Guy Gavriel Kay The Last Light of the Sun - Reading

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Books : Fantasy : English

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Overview

The Last Light of the Sun is a 2004 fantasy novel by Guy Gavriel Kay. Like many of his books, it is set in a world that draws heavily upon real times, events, places and people. In this particular book, the period is the Viking invasions of Saxon England. The story concerns a young Erling's attempt to prove himself as a warrior, his father's attempts to make amends for his mistakes, a young prince searching for revenge and a King's attempt to transform his realm into a more civilized one that will resist attacks from the Erlings forever.

Product Description

There is nothing soft or silken in the northlands, where for decades there has been bitter, bloody war between the Vikings, the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. But times change, even in the north, and for a generation there has been peace...And yet, what has changed once can always change again...Alun ab Owyn, grieving for his brother's death at the hands of the raiders, leaves his lands to become embroiled in the politics of the great. Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father's sins, commits an act of vengeance that brings him face-to-face, across the seas, with a past he's been trying to leave behind. And the shrewd King Aeldred shores up his defences with alliances and diplomacy - and with swords and arrows. The death of a prince, the new life of an exile, and the dreams of a king will be the threads from which the tapestry is woven, and the world is changed forever...

About the Author

Guy Gavriel Kay's unique take on historical fiction has won him legions of admirers and made him an international bestseller. He is the author of eight highly acclaimed novels, including THE SARANTINE MOSAIC books and the acclaimed TIGANA. At the age of 20, he was asked by the Tolkien estate to help Christopher Tolkien with the editing of the Silmarrillion - the first and only time the estate has ever made such a request. His recently published book of poetry BEYOND THIS DARK HOUSE reached No 2 in the Canadian bestseller charts.

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Amazon user reviews:

Anyone who's had the pleasure to read a novel by Guy Gavriel Kay will knowwhat to expect from "The Last Light of the Sun", namely a wonderfullymoving fantasy based around a certain time or culture in our own history.As this is Kay's "Northern" book, it is easy to identify the Erlings,Cyngael and Anglcyn from the novel to our own Vikings, Welsh Celts andAngles of England. Each and every character has their own believablemotives, history and depth, no matter how minor or incidental to the mainstory, and Kay has never been afraid to put many of them through theemotional wringer or to kill off main characters as an integral part ofthe story.

Kay has always been one of the few authors who can generategenuine lump-in-the-throat moments for me, who could forget the finalscene between Paul and Jaelle in "The Darkest Road", and this one iscertainly no exception, especially in the more magical scenes.

Though certainly a lesser work in scope and size than "The SarantineMosaic" or "Tigana" I still have no hesitation in giving this top marks.

Another

This is a solid but unspectacular offering from Kay. It is set in the same alternate earth with which we are familiar from his other novels, and it benefits from many of the same familiar ingredients. In many ways this feels more familiar than normal, but this is perhaps because I have had greater exposure to British history than the various European regions in which his other novels are set.

He has a broad cast once again, which allows for some good characterisation, but also leads to a slightly staccato feel as the viewpoint changes frequently. Some of the characters are a little similar (to each other) and most of them are bog-standard archetypes, but perhaps the main issue is that I didn't feel any particular emotional engagement with any of them. Contrast that with Tigana in particular, but also the Sarantine Mosaic, where I felt genuinely moved as the stories unfolded.

So, once again Kay does a good job with his brand of historical fiction - well researched, reasonably evocative of the era, some very nice details - but on this occasion it doesn't soar as I have come to hope from Kay.