Nicholas (nwhyte) wrote,
Nicholas
nwhyte

March Books 6) Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Kay has written some amazing books, but unfortunately this isn't one of them. In Under Heaven he has moved away from his usual fantasy European setting and gone for a barely fictionalised account of a real incident from Chinese history, and for once I felt that his fidelity to the original facts got in the way of telling a good story. The plot is one of political, military and sexual tension; there are a couple of small fantasy elements which are so marginal that it hardly seems worth including them; and there is a poet who, thank god, does not inflict too much poetry on us. It's not a bad book, but disappointing in the context of Kay's earlier heights of achievement.
Tags: bookblog 2012, writer: guy gavriel kay
Subscribe

  • Britain and the Puzzle of European Union, by Andrew Duff

    Second paragraph of third chapter: The climax of such a tempestuous year [1973], in December, was another summit meeting of the Nine in Copenhagen,…

  • Nine European picture books

    Here's a lovely thing. The Slovenian Presidency of the EU has made available a book from each of the 27 EU member states for us all to read.…

  • Vector 293: Chinese SF

    Second paragraph of third article ("龙马精神 Dragon Horse Vitality Spirit", by Yen Ooi): Genres are in general difficult to define, but CSF is…

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
    Help
  • 2 comments