Guy Gavriel Kay
Author of Tigana
About the Author
Guy Gavriel Kay was born on November 7, 1954 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. He became interested in fantasy fiction while working as an assistant to Christopher Tolkien. He assisted him with the editing of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. After receiving a law degree from the University of show more Toronto, he became principal writer and associate producer for the CBC radio series, The Scales of Justice. He also wrote several episodes when the series moved to television. He has written social and political commentary for several publications including the National Post, The Globe and Mail, and The Guardian. His first fantasy novels were The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road, which make up the Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy. His other works include A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan, Beyond This Dark House, The Last Light of the Sun, and Under Heaven. He has received numerous awards including and the Aurora Award for Tigana and The Wandering Fire, the 2008 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Ysabel, and the International Goliardos Award for his work in the fantasy field. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Guy Gavriel Kay
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Kay, Guy Gavriel
- Birthdate
- 1954-11-07
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Manitoba
University of Toronto - Occupations
- editor
Associate Producer (radio)
writer (radio)
fantasy writer - Awards and honors
- Guest of Honour, Eastercon, UK (2000)
Scales of Justice Award (best media treatment of a legal issue, Canadian Law Reform Commission, 1985)
Guest of Honor, Vericon, Cambridge, MA (2007) - Short biography
- Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction. Many of his novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid. Those works are published and marketed as historical fantasy, though the author himself has expressed a preference to shy away from genre categorization when possible. Kay was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When Christopher Tolkien needed an assistant to edit his father J.R.R. Tolkien's unpublished work, he chose Kay, then a student at the University of Manitoba, whose parents were friends of Baillie Tolkien's parents. Kay moved to Oxford in 1974 to assist Tolkien in the editing of The Silmarillion.
He returned to Canada in 1976 to finish a law degree at the University of Toronto, and became interested in fiction writing.
Kay became Principal Writer and Associate Producer for a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series, The Scales of Justice.
In 1984, Kay's first fantasy work, The Summer Tree, the first volume of the trilogy The Fionavar Tapestry, was published. - Nationality
- Canada (birth)
- Birthplace
- Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Places of residence
- Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Associated Place (for map)
- Canada
Members
Discussions
Guy Kay - where to start and other discussion in The Green Dragon (April 2013)
Tigana Spoiler Thread: Fantasy February Group Read in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (February 2013)
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay: Fantasy February Group Read in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (February 2013)
For Guy Kay fans in FantasyFans (June 2012)
Group Read (March): Guy Gavriel Kay in The 11 in 11 Category Challenge (April 2011)
The Lions of Al Rassan (in part assumes you've read it...) in The Green Dragon (January 2010)
Book Discussion: A Song for Arbonne ~CAUTION ~ Contains SPOILERS in The Green Dragon (July 2009)
Book Discussion: A Song for Arbonne - SPOILER FREE Thread in The Green Dragon (July 2009)
Tigana discussion! Part Four: The Price of Blood in The Green Dragon (July 2008)
At last, it is time to begin discussing Tigana! Part One Discussion in The Green Dragon (June 2008)
Book Discussion: Arthurian Themed Read *Spoiler Free* in The Green Dragon (March 2008)
Tigana Part Five Discussion: THE MEMORY OF A FLAME in The Green Dragon (February 2007)
Tigana Part Three Discussion: EMBER TO EMBER in The Green Dragon (October 2006)
Tigana Part Two - Dianora - discuss in The Green Dragon (October 2006)
Reviews
When I began reading Guy Gavriel Kay's books a few years ago, a key part of the appeal was that his books were often stand-alone novels in a genre where the epic storylines are usually unpacked over multiple volumes. This appealed as the reader got closure on the story within the same book, and did not have to commit to a three- or four-volume series that might not, by the end, have proven worthy of your time. With this in mind, I recognize the irony that my main criticism of Under Heaven is show more that it is not longer, that it is only one volume.
In books like Tigana – Kay's best book I have read, and this seems to be the popular consensus too – the story is complete, and though you want more, this comes from how much you have loved the story and the characters and your unwillingness to accept that it is over. But in Under Heaven, by about 300 pages in (about half the book) you still get a sense of something building, building, building, and I started to think: when are things going to start 'going down'? Surely, there's not enough room left in the next 300 pages for things to crescendo and fulfil our anticipation, and then to wind down again?
And, to be honest, there's not. After all the slow and patient (and beautiful) build-up, we go straight into prose that has a tone that seems to suggest the book is winding down. Once the political events start in Xinan, it reads like an extended epilogue, a summary of events rather than an experience of them. The crucial thing is that Under Heaven felt like it was missing a middle act, and I did wonder if perhaps it would not have been better to add another 100 pages worth of material to flesh out the Roshan and Wen Zhou stuff, or even make the story a multi-volume one. And after this extended-epilogue vibe, we get the actual winding-down of the plot, which is very short too. Some of the romantic couplings at the end seemed rushed, like dangling threads hastily sewn up. Even here, key points are left unresolved and, indeed, ignored completely (such as why the princess in Tagura made this gift to Shen Tai).
What saves Under Heaven from any opprobrium for this flaw is Kay's beautiful writing. It is rather presumptuous of me to criticize his storytelling structure above when he is so impressive at so many things. At imagination, character and pace. He delivers many beautiful lines of both dialogue and description, and many scenes are well-staged. It is intoxicating to read at times, and in truth this quality does indeed overwhelm any criticism I have made. But the fact remains that the story didn't have the 'balance' that the Kitan poets of his story crave. I wanted more, as I do with all of Kay's stories that I have read, but for the first time I felt it needed more. It needed that middle act, that centre around which the heavens and the earth could revolve. show less
In books like Tigana – Kay's best book I have read, and this seems to be the popular consensus too – the story is complete, and though you want more, this comes from how much you have loved the story and the characters and your unwillingness to accept that it is over. But in Under Heaven, by about 300 pages in (about half the book) you still get a sense of something building, building, building, and I started to think: when are things going to start 'going down'? Surely, there's not enough room left in the next 300 pages for things to crescendo and fulfil our anticipation, and then to wind down again?
And, to be honest, there's not. After all the slow and patient (and beautiful) build-up, we go straight into prose that has a tone that seems to suggest the book is winding down. Once the political events start in Xinan, it reads like an extended epilogue, a summary of events rather than an experience of them. The crucial thing is that Under Heaven felt like it was missing a middle act, and I did wonder if perhaps it would not have been better to add another 100 pages worth of material to flesh out the Roshan and Wen Zhou stuff, or even make the story a multi-volume one. And after this extended-epilogue vibe, we get the actual winding-down of the plot, which is very short too. Some of the romantic couplings at the end seemed rushed, like dangling threads hastily sewn up. Even here, key points are left unresolved and, indeed, ignored completely (such as why the princess in Tagura made this gift to Shen Tai).
What saves Under Heaven from any opprobrium for this flaw is Kay's beautiful writing. It is rather presumptuous of me to criticize his storytelling structure above when he is so impressive at so many things. At imagination, character and pace. He delivers many beautiful lines of both dialogue and description, and many scenes are well-staged. It is intoxicating to read at times, and in truth this quality does indeed overwhelm any criticism I have made. But the fact remains that the story didn't have the 'balance' that the Kitan poets of his story crave. I wanted more, as I do with all of Kay's stories that I have read, but for the first time I felt it needed more. It needed that middle act, that centre around which the heavens and the earth could revolve. show less
The world seemed to be a place of more beauty and more pain than he could ever have imagined it to be." (pg. 458).
Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana is an impressive, stirring and intoxicating fantasy novel. I was swept up in the current of the novel in a way that I very rarely am. I enjoy a great many books but there are rather few that I am consistently eager to devour once opened. Tigana was one of these rare books.
The story is a fascinating one, balancing lofty concepts of freedom and memory show more alongside an engrossing adventure plotline, with likeable and identifiable characters who you never tire of reading about. Kay matches the richness and colour of the story with a classy, poetic style of prose which had me jotting down dozens and dozens of page numbers when a particular paragraph or line or description impressed me, in order to savour them further at a later date.
I was particularly touched by the consistent theme throughout the novel regarding memory and its effects on us. We all have things from our past which weigh down on us with an often unbearable heaviness: regrets, mistakes, a longing for lost love. When one character is described on page 329 as walking "through a world shaped and reshaped every single moment around the knowledge that Tigana is gone", we know how it feels, even if it's not a country we long for. But I've rarely heard such emotions described so eloquently and poetically and heartbreakingly as in Kay's prose. On page 430, Kay uses a phrase, "the keenness of longing and an aching tenderness", and I believe this effectively sums up these more introspective parts of the novel.
But despite its introspection, the book is also a gripping page-turner. The action is well-described and the fantasy locales brought to vivid life. It is important to note that Kay also provides resolution in the story: everything is wrapped up by the end. This might seem like a rather dense thing to say but, if you think about it, it's very rare to find a self-contained, single-volume book in the fantasy genre. Most are ongoing series, and for that reason alone Tigana should be cherished. You know by the end that you're going to get closure on the story. (Ironically, though, I loved it so much I wish there was a follow-up!) But of course, as I've tried to explain, there are many other reasons to cherish this novel.
There were one or two drawbacks, as there always are for ambitious novels, but none so large as to diminish my love for the book. I suppose sometimes Kay gets a bit carried away with some of the lofty things the characters say; most of the time it's appropriate but once or twice it seemed a bit awkward. For the most part, however, the characters' dialogue is believable: I was particularly surprised by and welcomed the amount of humour in the novel, especially the snarky camaraderie which develops between the members of Alessan's group.
The other - larger - problem I had with the book was the whole Brandin/Dianora relationship. I am surprised when people who review the book describe Brandin as a likeable or sympathetic character: an anti-villain as opposed to a tyrant. I mean, yes, he mourns his son, but his son died because of an aggressive and unprovoked war of conquest he started. What he inflicts on Tigana is completely out-of-proportion and sociopathic, and I am really surprised that some readers still say he has inner goodness when even more revelations about what he has done (and continues to do) come to light at the end of the book. The torture he has inflicted for twenty years is not the conduct of a decent chap. Sure, he is affable enough in person but so, by many accounts, was Idi Amin. Even Hitler liked his dog. It is with this in mind that I had a problem with Dianora too. She falls in love with Brandin, a man who has killed her beloved father and, even more importantly, committed genocide against her entire people. I know Kay was trying to inject some romantic tragedy arc into the story, but that's like Anne Frank falling hopelessly in love with Hitler. Some things should just kill the prospect of love for good: your lover systematically murdering and torturing everyone you've ever known or cared about is surely one of them.
In contrast, I loved everything about Alessan's group: the interactions, the adventures, the roaming around in exotic locales. It's everything fantasy should be. I found I could also hear the music (Alessan's group travel under cover as a troupe of musicians) just from Kay's evocative descriptions. He doesn't include lyrics or anything, but nevertheless I feel like I've heard 'Lament for Adaon' in my bones. Kay strives for emotion throughout the novel and if you allow yourself to be swept up by it, Tigana will really touch your heart.
Overall, Tigana is a fine example of what the fantasy genre can achieve. It is a large book, like most fantasy books are, but the time just flies by. It balances its lofty themes of freedom and memory alongside a page-turning plot and characters you care about. As Kay wrote in his Afterword for the tenth anniversary of the book's release, the novel demonstrates "the universality of fantasy... allow[ing] escapist fiction to be more than just that." (pg. 792). Even if it was just escapist fiction that would be fine, but to provide such a great read and still address eloquently and intelligently such poignant themes is incredible. To appropriate a delicious quote from the later stages of the book: what a harvest, Tigana." show less
Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana is an impressive, stirring and intoxicating fantasy novel. I was swept up in the current of the novel in a way that I very rarely am. I enjoy a great many books but there are rather few that I am consistently eager to devour once opened. Tigana was one of these rare books.
The story is a fascinating one, balancing lofty concepts of freedom and memory show more alongside an engrossing adventure plotline, with likeable and identifiable characters who you never tire of reading about. Kay matches the richness and colour of the story with a classy, poetic style of prose which had me jotting down dozens and dozens of page numbers when a particular paragraph or line or description impressed me, in order to savour them further at a later date.
I was particularly touched by the consistent theme throughout the novel regarding memory and its effects on us. We all have things from our past which weigh down on us with an often unbearable heaviness: regrets, mistakes, a longing for lost love. When one character is described on page 329 as walking "through a world shaped and reshaped every single moment around the knowledge that Tigana is gone", we know how it feels, even if it's not a country we long for. But I've rarely heard such emotions described so eloquently and poetically and heartbreakingly as in Kay's prose. On page 430, Kay uses a phrase, "the keenness of longing and an aching tenderness", and I believe this effectively sums up these more introspective parts of the novel.
But despite its introspection, the book is also a gripping page-turner. The action is well-described and the fantasy locales brought to vivid life. It is important to note that Kay also provides resolution in the story: everything is wrapped up by the end. This might seem like a rather dense thing to say but, if you think about it, it's very rare to find a self-contained, single-volume book in the fantasy genre. Most are ongoing series, and for that reason alone Tigana should be cherished. You know by the end that you're going to get closure on the story. (Ironically, though, I loved it so much I wish there was a follow-up!) But of course, as I've tried to explain, there are many other reasons to cherish this novel.
There were one or two drawbacks, as there always are for ambitious novels, but none so large as to diminish my love for the book. I suppose sometimes Kay gets a bit carried away with some of the lofty things the characters say; most of the time it's appropriate but once or twice it seemed a bit awkward. For the most part, however, the characters' dialogue is believable: I was particularly surprised by and welcomed the amount of humour in the novel, especially the snarky camaraderie which develops between the members of Alessan's group.
The other - larger - problem I had with the book was the whole Brandin/Dianora relationship. I am surprised when people who review the book describe Brandin as a likeable or sympathetic character: an anti-villain as opposed to a tyrant. I mean, yes, he mourns his son, but his son died because of an aggressive and unprovoked war of conquest he started. What he inflicts on Tigana is completely out-of-proportion and sociopathic, and I am really surprised that some readers still say he has inner goodness when even more revelations about what he has done (and continues to do) come to light at the end of the book. The torture he has inflicted for twenty years is not the conduct of a decent chap. Sure, he is affable enough in person but so, by many accounts, was Idi Amin. Even Hitler liked his dog. It is with this in mind that I had a problem with Dianora too. She falls in love with Brandin, a man who has killed her beloved father and, even more importantly, committed genocide against her entire people. I know Kay was trying to inject some romantic tragedy arc into the story, but that's like Anne Frank falling hopelessly in love with Hitler. Some things should just kill the prospect of love for good: your lover systematically murdering and torturing everyone you've ever known or cared about is surely one of them.
In contrast, I loved everything about Alessan's group: the interactions, the adventures, the roaming around in exotic locales. It's everything fantasy should be. I found I could also hear the music (Alessan's group travel under cover as a troupe of musicians) just from Kay's evocative descriptions. He doesn't include lyrics or anything, but nevertheless I feel like I've heard 'Lament for Adaon' in my bones. Kay strives for emotion throughout the novel and if you allow yourself to be swept up by it, Tigana will really touch your heart.
Overall, Tigana is a fine example of what the fantasy genre can achieve. It is a large book, like most fantasy books are, but the time just flies by. It balances its lofty themes of freedom and memory alongside a page-turning plot and characters you care about. As Kay wrote in his Afterword for the tenth anniversary of the book's release, the novel demonstrates "the universality of fantasy... allow[ing] escapist fiction to be more than just that." (pg. 792). Even if it was just escapist fiction that would be fine, but to provide such a great read and still address eloquently and intelligently such poignant themes is incredible. To appropriate a delicious quote from the later stages of the book: what a harvest, Tigana." show less
A superbly written story about a poet and his friends in Kay's version of France, during his version of the 100 Years War. Thierry Villar is just a tavern poet, getting by day by day, amusing his friends, until he gets dragged into a murder investigation of a major noble. Events swirl around Thierry after that. In Kay's great style, a non-warrior, non-wizard is critical to events, while not actually telling anyone what to do or how to do it. Excellently written, including the poetry. The show more characters are amazing and significantly current. Really well done. show less
Under Heaven – Guy Gavriel Kay
5 stars
“The world could bring you poison in a jeweled cup, or surprising gifts. Sometimes you didn’t know which of them it was.”
Here is a truly epic adventure set in 8th century China of the Tang Dynasty. The story concerns Shen Tai, second son of a famous general. As the story begins Tai is coming to the end of the two year mourning period for his father. Contrary to custom, Tai has honored his father by taking on the great and impossible labor of show more burying the thousands of bones left from a catastrophic battle. This great labor has attracted attention in the Empire and beyond. Tai is about to receive a gift that will change the course of his life; 250 Sardian horses, from the hands of the enemy.
“ It was never wise, Bystan had decided on his way here from the fort, to underestimate the influence of women at a court”
There are some mild elements of fantasy or magical realism in two of the plot lines of this book, but overall the story reads like detailed, evocative, historical fiction. The characters are well developed and their relationships are complicated. Tai becomes a pawn within the convoluted and dangerous machinations of court politics. The story builds around the actions of four very different women. There are shattering consequences for Tai and the Dynasty.
This was definitely a work of historical fiction, but I was reminded of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Tai comes from the stark environment of the Steppes to be thrown into the opulence and deviance of court politics. There are battle scenes and hand to hand combat, betrayals and executions. There are those in power who are despicably evil and those with true honor and bravery. It was a wonderful story. There are parallels in the characters and the situations, but I think it reminded me of Dune mostly because of Kay’s amazing ability to build the civilization. I feel as if I've been there.
I had both the printed copy and the audio version. Simon Vance read beautifully as usual. show less
5 stars
“The world could bring you poison in a jeweled cup, or surprising gifts. Sometimes you didn’t know which of them it was.”
Here is a truly epic adventure set in 8th century China of the Tang Dynasty. The story concerns Shen Tai, second son of a famous general. As the story begins Tai is coming to the end of the two year mourning period for his father. Contrary to custom, Tai has honored his father by taking on the great and impossible labor of show more burying the thousands of bones left from a catastrophic battle. This great labor has attracted attention in the Empire and beyond. Tai is about to receive a gift that will change the course of his life; 250 Sardian horses, from the hands of the enemy.
“ It was never wise, Bystan had decided on his way here from the fort, to underestimate the influence of women at a court”
There are some mild elements of fantasy or magical realism in two of the plot lines of this book, but overall the story reads like detailed, evocative, historical fiction. The characters are well developed and their relationships are complicated. Tai becomes a pawn within the convoluted and dangerous machinations of court politics. The story builds around the actions of four very different women. There are shattering consequences for Tai and the Dynasty.
This was definitely a work of historical fiction, but I was reminded of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Tai comes from the stark environment of the Steppes to be thrown into the opulence and deviance of court politics. There are battle scenes and hand to hand combat, betrayals and executions. There are those in power who are despicably evil and those with true honor and bravery. It was a wonderful story. There are parallels in the characters and the situations, but I think it reminded me of Dune mostly because of Kay’s amazing ability to build the civilization. I feel as if I've been there.
I had both the printed copy and the audio version. Simon Vance read beautifully as usual. show less
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1980s (3)
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 32
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 38,608
- Popularity
- #467
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 1,107
- ISBNs
- 527
- Languages
- 19
- Favorited
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