This is the first in a series, and the edition I had is called 'Lyonesse' whereas I realise it was subsequently reissued as 'Sudrun's Garden', after the character of the princess with which the book begins. The story is set in a legendary set of islands which I have previously heard about - there was supposed to be another continent or at least an island chain off the coast of Cornwall which sunk beneath the waves centuries ago. Possibly this is some memory of a small area of coast that was lost.

However, the author creates an entire society - the main island and its outlying ones were formerly ruled by one king, but for some time have existed in a state of semi-anarchy with each part of the main island and the other islands all having their own ruler, and some of them in a state of on-off war with the others. This legendary land does have ties with real-life places such as Britain, parts of what became France and even further off into the heart of Europe.

The book is rather episodic, in that it stays for a while with one character and then switches to another, usually at a point of high tension in the previous character's life. The trouble is, sometimes the character being switched to doesn't seem very interesting although it does eventually become clear what each character's role is in the book. There are fantastical elements - fairies, ogres and such, plus unicorns, strange horses and magicians who have rather odd lifecycles as a magician can split himself or herself into two or three other characters. Some of the ordinary humans are helped by magical objects given to them either by magicians or fairies.

Princess Sudrun is disregarded by her family who view her as only a pawn to make some dynastic marriage, following the feudal setting borrowed from historical Europe. Her life is a sad one, and her one chance of happiness is dashed by the cruelty and callousness of her parents. Other characters also suffer unwarranted disasters and innocence is no guarantee of happiness or even survival, with robbers and such taking advantage of children, rape frequently being threatened and those in charge dishing out ghastly punishments to those below them in the pecking order. So to some extent it comes across as quite a gloomy story, even though eventually some of the characters win through. It also has a rather abrupt ending with an afterword tacked on that seems also a rough note for what might happen next, and I am not sure if that will be the subject of book 2 in the series.

Some of it was entertaining, some of it downbeat, so on the whole I rate this as a 3 star read. ( )

This is my first Vance novel and my only regret is that someone did not turn me onto him sooner. I am excited to move onto the Dying Earth after finishing this series.

Lyonesse reminds me of the Faerie Queene. A series of fast-paced vignettes and stories that form an overall plot but which can almost stand alone as bedtime stories. The narrator has a sardonic sense of humor and delivers the story in a way that makes the action seem familiar, as if a historian from that mythological time were relating the events. Or as if it were a serialized novel from the distant past.

I haven't read fantasy in this style for a long time, if ever, and it is refreshing. I was impressed at how rich and complex a world Vance creates without complex character development. At first it dragged on and on, and I wondered where the plot was, but then it moves away from Suldrun and starts skipping around the world of Lyonesse with ease to the point where I don't understand why the subtitle "Suldrun's Garden" was even needed.

Vance has a way of making you smile or even laugh out loud while on the next page you find yourself cringing with disgust. What seems at first a simple and almost childish story turns out to be quite a mature tale. ( )

This is my first Vance novel and my only regret is that someone did not turn me onto him sooner. I am excited to move onto the Dying Earth after finishing this series.

Lyonesse reminds me of the Faerie Queene. A series of fast-paced vignettes and stories that form an overall plot but which can almost stand alone as bedtime stories. The narrator has a sardonic sense of humor and delivers the story in a way that makes the action seem familiar, as if a historian from that mythological time were relating the events. Or as if it were a serialized novel from the distant past.

I haven't read fantasy in this style for a long time, if ever, and it is refreshing. I was impressed at how rich and complex a world Vance creates without complex character development. At first it dragged on and on, and I wondered where the plot was, but then it moves away from Suldrun and starts skipping around the world of Lyonesse with ease to the point where I don't understand why the subtitle "Suldrun's Garden" was even needed.

Vance has a way of making you smile or even laugh out loud while on the next page you find yourself cringing with disgust. What seems at first a simple and almost childish story turns out to be quite a mature tale. ( )

Let's be clear: it's not perfect, and it's not for everybody. But (for me) it's imperfections seem deliberate and charming. It was apparently written in the 1980s, but has the air of something written in the 1940s crossed with something written in the 1600s.

If you're familiar with the "romance" genre--not the Harlequin or Mills & Boone kind of romance, but the antecedent of the novel, exemplified in Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, you will have a sense of what to expect: a dazzling array of characters, whose character is little delved into, points-of-view that skip all over the place, an uneven sense of scale and description (there is no guarantee that the more that is written, the more important it is. At one point he lists, in list form, the characteristics of a dozen or-so individual fairies, none of whom enter into the story), and other such flaws.

And yet, it felt like a masterwork to me, and criticizing it would be like criticizing The Odyssey or Grimms' Fairy Tales. I loved it. It was odd, but lovely, and very much itself throughout.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )

Wow. What a wonderful surprise!

For an early eighties fantasy, it reads rather fantastically easy, with a near perfect blend of adventure, spry heroes and heroines, and an almost mythical command of myth, history, and magic in a hugely creative blend. We're not even bogged down in any such weird concepts like "historical accuracy", either.

And actually, I loved the whole idea of slap-dashing a whole continent next to Gaul and throwing in Merlin (Murgen), Mithra, evil christians, the fae, chivalry, high Celts, and so much more.

None of it overwhelmed the taste of adventure, where three kingdoms vied, played, made alliances, and started wars during a span of 30 years, and the characterizations were pure fantasy boilerplate, but lest you get turned off by that idea, just know that they all go through tons of changes... heck, they went through nearly as many as what happen to the plot, itself.

Is that a problem? Hell no. Not for me. I was actually rather amazed at the sheer scope of where we started, from a princess's childhood (Suldrun), her setup as a fairytale, then the betrayal of her wonderful prince (Aillas), their love, and their tragedy merely sets the stage, even if it takes up a sizable portion of the book. The rest of the tale happens to be one of the best written and most imaginative, quickly paced, and thoroughly satisfying traditional fantasy novels I've ever read, staying firmly on the road of adventure, adventure, adventure.

Aillas's tragedy is only the starting point, after all, and making a ladder out of bones is just the beginning, especially after he learns that his lost Suldrun had a child.

Tons of trigger points for me, and I've never gotten tired of such tales. I just can't believe how awesome the adventure was, or just how much was accomplished all the way to a mostly happy ending.

And now that I've finished the first book in the trilogy and loved it, I have absolutely no reason not to enthusiastically dive into The Green Pearl. :) ( )