|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
The Winnipeg Free Press
'"Sailing to Sarantium" is an intricately plotted, fascinating historical novel and a moving story. Kay’s distinctive prose style always flows smoothly and sometimes reaches strikingly beautiful depths.'
The Evening Telegram (St. John’s)
'A spellbinding tale ... the chapters speed by as you lose yourself in passages that are indescribably elegant ... Simply one of the most beautifully written books I have read in ages.'
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kay and his miracles,
By
This review is from: Sarantine Mosaic #1 Sailing To Sarantium (Mass Market Paperback)
Guy Gavriel Kay has delighted me for years. My only problem with him is how long I have to wait between books. This may simply be the price to pay for real quality. I have read every fantasy offering he has presented. They are all good to excellent, but this is so far the best.
The fantasy is actually historically extremely accurate. The magical elements are those a contemporary (6-7th century) might expect as perfectly natural or understandable. Kay correctly makes no effort to explain any of these in modern terms. We are, after all, supposed to be inside the heads of the main characters, usually Crispin the mosaicist. The times and surrounds ring absolutely true, the characters are real with scars, warts, and prejudices, and most of the plot elements are historically accurate, depending on which historical account you believe. Deeply researched, deeply moving, this gives the experience of being immersed in Gothic Rome (actually Ravenna) and Justinian Byzantium. A Tour de Force.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb historical fantasy,
By
This review is from: Sarantine Mosaic #1 Sailing To Sarantium (Mass Market Paperback)
I absolutely love Guy Gavriel Kay's fantasy books, and I am especially fond of his books which mirror historical setting and personages. The two books of the Sarantine Mosaic are probably my favourite Kay books, or at least they are tied with The Lions of Al-Rassan.
In this two-part series (can it have two parts and still be a series?), Kay takes as his inspiration the Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodora, and the Late Classical city of Byzantium/Constantinople. The cast of characters is exceptional, and the main character of Crispin, the Rhodian mosaicist, has enough rough edges to make you groan at his bull-headedness even as you feel sympathy for his pain and loss. The story's twists and turns unfold in an elegant manner, almost as a dance, and the reader is left to marvel at the subtlety and complexity of the world in which Kay's characters move with varying degrees of success and ease. Some books make you feel the richer for having read them, and for me, this is one of them.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
