Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
–from nrlymrtl
I sat knitting in my friend’s house discussing books. It was really all his doing , if you look back far enough. He had given me a book one birthday some years back titled A Song for Arbonne. It was one of the most beautiful things I had read, a historical fiction set in France during one of the crusades that targeted other Christians. And now my friend was asking if I had read the latest by the same author – Under Heaven. My friend highly recommended it, “even though not much happens.” That was two months ago.
Two nights ago I finished Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, one of my all time favorite authors. I have read all his works, including his book of poetry. If I told you that this book was simple and intricate, full of action and contemplation, history-moving events and simple personal choices, would you understand? When I finished the book, I understood what my friend met by “not much happens”. It’s the story of a handful of characters on the perimeter of greater events, set in China during the 9th dynasty. This book definitely meets up to the GGK standard that I know and love.
His others works include several other historical fictions; The Sarantine Mosaic set in the Byzantine Empire, The Last Light of the Sun set in the time when the Vikings are given lands in northern England in an effort to settle them,The Lions of Al-Rassan set in Spain when the coexistence of the three cultures of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish was coming to an end, and Tigana set in Italy when it was still several city-states. The Fionavar Tapestry is another telling of the Guinevere and Arthur story. Ysabel read more for the young adult and was set in Provence, France in contemporary times. If you haven’t read any GGK, check out his website.
-nrlymrtl
Oooh, I’m going to read this next. I’ve read almost all of GGK’s books, and my favorite by far is Tigana.
However, I would have to respectfully disagree that they’re historical fiction. GGK does base his books on history, but he sets them in an alternate universe (a multi-verse, even), and sometimes even changes the results. In Arbonne, for example, the ending was the opposite of what happened in the real world. Some of his books follow history quite closely, others are just inspired by the mood, or one aspect of the actual historical event. In his own words from an interview with Marion Zimmer Bradley Fantasy Magazine, “Tigana really just takes an ambience from Italy and the reality of the city-states’ feuding, and how that made the peninsula easy prey for invaders.” He isn’t compelled to strictly reflect the facts. In Lions, for instance, he compressed the events of hundreds of years into just two generations.
I think he is still primarily a fantasy writer, though the amount of fantastic elements in his stories vary according to what he’s trying to accomplish. He sees fantasy as “a deeply honourable (and wonderfully liberating) approach to exploring the past” (also from the MZBFM interview).
Hello!
Thanks for finding and reading our blog! Darkcargo is a compendium of authors, so please feel free to add your current reading list to the “What are you reading now…” page. We like to get recommendations from one another.
Thanks for your comments about GGK and historical fiction! I’ve only read Ysabel by him, and liked that well enough. I know that his writing has made a big impact in Nrlymrtl’s life!
-Elizabeth
In mine, as well.
This is a great blog! I would love to participate. 
Hi evenstarwen,
Thanks for the comments on GGK. You’re right about the alternate universe setting, however it was minor enough (double moons) that I decided not to mention it in my little write up. Ysabel and Under Heaven don’t employ the double moons at all. If you would like to add a longer article on GGK, feel free to email it to me, nrlymrtl at gmail dot com, for darkcargo and I to review for posting.
Thanks for reading!