Author | Guy Gavriel Kay |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | New American Library |
Publication date | 2016 |
Publication place | Canada |
Children of Earth and Sky is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 2016. It was the first novel he wrote after receiving the Order of Canada. [1]
Kay's subsequent novel A Brightness Long Ago is a prequel to Children of Earth and Sky. [2] [3]
The book is set in the same fantasy world as The Sarantine Mosaic , but following the decline and fall of Sarantium. [1] Leaders of states that are Jaddite, having been greatly affected by an epidemic, are worried of an impending threat by the growing Osmanli empire whose cultural and religious traditions may eclipse their own. [1] Meanwhile, the duke of the Jaddite city of Seressa seeks to secure and strengthen his position. [1]
There are five principal and numerous secondary and ancillary characters. [4] The warrior Danica Gradek is a skilled archer seeking vengeance for the abduction of her brother Neven by the Osmanli; she is recruited by Senjan pirates. The young artist Pero Villani is ambitious and tries to court the spy Leonora Valeri, previously exiled by her father. The Dubrova merchant Marin guides them through the "political and physical hazards" of their eastward journey. [4] [5] Pero is chosen to paint a western-style portrait of the khalif Gurçu, the principal Osmanli threat. [5] Danica and Leonora meet during a raid by the pirates, and develop a "survival friendship". [5]
Senjan is a nation state that opposes Osmanli expansion and has contemptuous regard for those who trade with them, raiding their ships. [6] Dubrova is an emergent trading nation that avoids antagonizing the powerful Seressa empire that dominates trade. [6] The latter maintains an extensive spy network. [7]
Kay states that while conducting research for his novels, he often acquires folkloric knowledge and learns the history of various places. For Children of Earth and Sky, he stated in an interview with Clarkesworld Magazine that among his favourites were learning about the origins of Venetian bookbinding and about the history of the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. [8]
The novel is based on 16th-century Europe, in which the cities of Sarantium and Seressa are analogues for Constantinople and the Republic of Venice. [1] In an "Ask Me Anything" interview on the r/Fantasy subreddit, Kay stated that the name Seressa was chosen as an echo of "La Serenissima", [9] a traditional name associated with the city state when it was considered a Most Serene Republic. The city of Dubrova is an analogue of Dubrovnik, [6] Senjen and its pirates an analogue for Senj and the Uskoks, [7] and Prague also has an analogue. [10]
The Osmanli empire is based on the Ottoman Empire and the Jaddite religion modelled on Christianity. [6]
In a review for the Chicago Tribune , Gary K. Wolfe stated that the "lush historical tapestry" provides the setting for "compelling, sympathetic characters" and "convincing secondary characters" with stories that intersect in a clever fashion. [10] In a review for Locus , he states that the characters are both complex and nuanced, typical of Kay's best work. [5] Writing for Fantasy Literature, Tadiana Jones states that Kay "weaves together the lives of several fascinating individuals". [6]
Kirkus Reviews described the setting as "lush, well-researched, and well-painted", and that history may be the "strongest character" and identifiable as the Mediterranean of the 16th century. [4] In a review for The Globe and Mail , David A. Hobbs states that one can "trace the outlines of the Adriatic 15th century, but ... they disappear behind images from Kay's own imagination". [1] Jones stated that the worldbuilding in the novel is "remarkable" and imbued with "richness and complexity". [6] In the book, Kay includes a list of non-fiction sources about the settings used as background for the book. [1]
Kay's use of the supernatural is described as intentionally restrained, [5] and the story has a "light touch with the fantasy". [4] In a review for Tor.com , Niall Alexander describes Kay as "contemporary fiction’s finest fantasist". [7]
Hobbs also stated that Kay's prose is an obstacle, because he describes a character as unconventional instead of placing that character in an action (such as "loosing arrows accurately and effectively while the conventional young women look on conventionally") that demonstrates the trait. [1] He said that he could not "stop finding bothersome sentence structures similar to those in The Lord of the Rings and other contemporary fantasy novels". [1]
Writing for Fantasy Literature, Bill Capossere stated that Children of Earth and Sky covers a "grand sweeping tide of history" including "the rise and fall of cities and empires, the collision of religion and culture, a messy continent-striding tangle of politics, religion, economics, and ethnicity". [6] He also stated that the story shifts seamlessly from the macro to the micro by "scaling down epic events so that history becomes humanized". [6] Jones states that the story is "compelling reading, epic in scope but also closely personal". [6]
The pace of the novel is generally slow, also typical of Kay's works, and in his review Alexander states that Kay is not the "sort of author to race towards a destination" and that the "joy of his novels is invariably in the journeys". [7]
Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings 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. Kay has expressed a preference to avoid genre categorization of these works as historical fantasy. As of 2022, Kay has published 15 novels and a book of poetry. As of 2018, his fiction has been translated into at least 22 languages. Kay is also a qualified lawyer in Canada.
Steve Rune Lundin, known by his pseudonym Steven Erikson, is a Canadian novelist who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist.
Tigana is a 1990 fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. The novel is set in a region called the Peninsula of the Palm, which somewhat resembles Renaissance Italy as well as the Peloponnese in shape.
The Fionavar Tapestry is a book series of fantasy novels by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay, published between 1984 and 1986. The novels are set in both contemporary Toronto and the secondary world of Fionavar.
Gardens of the Moon, published on April 1, 1999, is the first of ten novels in Canadian author Steven Erikson's high fantasy series the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Malazan Book of the Fallen is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the Canadian author Steven Erikson. The series, published by Bantam Books in the U.K. and Tor Books in the U.S., consists of ten volumes, beginning with Gardens of the Moon (1999) and concluding with The Crippled God (2011). Erikson's series presents the narratives of a large cast of characters spanning thousands of years across multiple continents.
The Lions of Al-Rassan is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. It is set in a peninsula of the same world in which The Sarantine Mosaic and The Last Light of the Sun are set, and is based on Moorish Spain. The novel concentrates on the relationships between the three peoples: the Kindath, the Asharites, and the Jaddites, although the religions of the Kindath, Asharites, and Jaddites, as described in the novel, bear no relation to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her Binti Series and her novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control. She has also written for comics and film.
A fantasy fiction magazine, or fantasy magazine, is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about such characters as Santa Claus. Also not included are adult magazines about sexual fantasy. Many fantasy magazines, in addition to fiction, have other features such as art, cartoons, reviews, or letters from readers. Some fantasy magazines also publish science fiction and horror fiction, so there is not always a clear distinction between a fantasy magazine and a science fiction magazine. For example, Fantastic magazine published almost exclusively science fiction for much of its run.
Janeen Webb is an Australian writer, critic and editor, working mainly in the field of science fiction and fantasy.
Ken Scholes is an American science fiction and fantasy writer living in Cornelius, Oregon, United States.
Under Heaven is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay's eleventh novel, it was published in April 2010 by Viking Canada. The work, set in a secondary world based upon Tang China, is a departure for Kay in that it takes place outside of a setting based on Europe or the Mediterranean. It recounts events based on the An Shi Rebellion. Under Heaven takes place in a completely new world, as seen by it having only one moon as opposed to the two moons normally present in Guy Gavriel Kay's works. In 2013 he published a second novel, River of Stars, set approximately 400 years later in the same world.
Nora Keita Jemisin is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her fiction includes a wide range of themes, notably cultural conflict and oppression. Her debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and the subsequent books in her Inheritance Trilogy received critical acclaim. She has won several awards for her work, including the Locus Award. The three books of her Broken Earth series made her the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in three consecutive years, as well as the first to win for all three novels in a trilogy. She won a fourth Hugo Award, for Best Novelette, in 2020 for Emergency Skin, and a fifth Hugo Award, for Best Graphic Story, in 2022 for Far Sector. Jemisin was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program Genius Grant in 2020.
This is a list of the published works of Aliette de Bodard.
River of Stars, a historical fantasy, is the twelfth novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was published in April 2013 by Roc Hardcover. It is Kay's second work set in an alternate history of China, taking place 400 years after his previous novel, Under Heaven. The novel is a fictionalized account of the Disaster of Jingkang and the beginning of the Jin–Song Wars during the Song Dynasty.
Assail is the sixth and final volume of the Novels of the Malazan Empire series by Canadian author Ian Cameron Esslemont. The novel is set in the world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, co-created with Esslemont's friend and colleague Steven Erikson.
Sam J. Miller is an American science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction author. His stories have appeared in publications such as Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, and Lightspeed, along with over 15 "year's best" story collections. He was finalist for multiple Nebula Awards along with the World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon Awards. He won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for his short story "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides." His debut novel, The Art of Starving, was published in 2017 and his novel Blackfish City won the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
All the Birds in the Sky is a 2016 science fantasy novel by American writer and editor Charlie Jane Anders. It is her debut speculative fiction novel and was first published in January 2016 in the United States by Tor Books. The book is about a witch and a techno-geek, their troubled relationship, and their attempts to save the world from disaster. The publisher described the work as "blending literary fantasy and science fiction".
A Song for Arbonne is a novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 1992. It is set in a fantasy world with two moons and is loosely based on 12th-century Provence and the Albigensian Crusade.
A Brightness Long Ago is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 2019 by Viking Press. It is inspired from the events of 15th-century Italy leading to the Italian Wars, and particularly the feud between Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta.