Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites' most celebrated -- and feared -- military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south.
In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve -- for a time -- the same master. Sharing their interwoven fate -- and increasingly torn by her feelings -- is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, The Lions of Al-Rassan is both a brilliant adventure and a deeply compelling story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when hardening beliefs begin to remake -- or destroy -- a world.
]]>Beckoned by the Emperor Valerius, Crispin, a renowned mosaicist, has arrived in the fabled city of Sarantium. Here he seeks to fulfill his artistic ambitions and his destiny high upon a dome that will become the emerror's magnificent sanctuary and legacy.
But the beauty and solitude of his work cannot protect his from Sarantium's intrigue. Beneath him the city swirls with rumors of war and conspiracy, while otherworldly fires mysteriously flicker and disappear in the streets at night. Valerius is looking west to Crispin's homeland to reunite an Empire -- a plan that may have dire consequences for the loved ones Crispin left behind.
In Sarantium, however, loyalty is always complex, for Crispin's fate has become entwined with that of Valerius and his Empress, as well as Queen Gisel, his own monarch exiled in Sarantium herself. And now another voyager -- this time from the east -- has arrived, a pysician determined to make his mark amid the shifting, treachearous currents of passion and violence that will determine the empire's fate.
]]>The trilogy is a grand homage to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, but while the echoes of Tolkien's masterwork are very real, the books offer the wonderful taste of a new fantasy writer cutting his teeth at the foot of a master. Kay has a very real connection to Tolkien--as Christopher Tolkien's assistant, Kay was invaluable in helping to wrestle Tolkien's posthumous The Silmarillion into shape for publication. Kay is undoubtedly one of the Canadian masters of high fantasy, and The Fionavar Tapestry is one of his most enduring works. Readers, however, should also check out Kay's Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan, and The Sarantine Mosaic to truly experience a master at work. --Jeffrey Canton
]]>Part 3, which includes most of the mythological poems, is a classical forest of proper names that will send the reader back to Bulfinch's Mythology to seek clarification on Orpheus, Medea, Psyche, and others. The author is capable of some fine lines: "A song of loss . . . to bend the starlight / streaming to the world" and "He thrills to the tight hum / of the right words coming." Too often, though, the poems disappear into the personal and lack heightened language or complex rhythms. When Kay gets the tone right, however, with the perfect amount of low-key sentiment, sadness, or ebullience, as in his longer poems, the result can be engaging. --Mark Frutkin
]]>Crispin, gramgebeugt durch den Verlust von Frau und Kind, ist dem Ruf in die Hauptstadt gefolgt, um den Traum seines Lebens zu verwirklichen und ein wirklich großes, bedeutendes Kunstwerk zu erschaffen. Doch er findet sich in einer Welt wieder, in der selbst ein Künstler nur schwerlich seine Unschuld bewahren kann. Als Vertrauter der Kaiserin von Sarantium und seiner eigenen, im Exil lebenden Königin kann er nicht lange die Augen davor verschließen, dass ein Kriegszug gegen sein eigenes Heimatland bevorsteht, durch den Sarantium seine schwindende Macht sichern will.
Mit Der Neunte Wagenlenker und Herr aller Herrscher ist Guy Gavriel Kay eine Fortsetzung gelungen, die die ersten Teile sogar noch überbietet. Eine neue Hauptfigur wird eingeführt und all die losen Fäden der ersten Bände werden aufgenommen und zu einem Gespinst aus wilden Wagenrennen, Liebe, Sehnsucht und Verlust verwoben. Kays Meisterschaft besteht dabei vor allem in der Schilderung seiner Protagonisten, lebensnah gebrochenen Helden, die im entscheidenden Moment doch noch über sich hinaus wachsen. In all den Wirren, all dem Elend und den herzzereißenden Katastrophen bleibt ihnen immer der Schimmer einer Sehnsucht: Etwas zu hinterlassen, was Bedeutung und Bestand in einer vergänglichen Welt besitzt.
Die Reise nach Sarantium ist erwachsene, mitreißende Fantasy von einem Autor, der entschlossen scheint, mit jedem Roman den vorangegangenen noch zu überbieten. --Birgit Will
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