After the dramatic ending to 'The Summer Tree' the series was in need of some breathing space and Kay wisely takes his time in the beginning of 'The Wandering Fire'. Kim using her Seer powers and somehow tapping into the power of the Baelrath, brought the Five home from Fionavar with the help of High Priestess Jaelle.

They will never be the same again, however, and know they will have to return. Paul and Kim have powers they don't yet fully understand, Dave's experiences on the plain have opened him up to the world, and Jennifer, tortured and raped by Rakoth Maugrim, has a decision to make. Only Kevin, though touched by his time in Fionavar, remains essentially unchanged.

Kay's writing remains beautiful, but the prose has taken a step back from the formal story-telling sensibility that made the first book so distinctive. This is a pity, but I can understand why he would want to write in a more direct style.

Apart from the below commentary, the book suffers from mid-trilogy-slump in that there was a lot of set-up for the conclusion, but not enough substantial action. Diarmuid's sea voyage and the Loren's confrontation with Metran didn't do much for me. Kevin Laine's destiny is sad and perplexing. but was the great centerpiece to the story.

'The Wandering Fire' begins to pull in more myth archetypes - primarily the King Arthur cycle and the Adonis myth. In my last review I said I would try to address the place of women in this universe. Again, I'll say I don't think this was anything concious on Kay's part, but a limitation based on the Romano-celtic myths he sourced his story from.

Kim, as Seer of Brennan, has the power of revelatory dreams and was given the Baelrath - an item of wild magic and mostly out of her control. She is strong in her role though has doubts similar to the male players about her abilities. Kim is great, actually. I don't have any issue except some thoughts about the passivity of oracular dreams which aren't sharp enough to expand on.

Jennifer, has a place in the mythic destiny that becomes clear in this book -

- and therefore has the most clearly defined and tragic histories of all the characters in the series. Her character before her kidnapping and abuse by Maugrim was defined mostly by being emotionally reserved, strong-willed and proud, and being beautiful. These traits remain, and are even magnified by her ordeal, but after making her decision about Darien she is passive. She accepts her destiny and she waits.

Of the Fionavar natives chiefly there is Sharra, the clever and beautiful princess. She spends her time out-maneuvering her father's attempts to have her be married and in being seduced. Next is Jaelle, the cold and beautiful high priestess of the Earth Mother, being cold is her defense after being raised to such power at a young age. There are others, a few wives and daughters, objects of affection and sacrifice, grieving mothers, literal ice queens and bad mother Swans below the understandably obfuscated behaviors of deities.

I don't really have a problem with these archetypes, they're used well here and the story is entertaining. I just couldn't help dwelling on it while I was reading. I'm hoping that in 'The Darkest Road' there are some surprises in that area that I've forgotten since high school.

The Fionavar Tapestry

Next: 'The Darkest Road'

Previous: 'The Summer Tree'

This is a fantasy trilogy where Guy Gavriel Kay made a knowing and deliberate decision to emulate J.R.R. Tolkien. Perhaps this was to be expected after Kay spent a considerable time helping Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R.’s son) edit The Silmarillion, but he himself has explained (in numerous interviews) that this series was undertaken to prove that “High Fantasy” was complex enough to spawn many original stories, and that inferior Tolkien imitators need not become the norm for the genre. Whether Kay completely succeeded in this endeavor can be debated, but The Fionavar Tapestry is definitely a trilogy well worthy of its Lord of the Rings comparisons.

In The Summer Tree, the story begins with five college students from Toronto being transported to Fionavar (the first world that all others emulate) by Loren Silvercloak. This other worldly mage is a kindly man, who assures the frantic five that he is merely “borrowing” them for a short while so they can be guests of the royal court for a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the king’s ascension to the throne, but that he has ever intention of immediately returning them to their homes. Soon after their arrival in the Kingdom of Brennin, however, things begin to turn sour when the evil god Rakoth Maugrim, the Unraveller, escapes from his imprisonment under the great mountain of Rangat. Our unwary travelers then find themselves trapped in the struggle to overcome Rakoth, slowly realizing that each of them will have some special role to play in saving Fionavar.

The second book, The Wandering Fire, is a standard middle of a trilogy tale, in that it focuses on aligning all the good and evil characters up for an epic confrontation in the final volume of the series. But Kay also finds time to do something else here: integrate real world myths into the fantasy narrative. These run the gamut from the very prominent Arthurian legend of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere to the less well-known tidbits of Celtic and Northern mythos.

In The Darkest Road, Kay brings the “High Fantasy” tale to a close with the inevitable final battle between the forces of Good and Evil, the end of the quest for the mountain, and the decision of the hero who holds the fate of all in his hands. As familiar and simplistic as that might seem, Kay fills the narrative to the brim with dark broodiness, fertile hope, and an “eucatastrophe” that is deeply moving to read and wraps up all the characters’ storylines.

Now, as I alluded to earlier, The Fionavar Tapestry is very similar to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. There are dwarves, elves, a nation of horsemen, an ancient god-like villain once cast down but now returned, traitorous mages, the heir to a powerful kingdom in exile who has now returned, and the quest of someone to the evil mountain itself. (I’ve only named the most prominent examples; there are actually many more.) And, at its core, the series is very much a Tolkien-like chronicle of the battle between Good and Evil with little suspense as to which side each character will ultimately align with. So if you are one of those readers who views Tolkien-like fantasy as “brain candy” with no redeeming value, then I doubt you will like this trilogy very much . . . but there is still a chance you might.

The reason why is that, in The Fionavar Tapestry, Kay has delivered a deeply moving, richly imaginary world, crafted with some of the most lyrical prose ever to grace a fantasy page. The work is grand in scope, deep in emotions, brimming with detailed characters, and crystallizes quickly into something hauntingly beautiful.

None of which means you are guaranteed to love it. Everyone’s tastes are quite different. However, I would encourage naysayers to take a leap of faith, pick this series up at the used books store or on Amazon or wherever, and sit down with an open mind about what emotions “High Fantasy” can still invoke. I realize that the Tolkien clones have ruined this sub-genre to a certain extent, but it is still a powerful medium that a master storyteller can mine for powerful themes and emotional reactions – and Guy Gavriel Kay is definitely a master.