The Summer Tree
The Wandering Fire
The Darkest Road
Imagine: at a wizard’s request, you leave your life in Toronto to visit Fionavar — the “first of all worlds.” Your mission: to help the populace defeat baddy extraordinaire Rakoth Maugrim, who by threatening Fionavar, plans to propagate his evil across every world. This is the opening premise of The Fionavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay’s rip-roaring, epic fantasy series.
A classic tale of good vs. evil, The Fionavar Tapestry is “brightly woven” (as they say in Fionavar). It’s well-paced and meaty, a page-turner that transported me from the wilderness of Canada to a magical place where I lost track of time, fully immersed in Kay’s prose, the complex and introspective characters, and a plot packed with poignancy and intrigue.
I noticed some similarities with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series (small band of youthful do-gooder protagonists, a lady sect of priestesses similar to Jordan’s Aes Sedai). But where Jordan’s characters are flat, dull, and often clueless, populating a plot that meanders for hundreds of pages, Kay’s characters feel real — they think deeply and they’re self aware. They gain real insight and grow.
Weighty themes await you in Fionavar. The responsibility and consequences of personal choice and the myriad costs of power — two ideas woven throughout the novels — make for great tension and above all, a very satisfying read. The worst thing about The Fionavar Tapestry is that it ended.
I laughed, I teared up, I cheered, and now I wholeheartedly recommend this brightly woven series to you.
July and August, 2016
Bewildered Creatures 
I will put this on my list. I was happy to read what you wrote about Jordan. I really liked the Wheel of Time series when I started reading it, but then got to the point where I didn’t care about the characters. That’s a deal breaker for me. Your description is exactly how I want to feel when I’m reading.
Yes! I need to be invested in the characters to really get into a story. And, they don’t even have to be principled, “good” characters. One of my favourite characters is Nahadoth of N.K. Jemisin’s wonderful Inheritance Trilogy. Nahadoth is the Nightlord, god of chaos / cold / dark. He’s a dark character to be sure, but he’s so complex, you can’t help but love him.
I agree completely. Dark characters I love, if they are interesting and multi-dimensional. But in that case, there is usually some part of the character that is sympathetic.
Have you tried GGK’s other works? He just gets better from here on out.
I haven’t but I am definitely game to read more from GGK. Are there any in particular you think I should read?
My personal favourite is the Sarantine Mosaic, which is a two-book series. Other people swear by The Lions of Al-rassan and Tigana, which are probably his most popular works right now. I also really liked Under Heaven, A Song of Arbonne, and Last Light of the Sun. 🙂