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Shen Tai, second son of a famous general, has been in self-imposed exile for two years.By day he digs graves for the thousands of unburied Kitan and Taguran dead who lay across the battlefield of Kuala Nor. By night he lies in his cabin, listening to their screaming ghosts.
Then one day he receives astonishing news. His labours are to be rewarded by a gift from the Taguran Queen - 250 of the legendary Heavenly Horses of Sardia. A gift that might very well get him killed.
As Shen Tai makes his way home he is pulled into the confusing, lethal currents of Kitan court politics. He has drawn the attention of some very important people indeed and if they can't make use of him, they will ensure that nobody else can either.
Most writers have their particular strengths - things you know they are going to do well. Bernard Cornwell and John Ringo, in their different ways, throw you into the heart of battle. Matthew Reilly specialises in bonkers action sequences. David Gemmell (RIP) wrote some of the most heartbreaking death scenes in fantasy.
Guy Gavriel Kay does "Regret" better than almost any writer I know. All his books that I've read so far are set in the days when something is drawing to an end. And his characters can feel the world about to change around them.
A lot of authors race from one point to the next, hoping you won't notice the gaps in the story. Kay does it differently. He invites you to take your time, take in the mood and the moment and almost signposts the holes "Here is something I am not telling you. What do you think it might be?"
When it comes right down to it Guy Gavriel Kay is closer to Historical Fiction than he is to Fantasy. "Under Heaven" is set in somewhere that is obviously Ancient China rebranded, albeit with a light sheen of magic that's most obvious in the sequences set on the Northern steppes. He's good enough that he manages to make it work. Normally a group of people trading philosophy and poetry would make me skip ahead to the next punchup but somehow Kay makes that work too.
Again, it's all about the things hanging in the air. The words that have not been said but everybody understands.
I will mention in passing that Kay's cast are a fascinating lot - poets, and generals and forward-thinking concubines - and while Tai-Shen is obviously of a heroic bent, you get the impression the "villains" are only occupying the role because the currents of the Imperial court pushed them that way.
So, to sum up, if you like your Fantasy characters to fence with words rather than broadswords then you may very well enjoy this book.
When it comes right down to it Guy Gavriel Kay is closer to Historical Fiction than he is to Fantasy. "Under Heaven" is set in somewhere that is obviously Ancient China rebranded, albeit with a light sheen of magic that's most obvious in the sequences set on the Northern steppes. He's good enough that he manages to make it work. Normally a group of people trading philosophy and poetry would make me skip ahead to the next punchup but somehow Kay makes that work too.
Again, it's all about the things hanging in the air. The words that have not been said but everybody understands.
I will mention in passing that Kay's cast are a fascinating lot - poets, and generals and forward-thinking concubines - and while Tai-Shen is obviously of a heroic bent, you get the impression the "villains" are only occupying the role because the currents of the Imperial court pushed them that way.
So, to sum up, if you like your Fantasy characters to fence with words rather than broadswords then you may very well enjoy this book.
Definitely my style BigD, those `things hanging in the air.'
ReplyDeleteDon't know the writer, but it does sound interesting.
Cheers, ic