by Guy Gavriel Kay
Under Heaven, the first book in a two-part series by Guy Gavriel Kay, is a historical novel set during the tail end of the Tang Dynasty in China. Described by many sources as historical fantasy, I would lean more toward describing it as historical fiction with elements of magical realism. In it, Kay...
This was my first book by Kay, and I liked it quite a bit. Set in an alternate version of Imperial China, it was a sweeping epic that managed to also be quite character-based. It doesn’t have any easy answers, but it’s not hopeless by any means. I did wish that the women had not been quite so second...
A fantasy novel very loosely based on An Shi rebellion. It is pretty well-researched IMO & the author was able to quote a few classical Chinese poems and stuff, & conveyed a sense of cosmopolitanism as well as brutality of that period. The first 3/4 is sort of slow IMHO & the protagonist Shen Tai do...
Guy Gavriel Kay has created his own little niche - books that are part historical fiction, moved slightly to the left, and part fantasy. That is to say, he researches the hell out of a particular time and place, and then writes in a fictionalized version of that setting, frequently with some magical...
Set in distant in a China-like country at the height of its power but at the brink of its downfall. One seemingly inconsequential man, Shen Tai, is thrust into a position of import after he is gifted with 250 of the uber-valuable Sardian horses. A man owning one of two of these horses is enough to...
Delicious, a meaty, engrossing book with prose that brushed the edges of poetry. In some ways, it is three different books that might have benefited from being turned into full novels, but that's part of the joy of Kay's work-- he always has me wishing there was more time to explore relationships, ...
One of my favorite books of last year. My apologies for the cliché, but this book is a pleasure to read. Not just for the storyline, which is interesting enough on its own, but for the pure lyricism of the writing. I love novels based on ancient Chinese court culture and politics, but this has an in...
china historical setting
It was a well written book that did not spark much enthusiasm with me. I felt curiously distanced the whole time. Like I was watching myself read the thing. I never got to that place where you are in the scene with the characters living the thing as its happening. I was always on the sidelines c...
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