Poll: Guy Kavriel Kay

[Glongpre]

I was in Chapters today picking up the paperback for Bands of Mourning. I noticed the GGK section again, I remembered reading that he was a good fantasy author.

Has anyone here read any of GGK's novels?

I like to check Goodreads but honestly, the reviews there are bad. It is either, "5/5 omg I love this author! I read it every year, and it's been 10 years, blah", or "1/5 everyone told me this is awesome, but I hate it, blah blah".

The viking one caught my interest purely because it is in a viking setting(Last Light of the Sun). And there is another one called Tigana which sounds like it has a really good villain, and this one seems to be one of his best.

Anyway, does anyone have experience with this author, & if you can, what could you compare his novels to (ie. other authors)?
(fyi, my favourites right now are Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss)

Danke

 

[Breakdown]

I read Last Light of the Sun, it was pretty good, although very thinly veiled historical fiction as fantasy.

 

[Glongpre]

I read Last Light of the Sun, it was pretty good, although very thinly veiled historical fiction as fantasy.

Yeah it seems like most of his stuff is historical fiction/fantasy, with his first books being LOTR fantasy, but the rest being historical fiction in that he researches certain time periods for the setting.

What is his writing comparable to? And the internet says the pace of his books is slow. Do you concur?

When you say pretty good, what is that on your scale? like, I thought about it after reading, or like one read was enough, or...

Why did you pick it up originally?

 

[SmallHatLogan]

I don't know much about him but I've read Sailing to Sarantium and its sequel Lord of Emperors. They would fall under the historical fantasy genre, inspired by the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium (which I know nothing about). I went into it expecting a typical fantasy story about a person from a small village going on an adventure, and that's how it started, but most of the story is set in the capital city and is a lot more focused on politics. So it wasn't what I expected but I enjoyed it regardless.

In terms of comparisons, imagine A Song of Ice and Fire but instead of having a bunch of factions with their own armies fighting amongst themselves across the land it's condensed into one city with a bunch of politicians manipulating and backstabbing each other.

 

[Breakdown]

I read Last Light of the Sun, it was pretty good, although very thinly veiled historical fiction as fantasy.

Yeah it seems like most of his stuff is historical fiction/fantasy, with his first books being LOTR fantasy, but the rest being historical fiction in that he researches certain time periods for the setting.

What is his writing comparable to? And the internet says the pace of his books is slow. Do you concur?

When you say pretty good, what is that on your scale? like, I thought about it after reading, or like one read was enough, or...

Why did you pick it up originally?

I read Last Light of the Sun a few years ago, and I think it was a third book in a 3 for 2 deal. The book was pretty good although I haven't read it since then.

It's probably comparable to Robert Holdstock's books particularly Celtika, in the mix of fantasy and historical fiction.

It is very close to being historical fiction. One of the characters is clearly Alfred the Great with a different name. There are fairies though.

 

[Glongpre]

Sailing to Sarantium and its sequel Lord of Emperors.

Those seem to be the consensus best books overall.

I read Last Light of the Sun a few years ago, and I think it was a third book in a 3 for 2 deal. The book was pretty good although I haven't read it since then.

It's probably comparable to Robert Holdstock's books particularly Celtika, in the mix of fantasy and historical fiction.

It is very close to being historical fiction. One of the characters is clearly Alfred the Great with a different name. There are fairies though.

Hmmm, I read a historical fiction book recently and I don't think it is my kind of jam. But that was a hard historical fiction by Sharon K. Penman, so maybe I would enjoy the added fantasy elements.

Decisions, decisions.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I've read Tigana and it was pretty decent. Very melancholy kind of fantasy. It's kinda inspired by Italian history but isn't really too steeped in it (or at least it didn't feel that way to someone who isn't at all well versed in Italian history) and is set in a relatively high fantasy setting. The prose reminds me a little of Tolkien, particularly Children of Hurin. It was fairly slow paced but not overly so. The fact that it told a full story in one book rather than spreading it across 14 doorstoppers helps.

I haven't read anything else, but Tigana was good.