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Ysabel

by Guy Gavriel Kay (Goodreads Author)

3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 · rating details · 4,598 ratings · 509 reviews

Guy Kay’s first contemporary fantasy is a tour de force—and his bestselling novel ever. Fifteen-year-old Ned Marriner accompanies his photographer father to Provence,where he is shooting images for a glossy coffee-table book. As Ned strolls along roads walked by Celtic tribes and Roman legions, he discovers a very old story playing itself out in this modern world of iPods...more

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published February 6th 2007 by Roc Hardcover (first published January 9th 2007)

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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

World Fantasy Award Winners

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Mar 18, 2008 John rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those without access to internet porn.

I'm not sure wtf is going on w/ Kay. He's always had William Shatner-esque tendencies towards the overly dramatic statement. (KHAN!!!) I find it annoying but bearable if the plot and characterization are decent (See his Fionavar Tapestry trilogy for example). Here he introduces a 2nd element that’s equally annoying: wrap the basic story in a wet blanket of obtuse statements. Much of the book is devoted to the characters either thinking or expounding on the fact that they don’t know anything. Fin...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Brittany rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

I can see both sides of the debate people seem to be having about this book. Yes, it's not as rich and deep as his other work. Yes, sometimes it felt like you were trapped in the shallow end of a swimming pool, when you know that, if you could just get there, there's a dazzling, deep lagoon just beyond your reach. If you're familiar with Kay's work, this could be frustrating. But I think it's also clear that Kay wrote this story for his sons. As such, I'm grateful he shared it with us.

It was wo...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-and-scifi, fiction, truly-dreadful

Not at all representative of the general quality of the author's work. If this is your first read with Kay, I understand your rejection, but please try ANYTHING else and give him another chance. This is Evil Twin Imposter Kay, not real Kay, I promise!

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Oct 21, 2009 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, france

Ysabel is the story of a fifteen-year-old Canadian boy who is traveling with his photographer father in Provence, and who trips over a Story, getting pulled into something that has been recurring for 2500 years. Then his father’s assistant is pulled in even further, and the only ones who can get her back are Ned (the boy) and his family.

It read strangely like a boys’ adventure story. Since it’s GGK, it’s an exquisitely written boys’ adventure story, but … it’s almost entirely from Ned’s point of...more Ysabel is the story of a fifteen-year-old Canadian boy who is traveling with his photographer father in Provence, and who trips over a Story, getting pulled into something that has been recurring for 2500 years. Then his father’s assistant is pulled in even further, and the only ones who can get her back are Ned (the boy) and his family.

It read strangely like a boys’ adventure story. Since it’s GGK, it’s an exquisitely written boys’ adventure story, but … it’s almost entirely from Ned’s point of view … which I’m afraid distracted me right out of the book a few times wondering how accurate GGK’s command of teenaged argot and taste was. Would even a precocious 15-year-old have that much Zeppelin and Coldplay on his iPod? I do very much think he had the basic roiling emotions of male puberty right (not like I’d know, but it felt right, and hey – he lived it once): one second deep in thought about the Situation, the very next second thoroughly distracted by the memory of a girl’s hair. But I digress. Basically, I don’t think it’s spoilerific to say that the situation is one in which Ned discovers hidden abilities in himself, and it becomes more and more clear that he is the only one who can save the day. And what happens in the last chapter or so emphasized my feeling of aimed-at-adolescent-boys.

It was a pop culture reference smorgasbord – from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid to Spongebob Squarepants, which coming from GGK just seemed bizarre. It’s been a long while since any of his books took place in the here, never mind the now – so it was perhaps inevitable that there’s a crossover between Ysabel and that last time. It surprised me (though maybe it shouldn’t have), so I’ll shut up about that.

There were some very beautiful moments, and some very powerful moments. That’s sort of the law of the universe when it comes to GGK. But … usually a GGK takes preparation for me to read it; sort of mental calisthenics to get into shape for a challenge. Reading GGK isn’t like picking up a British Cozy and dipping in – I can’t “dip” into GGK. This was different, almost dilute (for one thing, the general tone of the book was indeed almost suitable for younger readers – which GGK never really is. This is the only time I can think of where there were no R-rated (or higher) scenes), and a surprisingly quick read. (GGK’s never a quick read.) Almost average – though high average. I still recommend it, as it was very good indeed. I loved the Story. It was just a different sort of animal from the usual by Mr. Kay.
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Sep 23, 2010 Hirondelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Warning : I am not going to mark it as containing spoilers, because I think all examples I give are vague and do not give away plot points. But they are probably spoilerish about specific details, so if you are very careful about spoilers, better avoid this till you have read it. Though my advice really is: don´t read it.

Back to the book, I should have known better. But in a way I am sort of glad to have read it, despite thinking it is really a quite bad book. There is a spoilerish link to anoth...more Warning : I am not going to mark it as containing spoilers, because I think all examples I give are vague and do not give away plot points. But they are probably spoilerish about specific details, so if you are very careful about spoilers, better avoid this till you have read it. Though my advice really is: don´t read it.

Back to the book, I should have known better. But in a way I am sort of glad to have read it, despite thinking it is really a quite bad book. There is a spoilerish link to another book which would have made me want to read it anyway. But mostly this new book helped me figure out what exactly is my problem, my beef, with Guy Gavriel Kay´s writing. For quite a while I felt like a black sheep, nearly everybody I know whose tastes I respect lurved his books. Leaving me going "yeah, but don´t you think this or that"?. And me without being able to articulate precisely what is that bugged me so much and why I thought that no, his books really are not that good. Ysabel at least helps me ID what - GGK writes not so much of how things are, but how he wishes history was. And it´s mythological history, full of impossibly beautiful queens, tragic loves, pure melodrama rather than drama. It is just too shallow, too theatrical, too ridiculous in comparison with real history.Combine that with an overdose of little tricks to deceive the reader, a love of pointlessly dramatic prose and it can get very syrupy.

The use of history as some sort of backdrop to a recurring eternal love triangle is just not convincing here. Hints are dropped, a few details told, but I remain uninformed of what is the antagonism is supposed to be really about? What eternal struggle is that supposed to mean, what resonances does it have for other places and cultures? And as far as I could understand, it seems it was all about being foreigner to Provence and not being "foreigner" ( and Ysabel being some uber bitchy stereotype whose main function seems to be beautiful and wanted. Not very flattering if she is meant to represent Provence), but that interpretation is literally foreign to me. And unlike Fionavar, dogmatically declared to be the one true land, Provence is not completely convincing as being The Land About Which All Is About. Oh yeah? Surely every reader will have other lands he or she can suggest as being as special. The resolution of that conflict feels completely out of the blue by the way.

And now for a few nitpicks, because I just got to rant a tiny little bit...

- Were the celts supposed to be huge and golden haired? Hmm, I don´t think so. That is just a symptom, that GGK is using real history to project his own private world into. It has not been convincing me for a long while, but it´s particularly out of tune here in this modern setting.

- Other people have mentioned how incongruous the modern-touch references were. Oh yes. Lots of brand-name dropping and a particularly unconvincing teenager who seems to have the music tastes of a 40+ year old and who runs listening to his ipod ( a real ipod I mean. not nano or shuffle. Where does he tuck it in on his clothing? we got all details of him getting ready to run, but where do you put a real-big-ipod when you go running?). Same teenager does not send one text message the whole book and seems unable to find a number in his mobile phone´s adress book without using fast dialup. Dude, if I was 15 years of age I would be insulted, there is no 15 year old in the world who needs fast dialup to look a phone number! Actually my inner teenager actually is insulted at the way teenagers act. Real teens don´t flirt the same way 30/40 year olds do, their interaction was just unbelievable!

- GGK main characters are always superlative at something, almost annoyingly so. The plot here depends very much, too much,on Ned always finding extra power or ability or something within him which makes him even more special and unique all the time.

- Ever noticed how his main male characters always have women throwing themselves at them (sexually) even in the unlikeliest of scenarios? James Bond syndrome I call it, and in a few instances it gets extremely unlikely ( yeah, widowed red-haired bearded mosaic artists have huge potential as sex symbols. Not) Here it has the distinction of going from just unlikely all the way to very unlikely and extremely creepy. I puke. Really.

- The prose. Some people like it, but there are some examples from this book which, in my opinion, have crossed the purple line by meters....
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Jun 04, 2007 thefourthvine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sff, childrens-teen

This book is compelling - and it's a YA book, by the way; I don't care what the publisher says - with characters I liked, an unusual approach to the usual YA book Parental Dilemma (for once, the YA tells his parents about his problems; that hardly ever happens), and a plot that I enjoyed. It was a fast, fun read.

And then the ending kind of - um. I'm not exactly sure how, but in the last fifty pages or so, this went from being a four-star book to a three-star book for me; the ending felt simulta...more

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Dec 04, 2007 Lucy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, teen

When fifteen-year-old Ned Marriner accompanies his famous photographer father to a town in the south of France, he expects some time off from school and a nice vacation. He doesn’t expect to meet Kate Wenger, an American exchange student who he likes instantly. And they don’t expect to meet a man with a knife, who tells them that they have stumbled into a very old story, and they should remove themselves from it if they know what’s good for them.

And so Ned and his family and friends find themsel...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007, own, fantasy

A bit of warning: Guy Gavriel Kay is only my most favorite author in the entire world. Given how many different authors I admire and follow, that's a pretty big honor for me to bestow. His novels evoke a certain range of emotions that no other author has ever been able to achieve, and without a doubt makes it impossible for me to honestly critique any of his books' weaknesses. Ysabel is no different, and if you take one thing from this review, it's that you should read it. Now.

Kay has mostly wri...more A bit of warning: Guy Gavriel Kay is only my most favorite author in the entire world. Given how many different authors I admire and follow, that's a pretty big honor for me to bestow. His novels evoke a certain range of emotions that no other author has ever been able to achieve, and without a doubt makes it impossible for me to honestly critique any of his books' weaknesses. Ysabel is no different, and if you take one thing from this review, it's that you should read it. Now.

Kay has mostly written historical fantasy books; he chooses a historical conflict or time period and then weaves a fantasy novel out of his lengthy research. Sometimes the 'fantasy' tag indicates the use of mystical elements, and other times it simply allows him to twist fact into fiction without being admonished for being historically inaccurate. Ysabel is a slight departure from this; the historical elements smash head-first into modern-day France when 15-year-old Ned stumbles upon a 2,500-year-old love triangle.

Ysabel is written very informally and much more simply compared to Kay's previous novels. This is due to the main character being a teenage boy, as well as the fact that it takes place in a modern setting and has a far less epic scope than his other books. I had some problems with the dialogue feeling a little forced and insincere in a few places (most notably when large groups of characters were talking with each other), but for the most part, it still retains the elegance of Kay's voice. The only word I can summon to describe his prose is "beautiful," as trite as that might be.

One of the touches that Kay adds to his novels are the subtle "grace notes" that nod to his past works and suggest that his stories are all part of a shared history of one world. I'd been wondering how he was going to do that in Ysabel, since it clearly takes place in our world, not a world where there are two moons in the sky. To my surprise, Ysabel is nearly a coda to one of his earlier books. As I was reading, I started musing to myself, "Why is Kay re-using character names? This is only his tenth book, he has plenty of names to pick from." At one point, the realization struck me rather forcefully that the name was not being reused, and was in fact referring to the same character. Ysabel is still a fully stand-alone novel, and can be understood and appreciated without reading any of Kay's other works, but knowing the history of the reused characters makes it even deeper.

For those who haven't read Kay's other novels, this untold back story simply folds into another of the author's signature touches: the hints that there is far more to the world than the current story can show. It's as if Kay is saying, "There are many, many stories in this world, and they often collide with each other, but this is the one I'm telling right now." This is illustrated in Ysabel, particularly when the members of the love triangle insist repeatedly, "This is only about the three of us," while everyone else replies, "No, it's not." There are many things in Ysabel that are left untold and unexplained, but it's done purposely and leaves the reader imagining those stories as he or she feels they might be told.

I always feel depressed when I reach the end of a brand new Kay book far too quickly and realize I have roughly a three-year wait until the next one. At the same time, I'm thankful that he doesn't crank them out at the high frequency that publishers often demand when the author is a mainstream hit who guarantees massive sales. I highly, highly recommend any of his books, although Ysabel might be the best starting point for a Kay newbie, since its prose is the least dense out of all of them.(less)

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Jun 17, 2007 devra rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

it seemed, at first, as if prayers had been answered. my immediate thought, that this novel would more closely resemble the motifs of fionavar, seemed vindicated. ned, the 15-year-old protagonist, was interesting enough (although i felt that GGK was a bit too glib with his time-dated references to googling and ipods and coldplay), and in classical fashion the reader is drawn immediately into the story (again, more in the way of fionavar than in the style of his “historical” novels. that is to sa...more it seemed, at first, as if prayers had been answered. my immediate thought, that this novel would more closely resemble the motifs of fionavar, seemed vindicated. ned, the 15-year-old protagonist, was interesting enough (although i felt that GGK was a bit too glib with his time-dated references to googling and ipods and coldplay), and in classical fashion the reader is drawn immediately into the story (again, more in the way of fionavar than in the style of his “historical” novels. that is to say, we meet the protagonist in on his way toward what he is becoming, but not in medias res of some kind of mission, premonition or dark, half-told foreshadowing).

i have no doubt in my mind that had GGK given it the kind of treatment he had granted fionavar, it would have been spell-binding. there was certainly all the potential for an engrossing multi-book arc--we could have had an entire book, practically, of building up to the appearance of YSABEL. we could have gotten more of an idea of the tensions that existed in the ford family after kim came home from fionavar.

i had originally speculated the GGK could have given us that flashback, or told us that story--he did it for dave, at least, in his arc of the original trilogy--but then i recalled his treatment of kevin and jennifer. we never got a flashback, never got a sense of what they had truly gone through on their roads toward their destinies. i suppose it would be too much to expect GGK to grant us that courtesy with kim and dave, however fascinating the story might have been. i almost ache for it--to hear how kim would have tried to return to a normal life and failed. how she and dave--who had given us the barest hint of a courtship in fionavar--rushed off and got married and moved to glastonbury. (clearly some kind of arthurian complex that i DO NOT understand, given how thoroughly GGK examined kim’s self-loathing for re-igniting the arthurian legend during TWF) and how that change had affected her family. why kim couldn’t have kids. who told jen’s family what had happened?

i’m overwhelmed by the squandered potential of this storyline. even the plot was flimsily resolved, with more of the same half-assed dues-ex-machina of having ned turn out to be the descendant of the illegitimate child fathered by YSABEL at some point during the 2000-year history this story is meant to encompass. and at the end, poof!
the most appalling, from a purely nostalgic-for-fionavar standpoint, is that we never see ned do the obvious--which is to sieze the opportunity, ANY opportunity, to corner either his aunt or his uncle and demand an explanation for the allusions they keep dropping, the names they use to frighten the players (and why these names might have the power to frighten), the reason for the rift between their families. it is, i think, what any self-respecting protagonist would do in the midst of so much strangeness. but GGK keeps this key trio separated for most of the book, on the pretense that since each of the three of them has some kind of ability, they should each be leading their own “team” in the investigation. and even i must confess that such a scene would be difficult to execute without either rehashing the entire fionavar trilogy or sounding like too much unnecessary expositing on the part of either kim or dave (after all, it is meant to be ned’s story).

i had gotten about halfway through the book before i turned out the lights for the evening, feeling very disconcerted. i consoled myself that i had felt much the same when i first read TST, because it was so strange and everything was continually left unexplained. fortunately, by the end of the trilogy, even if things hadn’t been fully exposited, enough was known to invest the reader in the story.

sadly, the same cannot be said for YSABEL.
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Dec 05, 2008 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel just a few weeks ago, and since I've liked other stuff Kay has written, I decided to try this as well. I was very impressed. The characters are strong and believable. The situation was contemporary, but also very magical, and the way the characters interacted with the situation and each other was compelling. The resolution was very satisfying and I loved the way it worked. There was a price paid, but it was the right price, and it was very poignant...more

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Mar 05, 2009 Tommy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Disappointing. Protagonist has lame taste in music- I would have prefered if the author just wrote: 'he put on his mp3 player and started running.' Characters from the Fionavar Tapestry show up, then do next to nothing. I Listened to this as an audio book. The woman narrating it made the teenage characters more annoying than if I had read the book.
Maybe I'm overly venomous because Kay does this weird thing about half way through the story where he just drops the charcter Kate from the plot. She...more

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Dec 27, 2008 Jodi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ned and his photographer father are in Provence to shoot a book when Ned sees something he shouldn't be able to see and gets involved in an ancient story he shouldn't have any ties to. But when a member of his father's staff is drawn into the story because of Ned, he's going to do whatever it takes to get her back. I loved the juxtoposition of present and past. More importantly, I liked Ned a lot. He was a teenager caught between childhood and manhood and he knows...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Richard Watt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Kay's books have a curious effect on me. I never want to start them, for fear that they won't live up to the others. Equally, once started, I dread the ending - not because it might be emotionally harrowing, or somehow disappointing (in the first case, not so unusual, the second case not unknown, but rare), but because once I turn that final page, there is no more of that prose to come.[return][return]I read Kay not because I am a particular fantasy fan - I'm not - but because he writes so magni...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Anne Mathison added it · review of another edition

Wonderful novel: Prior commitments prevented me from reading this novel as soon as I would have wanted to. And now that I've finally read it, I wish I could have done so earlier. Typical of Kay, Ysabel stands head and shoulders above most fantasy books out there. Some might disagree, but Guy Gavriel Kay is likely the only writer who has yet to disappoint me. Every time this author releases a novel, I always know that I'm about to plunge into a superior tale. And Ysabel is no exception!

This one...more Wonderful novel: Prior commitments prevented me from reading this novel as soon as I would have wanted to. And now that I've finally read it, I wish I could have done so earlier. Typical of Kay, Ysabel stands head and shoulders above most fantasy books out there. Some might disagree, but Guy Gavriel Kay is likely the only writer who has yet to disappoint me. Every time this author releases a novel, I always know that I'm about to plunge into a superior tale. And Ysabel is no exception!

This one takes place in a contemporary setting, namely in and around Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France. Kay was living in the area while researching and writing Ysabel, and his firsthand experience ensures an authentic feel throughout the novel. Not surprisingly, the narrative is evocative and the resulting imagery leaps through every page.

Kay took on quite a challenge when he made a teenager the story's main protagonist. Indeed, very few authors succeed at developing believable and genuine teenage characters. Two that immediately come to mind are Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin. Well, I think that Kay did a splendid job with Ned Marriner, capturing how awkward those years tend to be for young men.

Guy Gavriel Kay is perhaps best known for his thoughful insight into human nature. His characterizations rank among the very best in the genre, and he can somehow convey layers of emotions that few writing today can match. In Ysabel, Kay demonstrates how skilled he is at developing a cast of disparate characters. Understandably, the relationships between the Marriner family members take center stage. And yet, several secondary characters provide depth to a work that already resounds with it.

The author always does his homework, which is evident once again in Ysabel. The pace and the dialogues are perfect. The storylines are convoluted enough to keep you turning those pages well past your bedtime a few nights running!

As a Montrealer myself, I got quite a kick out of all those Montreal references (the Marriner family hails from MTL). I have to admit that it's kind of neat to have a Canadian as the main character of Ysabel. In addition, the narrative brought me back in time, back to when I first visited Provence. For the record, my first experience in Aix was nowhere near as traumatic as Ned's. The highlight for me, if I remember correctly (keep in mind I was part of a Contiki tour) was finding a working ATM!

Although universally acclaimed, or so it seems, at times it feels as though Guy Gavriel Kay remains the most underappreciated fantasy author in the world today. If you haven't had the pleasure already, do yourself a favor and read Kay's brilliant works in which history and fantasy come together and create something only a Kay novel can deliver! Believe me when I say you'll be glad you did!

Ysabel is without the shadow of a doubt one of the books to read in 2007.

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Mar 18, 2009 Resonance rated it 5 of 5 stars

Guy Gavriel Kay has gotten somewhat away from writing long, complex, interwoven stories and started writing shorter, quicker reading ones. The work suffers a bit simply because Kay is so good at what he does that the books are finished all too soon, you end up wishing there was more there to be had. But because they're that good, you're still really happy you read them.

This is a beautiful fantasy set in the modern day. Most of those come off as pretty hackneyed but Kay makes it work. His beauti...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Kristine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not to spoil anything for anyone, but the thing I loved most about this book is that there isn't a true bad guy in it. There are many people in conflict because they're working at cross-purposes or competing for the same goal, but there's nobody in it who could be defined as evil.

It's a welcome change.

The book is about a 15-year-old boy named Ned who is "stuck" in the south of France while his famous photographer dad takes pictures for a photo book. Ned soon finds himself ensnared in an ancient...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Alicia rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 11, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(My Kindle has gone wrong and until I can get it replaced, I unfortunately can't read any books on it. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get it soon, though).

There are times I'll see a book and it'll demand that I not only pick it up and read the back, but also that I'll buy it, even if I don't have the money and really shouldn't be buying yet another book. This was one such book. I spotted it outside a bargain book store, in the window, and when I went in, went immediately towards it. It was...more

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Jun 06, 2012 David Fuller rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

TRIANGLES are stable shapes, and it seems a love triangle can last forever.

Guy Gavriel Kay returns to his roots with Ysabel, a fantasy in which ancient loves and jealousy burst forth in modern-day France.

Born in Weyburn, Sask., and a former Winnipegger, Kay made his mark in the genre with his trilogy The Fionavar Tapestry, in which a group of friends are dragged from Toronto into a magical world.

He went on to continued success with historically inspired novels such as The Lions of Al-Rassan, now...more

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May 30, 2012 Beth M rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is frustrating. The world-building that GGK utilizes is phenomenal. Set in modern-day France, while continually drawing in cultures and scenes from the ancient past, our narrator finds himself racing against the clock to save his friend from mysterious Celtic and Roman enemies. Our hero must come to grips with his rapidly-changing perceptions of reality, while dealing with the ever-present challenges of puberty and adolescence (read: girls). While it's wholly a fantasy novel, the world...more

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May 07, 2012 Scott Lee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Have to admit I'm really surprised that this one won the World Fantasy Award. It was okay. Kay's Fionavar tapestry was much, MUCH better. Tigana was far more interesting as well. I haven't read many/any of the "historical" novels, although I had a copy of Sailing to Sarantium at some point and would like to get back to it. '

The characters are well drawn and I found his language itself not showy, but compelling. There was an ambiance, a voice that worked well for the novel. It was fun to see Celt...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.75* of five
Since there are no 3/4 stars, I've had to round this up to 4. I liked the book very much, and I found reading it very easy. I like the PoV character, Ned, and found his development from adolescent smartass to postadolescent smart youth involving.

Apparently this book winds up a series of books about its semi-immortal characters, doomed to replay and replay their ancient passionate triangle through millennia of time. The accidental instrusion of Ned, his aunt, his uncle-by-mar...more Rating: 3.75* of five
Since there are no 3/4 stars, I've had to round this up to 4. I liked the book very much, and I found reading it very easy. I like the PoV character, Ned, and found his development from adolescent smartass to postadolescent smart youth involving.

Apparently this book winds up a series of books about its semi-immortal characters, doomed to replay and replay their ancient passionate triangle through millennia of time. The accidental instrusion of Ned, his aunt, his uncle-by-marriage, and the lovely assistant his father brought with his professional menagerie of assistants and fixers, makes the stakes for the book quite high: Who wants to call a young woman's parents to announce, "Hey, you know your daughter? Well, she's now a goddess and by the way she's not going to be seen on the mortal plane again for, oh, maybe 300 years, 'kay, bye!"

Provence exerts a strong pull on me, and this book's exploration of the ancient world of Provence as it impacts characters in today's world is meat and drink to me. I am fully convinced of the reality of the past, and that its shadows are felt...not just thought about, but felt...in the present. I experience this oddly overlaid reality myself, in most places that I go, so I am already predisposed to like a book about the subject.

Provence and Tuscany and Umbria are places I've been to and felt in the way author Kay describes in this book. Machu Picchu is another. It seems likely to me that Kay has experienced this odd, through-a-scrim sensation of looking at physical reality himself, or he'd be less good at conveying its weird dislocations. This alone makes me likely to seek out the other books in this series (sob!), but next Kay on deck for me is Tigana per that fiend-in-soignee-human-form Caroline.

What doesn't entirely work about the book, to me, is its pick-'em-up-and-drop-'em way with some minor though important characters, like the Brit expat blowhard who could have been a fun addition to the cast but was instead cast off as a deus ex machina at two crucial points. Well, nothing made by man is perfect, so I forgive the failings in acknowledgment of the far more frequent pleasures reading Ysabel offers.

Recommended! Ignore that silly "YA" label, enjoy it for itself!
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Sep 08, 2011 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-physical

So I love Guy Gaveriel Kay. He's probably my favorite fantasy author. His books make me weep, make cry in joy, laughter, smile, lust, and want to live. For the most part. Last Light of the Sun, the book he wrote previous to Ysabel fell flat for me - it was a story that didn't speak to me then, though it has grown over the years on me, it is still not one of my preferred reads of Kay. Why this monologue of Kay and not Ysabel?

Because, well, that's why it took me 4 years to read Ysabel. I was happy...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Methodtomadness rated it 5 of 5 stars

Guy Gavriel Kay manages to both captivate and annoy me on a regular basis, and _Ysabel_ is no exception. There's something about his writing that can be chauvinistic -- without necessarily being anti-feminist -- which riles me, but his twisting, interlocking narratives and mind-bending plots make up for it by and large. Published several years after the godawful best-selling _Da Vinci Code_, _Ysabel_ is a little tiny bit like what Dan Brown's novel could have been...if Brown were a masterful his...more

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May 01, 2011 Martha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I'm only just noticing that "Ysabel" has the lowest average Goodreads rating among Kay's books. My theory on why this might be? It tries too darned hard NOT to be a Kay book.

I have swooned over the Fionavar Tapestry, admired "Tigana", and enjoyed "A Song for Arbonne". If there's a standard criticism of Kay's works, it's that he has a tendency to overdo the epic mythical-ness of everything. I can agree with that assessment, but to me it's a mark in his favor. I adore the Fionavar Tapestry specifi...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Vijay Paradkar rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is probably one of the best contemporary fantasies I've read this year. It's excellent, with interesting and relatable characters, and a solid storyline. A lot of contemporary fantasies either take the tack of demystifying the supernatural such that the reader can accommodate its existence alongside or intertwined with our world. Others dwell too much on the weirdness of the supernatural, the bizarre nature of it, emphasizing to the reader its overwhelming otherness relative to reality...more This book is probably one of the best contemporary fantasies I've read this year. It's excellent, with interesting and relatable characters, and a solid storyline. A lot of contemporary fantasies either take the tack of demystifying the supernatural such that the reader can accommodate its existence alongside or intertwined with our world. Others dwell too much on the weirdness of the supernatural, the bizarre nature of it, emphasizing to the reader its overwhelming otherness relative to reality. Kay does neither with Ysabel. Or perhaps both. The supernatural does intrude upon reality, and when it does, it is jarring and traumatic and confusing. But then Kay takes us beyond that initial reaction to a kind of wary acceptance, where the supernatural can be acknowledged and interacted with, even if the entire while most of the characters are painfully aware of their ignorance and helplessness. Too many other authors use the typical device of a guide to the supernatural that explains the entire world and helps the protagonist come to terms with it, allowing them to participate fully. Instead of that typical approach, this novel allows us to fully experience the confusion and terror of someone thrust into violent conflict with a world he can't understand. It's not the monsters or villains that are truly scary, so much as the enormity of what he doesn't know and may never understand. I liked that about this novel, that the protagonist was constantly confronted with the fact that he'd stumbled into a story bigger and older than he could conceive, that the crushing weight of history and memory were defining the roles and actions of them all.

But I digress. So overall, this is a truly excellent contemporary fantasy, that does a lot of things very well and was very satisfying to read. Having said that, I understand why it's so often rated below some of Kay's other work. This is the third of his efforts I've read (counting the entire Fionavar Tapestry as one), and somehow this is missing something of what the others had. The Fionavar Tapestry was epic and momentous and explored the nuances of Good and Evil and the eternal struggle between them. It was, in many ways, an epic as rich as The Lord of the Rings. And Tigana, though only a stand-alone and in many ways a much more traditional fantasy, had this wrenching sorrow to it that made you fully experience the grief of a handful of survivors over what had been ripped from them. Tigana explored the nature of memory and identity in a beautiful and meaningful way. Ysabel, however, didn't seem to grapple with the same moral complexities. None of the characters can truly said to be evil. And so, despite this being a very good novel that contributes something excellent to the urban fantasy genre, it still seems to be lacking some of the nuance and depth of Kay's other work.

Personally, I think Kay probably successfully achieved everything he wanted with this novel. I can't say that it misses the mark, I just think the mark was different than what many expected it to be. To me, this novel delves into something about our world that I think few of us are capable of actively appreciating. That there are places that represent so much to us, where their value lies not merely in their geography but in the idea of them, and where so much history has unfolded, so much blood has been shed and shed again, that in a fantastic world they should and must take on a significance of their own. Whether the history gives birth to the neverending story or the neverending story inspires the history hardly matters. What matters is that these places carry weight in the human consciousness and attract greatness, both beautiful and terrible.

One thing I will say is that book has several allusions to the events of the Fionavar Tapestry that are never explained. I think this is intentional, and it doesn't really pertain to the plot of this novel, so I'm fine with it. But if you're the kind of person this will drive crazy and distract from the real story, read the Fionavar Tapestry first, so you can properly enjoy this book.

I think this is worth the read, but to fully appreciate it, don't go in expecting it to have as visceral an impact as some of Kay's other works.(less)

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May 01, 2010 Colin Birge rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read Ysabel before, but picked it up again tonight to remind myself of the structure and poetry of it. I devour everything Guy Gavriel Kay writes, and Ysabel was no exception, but for me it was not the most successful of Kay's books.

Kay got his start in high fantasy. He had a significant part in reconstructing Tolkien's The Silmarillion, and wrote his own myth-bending fantasy trilogy called The Fionavar Tapestry. In more recent years he's been known for a loosely connected alternate-history...more

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Aug 23, 2009 Didi rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed and frustrated by this book. I usually really enjoy this author. His other books take place in Medieval settings. This one took place in the present, with echoes of a story from the past. The problem was that he put a lot of energy into describing the present. He mostly did it by endlessly describing minutia of present day life and describes in great detail how the character downloaded songs from the internet, and then put his running clothes on, grabbed his i-pod and couple o...more

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Jul 10, 2009 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an incredibly evocative novel. I mean that it really gives you a feel for where it is set and makes you want to visit there. This book is a Celtic/Modern Day ghost story set in Aix En Provence, France. The author has obviously spent a lot of time there, not only figuring out where things are and the history, but the feel of the place, how the sunlight makes the castles look in the morning and again at sunset.
I was struck by the amount of history contained in certain regions of Europe. I...more

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Apr 29, 2009 T.j rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

“Ysabel” is a book that tells a story of a young boy’s self discovery linked with the unusual elements of ancient mythology and perpetual love. It illustrates both a sophisticated historical aspect along with a modern touch to bring together a compassionate read that appeals greatly to readers who enjoy fictional novels of magic and mystery. One of the most attracting parts of the book is how the author is able to successfully manipulate true historical facts into a well fantasized story that c...more “Ysabel” is a book that tells a story of a young boy’s self discovery linked with the unusual elements of ancient mythology and perpetual love. It illustrates both a sophisticated historical aspect along with a modern touch to bring together a compassionate read that appeals greatly to readers who enjoy fictional novels of magic and mystery. One of the most attracting parts of the book is how the author is able to successfully manipulate true historical facts into a well fantasized story that could be seen as “believable”. Overall, I thought this book was one of the best historical fictions I’ve read and can be compared equally in story idea to Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”. However, there were still several aspects of the book which I thought were either badly described or just did seem coherent.
For one, the protagonist “Ned” seemed overly sophisticated for his age. It seems rather unlikely that a 15 year old teenager, who spends a few weeks in southern France with his Dad on a photoshoot, to have the personality of a mature adult. Normal teenagers would complain about being stuck in a city with nothing fun to do, while Ned seemed to find great interest in things that normal adolescents would define as “boring”. In addition, other readers have indicated that Ned also had an unusual taste in music like that of a 40 year old. All this seemed to make Ned more an adult rather than a child, and this does not go along with the theme of self-discovery as illustrated in the story. It also suggests that the author does not have a personal understanding of the perspectives of modern teenagers. Judging from the way Ned converses with other people, it seems he is more likely to be 30 years old rather than 15, especially the way he talks with females. I am a teenager myself, and I can’t imagine saying some of the stuff Ned says. Thus, I think the author did a rather poor job of giving the teenager a “teenager” personality, making the character seem unrealistic.
In addition to the characters, the components that give the story a mythical feel also lacked perfection. Although this book does involve magical elements, they didn’t seem to fit too well with the modern technology mentioned in the book. For example, it just doesn’t make sense that someone like Phelan, who has been alive for thousands of years, would be riding a motorcycle like a professional stunt man as described in the book. The author wants to make the character seem “cool”, but ends up making him sound completely out of place. This is also consistent with the other character Cadell, who is able to send spirit wolves after the protagonists in the middle of a city in broad daylight. All this is supposedly taking place in the “real” world in southern France, where there are normal people going about their everyday lives. The author did not even describe the normal people’s reactions to the wolves, as if seeing random spirits in the middle of a street is normal for people in that city. This is a major flaw in the structure of the story.
Despite the admiration I have for the original ideas the author had for the plot, the overall story was rather poorly developed. The readers does not get a clearly sense of time in the story, since the chapters seem to jump from one scene to another without any indication of how long time had passed between them. For example, there was no clear sense of “travelling time”, as some of the main characters seemed to jump from continent to continent almost instantly. Although I believe this was done to eliminate the boring aspects of the book, it ruins the “believable” feel.
Aside from the unusual characters and the incoherency of some of the structural elements, I was fascinated by the plot of the story. It was evident that the author had a clear sense of historical facts, as he incorporated them seamlessly into the book. The unexpected twist at the end of the novel was unquestionably well developed, and provided the readers with a conclusion that made sense with the hints dropped by the author earlier on in the book. Although I would not rate this book as an amazingly good read, I would still consider it to be noteworthy. It was undoubtedly a praiseworthy collection of original and engaging ideas.
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topics	posts	views	last activity
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Ysabel-Critical Assesment	1	9	Jun 07, 2012 05:36pm
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Ysabel Update 5 (pages 405-506)	1	5	Apr 06, 2012 09:01pm
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Ysabel Update 4 (pages 303-405)	1	3	Apr 06, 2012 07:57pm
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Ysabel Update 3 (pages 204-303)	1	4	Apr 05, 2012 06:10pm
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Ysabel Update 2 (pages 105-203)	1	1	Mar 31, 2012 03:02pm
ELEVEN READERS CL...: Rationale	1	6	Mar 08, 2012 05:27pm

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About Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay 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 categoriz...more

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Books by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, #1)

The Wandering Fire (The Fionavar Tapestry, #2)

The Darkest Road (The Fionavar Tapestry, #3)

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