HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Loading...

Ysabel (original 2007; edition 2008)

by Guy Gavriel Kay

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,976888,243 (3.66)260
"Saint-Saveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence is an ancient structure of many secrets-a perfect monument to fill the lens of a celebrated photographer, and a perfect place for the photographer's son, Ned Marriner, to lose himself while his father works. But the cathedral isn't the empty edifice it appears to be. Its history is very much alive in the present day-and it's calling out to Ned."--Publisher description.… (more)
Member:fingerpost
Title:Ysabel
Authors:Guy Gavriel Kay
Info:Roc Trade (2008), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 432 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:fantasy, supernatural, druid, Provence, pagan

Work Information

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay (2007)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 260 mentions

English (85)  Dutch (2)  Swedish (1)  All languages (88)
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
A very interesting book that always leaves you wanting more.

It's done completely from the point of view of a teenager, and that's exactly where it gets it's mixed reviews from.

Most of the complaints are for me describing a big part of it's magic.

A fifteen year old often feels like the world is mysterious and inexplicable, and in this book you never really know what the hell is going on.

It's an interesting approach that (I'm pretty sure) was deliberate by the authour.

Here's the problem. The environment, plot line and cute links to other works of the author have you dying to learn more page after page, and for the most part that goes unrequited.

It could have been a pretty cool, but typical fantasy series spanning three novels or so. It's written by someone who's done just that before, spectacularly well. (If you haven't read the Fionavar, go do that now, come back to this later... seriously....) It isn't. Get over that, and you might be charmed by this quick read. Don't, and you'll be disappointed. ( )
  furicle | Aug 5, 2023 |
3.5 stars

Ysabel is a young adult urban fantasy novel. 15-year old Ned is in France with his father, a photographer. While exploring a cathedral, Ned meets Kate, who is about the same age as he is. Odd things start happening. Without giving too much away, the story involves two men and a woman from 2500 years ago, merging in today’s world and somehow Ned and his family are involved.

I liked it. I am not usually a big fan of fantasy, but I’ve found I tend to prefer ya and urban fantasy. I’ve only read one other Kay book, which for me, took an incredibly long time for the story to get going. I was happy that this one started off with the action right off the top. ( )
  LibraryCin | Mar 12, 2022 |
I liked the contemporary crossover to mythical vibe in this novel. Although the narrative struck me as aimed at the younger end of YA, the tale could easily appeal to the adult who likes historical characters intertwined with a modern day adventure. I like YA, so that's not a criticism, just that the story seemed a younger genre than I remember GGK's writing. After all, I devoured the story late into the night during a reading binge.

In this novel, Kay departs from the rather tedious style of his 1980's fantasies. His writing had much more adept use of historical events from Roman-Celtic times in ancient Gaul (France) and modern times. Whether young teens will relate to the 15-year-old main characters is not certain (a small point, hot mail as an e-mail domain in 2007, when the book was published, is really dating itself).

Minor niggles aside, this book is especially enjoyable in terms of tying in much more ancient myths (Beltane) that pre-date any of the Greek and Roman theologies together with the ruins and historical sites in the France of today. The area around Aix-en-Provence sounds wonderfully intriguing. The final twist in the story was splendid and I was sorry to leave Ned & Kate (the MCs) behind. ( )
  SandyAMcPherson | Dec 18, 2021 |
Ned Marriner is on a trip with his dad, who is a famous photographer working on a coffee table book on the region, in the south of France in May. As the crew is setting up to shoot the outside of an old cathedral, Ned thinks it would be funny to poke around on the inside while listening to Houses of the Holy - something to text his high school buddies about back home. But while inside the ancient-in-places space, he meets a girl there on an exchange program, and they both run into a man who seems to be up to no good. Their lives all change from then on, because the man is, in fact, a man out of his time (by about 2500 years) and something big is about to go down on Beltaine, with Ned unwittingly at the center of it all.
I loved this book. A grown-up version of Over Sea, Under Stone, with a story that folds in Celtic myth and Greek & Roman history? Be still my Classics-/myth-/fantasy-loving heart. Excellent pacing, great characters, and a very cool story. Highly recommended. ( )
  electrascaife | Nov 28, 2021 |
Ancient enemies at war in an ongoing love triangle get tangled up in modern reality. This pulled me in far more effectively than other Kay novels I have read recently. The plot was much tighter, with fewer far flung threads to reconcile, and better characters. ( )
  jercox | Jun 2, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Guy Gavriel Kayprimary authorall editionscalculated
Banning, GregCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rostant,LarryCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Is a (non-series) sequel to

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
There is one story and one story only
That will prove worth your telling,
Whether as learned bard or gifted child;
To it all lines or lesser gauds belong
That startle with their shining
Such common stories as they stray into.

-- Robert Graves
Dedication
For Linda McKnight
and
Anthea Morton-Saner
First words
The woods came to the edge of the property: to the gravel of the drive, the electronic gate, and the green twisted-wire fence that kept out the boars.
Quotations
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Iedereen komt ergens anders vandaan.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"Saint-Saveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence is an ancient structure of many secrets-a perfect monument to fill the lens of a celebrated photographer, and a perfect place for the photographer's son, Ned Marriner, to lose himself while his father works. But the cathedral isn't the empty edifice it appears to be. Its history is very much alive in the present day-and it's calling out to Ned."--Publisher description.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.66)
0.5 1
1 17
1.5 1
2 32
2.5 14
3 128
3.5 64
4 221
4.5 23
5 91

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,188,035 books! | Top bar: Always visible