The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, #1)

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The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1)

by Guy Gavriel Kay

3.99 · rating details · 4,404 ratings · 327 reviews

First in a new trilogy from the bestselling author of Tigana. This finely textured tapestry tells of five young persons and their journey into a mystic realm.

Mass Market Paperbound, 383 pages

Published April 1st 2001 by Roc (first published January 1st 1984)

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The Best Epic Fantasy

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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

fantasy books set in two worlds

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Jul 18, 2011

mark monday rated it

Shelves: operatik-sword, i-will-follow-thee

this is a wonderful novel. truth be told, it is hard to love at first. sometimes you get to know people who seem automatically awkward, whose social style is stilted, composed of quotes from movies or off-putting attempts to be clever, insisting on repeating tired tales of misadventure and buffoonery, who seem eager to please yet incapable of easy connection. but you get to know them over time and those trappings fall away, the awkwardness fades and they become real, three-dimensional, a friend ...morethis is a wonderful novel. truth be told, it is hard to love at first. sometimes you get to know people who seem automatically awkward, whose social style is stilted, composed of quotes from movies or off-putting attempts to be clever, insisting on repeating tired tales of misadventure and buffoonery, who seem eager to please yet incapable of easy connection. but you get to know them over time and those trappings fall away, the awkwardness fades and they become real, three-dimensional, a friend even. and so it is with The Summer Tree.

at first, it is pure template. The Lord of the Rings is more than an inspiration; tolkein's characters and themes and countries are all directly paralleled within. as such, it is often a very familiar novel and, just as often, that does not work in its favor. what becomes an equal problem is the staginess of the opening chapters and the awkwardness of the dialogue and characterization. both are rather off-putting and the novel starts out with a stumble.

but after that stumble...oh, the riches! what seemed to be trite characters soon flower into figures far more rich, fascinating, enigmatic, even iconic. their adventures moved quickly into the unexpected yet retained a richly mythic quality. the quality of the writing beyond the dialogue is striking: kay does not engage in lush description but rather chooses his words carefully, and the simplicity yet sophistication of word choice often made me pause, and read them again: a haiku of a tale, compared to tolkein's extravagant epic poem. the mythos itself remained entrenched in the familiar, but that becomes a virtue - at times it felt as if i was reading an original telling of these tales and a recounting of these myths, as if this were actually the original template, as if the tried-and-true depiction of celtic-flavored mysticism, the elves & dwarfs & trolls, the ancient powers and unending evils were being presented in their purest and most direct format. and its combination of modern (5 modern students cross dimensions) and classic (mythological kingdoms that are the true reality) becomes a delight - wit and sad wisdom doled out equally. i certainly was not expecting to read about one character's embarrassing hard-on; nor did i expect the tragic driving death of a loved one and the suicidal yearnings of that crash's survivor to become a touchstone drawn movingly upon during somber self-sacrifice. the two worlds become surprisingly and effectively intertwined.

the penultimate chapter is one of harrowing devastation and mortification. i'm not sure i've read such a terrible and horrifying episode of torment and despair, and one that wastes no time in excessive cataloguing of the indecent tortures visited upon a tragic character. the horrors depicted in this sequence are, again, mythic in scope and meaning, yet disturbingly modern in their ability to repulse and sadden. but at the finish, The Summer Tree ends on a hopeful note. just as i am hopeful that the remaining books in the Fionavar Tapestry will continue to impress and inspire. i can't to wait to read them!(less)

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May 02, 2011

Sparrow rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: grown-up Narnia fans

Recommended to Sparrow by: Kay

Shelves: reviewed

Part I of this story is in many ways a grown-up The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I read the Narnia stories when I was little, and to be honest, I think C.S. Lewis will always have a place in my heart. To me, he’s a sort of philosophical grandpa, whom I ignore when he’s spouting cultural faux pas, but who brings out something lovely and profound at least as often as he says something unfortunate. Anyway, this book is not about C.S. Lewis, but I think the affection I feel for Narnia made a ...morePart I of this story is in many ways a grown-up The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I read the Narnia stories when I was little, and to be honest, I think C.S. Lewis will always have a place in my heart. To me, he’s a sort of philosophical grandpa, whom I ignore when he’s spouting cultural faux pas, but who brings out something lovely and profound at least as often as he says something unfortunate. Anyway, this book is not about C.S. Lewis, but I think the affection I feel for Narnia made a difference in my read of this book. I also don’t think I need Lewis to be 100% correct all the time, and that probably made a difference in me liking the way Kay made the (view spoiler) story his own.

I spend a lot of time complaining, I think, about when authors throw together a really bad recipe for a book – when they mutilate and mix ingredients that should never go together. I really liked the use of the ingredients here. There’s Narnia; Henry IV / rakishness; some wild-west, bow-and-arrow stuff; a very decent hair-color change; law and folklore; a magical mystery animal; and a giant black swan that smells like garbage. Basically pretty good. I’m not a lover of fantasy (sorry!), so I have to get past the orcs and dwarves and elves to like a story like this (and I don’t care if you call them different names, they’re still orcs and elves). I’ll probably talk more about that in my review of the second book in this series, but with this book it’s pretty easy to look past to some genuinely good stories.

Unfortunately, at this point, probably most of what I have to say is a spoiler. (view spoiler)

Okay, maybe fewer spoilers than I thought. The other problem I have with this is the characterization of the gods. Maybe this is just a personal pet peeve, but a lot of times I don’t like the characterization of deities in gender roles (the obvious exception to this is The Iliad, which, of course, rules); I prefer the Julian of Norwich god who is both male and female because I'm less likely to see the female god relegated to the kitchen. There’s some other gender stuff that goes on in these books that makes me a little put off. I don’t think it’s insidious, or anything, I just think it takes away from the entertainment. Like, the priestesses are dangerous and suspicious, but the magicians are noble and trustworthy. But, then when everything gets sexy, the girls aren’t scary anymore. I’m not saying it stays like that the whole time, but, I don’t know. It just has a little bit of a male-culture feel that isn’t super entertaining to me. (view spoiler)

Anyway, I feel like I’m kind of ragging on this book, when I really did like it. I really like the Henry IV storyline, and I like the Seer stuff. I like that they’re all a bunch of Canadian kids and that there’s a law student who really needs to study for Evidence. I like how it assumes the vital importance to the WHOLE UNIVERSE of Celtic folklore. That’s pretty cool. I think Jennifer’s story isn’t really fair, and even though I’m almost through the second book, I still don’t really get it. (view spoiler) But, in general, I think the story used some really great legends really creatively. I liked it. I think I should have felt more emotionally attached to the characters, but I think that has more to do with how I feel in general right now than the book itself. Especially if you like fantasy, and especially if you're willing to commit to thousands of pages of fantasy reading (because there is a mammoth cliffhanger at the end of this book), it is worth picking up.(less)

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Apr 16, 2010

Kelly rated it

Shelves: fantasy-and-scifi, fiction, 20th-century-postwar-to-late, owned, partialprejudicedandignorantopinion, grand-opera

(This will serve as my review of the entire Fionovar Tapestry- Spoiler pearl clutchers beware- there be dragons of plot and theme reveals here!)

Confession: I am a bit of a Requiem fanatic- I own several versions of the Verdi, the Mozart, the Brahms, and copies of the Cherubini, Berlioz, Dvorak, and Benjamin Britten Requiems and I am always looking for more. I am fascinated with each and every one of them personally, but when it comes time to try and explain my obsession to someone e...more

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Oct 26, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I'm going to start my review of this book with some, at least slightly negative comments, so...before I do so let me say that I liked the book pretty well and am giving it 4 stars (I'd probably go 3.5+ if I had that option, but I don't).

I tried to read this book (these books as it's a trilogy) some years ago and was, shall we say, far from enamored with them. I put The Summer Tree down as not worth my time and didn't go back to it. Recently I've seen some reviews by people whom I've ...moreI'm going to start my review of this book with some, at least slightly negative comments, so...before I do so let me say that I liked the book pretty well and am giving it 4 stars (I'd probably go 3.5+ if I had that option, but I don't).

I tried to read this book (these books as it's a trilogy) some years ago and was, shall we say, far from enamored with them. I put The Summer Tree down as not worth my time and didn't go back to it. Recently I've seen some reviews by people whom I've agreed with on other books that were "very" positive so, I decided to give it another go. I was down with a bad cold recently and on nothing but audio books (headache) so I reserved this one on audio...

Now, first the sulfur, then later you can have the molasses to help it go down. The book hits a few of my "oh my goodness this again" spots. For one thing, there was a time that I'd just been "King Arthured" to death. It seemed for a while that for every 3 books on the fantasy shelves...two of them would be a "wonderful re-imagining of the Arthurian Legend" we had books from Arthur's point of view, Guenevere's point of view, Mordred's point of view, Lancelot's point of view, Morgan Le Fay's point of view...and possibly Author's horse's point of view. I was burned out, and am not much better now. Show me a blurb that says a book is "an exciting new ,take on, version of, or re-imagining of the Arthurian legend" and I'll show you a book that's going back on the shelf.

We also have the constantly annoying "battle of the sexes" motif built into the book. Wheel of time anyone? The only saving grace is it's not quite as annoying here as it was/and still is there.

The book is liberally leavened with ideas, stereotypes, and archetypes that you will undoubtedly recognize.

Now, all that being said, the book is pretty well written and I have no doubt that should GGK run across this review or one like it, he'd say something like "ya...well show me your best seller!" He'd be right of course. Given a chance the book's story "can" draw you in. You need to let it however. I am now starting The Wandering Fire and I don't know how I'll like it, but I'll give it a chance. My final take...not a bad read. Don't love it, but I do like it, a little. 4 stars...because 3.5 isn't possible. :) (less)

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Oct 15, 2008

Elizabeth rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Sabrina

Shelves: arthurian, canadians, dragons-on-display, gods-myths-heroes, vamps-and-other-mythical-beasts, reviewed, fantasy-sci-fi

Not to enter into the great Tolkien-invented-modern-heroic-fantasy-and-everyone-else-is-just-an-imitator debate but I've loved this book for a long time and it pains me to see it dismissed as a cheap copy of The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien based middle earth on his research, and while a wonderful creation (I don't mean to belittle it at all), it isn't unique in all literature everywhere. Much of it was creative retelling or incorporation of existing legends and stories and events from real...moreNot to enter into the great Tolkien-invented-modern-heroic-fantasy-and-everyone-else-is-just-an-imitator debate but I've loved this book for a long time and it pains me to see it dismissed as a cheap copy of The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien based middle earth on his research, and while a wonderful creation (I don't mean to belittle it at all), it isn't unique in all literature everywhere. Much of it was creative retelling or incorporation of existing legends and stories and events from real early British and Germanic civilizations. That someone else might also do this doesn't mean he was ripping off Tolkien. Ever read Marie-Louise Sjoestedt's Gods and Heroes of the Celts? You won't just recognize some of Tolkien but J.K. Rowling as well.

Guy Gavriel Kay knows his gods, heroes, and legends and creates something that in the very best tradition of modern fantasy manages to spin a very old tale, or better yet, several of them into a complex and beautiful tapestry. He doesn't invent every thread but draws on so many different ones that he creates something new. I would not want to discount the contribution Tolkien played but also want to recognize Malory, Spenser, Tennyson, and the anonymous scribes and poets who recorded Norse sagas, Celtic hero tales, and the Mabinogion. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Stop playing Dungeons and Dragons for a second and read some real books).

Kay does something beyond all this too. He manages to create real characters that you care about and relate to. There are no stern warrior kings that never show emotion. The ice princess has very real issues with the choices she's made in life. The sacrifice is --

Well, the sacrifice is the heart of the book. The Summer Tree is more than symbolic and Kay deftly foreshadows its many meanings. What we try to hide from ourselves affects our choices, all of our choices, and only those that are willing to look into themselves and understand; well, they are the ones who will have power in the world because they can control themselves, so they learn control over others.

I really do love this book. Kay became one of my favorite writers when I first read it, twenty years ago. This work did influence me to read all those other authors and stories that I've been talking about here. I have read it ten times or more, and it always makes me cry. Really. Real tears. I hurt for these characters. I can see myself in them, in some ways, and I certainly see men I have known. But not women. If there is a real flaw in this work, it is Kay's women (and I'm happy to acknowledge an imitation of Tolkien there). I would say that this is a man writing about how he thinks women think. And they suffer more than the male characters, in ways that I can only describe as unfair. There is some brutal stuff at the end of this book and while I know how critical it is to the plot, I feel like he could have handled it a different way. I'm struggling to explain it. It's always bothered me and since I don't want to flag this review with a spoiler alert, I'll just have to leave you, dear goodreader, with this ambiguity.

My last comment is a warning. If you are not completely swept up in this story in the beginning (or near the beginning), you may find the language jarring. When you're reading at speed because it's late, later than you should be up, and you can't put the book down, the language is lyrical. But if you're bored and reading slowly, you'll notice every choice to prioritize the flow of a line of dialogue instead of what a real person would actually say. Someone does say "hear ye the will of the Goddess" at one point. Acknowledge that the sound of the story is more important and allow the flow to continue, don't start counting how many times he writes "Oh" and "Lady" (something that after ten readings one does begin to notice). It is better to ride this book like a boat in a fast current than pick a slow path along the shore.(less)

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Aug 19, 2008

Doc Opp rated it

After a slow start, the book delivered what all the critical acclaim was about. Deep characters, elegant prose, creative and unique concepts that blend nicely with familiar mythology to be thought provoking. This is a masterful piece of epic fantasy. Not for beginners to the genre though, the complexity of the novel would lose people who didn't have a strong schema of what to expect from epic fantasy.

One of the best parts of the book was how the author uses foreshadowing to creat...more

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Jul 21, 2011

Kara rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy lovers

Recommended to Kara by: Janny Wurts among others

Shelves: fantasy, i-own-it, audiobook, excellent-narrators, favorites

Audiobook. Simon Vance as narrator -> who does an amazing job.
Finished this the other night and moved right on to The Wandering Fire.

My first Guy Gavriel Kay, and I will say he writes BEAUTIFULLY. Very artistic and thoughtful prose, yet NOT flowery fluff, poetic dribble, or writing to hear oneself talk.

This is probably some of the best high fantasy out there. Storyline is good, and the characters are all strong, well developed, and likable. It has been especi...more

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Aug 15, 2011

Gette rated it

Guy Gavriel Kay s fantasy trilogy about a land called Fionavar is a little over 20 years old. I ve never heard of this Canadian author before, but an online friend was so adamant that I should read it that he ordered the books from Amazon and had them delivered to me as a gift.

The trilogy is made up of Book One: The Summer Tree, Book Two: The Wandering Fire and Book Three: The Darkest Road. Since it s essentially one huge story, I ll be talking about all three books in one revie...more

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Sep 13, 2008

Mark rated it

Recommends it for: nobody

Shelves: fantasy

The Review

I generally don't write a review for a book unless I finish it. I don't think it's fair to the author or to others interested in the book.

I didn't finish this book.

However, I did spend a significant amount of time on this book, so I think I do have the right to say something.

Wow. This book beat me. I don't know if was the method in which I read the book or if I just didn't have the mindset to do so, but I just didn't like it.
...more

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Feb 27, 2008

Trin rated it

Shelves: fantasy, canadian-lit

Five Canadian college students are transported to a magical kingdom, and all of them are pretty blasé about it. Their lack of reaction cued me in pretty early on that I wasn’t going to like this book. None of these characters felt like real people to me; the students are pretty interchangeable (one’s a bit crankier! one has guilt! two possess vaginas!) and they all completely lack one of the most important things, in my opinion, for a successful fantasy novel: a sense of wonder. Nothing about th...more

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Oct 25, 2007

Josh rated it

Recommends it for: die hard fans of the author

Shelves: fantasy

My first introduction to Kay was the stand-alone novel, Tigana. It took me a while to really get into Tigana, but I really started to appreciate Kay's eloquent style, fleshed out characters and whit in dialogue and plot development. I decided that before going on to read the rest of his works, I had better read Fianovar. I didn't quite find the same reading experience here.

While the characters in Tigana are well thought and believable, those in the Summer Tree are quite the opposite...moreMy first introduction to Kay was the stand-alone novel, Tigana. It took me a while to really get into Tigana, but I really started to appreciate Kay's eloquent style, fleshed out characters and whit in dialogue and plot development. I decided that before going on to read the rest of his works, I had better read Fianovar. I didn't quite find the same reading experience here.

While the characters in Tigana are well thought and believable, those in the Summer Tree are quite the opposite. The reader is given the names of our five heroes right from the get go but Kay doesn't feel that it's necessary to really introduce any of them. He goes on about these five as if you should already know them. Soon comes the mage, Loren, who will take them into Fianovar. This part I found laughable, as only one of the characters really seems to question the sense of this mage appearing out of nowhere and taking them to another world. The other four follow Loren blissfully into Fianovar and seem to go on once they get there as if nothing had really happened. Only on a few occasions do these four characters reference their own world, Earth, in comparison to this new fantastic world that they seem to accept so easily. Dave, the one character who was the exception from the beginning, was the only character of the five whose story I really enjoyed. Having been separated from the other four from the time they all entered Fianovar, Dave's story happens later in the book and almost feels like a completely separate tale. His reactions to the events that follow his arrival are much more believable than his counterparts and I thought his part of the book (at least in comparison to the rest)was pretty fun.

The book as a whole is a complete cliché. We have a dark lord imprisoned after a war long ago, struggling to break free. This dark lord has insidious minions, sent out to foil the opposition and wreak havoc in preparation for his arrival. There are also similar races to Tolkien, such as the lios alfar, who are essentially elves with a different name, and of course the stout and noble dwarves. And one fact not to be forgotten: the fate of this world of course rests in the hands of the five protagonists that the mage has brought there.

Despite these obvious discrepancies, Kay imbues some of this story with his talents as a writer and somehow spins a tale of cliché into a slightly enjoyable yarn. He has the tendency to make you visualize his environments and settings with picturesque quality and towards the end, some of the characters started to grow on me. The dialogue between his characters is descent, but a lot of the character actions seemed unbelievable and sometimes downright stupid. That coupled with the obsurdity of the story makes this hard to recommend. I also don't really like the whole "crossover" from real life to fantasy genre. It reminds me of 80's fantasy movies.

So besides the fact that Kay knows how to write, I think this book was simply pretty bad. Tigana was good, but skip this series.

(less)

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May 05, 2007

Brahm rated it

Recommends it for: People who like Tolkien imitators

Shelves: fantasy

Being a fan of Guy Gavriel Kay on the basis some of his other works (particularly The Sarantine Mosaic and Tigana, books which I find to be among the best in the fantasy genre), I was incredibly excited to read this, his first novel. I have never been a fan of the "person/people from our world drawn into a fantasy world" type of story; however, I felt that if there was one author who could do it right, it would be Guy Gavriel Kay. Alas, the Kay writing The Summer Tree displays none of...moreBeing a fan of Guy Gavriel Kay on the basis some of his other works (particularly The Sarantine Mosaic and Tigana, books which I find to be among the best in the fantasy genre), I was incredibly excited to read this, his first novel. I have never been a fan of the "person/people from our world drawn into a fantasy world" type of story; however, I felt that if there was one author who could do it right, it would be Guy Gavriel Kay. Alas, the Kay writing The Summer Tree displays none of the depth of characterization, thematic coherency and relevance or tight plotting of the later Kay , and thus I found The Summer Tree to be a dissapointing rehash of Lord of the Rings, albeit with some sometimes interesting alterations.

Thats not to say there's nothing good in this book; there are clearly some great ideas, and some are brought to excellent fruition. In particular, the last fifty pages of the "Rachel's Song" part of the novel was not only pageturning, but also contained a depth of characterization and excellent writing absent from the rest of the novel. The premise, however, is simply too unbelievable; five Toronto law students meet a wizard from another world who informs them of multiple worlds and wants to bring them to one; and yet all of them, besides one sceptic, immediately believe him, are convinced to travel to Fionavar within the space of a page, and immediately fit in as soon as they arrive. This is completely unrealistic writing and characterization (and indeed, the one sceptic loses all sense of scepticism/surprise as soon as we are introduced to him again after the crossing), and indeed, helped to spoil a lot of the novel for me. The one appeal I can think of in introducing "real world" characters to a fantasy world is to explore our relation to the fantastic and how a normal human being would react to these things. This theme, however, is dissapointingly absent. In fact, the main characters being from our world adds about nothing to the story and could have been done without altogether. This is probably the most dissapointing aspect of the story.

However, another one is that the world of Fionavar is so pedestrian. If you know Middle Earth, then you have a basic understanding of how Fionavar works. You have your immortal beings who speak in overblown flowery language (a point I will return to later) and who sail west towards a continent no mortal can find, your Dark Lord who's breaking free and rebuilding his fortress, your dwarves who are too greedy and who release a great evil, and on it goes. Kay looks like he's going to add some great political action in here at one point, but all this great political build up turns into nothing and your typical "good vs. evil" story is set up in place. Considering Kay's great success at political games in his other stories, this lack of confrontation is jarring, especially after we've been introduced to all the different factions.

Finally, Kay's writing style is clearly overblown here. Kay, in his later books, always has had a poetic style of writing that can actually be quite beautiful. Here, he simply tries to emulate Tolkien; and really, Tolkien's style has only ever worked for Tolkien. From the random poems and songs (Kay has yet to master poetry, as he does later in The Lions of Al-Rassan) to the dissapointingly lame and over-dramatic historical explanations, Kay's prose here comes across as cheesy, indulgent and unnecessary.

I'm going to be reading the next two books in this trilogy. Like I said, there is some good in here, and already a twist early on in the second book, while a bit contrived, is sparking my interest. However, Kay clearly hasn't developed his greatness as a writer yet in The Fionavar Tapestry, which is really too bad. I can't say that I reccomend The Summer Tree, though I do reccomend all other Guy Gavriel Kay books. You'll be much better off buying Tigana, Sailing to Sarantium or The Lions of Al-Rassan than this.(less)

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Sep 15, 2007

Meredith Enos rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: good-scififantasy, favorites

everyone says this is a LOTR rip off, but i personally can't stand the narrative style of LOTR. every five years or i try to read LOTR and i just can't. i get maybe 100 pages in, if i'm being extra patient, and then chuck the whole endeavor. and truly, an endeavor is what it feels like: long and arduous. the whole thing is so damn wordy, and there are way too many 3-page hobbit songs. sorry if that offends all the tolkien lovers.

the Fionavar Tapestry is much more accessible. the narr...more

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Nov 22, 2010

Jackie rated it

Shelves: fantasy, parallel-world

This is the first novel I read by Kay, and I am not disappointed. He's got a new fan.

Since this is the first in a continuing trilogy, I don't feel I can review it in depth as the story isn't over.

I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Characters and settings were well defined and I've made some new friends in Fionavar.

I'm patiently awaiting delivery of the rest of the series; once I've read all three novels I will be able to do justice to the series ...more

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Feb 12, 2009

Kathleen rated it

This is a twist on the usual children or teenagers go to another world to save it, because the five people who go to Fionavar are young adults, college-aged people who are not quite mired in the day-to-day kinds of responsibilities that would keep them from accepting an invitation to visit another world.

I enjoyed getting to know the people they met in Fionavar and I grew to really care about them and what they were struggling with.

I haven't finished the rest of the trilog...more

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Jan 23, 2012

Nikki rated it

Shelves: fantasy, based-on-myth-saga-etc

Fresh from reading most of Tolkien's work, and writing a gigantic essay on it too, I have a different perspective on Kay's work. Especially when reminded that Kay worked on The Silmarillion with Christopher Tolkien. He has a lot in common with Tolkien, really: the synthesis of a new mythology (though not done as history, and therefore lacking all the little authenticating details that Tolkien put in) using elements of an old one (though Kay used Celtic and Norse mythology, and goodness knows wha...more

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Jan 11, 2012

Carro rated it

I first read this book in 1994 and have re-read it a number of times over the years until the point came that it was too familiar. Seeing it as one of the books of the month prompted me to try a re-read and I have thoroughly enjoyed it (and went straight on to the Wandering Fire).
I have been trying to analyse why it is such a gripping book. So far I think it is:

1. The pace. Sometimes it is very fast moving, other times there is a moment to catch your breath and get to know some...more

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Jun 22, 2011

Carson Kicklighter rated it

I wasn't able to finish this novel because I found it bland and awkwardly written.

Five kids from the University of Toronto follow a wizard and a dwarf to the magical world of Fionavar, where the king is decrepit, a drought is persisting, and an ancient evil is about to break loose. There's little in the world to set it apart from any other traditional fantasy realm or D&D campaign setting. There's a castle celebration where clowns perform and peddlers sell "colorful goods'; there ...more

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May 27, 2011

Forrest rated it

Shelves: cbriii

If you Google “Fionavar” and visit the first couple of results, you will quickly see a pattern. Every single website directly compares Kay’s trilogy to the works of Tolkien. Some are very direct about it, such as the Wikipedia entry that notes the similarities in world construction; geography and cosmology in particular. Kay’s own website remarks that Fionavar is deliberately styled after Tolkien’s High Fantasy concept. Most, if not all, of the professional reviews reference Tolkien and most...moreIf you Google “Fionavar” and visit the first couple of results, you will quickly see a pattern. Every single website directly compares Kay’s trilogy to the works of Tolkien. Some are very direct about it, such as the Wikipedia entry that notes the similarities in world construction; geography and cosmology in particular. Kay’s own website remarks that Fionavar is deliberately styled after Tolkien’s High Fantasy concept. Most, if not all, of the professional reviews reference Tolkien and most of them are complementary. It is, in face, impossible to experience this novel in cyberspace and not be exposed to a large sized container of your choice of Middle Earth.

It is tempting to say that Kay has updated the Lord of the Rings trilogy and done a rather good job of it. It is tempting to say that Kay was the correct choice to do this because of his experience editing The Silmarillion. But ultimately, The Summer Tree falls somewhat short of these lofty expectations and while this review will have ZERO impact on the enormous body of comparison that already exists; I cannot just rubberstamp A J.R.R. Seal of Approval and call it a day.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with The Summer Tree. It is an interesting read with decent world construction and some interesting side characters. The protagonists are fair to moderately dull and, as High Fantasy protagonists, always end up where they need to be without much thinking. The amount of not-thinking that goes into the setup of this book is staggering. A ‘wizard’ snags you and four of your friends and offers to take you to a magical kingdom for a weekend holiday and your response isn’t “WTF mate?” There’s some serious suspension of disbelief, and that’s from the characters. The reader has to dig through another layer of the stuff.

Paul Schafer, who is the Angsty Prince of the story isn’t thinking about staying alive because his girlfriend died. Kim Ford gets a dose of destiny once she gets to Fionavar and stops thinking entirely. Kevin Laine, resident Prettyboy and natural-born leader doesn’t think until his friends start dying off. Jennifer Lowell in the role of Queen Bitch unthinkingly wanders from one terrible situation into another and then literally stops thinking after she gets raped by a god (rape isn’t funny kids. Stupidity is). And Dave Martyniuk, who went into this mess as the only one who was even slightly rational, kills a big, bad beastie and promptly stops thinking due to testosterone.

It’s really too bad that the Big Five are so incredibly moronic, because Loren Silvercloak, the mage who brings them across, is a charming and intelligent wizard type who enjoys a somewhat homoerotic relationship with a stubby Dwarf called Matt. Prince Diarmuid is a great example of why second sons in royal lines are more fun and is probably the smartest person in the book.

Like other fantasy novels, it’s hard to judge The Summer Tree by itself. It is part of a trilogy and if you were to draw some comparisons between The Lord of the Rings and The Fionavar Tapestry, you’d find that The Summer Tree barely gets to the foundation of the Fellowship, as everyone is still preparing for the coming war. There is a lot of material left to cover here and the later books may make up for some of the early stupidity. If we can’t believe in character development, what can we believe in?

Fans of Tolkien may enjoy The Summer Tree if only out of nostalgia. But for my money, I’d rather just read the original again than put up with this less than impressive imitation.(less)

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Feb 25, 2011

Alli Poirot rated it

i read this on the way home from sweden- first on one 3 hour flight and then a 5 hour one. it's got a lot of respected fantasy/sf authors proclaiming its importance on the cover, and the trilogy it's in (the fionavar tapestry) is on several lists of the best fantasy books in the 20th century. however, i was kind of bored. maybe it's because i'm just not interested in this kind of book anymore, or maybe it's not that good? there are 5 modern day characters who get pulled over (by a mage of course...more

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Feb 11, 2011

Noah rated it

Shelves: fantasy-literature

A very interesting and "thick" work and one that impressed me the more I read it. At first the story seems somewhat juvenile and run-of-the-mill, but after following the characters for a good fifty pages I was surprised to find myself hooked. I look forward to the sequel.

An interesting aspect of this work is Kay's use of both Celtic and Germanic mythology, at times as it exists while at others using them to create his world. For instance, a mixture of Odin and Mimir has a ...moreA very interesting and "thick" work and one that impressed me the more I read it. At first the story seems somewhat juvenile and run-of-the-mill, but after following the characters for a good fifty pages I was surprised to find myself hooked. I look forward to the sequel.

An interesting aspect of this work is Kay's use of both Celtic and Germanic mythology, at times as it exists while at others using them to create his world. For instance, a mixture of Odin and Mimir has a short conversation with Dana of the Irish Tuatha De Dannan and a hybrid of Loki and Fenrir (complete with what I thought might be a reference to Tir's hand) appears as the bad guy. Other very obscure instances of Celtic myth also show up, particularly Taliesin, whose vague and fascinating questions I've only know to exist in a single translation from the Welsh (where did he find it! I'd like to know, as said translation is out of my budget range...). And it was fun to read about svart alfar and lios alfar, though, really, he could have made them a little bit different from Tolkien's elves. And speaking of the Master, Kay is also firmly founded in the Tolkienian vein, something I find comforting and interesting, though at times Kay comes a bit too close (Maugrim sounds a bit similar to Bauglir to me). At times the mixtures seem somewhat odd (Owein and the wild hunt!?) and character's names are used that have nothing to do with the mythic character (Diarmuit?), a situation others might have trouble with when coming across a nasty, ugly 'Romeo' or the like. But, like most names, it just took some time, though I look forward to the next time I read Irish myth and Diarmuit dan Ailell comes uninvited into Finn's band.

Kay isn't the best writer I've ever come across in terms of structure and word-choice, and he changes perspective, at times, too quickly from character to character in a scene. Also, Kay uses free indirect discourse, which I can't stand, and usually to the detriment of what he's trying to say. And what it IS that he's trying to say is actually very interesting and, at times, extremely deep and I give the book five stars, even with all the problems, because I think Kay has a very good sense of what fantasy actually -means.- Kay's not writing just some little story with dwarves and elves and magic, but trying to get to the inner-workings of a world and a system, something that, I believe, all great fantasy does (and one of the largest reasons I like the genre so much). Kay's use of Taliesin is a good example of this (and hopefully this continues), and I look forward to reading about what "the Longest Road" is.

Further, I was at first pushed away from the book by it's rather tried and tired 'four/five children from our world enter another world and adventure ensues' set-up. If you're like me, don't worry: although it is a well-used plot device, Kay uses it in interesting ways that made me see the main characters not as coming from modern Canada as a simple device to get the reader into the story and explain the confusing, but an exploration of what might happen if it such a thing were to actually occur. The characters go through quite a bit more than just a simple learning about how they need to "be themselves" (without, as is usual, any direction on how exactly to do that or what in the world that means) but are pulled into the world more deeply SO THAT we as readers can understand more fully the workings of the Fionavar. Well done.

Finally, and this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, I'll admit, but I felt the looseness of the male characters to be rather unbelievable. Modern literature (and fantasy is unfortunately taking this on) seems to believe that sex scenes is necessary for a book to be considered adult. "The Summer Tree" didn't have as many as other works I've read recently, nor did it go into detail, but it just seemed unlikely that all the male characters would both find themselves with women they did not or barely knew and not feel a bit of remorse or hesitation. Some characters, sure, I'd understand having slept in every available bed (a certain prince...), but that all the other male, main characters do too? I'm sorry but this assumes too much that 1) men are sex-crazed and 2) every male in a medieval setting was loose. It's a pet peeve, I know, and I'm sure it doesn't bother everyone, but it does me.

In the end, though, a great work of fantasy.(less)

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Feb 10, 2011

Jen rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: No-one

Shelves: adventure, battle, fantasy, gunpowder, old-fashioned, waffle

I wish I could say this was a great book too. Everywhere I look when there are reviews being posted about this series in general or this book, there's often high praise. Even on the book itself, it's described as a "major fantasy work of the 80s".

I find this puzzling because I have managed to read this book (just starting to give the second book a try just in case it gets better - if not, I'm not bothering to find the third book) and I cannot see why this series deserves this...more

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Jun 29, 2010

Fence rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sff

This is a reread for me, the reason being that we are reading the series at ffseries starting with book 2 as we read the first one in fantasy favorites. So in preparation I thought I might as well skim over this one so I’d know what I was talking about.

When I first read The Summer Tree I wasn’t all that impressed, thought it was quite standard fantasy, and, when compared to other books by GGK, disappointing. I’m glad to say that after my rereading I’d have to disagree with my earlie...more

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Jan 27, 2010

Elizabeth McDonald rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy lovers

Guy Gavriel Kay really, really likes J.R.R. Tolkien. Like, a whole lot. He even helped edit The Silmarillion for publication. But even if you didn't know that, you'd realize by reading The Summer Tree that Kay really, really, really likes Tolkien.

There is an ancient evil power that has broken free of its bonds and threatens to enslave this parallel world. There are dwarves, and elf-like children of the light, and a tribe of horse-riding warriors, and dark, mysterious woods. There are...more

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Nov 18, 2011

Πέτρος rated it

Consider this a review of the whole trilogy, since I find very few differences amongst the books to write something different about each one of them.

The Fionovar Tapestry is in many ways an old-school type of fantasy adventure, in the likes of Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Its premise is about youths traveling from our world into a magical, where they are forced to take part in a war for the fate of the universe. What makes it a step more interesting though is that ...moreConsider this a review of the whole trilogy, since I find very few differences amongst the books to write something different about each one of them.

The Fionovar Tapestry is in many ways an old-school type of fantasy adventure, in the likes of Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Its premise is about youths traveling from our world into a magical, where they are forced to take part in a war for the fate of the universe. What makes it a step more interesting though is that it is in overall far more brutal, sexual, and eventually less expectable than the classical formula. Although the key points are the same (an evil god trying to take over the world with orcs, and humans, dwarves and elves fight back) the way the parties are presented are far more complicating in terms of alliances, and there is a big chunk of erotic vibes throughout everybody’s behavior. This helps to have a less black & white situation, where nobody is pure good or evil. It also delves into their carnal desires, something very rare for the romantic writers of half a century ago.

This of course has its ups and downs as you keep reading, since you practically have a rather mature story being told in a fairy tale setting. The beginning of the story in particular was extremely awkward, since I had to stretch the disbelief factor extremely high in order to be convinced a few university students would be told out of the blue to follow a wizard and his dwarf assistant to a magical land. They accept and they go there, and they don’t mind it at all. Heck, they don’t even seem to bother the different way things work here. HEY THEY DON’T HAVE OUT FANCY TOILETS, OK? Afterwards though, things are indeed far more enjoyable for being multi-faced and hidden. All the different species have all sorts of internal conflicts, and there are lots of traitors lurking in the shadows. Even the Lord of Evil is not presented as a threat at first, since he is supposed to be defeated and be done with.

Another positive feature is how the author does not slow down the pacing with extreme detailed descriptions and mostly focuses on the characters and their desires. This turns the story from being good for making your mind traveling to magic lands to be equal good for looking inside the minds of everybody, and turning everything to more psychological and less cheesy for following the epic fantasy formula.

Some of the things I do not like in the genre though are still present and show their ugly face far too often. As usual, there is a lot of magic panacea throughout the story, which makes you think that all it takes is to have a god on your side or the aid of a powerful magical artifact. There are lots of broken powers which work as Deus ex machina and take away a lot of the otherwise good attempt at strategy and field tactics that would make the setting far more believable.

There is also this issue regarding the effects gods play in the lives of mortals. Although I loved how they couldn’t intervene directly but rather needed a mortal to sacrifice something important in order to gain their trust, at the same time I couldn’t understand if they even cared for the fate of the world in general. I mean they will definitely be destroyed if the Evil God wins the war yet they don’t seem to be able to do anything without some sort of tribute. The Evil God on the other hand can pretty much do as he pleases, with tribute or not.

I am also not so thrilled with how much he used Arthurian legends in order to flavor his secondary legends. Do you believe the Knights of the Round Table are presented as super champions of good that awaken every few centuries to battle evil? What the heck was that all about? How about using Stonehenge as a teleportation devise? These touches to existing legends may be cool for some, but I was sure not thrilled much since they are there for the sake of saving the author time in describing the past.

Despite the hit or miss of several elements in this trilogy, I still consider it a very good read for the genre, if you are fans of the classics and seek something a bit darker and psychological. It never reaches the insane world-building of Elrik, or the majestic descriptions of Middle Earth, or the Machiavellian interactions of Song of Fire and Ice, but it definitely is an interesting tale.(less)

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Apr 12, 2011

Melody rated it

I enjoyed Tigana so much, it made sense for me to dip into Kay's back catalog. I may have gone too far back. This book was really, really busy what with the 12 intersecting plot lines, the 27 classes of people, the 14 gods (numbers approximate, but overwhelming) and the odd shape-changer. The language is high-flown and portentous all out of proportion with the fairly stale plots. I understand that in the second book, Arthur and Lance are brought into the world, and one of the existing characters...more

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Sep 19, 2010

D-day rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 100-mod-fant-list

The Summer Tree' is the first book of Guy Gavriel Kay's 'Fionavar Tapestry' trilogy. It is a cross world fantasy, where five college students from Toronto (booooo!) are invited by the mage Loren Silvercloak to travel to Fionavar, 'the first of all worlds'. It is a world of gods, elves, dwarves and a dark lord imprisoned under a mountain. The book owes something to Tolkien, but also has Norse, Celtic and Greek mythological influences. I enjoyed it very much, but I am not blind to its faults. As m...more

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Jan 08, 2010

Lightreads rated it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

Epic fantasy. Five Canadians go across to another world, where an ancient evil is rising again.

Okay, I have to admit, this took a while. It's been a bit since I read srs bzness epic fantasy, and this is about as srs bzness (and earnest) as they get. It's all portentous droughts and visions making the seer's hair turn white and "And thus it came to pass that . . ." and so forth. Takes some getting used to again. That, and the way the characters just get shoved back and forth...more

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Jun 19, 2009

Adrienne rated it

Shelves: fantasy

This is a sword-and-sorcery type of fantasy novel with a dash of parallel worlds sci-fi and a little angsty personal drama mixed in too. While there are definitely some similiarities to other famous fantasy trilogies - I particularly kept remembering Lord of the Rings and The Belgariad - Kay changes things up enough and creates such interesting characters that those similiarities didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel.

Five graduate students at the University of Toronto meet up...more

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Feb 06, 2012

Maya rated it

Recommends it for: fans of high / epic fantasy a la Tolkien

Shelves: ongoing

3,5 stars? 3 seems not quite enough, while 4 seems a bit too much =/

This is how you make a classic “tolkien-esque” high / epic fantasy story interesting.

It did take some time for me to get into (the beginning was basically “hey you chosen-ones. We need you in this fantasy world, you coming? Ok, let's go”) and I didn't get very much attached to the characters (there are plenty, and lots with their own agenda), but I enjoyed their journey(s).

The setting is detai...more3,5 stars? 3 seems not quite enough, while 4 seems a bit too much =/

This is how you make a classic “tolkien-esque” high / epic fantasy story interesting.

It did take some time for me to get into (the beginning was basically “hey you chosen-ones. We need you in this fantasy world, you coming? Ok, let's go”) and I didn't get very much attached to the characters (there are plenty, and lots with their own agenda), but I enjoyed their journey(s).

The setting is detailed, full of imagination, but with some political intrigue. There are plenty of twists along the way, which is why The Summer Tree doesn't read in the same “linear” way as many other epic “quest-fantasy” stories I've read. And it has a very interesting magic system, with one person being the “source” from whom the mage draws his power.

The writing is quite nice, yet weird and exaggerated at times. A bit too many “oh, … oh ...” and “God, … oh God ...” kind of lines. The little humor there is wasn't really my taste either. Some scenes were a bit too dramatic (especially with Paul and his trauma), some a bit cheesy, and sometimes too much info-dumping, but overall this is an enjoyable fantasy story. Nothing that will blow you away, but very much able to entertain.

Personally, I don't mind the typical “quest-fantasy” stories, but I need them to have at least some kind of individuality. This one has lots of it.

I also don't care for the simplistic idea of “good vs evil”, “light vs dark”, but at least the evil guy here is really evil and the dark elves are also really dark. I'd like this series a lot more if the bad guy would get some character depth though.

If you don't mind the “tolkien-esque” style (with a quest to fight against evil and save the kingdom / world, elves, dwarfs, oracles, enchanted forests etc.), or even more so if you're a fan of such stories, The Fionavar Tapestry is worth reading. Some also call it an “adult version of Narnia”, but I guess that's mostly because the main characters travel from our world into the fantasy world.

The cover somehow made me expect a MG fantasy novel, but obviously this series is for adults. Since it is also quite dark, I believe this is worth giving a try if you're a fan of Game of Thrones as well.(less)

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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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The Wandering Fire (The Fionavar Tapestry, #2)

The Darkest Road (The Fionavar Tapestry, #3)

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“There are kinds of action, for good or ill, that lie so far outside the boundaries of normal behavior that they force us, in acknowledging that they have occurred, to restructure our own understanding of reality. We have to make room for them.” — 23 people liked it

“Dave hung up. And unplugged the phone. With a fierce and bitter pain he stared at it, watching how, over and over again, it didn't ring.” — 2 people liked it

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