondering why it's categorised as fantasy and not just fiction. Anyone?

 

:o

 

Fantastic! :woohoo: I really hope you like it, frankie, it's one of my favourite books :D

 

Well, so far so good :D I honestly didn't think I would be so wowed by it!

 

Karsa, I have Tigana on Kindle and also the 3 Ffffonovar novels. Which should I start on?

 

I'm no expert, but I've heard great reviews on Tigana on here, and I think it's a stand alone novel? Maybe you could go with that before getting into the trilogy? :shrug:

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I'm no expert, but I've heard great reviews on Tigana on here, and I think it's a stand alone novel? Maybe you could go with that before getting into the trilogy? shrug.gif

 

Yeah, but that's the thing what frightens me. If I read Tigana and don't like it or just think it is so-so it will be two strikes down and I won't read the trilogy.....Oh lordy the stress. Oh bugger I'm just going to read 10 pages of the first book in the trilogy now sitting in bed that can't hurt...can it?

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Yeah, but that's the thing what frightens me. If I read Tigana and don't like it or just think it is so-so it will be two strikes down and I won't read the trilogy.....Oh lordy the stress. Oh bugger I'm just going to read 10 pages of the first book in the trilogy now sitting in bed that can't hurt...can it?

 

Haha :D Well if you feel like you shouldn't start with Tigana, then I guess your mind is leaning towards starting with the trilogy anyways, so I'd say give it a go :)

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Edit: Yep, I'm wondering about the fantasy categorisation as well. I don't mind it that so far I haven't seen any fantastical elements in it, but I'm wondering why it's categorised as fantasy and not just fiction. Anyone?

 

That's the point, though: it's not fantasy as in Tolkein (High or Epic Fantasy), it's a sub-genre called Historical Fantasy, so you won't find much in the way of fantasy tropes on display. There are so many sub-genres around now it can be misleading to classify a book simply as 'fantasy'. Personally, I find the swords & sorcery aspect of High Fantasy a bit boring these days, unless it's done with a difference, which is why I found GGK's Historical Fantasy novels so enjoyable.

 

Also, you can read GGK's own thoughts on Historical Fantasy here.

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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That's the point, though: it's not fantasy as in Tolkein (High or Epic Fantasy), it's a sub-genre called Historical Fantasy, so you won't find much in the way of fantasy tropes on display. There are so many sub-genres around now it can be misleading to classify a book simply as 'fantasy'. Personally, I find the swords & sorcery aspect of High Fantasy a bit boring these days, unless it's done with a difference, which is why I found GGK's Historical Fantasy novels so enjoyable.

 

Also, you can read GGK's own thoughts on Historical Fantasy here.

 

That might be the point, but I don't get it, still. Why is it historical fantasy, and not historical fiction, then? If there are no elves, dragons and um... the sort. :shrug: I should take a look at those links and maybe google the definition of fantastic fiction. I'm not sure I'll find an answer that will satisfy me, though, but I may as well try :giggle: Thanks for the links!

 

Edit: I checked out the first link and found a link to 'historical fantasy' and there were three 'approaches' to it, and here's the one that I think applies to The Lions: "The story takes place in an alternative history with clear differences from our own". Still, that doesn't explain the problem for me, but I guess I'll just have to suck it up and go with it. :shrug:

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I read 20 pages of the first Fionovar book and it is pulling me in so far. For some reason the writing reminds me of AE Van Vogt and the plot reminds me of the film "This Island Earth" !

 

I read GGK's article on the link you gave thanks Karsa. Most interesting.

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I think I got so caught up in the story and characters it didn't occur to me that the genre might be a problem. I hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment of it too much, frankie :smile:

 

I was talking about the genre thing in general. The genre of this particular book is not a problem with me in any way, I'm sure it's rather clear from all the posts I've made on different threads that I'm very much enjoying the novel :lol: I think I may have found a fantasy genre I'm comfortable reading, and that is only good news, aye? I might have to ask you for recommendations of similar types of novels in the future.

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