Over the years there have been many, many reviews written of GGK’s books. I’m only going to feature here those reviews that add something of substance to an understanding and appreciation of the books. If I listed all the reviews here that said ‘wow – amazing!’ and words to that effect, you’d probably get a bit bored. So to read a selection of interesting reviews, just click on the review links on the Books page under the individual books to get to the book(s) you want to read about. One article that takes in all eight of the books is introduced below…
From Tapestry to Mosaic: The Fantasy Novels of Guy Gavriel Kay
Two of the editors of the online magazine Strange Horizons undertook to examine the eight GGK novels in relation to each other; to trace the progression from Tapestry to Mosaic, as it were. They also provide a very useful background article on the relevant histories. The article and the accompanying review of The Sarantine Mosaic take the form of a dialogue.
Jaquandor of Byzantium Shores has created a collection of his reviews of GGK’s novels which can be found here.
NoveList Reading Guide for Ysabel
This isn’t really a review, but I felt this was the most appropriate place to put it on the site. It’s a very in-depth look at Ysabel, with questions for readers that also have some suggested answers. As the NoveList writers explain: “while answers are provided, there is no presumption that you have been given the last word. Readers bring their own personalities to the books that they are examining. What is obvious and compelling to one reader may be invisible to the next. The questions that have been selected provide one reasonable access to the text; the answers are intended to give you examples of what a reflective reader might think. The variety of possible answers is one of the reasons we find book discussions such a rewarding activity.
At the moment I’m only featuring reviews written in English on the site. However, GGK’s books have been translated into many languages, and have been reviewed in many languages. On my trawl through the web I’ve found a few foreign language reviews, and if any of you want to read them – then click on the following links.
– German review of Ysabel. And to read a German translation of the GGK biography from this site, click here.
– Slovak review of A Song for Arbonne
– French review of Tigana. Hmm – this link seems to be gone now, but in its absence, here’s a translation of what it did say, sent in by Marie Adele.
– French review of The Lions of Al-Rassan
– French reviews of The Sarantine Mosaic, Lions, Arbonne and Tigana.
– Finnish review of The Lions of Al-Rassan
– Polish review of The Fionavar Tapestry and click here for a translation (with a lot of spoilers) sent in by Thomas Osypowicz
– Polish review of Tigana and again, a translation sent in by Thomas.
Now I’m not the greatest linguist ever – my Hebrew’s not too bad, but I’ve forgotten practically all the French I once knew, and as for my Czech – well it’s sadly non-existent. So you’ll forgive me if I don’t translate these reviews. However, if any of you reading this can translate them – or have other reviews in different languages you can translate, then why not do so, and send them in to the site? (By the way, there’s one mechanism whose translating prowess is even weaker than mine – click here to read a somewhat idiosyncratic (and hilarious) translation of a German review of Tigana by the altavista auto-translator.)
Chances are that you have your own opinion of GGK’s books. What’s your favourite? (I’ll confess a particular love for Tigana myself). If you have something you want to share about one of the books, then please do write in with it. It doesn’t have to be a formal review; it could be more personal reflections, how it has affected you, where you first read it…you know the drill. I can’t promise to put it on the site – but if it passes muster, then I will! So do write in!