"The Summer Tree"
Dec. 30th, 2005 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowI finished reading Guy Gavriel Kay's The Summer Tree this morning. I'd heard both good things and bad about the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, but decided to give it a try, and so far I'm impressed. Since what I've read is only the first book of a trilogy, I'm not going to attempt a full-bore review, but I do want to make a few comments.
On the one hand, most of the elements of the story are familiar ones. There are echoes of Tolkien (more the Silmarillion than LOTR, I think - Starkadh reminds me more of Angband than Barad-dur), of the Eddas, of a variety of other well-known texts. (Parts of it struck me as resembling Joy Chant's Red Moon and Black Mountain, actually, although I see no reason to assume borrowing.) The Fisher-King puts in an appearance; there are horsemen of the same ilk as the Rohirrim, the Ra-men, and the Khentorei; there is rivalry between an ancient Mother-Goddess religion and a more recent, more patriarchal faith; and so on. The non-humans fall into well-known categories: dwarfs, wargs, svart-alfar and lios-alfar, and a sprinkling of nature spirits... The ingredients are traditional ones.
But different cooks make different stews from the same fixings, and Kay, so far, is making something quite tasty. That Paul survived his ordeal surprised me; the political interplay between the various factions of "good guys" is intriguing, as are the negotiations among the Powers; the notion of "source" is an interesting twist on old-style familiars; and the - still only hinted at - nature of dwarfish kingship looks worth exploring as well. I'll definitely continue with the trilogy.
On the one hand, most of the elements of the story are familiar ones. There are echoes of Tolkien (more the Silmarillion than LOTR, I think - Starkadh reminds me more of Angband than Barad-dur), of the Eddas, of a variety of other well-known texts. (Parts of it struck me as resembling Joy Chant's Red Moon and Black Mountain, actually, although I see no reason to assume borrowing.) The Fisher-King puts in an appearance; there are horsemen of the same ilk as the Rohirrim, the Ra-men, and the Khentorei; there is rivalry between an ancient Mother-Goddess religion and a more recent, more patriarchal faith; and so on. The non-humans fall into well-known categories: dwarfs, wargs, svart-alfar and lios-alfar, and a sprinkling of nature spirits... The ingredients are traditional ones.
But different cooks make different stews from the same fixings, and Kay, so far, is making something quite tasty. That Paul survived his ordeal surprised me; the political interplay between the various factions of "good guys" is intriguing, as are the negotiations among the Powers; the notion of "source" is an interesting twist on old-style familiars; and the - still only hinted at - nature of dwarfish kingship looks worth exploring as well. I'll definitely continue with the trilogy.
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Date: 2006-01-03 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 03:44 pm (UTC)