Ysabel [Mass Market Paperback]

Alas, I found this book a bit of a disappointment, perhaps due to the high standards and expectations Guy Gavriel Kay's previous works have set for spoiled readers like me. The central conceit -- a love triangle played out repeatedly over the millennia -- is one GGK has deployed before, and to much better effect, in the Fionavar tapestry trilogy. The callow central character never does acquire a personality. The return of two of the players from that masterpiece of fantasy is a neat little suprise, but in the end only adds to the element of déjà vu (which is not in the least dispelled by the gratuitous interjections of "new media" lingo -- jpegs, ringtones and iPods, anyone?).

More importantly, however, I found myself resenting the continuous express reminders of just how heavily the weight of history was pressing down on the main characters, and how Oh-So-Deep was their emotional bond. I kept wanting to shout: "Don't TELL me, SHOW me!" But at a scant 430 pages, there is simply no time for the book to develop a convincing narrative arc, for the reader to learn about the characters through their actions, their words and their place in a larger story (all hallmarks of GGK's prvious writings).

Nor is there any room for the author to explore the -- here very few -- intriguing side stories and minor characters that usually give depth, texture and volume to GGK's books. Brys the Duid and that boar are random blips on the landscape, so under-developed and ultimately meaningless that one wonders why GGK even bothered with them; the hints at Dave's presence in Darfur are intriguing, but entirely "off-stage", and as a result seem purely gratuitous. Where the Sarantium dualogy could have usefully been edited down into one volume, here the whole book seems to have been written on fast-forward, or to expand on GGK's own new vocabulary, compressed into a ".zip" file.

I considered giving it a mere two stars -- but then again even a mediocre Kay is better than many of the other offerings in the fantasy market.

Kay is a graceful writer, polished and fluent beyond words. I own all of his previous books (except for his poetry collection) and there is not a weak one in the bunch. I didn't think he could write a lesser book but unfortunately he has with Ysabel. His prose is as liquid and elegant as ever but Ysabel is still lacking.

The book concerns Ned, a 15 year-old who accompanies his father, a famous photographer, and the latter's crew to Provence in southern France to shoot pictures for a coffeetable book. While wandering aimlessly around a medieval cathedral built atop older ruins he and Kate, a visiting American girl, meet a strange man and are drawn inexorably into a rite over 2500 years old. The narrative unspools from there to a somewhat disturbing and bleak ending which is partly reminiscent of Kay's first novel, The Fionavar Tapestry but then the story in Ysabel is obliquely connected to Fionavar.

The problem lies with the fact that this book is set in the modern world, which Kay is not as skilled at evoking. The two teenage protagonists (not to mention a number of the adults) spend significant portions of the book having relatively inane conversations heavy with slang and iconic terminology. iPods, Google, iTunes, Coldplay, yo, Eminem, majorly uncool; Kay drops these words like a pre-teen anxious to establish hipster credentials on a playground. Obviously, since the two main characters are teenagers, Kay has to walk a fine line between making them act like typical vacuous teens and bright, well-read, intellectually curious people but his efforts are hollow. The romantic tension between Ned and Kate, is also sometimes unbelieveable. Another problem lies with Ned's mother, a doctor working in the Sudan at the start of the novel. Although the reader is meant to feel sympathy for the woman (once the circumstances behind her emotional background come to light) this never really becomes possible. Kay is usually very good with emotions and female characters but this particular woman remains harsh and unattractive even after her late conversion.

Kay is a gifted writer and Ysabel is better than most of what passes for fantasy these days but fans might want to wait until this one comes out in paperback.

I have never read one of Guy Gavriel Kay's novels before. I was intrigued by the reviews, but I am not quite as thrilled as I thought I would be. It is an average book in terms of enticing the reader. Many good mysteries do a better job of creating suspense. I'm sorry that was the case. I was hoping for a good deal more.