'Written on the Dark' by Guy Gavriel Kay - 3.5 *

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

It was largely invented, that long poem. Poets do that, tellers of tales do. But the foundation was real.

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of the few authors on my shelves in the ‘must buy on publication’ category. I checked, and I have read everything he wrote, with the exception of his early book of poetry. Even when he’s not in top form, as I found his latest effort, he maintains the power to weave enchanted tapestries of words that transport me to times of wonder and strife, evoke the people who rise to the occasion when history demands it.

My opening quote stresses the two main attractions in his books: the use of language and the historical inspiration. Kay may be prone to flights of fancy that take him down different and stranger paths from his original sources, but he always starts with certain civilizations and with certain inflexion points of their journey through time. One name proposed for this choice of historical nexus offered by Kay is interlude , a pause for reflection between two ages, two conflicts, two heartbeats:

The poet is attracted to this moment of change, to the elegy for the loss of a certain cultural glory and the rise of something new, not necessarily something better than the past. Al Andalus under attack from the Catholic kings, China invaded by barbarians from the steppes, the Provence of the troubadours being persecuted as heretics, Constantinople under siege, the city-states of Italy at war with each other... and now France about to start a civil war while being invaded by England at the start of the XV century.
As often as not, the narrator is a poet or an artist caught in these ‘interesting times’ or a leader who laments the passing of an age.

The real focus of the story is not so much on these historical figures (Charles VI, John the Fearless, Henry V, the battle of Agincourt), but they form the background against which the real actors play their own personal dramas.

Thierry Villar mourns his exile from his beloved streets of Orane / Paris, but finds new inspiration for his verse in the chateau of his new friend, the court poetess Marina di Seressa. The Provost Robbin de Vaux, a former soldier forced now to navigate the treacherous waters of court politics, is probably the most compelling figure in the book.
I though Marina di Seressa was too good to be true, but I was glad to find out that her real source of inspiration was as formidable as herself: Christine de Pizan is today recognized as an early feminist icon and champion of fair governance.
Silvy, part-owner of an Orane tavern, is another liberated woman well ahead of her time in independence and emotional intelligence. Her own path is entangled with the journey of Thierry Villar and may lead from friendship to passion, but not before their resolve and their integrity are tested to the limits of endurance.
Instead of historical truth, the author offers an artist’s rendering of the past, distilled in a poet’s vision and cast against a dark background – a brightness long ago as he called it in a previous novel. We make sense of our lives through stories, not through statistics and memorized dates. Poems and mosaics and songs are as relevant for me as dry academic studies:

We regard our own memories as truths, when they are often just the stories we have told ourselves over time. They become the truth we live by, or with. They become our lives.

[Robin P]

I also read everything by this author and I felt this wasn't one of his strongest ones.

[Jgrace]

If I rate Kay against himself, this wasn't his best. But it was still much better than many other books that I've read this year.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

Robin P wrote: "I also read everything by this author and I felt this wasn't one of his strongest ones."

Still good enough, and an addition to the larger vision of history that connects each of his historical novels.
Sometimes, I wish he would return to the worlds of Tigana and Fionnavar

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

Jgrace wrote: "If I rate Kay against himself, this wasn't his best. But it was still much better than many other books that I've read this year."

yes, I would have given the story a higher rating if I wasn't bothered so much by the historical discrepancies

[Joanne]

Although not one of my favorites, I still loved it

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

Joanne wrote: "Although not one of my favorites, I still loved it"

I may be critical for now, but Kay is still in the read on publication category for me. Written on the Dark comes up short only compared with some of his other books. The Sarantium duology remains my favorite.

[Joanne]

I can see how it might disappoint some. Originally, I thought —and I guess I still do —that his publishers made him publish something to keep his name out there.

It was so very different from his other books, and that surprised me. I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. But as you said, he is one writer I try to read as soon as I see a new book has been published.