Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay starting on March 20, 2024.


Happy Reading!

Thank you! Second stage of an attack on Guy Gavriel Kay's Alterverse!

Stage 1: Tigana (Jan 10) [link]

Stage 2: Fionavar Tapestry
1. The Summer Tree (Mar 20)
2. The Wandering Fire (Apr 27) [link]
3. The Darkest Road (June 3) [link]

Audio: All on Hoopla
ebook: no free/sub versions

Possible continuation ideas:
Stage 3: Standalones not in shared alternate-history world, with Fionavar connections.
Ysabel (June 20)
A Song for Arbonne (July 20)

Stage 4: Alterverse
Kay's remaining books are all set on the same planet, a fantasized version of Earth. Technically this alt-Earth is also located in the Fionavar universe, but again some minor references aside this is again completely irrelevant. The alt-Earth books are all independent of one another and do not require knowledge of the others to enjoy one, with the sole exception that the two books of the Sarantine Mosaic duology need to be read in order. Thanks to this blog (https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2019...) for the description.

Publication Order (with #s for historical order--though I grouped the Kitai ones together)
6. The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995) - Andalusian Spain during the time of El Cid (11th Century).
1-2. The Sarantine Mosaic: Sailing to Sarantium (1998) & Lord of Emperors (2000) - Byzantium at the time of Justinian I (6th Century).
5. The Last Light of the Sun (2004) - Saxon England at the time of Alfred the Great (9th Century).
3. Under Heaven (2010) - Tang Dynasty China during the An Shi Rebellion (8th Century).
4. River of Stars (2013) - Song Dynasty China during the Jin-Song Wars (12th Century).
9. Children of Earth and Sky (2016) - Dubrovnik and the Balkans (late 15th Century).
7-8 A Brightness Long Ago (2019) & All the Seas of the World (2022) - Renaissance Italy (mid-15th Century).

I'm curious to try historical order, but I'd be ok with publication.

Most of Kay's works are on Hoopla in audio, several on Audible plus, and a few (Sarantine Mosaic & al-Rassan) are Audible only.

Yay thanks for the proposed schedule! :)

^^ Yay! Glad it is useful. Glad you're joining!

Very tempted by this. It's been on my TBR list for yonks. I wonder if I can finish Shadowheart by 20/3. I love ya, Tad, but you have kind of taken up residence in my brain, and I'm not sure there's room in there for two epics at once...

I think these are shorter than Tad's books, but brain-wise, definitely take up epic space... Hope you can join us!

Making a note here so I can find it later. Think I’ll tackle Dragonlance first.

Running late here too...

I'm about a week's worth of books late.. But I'll be here eventually!

Started! Rather enjoying being back in the world... the feel is very much that of classic fantasies--the opening feels very Tolkien, while the first chapters remind me of Narnia. Move a few books in and I start getting Arthur mythos feels... while still being very unique in itself. It doesn't have the depth of language and feeling that his alterverse works do--at least not yet--still feels fairly early Kay.

I remember very little of this series... it's interesting--the first time I read this I was on the cusp of middle school & high school, and the college-age MCs seemed so very old to me... now, decades later, they seem so young...

In the middle of Chapter 7 at this point... (view spoiler)[I do like the difference from most isekai/portal stories at this time--the five go willingly to explore a new world, told more-or-less what they are getting into, if not all of it... and they aren't clamoring to get home. At least not at this time--we'll see what happens when the two weeks are up.

I hate the storyline with Shara, and the prince "plucking the most beautiful flower in the garden." I hate people like that, entitled sweet-talkers looking at women as marks on a scoreboard. And you know she's going to end up pregnant and disgraced because of it, and he's not going to give her a second thought. He should be castrated and fed his balls with a burning hot sauce. I really hope none of the other ladies fall for his charms.

Each of the five has their own storyline going on... some haven't really hit their stride yet, but Kim's and Paul's are gaining shape... Kim heading down a Merlin-esque path, and Paul reminiscing on death and sacrifice... Getting Odin-y vibes here... (hide spoiler)]

Ohhh I love revisiting works that have characters that were older than you and now you're much older than them.. Makes me feel old, but I love seeing how perspectives change... Are there any decisions characters made you feel differently about now, etc

So true... only I've left it so long I barely remember anything, lol. Just vague impressions...

Through Chapter 8 now--(view spoiler)[And Paul's sacrifice has started... I honestly can't remember how this turns out... if Paul survives, or dies and is revived Jesus-like, or if he just ends his journey here in book one... But the hanging on the tree is the Odin-y vibes... (hide spoiler)]

And I zoomed through the rest of it. There was so much I didn't remember... and I can definitely tell this is an early work for Kay--it's big on the world building but doesn't quite have the depth of feeling his other books have... the language is still trademark-Kay beautiful, but more... accessible, maybe? (view spoiler)[I enjoyed seeing each of the Five slowly figure out places in the world--and we finally got some Dave! Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together there.

The return of Shara as an assassin, and the prince's reaction to her was rather disappointing. I mean, I'm glad she didn't end up barefoot and pregnant, but it almost looks like it's trying to shape her up into a "you seduced me and I hate you but I actually love you" story and that just doesn't float with me. She just... doesn't have enough rage for my liking. I want more rage, and less self-reflection. And I want the prince to feel contrition and not confidence when faced with her.

Very curious about the arrival of the old heir, and how things are going to proceed from here. I liked that the prince seemed to anticipate the double crossing, but still was like "well, I don't really want the job, so sure, go ahead." Did the book talk about what got the old heir exiled in the first place? I feel like it did but I've already forgotten.

What happens to Jennifer is horrible, but I like how she kept her thread of self and defiance--and I'm also glad the language was euphemistic and not say... First Law level of detailed. I do remember the reason why it was important she die afterwards... but I am not entirely clear on how she managed to be saved. (hide spoiler)]

Still waiting on my hold! Cant wait though ;)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! I hope the Kay BR stays on folks' radars... I've been wanting to get around to his books I've been missing...

Maybe we need to spread out the schedule though, since his writing is fairly dense and there's a lot of BRs flying around right now.

I'm okay with spreading it out! I only just now got my library copy...

Who else was interested?

Nirkatze wrote: "Started! Rather enjoying being back in the world... the feel is very much that of classic fantasies--the opening feels very Tolkien, while the first chapters remind me of Narnia. Move a few books i..."

Ugh just got to that part with Shara (view spoiler)[ Will definitely join in on the castration! I had so much revulsion listening to that bit (hide spoiler)]

I had no idea what this would be before starting... But portal fantasy is very fun! :)

I will try to squeeze this one in because it has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while.

Re-reading this one, I was amused how relaxed the characters were about going to another world, and how easily they accepted it. I mean, if someone offered to transport me to another world I'd assume they were playing some sort of joke on me or were a bit bonkers.

I didn't enjoy the first half of the book very much, mostly because (view spoiler)[the prince was such a waste of space. I wanted to batter him after his seduction of the princess. Honestly, that 'plucking the fairest flower' comment - ugh, what a dochebag! (hide spoiler)]

Second half: (view spoiler)[Dave's part was more interesting, to me at least. I liked his development and I found the nomads more interesting than the royal court folks (sorry, I'm typing this at work without the book, so I'm not sure about names!). I especially like the way the hunter had his solitary outcast status overturned (I think? That was how I read it anyway). (hide spoiler)]

I think the original heir (view spoiler)[offered to go to the Tree in the king's place, but the king refused and had him banished. I thought there was a "I should go to the Tree but I'm too much a coward; my son isn't, but I can't bear the thought of him dying" vibe with the king - every time he'd look at his son he'd feel shamed. But that could all be in my head and I could be reading it all wrong! (hide spoiler)]

Jennifer: (view spoiler)[ there was awful. The act is horrendous enough, but the worse bit for me was how he pulled people out of her mind and raped her in their shape, totally violating her memories as well as physically.

I think at the end Kim used her magic to transport them all back to earth, including Jennifer? I think the migraine was a warning that she had to act now, before Jennifer was killed. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed it, but not as much as Kay's other books. I prefer the 'history that wasn't' of the other novels.

Glad to see some other folks jumped in for the read! I've been really behind on comments this month... got some nasty bug and 4th quarter always gobbles up my sanity on top of that...

If people want to spread out the rest of Fionavar more, we could sort of unofficially push them all a week or two ^_^ Say 27th for #2, and beginning of June for #3....

@Emily--I've started carrying metaphorical scissors in my metaphorical handbag every book I read now... so many characters in need of a good... snip.

Shaitarn wrote: "Re-reading this one, I was amused how relaxed the characters were about going to another world, and how easily they accepted it. I mean, if someone offered to transport me to another world I'd assu..."

Really agree with this--how casual they are... which is rather refreshing, really.... I feel like so many portal fantasies--or isekai manga--the MC is panicking about the whole alternate world thing, and it's rare to see people just chill...

Totally agree with part 2 v. part 1--(view spoiler)[We all agree that the younger prince deserves... scissors. In some ways I feel like this whole scene with Shara--and what happened to Jennifer--is the type of story you saw a lot more in early 90s fantasy and earlier...

I like your theory about the eldest prince too... and your interpretation of the ending. (hide spoiler)]

I cannot squeeze this one in right now but maybe if it's more spread out I can catch up for book 2.

Behind on comments as well.. Thought I had came back here after I finished, but alas

@ Nirkatze, yeah that spread sounds a bit better to me!

@ Shaitarn (view spoiler)[ that "plucking of the flower" comment had me pause my book for a good while LOL (hide spoiler)]

And totally agree about Jennifer!

I went ahead and edited the first post of each thread in this series BR to reflect a slightly wider date spread. ^_^