The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

Rating 8.0/10

A good, solid start to a fantasy trilogy.

The Summer Tree is the first book in Guy Gavriel Kay's trilogy The Fionavar Tapestry. Five men and women find themselves flung into a magical land called Fionavar, First of All Worlds. They have been summoned by the mage Loren Silvercloak and his source, former King of the Dwarves, Matt Soren.

Kim, Paul, Kevin, Jennifer and Dave must all play their parts in the upcoming battle with the fallen god Rakoth Maugrim. Kim Ford is recognised by an ancient seer to be the successor that was prophetically dreamt. Kevin and Paul join the band of the High King's son, Prince Diarmud. Dave, who gets seperated when crossing, ends up in the far north, amongst the Dalrei, The Riders of the Plain. Jennifer's road is definately the saddest and most difficult.

Guy Gavriel Kay takes characters from our world and places them in a fantasy world. This in reminiscent of C.S. Lewis' Narnia novels and Stephen Donalson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

Then the cold of the crossing and the darkness of the space between worlds came down and Kevin saw nothing more. In his mind, though, whether for an instant or an age, he thought he heard the sound of mocking laughter. There was a taste in his mouth, like ashes of grief. Dave, he thought, oh, Martyniuk, what have you done?
The Summer Tree: Chapter 3

This is an enjoyable book that promises greater things to come. Being the first novels by Guy Gavriel Kay, you get the feeling that he cut is teeth on this trilogy and that his writing improved as he went along. The 5 main characters are all interesting and well introduced. This helps the reader become quickly involved with the storyline and care about what happens to the main protagonists. There are shades of Tolkien in every chapter of the book but the way in which Kay merges the real and fantasy worlds is a nice departure from most fantasy novels.

A good start to a trilogy that definately leaves the reader interested in what will happen in the next two books. A good, solid read.

Purchase options

Paperback/hardback (Amazon)

Danijel from Croatia

2-stars

I am a big fan of Gavriel Kay. But you should skip The Fionavar Tapestry and go straight to his other books.

2013-02-22 | Have Your Say

Edie from Derby

7-stars

It's OK but the kids in it didn't work for me. I really didn't care much about what happened to them. Guy Gavriel Kay has done much, much better than this - check out Tigana, The Sarantium Mosaic, Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan - they are the best.

2012-03-01 | Have Your Say

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