Number 35 - All The Seas of The World - Guy Gavriel Kay

 

A new novel by Guy Kay is always going to jump straight to the top of my out of control TBR pile. They always reward their priority spot, and this one was no exception.

This is a sort of a follow on to his two previous novels, A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky.  Indeed it has several returning characters from each of those books. As per the earlier books, the fantasy elements are firmly on the sidelines and don't form the main crux of the storyline.  These are almost but not quite historical fiction/almost but not quite fantasy novels.  A writer of Kay's talent walks that tightrope with exquisite grace.

In this one, the world is still reeling from the fall of one its mightiest cities in the previous book. Political allegiances flow and sway with the tides, trades are made, killings ordered.  Some achieve their aims, others don't.

This is storytelling on an epic scale, as well as the intimate. We follow traders Rafel ben Natan and his associate Nadia bint Dhiyan from their dangerous commission in the opening of the book, and the repercussions of that mission throughout the lands of this almost Europe,

We also see into the lives of dozens of other characters, some with the power to change the known world, some struggling to keep their place, however influential they might be, others of low status but surprisingly important. 

The roles people play in events far beyond their ken is a continuing theme in this sequence of books, along with the power of stories and storytelling. Any book about the power of stories needs to be one hell of a story itself, and this doesn't disappoint on any level.

The story has a relaxed pace. Despite the ever enlarging ripples through the societies in this world, we never lose sight of the smaller pictures contained within. The frequent diversions into the impact of the larger events on the smaller people in the story are beautifully done and frequently deeply moving.  

This is all done in Kay's normal lucid and hypnotic prose.  I was reading this in a crowded pub yesterday and so completely absorbed I barely registered any noise around me.  

These aren't books to rush.  They should be savoured and enjoyed slowly.  There is real complexity and subtlety here that can't be skim-read without doing the world Kay has created a huge disservice. This whole series will reward multiple re-readings.

They will work well as stand=alone novels even though there is such a strong continuity. The returning characters are fleshed out anew for any fresh readers and the fallout from previous books described in detail.  I would still advise to read in order, otherwise you'll go into the earlier books knowing who lived and died and which cities were still standing at the end and spoilers are called spoilers for a reason..