Under Heaven

The premise: ganked from BN.com (I think): In his latest innovative novel, the award-winning author evokes the dazzling Tang Dynasty of 8th-century China in a story of honor and power. Inspired by the glory and power of Tang dynasty China, Guy Gavriel Kay has created a masterpiece. It begins simply. Shen Tai, son of an illustrious general serving the Emperor of Kitai, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late father by burying the bones of the dead from both armies at the site of one of his father's last great battles. In recognition of his labors and his filial piety, an unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses. You give a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You give him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor. Wisely, the gift comes with the stipulation that Tai must claim the horses in person. Otherwise he would probably be dead already...My RatingBuy the Paperback: I liked the book, don't get me wrong. The rating is based on two things: 1) this beast was difficult to carry around, let alone difficult for me to physically handle (I have small hands); 2) I also feel that this book deserved a stronger editing hand: cuts could've been made without sacrificing the beauty of the prose, and looking at the story in hindsight, I feel like Tai's and Li-Mei's stories amounted to nothing in comparison to what Kay really wanted to write about, which was the fictionalized version of the An Shi Rebellion. But don't get me wrong: it's all very beautiful and an immersive book to read. I've not read many fantasies that are focused in Asian mythology or history, so this was a unique take for me (though I know other authors have utilized said mythology and history before). Some passages are pure poetry (and I'm not referring to the actual poetry of the book), and after reading this, other writing styles just look clumsy in comparison. Still, it's not my favorite read from Kay, but it's in second place (out of three books). It's a good read, and the characters are certainly likable, and there's no doubt you feel like you're a part of the world while reading. I'm just not sure hardcover's the best format to read this in, unless you're just a hardcore collector.Review style: There will be spoilers. I want to talk some about Kay's style and about how this book compares to the two others I've read and what kind of impression his work leaves on me; I want to talk about story structure and how this book does and does not fit in with your standard fantasy quest storytelling; we'll also look at the term "fake historical fantasy" and see how it applies to this book. It's a long book, and there's a lot to talk about. So yes, again, SPOILERS in the full review linked below. If spoilers don't bother you, or if you've already read the book, feel free to check it out in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Guy Gavriel Kay's UNDER HEAVENHappy Reading!

This was historic fiction with a touch of fantasy. I picked this because I had been reading books about modern China to prepare for a visit to the country. And although the history of modern China is fascinating, it's a bit depressing. There has been a lot of tragedy, death, and suffering in China's recent history, so I wanted a book about China, but more during the might and glory of the Empire. To be honest, this wasn't quite it. Yes, it was an intriguing story of all the intrigue and corruption behind the Tang Empire, and the characters were fascinating, but in the end, it was the story with a plot line similar to so many other tragic stories in fiction and fact. Heroes are created and sacrifice love and family to save an empire. Millions of people lose their lives and life goes on. So definitely, this is probably perfect for someone looking for that cast of millions epic story, but was a bit heavy for my current mood.The audio narration was spectacularly performed by Simon Vance.

I found the start to be slow and the narrative bogged down by excessive details at time, but overall the book kept me engaged enough to read through almost 600 pages in a few days. That is largely due to the compelling nature of the protagonist, Shen Tai. After his father, a celebrated general, dies, Shen decides to go a different path than most during his required mourning period. He ventures to a distant, isolated area where his father once fought a battle where thousands upon thousands died--and their ghosts linger there yet, howling each night over their unsettled, bleached bones. Shen spends two years burying the long-dead and setting ghosts at rest, and for that he's granted a surprising reward: 250 practically-divine horses. That sounds like a fine deal, except this comes from an enemy country, and his own country is on the verge of civil war. This gift could easily be a death sentence as people kill him for the horses or other, more personal reasons. But Shen is brilliant, and he surrounded by likewise smart, vivid characters.There were some odd points in the book. The narrator sometimes takes on the point of view of a distant historian, which felt weird. There are many good, well-rounded women in the book, but they never get a chance to truly shine. Shen's sister goes through some major travails, but she mostly follows orders instead of acting on her own agency, and in the end her plot line peters off to nothing. The plot thread of Shen's true love is likewise important through much of the book, to also peter off into an info dump along the lines of "and this is what happened for the rest of her life." Really? Shen's story is strong enough to save the book, even with the other annoyances. I was really loving the book through the middle, but those awkward resolutions at the end dampened my enthusiasm.

Guy Gavriel Kay's "Under Heaven" is a low fantasy novel set in a fictionalized version of Medieval China. Kay is a skilled writer, who uses beautiful language, and his characters are complex and deep. On the downside, the plot is rather simplistic and not especially compelling, serving mostly as a simple motive to get the characters moving across the landscape and talking to each other. Kay spends many pages on characters' introspection, memories, and feelings. Questions of decorum, propriety, social status, and proper behavior are central to characters' lives. Real action in the book's "present" is uncommon and special. Overall, I enjoyed the book, I appreciated the China-inspired setting, and I can see that Kay is a skilled writer. However, his thoughtful, introspective, character-focused style isn't what I happened to be looking for in a fantasy novel.

I read through this wonderful, large volume incredibly quickly. I love Kay's writing style. He writes sweeping, dramatic, stirring, epic tales, full of poetry and metaphor, exquisite description, words as clear and shining as crystal. He is master at creating books you won't want to put down - oh so very good at dropping hints and then moving on without being completely clear, and you just have to keep reading to find out what happens next.Under Heaven is another beautiful example of this. Possibly the least fantastic, and most realistic, of his historical fantasy volumes, this one evokes Tang Dynasty China, with all the courtly intrigue, silk-robed courtesans, black-robed warriors, wandering poets, heavenly horses, and jade-and-gold splendor that go with that era. I loved many of the characters and cared what happened to the them. I disliked others, as I was supposed to. I was kept on the edge of my seat and savored my way through the novel.I gave it 4.5 because there were some things at the end that didn't jive - were too out of the blue. Some I liked, some I didn't.

Great story in a slightly fantastic alternate version of China. (There are ghosts and a magical event happens in the remote frontier.) The backdrop is epic but the focus is on the personal story of the hero. Kay has a great way with words and really brings this era to life.

Hard to put down having me up to the wee hours following the evolving story. Loved the history Kay made come alive. Now to check out some of his earlier works.

Guy Gavriel Kay writes historical fantasy. Well, that's not quite accurate. He writes fantasy-lite novels inspired by history and culture. And by that I mean he changes names so as not to write about anything real, but basically takes whole swathes of cultures from the past and writes novels about these new creations that have small elements of fantasy, but are otherwise political, familial, or revolutionary dramas. With this book, his inspiration was the T'ang Dynasty from China circa 700 CE. One man's life changes drastically with one seemingly small decision to devote two years of his life to burying the dead at the site of a battle. He does not distinguish sides, but tries to bury any dead he comes across. This battlefield is famously haunted, and therefore strongly avoided by both nations who battled many years ago, but who now share a peace treaty. This man, Shen Tai, has his world changed when he is gifted 250 exquisite horses from the Princess of the rival nation as a thank you gift. This sets into motion events that will change the whole world. As with all Guy Gavriel Kay books, I was riveted the entire time, even if it wasn't an action-packed moment. Kay has the ability to make the quiet moments profound and make the big moments deeply personal. I will also read anything he writes.

This was beautifully written but rather odd for fantasy in that I am used to the protagonist making a difference in the world - usually saving it - instead of really just being a spectator to major world events. And the two women who are semi-main characters do exactly nothing. Weird.

The beginning was strong, and I enjoyed that part a lot. Good development, backstory reveals, mystery and some drama. The middle was enjoyable, but not nearly as strong as the beginning. Moves a little slowly. The end wraps things up acceptably, but more wistfully than happily.

Guy Gavriel Kay is the author of one of my three favourite books ever (Lions of Al-Rassan), and another seven of his books make up the rest of my top 10 most days. He is a man who writes for and with the heart. So while the part of me that is my brain read Under Heaven and quite enjoyed pointing out minor things that were wrong with the book (I'll come back to them), the part of me that is my heart found itself laughing and crying and, most importantly, deeply caring about the characters and what happened to them. And surely, that is what counts as success in a novel!Under Heaven is set in a fictionalised 8th century (Tang Dynasty) China (though interestingly not in Kay's "usual" universe under the two moons - this world only has one). After Last Light of the Sun and Ysabel, Under Heaven is also a return to the more familiar style and subject matter of sophisticated medieval courts and civilisations, the interplay of politics and art, the effect of world-shattering events on ordinary individuals.When Shen Tai, second son of the great General Shen Gao, concludes the mourning period for his father, during which he has been burying the dead of battles past between his own native Kitai and their age-old enemy the Taguran Empire, a Kitan princess given as wife to the Taguran Emperor 20 years ago makes him a gift. It is a gift which catapults Tai from two years of solitude at the edge of civilisation straight into the intrigues and machinations of the dangerous, sophisticated imperial court at Xinan in what are... interesting times, much in the sense of the old Chinese curse.Along the way Tai meets a poet and a Kanlin warrior sent to guard his life by a former lover, he encounters generals, prefects, princes, the Emperor's powerful concubine and the Emperor himself. He makes friends and enemies and in the end does something which two years of solitude were not enough to help him do - he finds himself and what he wants.A second plot thread is that of Tai's sister Shen Li-Mei, elevated to Imperial Princess by the intrigues of their older brother Liu and sent away as bride to the heir to the kaghan of the Bogü people beyond the Long Wall, her life changed forever in ways that no one could have anticipated.Here is what my brain says is wrong with this book:The protagonist spends the entire first part (164 pages) trying to get laid. And yes, a lot of that is a metaphore for emerging from isolation and heading back towards civilisation, but my brain still sniggered on page 164.Writing the Other: This is the first real excursion Kay makes into writing about cultures that are significantly different from our own, rather than precursors of our own. All his previous books have had, more or less, European medieval settings. With the shift to medieval Asia there is a very significant challenge of writing about a culture that is deeply alien. Some parts of the book are successful in this respect, but others are not. The passage which grates the most is the one where the family of our main character is shown explicitly to have morals closer to those of the modern reader than the rest of the culture they live in. In all fairness, in this I am comparing Kay to someone like Chinua Achebe who manages effortlessly to immerse us in an alien culture to the point where, when the white invaders come we take sides against them. I do, however, believe that Kay is a sufficiently accomplished writer that he should be able to do this, if he consciously tried.Bechdel: This is partially related to the point above, but only partially. The book passes the Bechdel Test - barely, if you squint at it the right way, and if you, like me, are a huge Kay fan and really really want him to pass the Bechdel Test. Kay is very good at writing strong female characters, and a number of them will stay in my mind and heart forever: Jehanne, Miranda Belmonte d'Alveda, Lisseult, Ariane de Carenzu, Dianora, Alixana, and a few others. But I would have to go back and re-read those books to check whether they actually pass the Bechdel test, because I'm really not sure. Under Heaven is in a similar situation, in that we don't lack for strong female characters - from the Kanlin Warrior protecting Tai, to his sister, his former lover and the Emperor's concubine - but they hardly ever meet, and they almost never actually talk to each other. This is not something that can't be fixed with a little conscious effort, which is why it grates quite so much when it happens, especially in a book I otherwise love.Finally, potatoes: Yes, this is extremely minor, and mostly me being a pedant, but at one point Tai passes farms which grow potatoes. In China. In the 8th century. Now, I'll admit that I had to check. My knowledge of food history is European-centric (I have possibly spent too much time thinking about what Europeans ate before they started trading with Asia and discovered America, and have reached the conclusion that it was a very sad time indeed), but as far as I knew potatoes hadn't come to Europe until the Renaissance. A little bit of research reveals that potatoes weren't introduced to China until the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century.So far about my brain. This is what my heart said:My heart let my brain write sarcastic notes in the margin until about page 200. It was a slow start to the book, particularly those first 164 pages until Tai gets laid. It's entirely possible that I didn't find it terribly engaging at that point because we spent so much time looking at things from an exclusively male point of view. There is, of course, a point to the slow start. The protagonist has spent two years in almost complete isolation when the world begins catching up with him. The pace of the writing in this section reflects Tai's state of mind, something that Kay is very good at doing.After about page 200, I found the book a lot more engaging, and around the end of the second part, Under Heaven became almost impossible to put down. I had some late nights this week, because I wanted to know what happened. What is perhaps most surprising is the bond I developed with the main characters without noticing. When Tai, Spring Rain, Li-Mei and Wei Song make their respective decisions at the end, they are all described as having reached those conclusions a long time ago but not having fully realised it. This is a little bit how I felt when, reading certain passages in the last few chapters, I started to cry. I didn't know I cared that much. At this point, I would quite like to quote a couple of sentences from the final chapter - Kay is good with endings - but I am not allowed until the book is published so I shan't. Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed Under Heaven, though it's not quite as sublime as Lions of Al-Rassan and The Sarantine Mosaic. I do suspect that, like the Mosaic, it will grow on me further on a second reading, too.Under Heaven is published in hardback at the end of April, and my Amazon pre-order for a non-ARC copy still stands. :-)

First a moment of sadness - even after making this one stretch out for a week, I'm yet again facing another likely 3 years until my #1 favorite author releases a new book. I do hate that.To be truthful, after the wait for Under Heaven, the result was a little anti-climatic. As I was reading it, I kept thinking that it was The Sarantine Mosaic Lite. In both books, a commoner gets embroiled in the politics of an emperor's court during a tumultuous time in the empire's history. In both books, the main character exists almost only for the purpose of letting the reader view through his eyes all of the women who are influencing events in a male-dominated society. The Sarantine Mosaic just does it with a little more sharpness, and with richer characters. Under Heaven excelled when it came to weaving Kay's themes through the story, but the themes sort of overwhelmed the characters and pushed them to the background.I think this was the first Kay book where I didn't feel a fierce connection to multiple characters. They just lacked a richness and seemed more like 2D figures that existed to move the story forward. Had I never read a Kay book before, I probably wouldn't have even noticed, but creating fully realized characters is something he normally excels at above and beyond what most other authors are capable of. There were quite a few people that I wanted to know more about, but Kay just didn't dig quite deep enough for that.The themes, however, really came alive. Kay's obviously still looking at many of the same ones from Ysabel relating to history and our places in it. There were many passages noting the differences between the history recorded by poets and the history recorded by scholars, and how their different focuses and distance from the events can affect what we know about what transpired in the past.One theme that rolled over from Ysabel was the idea that every story has many many threads running through it, and each person that touches one story will have a full story of their own. Kay notes towards the end of Under Heaven, "Tales have many strands, smaller, larger. An incidental figure in one story is living through the drama and passion of his or her own life and death." He illustrated this throughout Under Heaven by switching to the POV of various minor characters for a few pages, only to never speak through them again. It hammered home the idea that there are all these lives going on outside the main story.Like Ysabel, Under Heaven says a lot of smart things about history, things that I'm not quite smart enough to articulate. My only complaint was that the epilogue sort of made these themes a little TOO explicit. I'm at least smart enough to pick up on all of this as I was reading, and I didn't need the equivalent of the ending of Pan's Labyrinth, which laid out the moral of the story that had been communicated quite well in a subtle fashion up until that point. Kay's writing, as usual, was just wonderful. Kay's writing has become so familiar to me by now that when I came across the line, "He didn't dismiss her. He remembered, instead, how she'd fought at sunrise, in a garden in Chenyao," I thought to myself, "That is SO Kay!"At the moment, I'm thinking I'm more likely to re-read The Last Light of the Sun, my least favorite Kay book, before this one, but we'll see how this one sit in my head after time has gone by.

This book continues Kay's line of 'historical fantasy' novels. It really isn't a historical fantasy, as it isn't set in our history, but it very closely resembles actual historical events from the Tang Dynasty in China. There aren't a lot of fantasy elements so this could also be called historical ficition, again, if it was set in our history. A young man who's father has died sets out to honor his father and sets off a string of events that ends up getting him involved with the major figures of the dynasty. This was quite interesting and fun to read, though I thought the Sarantine Mosaic was better.

Brilliant.

I suppose I should say more. Kay does this to me. Not Byzantium, not some other place, yet grounded in a reality that makes ordinary fantasy seem oversimple.

This isn't China. It isn't the end of the Tang dynasty. But there are mandarins and warriors. There are courtesans, and the fall of an emperor. There are ghosts, and honor and bravery and tragedy and a sense of the rush of history.

There's poetry, (oh, my is there poetry) and the interwoven motif of two hundred and fifty "Heavenly Horses"

This is a beautiful, lyrical book.

Go. Read it.

Set in 9th century China during the Tang Dynasty -- alternative history. Shen Tai buries the dead after a battle in which his father died, living alone in the mountains for two years, then returns to the capitol city of Kitai where the government is in turmoil. His brother is at the center. Many die. Poetry imagery, love, sensuality. Great world-building and historical detail, witty court intrigue, characters, lovely use of language. Pacing is slow and langorous

This book never really sucked me in. It wasn't unpleasant, but it also wasn't particularly exciting, intriguing, funny, or dramatic.

If you're interested in a slightly fantastical story in a Chinese-analogue setting, this might be your bag. Otherwise, pass it up.

My recommendation is instead to read Barry Hughart's "Bridge of Birds", which is a humorous and more folktale-flavored take on the same sort of Chinese Fantasy.

[This review originally appeared at RevolutionSf.com]

Under Heaven is the story of Shen Tai, second son of a famous Kitan general, who mourns his father's death by traveling to the site of his father's greatest battle and burying the dead of both sides. For two years he puts the ghosts to rest, then he gets a gift to cement a treaty: 250 of the finest horses. One would be an honor. Five would be worthy of a gift to the Emperor. 250 is life-changing.

Shen Tai must head back to his former life to try and dispose of his great gift before he's killed for it. His travels bring him into contact with Kanlin warriors, warrior/poets, and eventually the Kitan court, where intrigue and treason is the name of the game. Shen Tai must pick his way carefully between the factions, all the while obeying the rigid rules of the Kitan court.

Kitan is based on Tang-dynasty China, and you don't have to look too hard to see Shaolin monks and Mongol warriors among the parade of characters. Kay has clearly done his homework, and the world he has created feels completely real.

He is equally strong with characters, putting together wildly varied people whose actions always make sense in the context of their world. You feel for these people, and I don't just mean the good guys.

Kay also shines in depicting the intricacies of the Kitan court, from the bureaucratic mandarins jockeying for power and position to the Precious Consort, a young girl wielding unimaginable power because an aging Emperor is besotted with her.

Kay skillfully weaves all of these threads together, creating a huge tapestry of a story that rarely drags. Whether you prefer sword fights, romance, or intrigue, you'll find something to enjoy in Under Heaven.

Historical fiction heavily influenced by the Chinese Tang Dynasty, with a faint brush of the fantastical.

Shen Tai has spent the last two years mourning his father and burying the the dead of a decades-old battle ground. It's a quiet, mostly solitary life, punctuated by monthly supply runs from both countries that fought the war (who seek both to honor his work and to outdo each other in courtesy) and by the wails of the dead. But at last, an old friend visits, bringing news from the capital.

Tai is swept up into the plots and schemes of his empire, while yearning desperately for a way to reclaim his lost love and rescue his sister from a political marriage to barbarians.

This book should have been a lot better than it actually was. The poetry is not particularly good, which is a huge problem when so much of the book is poems. When characters catch their breath at the transcendent beauty of a poem, those poems better be more eloquent than any teenager's fumbling attempts to copy a haiku. The characters themselves are interesting, but Kay doesn't seem all that excited by or emotionally attached to them, and neither was I. The pacing of the plot was rather haphazard--nothing much happens for 400 pages, and then suddenly WAR and DEVASTATION and FAMINE. (It's so grim and realistic, guys. Ooh, how bout another half-assed poem to capture the ~sorrow~ of it all?) A mob of armed men demands someone's death, and Tai and another character have a THREE PAGE conversation while everyone else stands there watching them. I get that it's a formal, stylized sort of culture, but geez, no mob is going to calmly wait while you have a three page heart-to-heart. The Kanlin (ninja mercenaries with a precise understanding of honor and loyalty) are nearly a deus ex machina at times. And the writing is so damn stilted that I nearly gave up on this book. He loves fragments. He loves comma splices. He loves to have characters exchange words the reader doesn't hear, and then refer to this conversation in self-important tones for chapters until all the juice of the ~enigma~ has been milked out. Blargh!

All that said. This is still Guy Gavriel Kay. Even when his characters are pale retreads of other characters, his poems clunky, his plot less clever than he thinks it is, it's still a damn sight better than the vast majority of fantasy out there. I don't know how closely he followed the Tang dynasty, but he describes a culture in vivid and alluring detail. And there are scenes (as when Tai thinks about his complicated relationship with his brother) that feel true and are eloquent indeed. It's not a book I'd recommend to everyone, but it's worth it for those looking for an ambitious piece of historical fiction.

GGK has presented a fine example of his work. Almost sounding like a translation from the Chinese, he presents a story of a rebellion, both in the larger field, as monstrous egos commit monstrous crimes, and the personal, as a coming of age story is presented, balanced a number of adult themes very well.Set in a Tang China (more or less), we have a protagonist, who having come up with a noble way of following his own heritage, is presented with dizzying possibilities. The mighty, and the greedy gather round, and the bulk of the book deals with all the manoeuvers that occur even before the gift is delivered. Strong characters, and a well realised world keep the reader on board until we gain, along with our hero, enough wisdom to negotiate the politics of the time, and their consequences, personal and national.

Shen Tai has spent the majority of the mourning period for his celebrated father laying to rest the ghosts of dead soldiers who fought in the last war between Kitai and the neighbouring Tagurans. Both sides of the former conflict ensure that he has enough provisions to sustain him during this solitary task and it is on one such supply run that a letter arrives that will shape his destiny and send ripples through the Kitan empire as the news spreads ahead of his return. A gift from the former princess of KItai and now royal consort of Tagur to honour his service to the dead. One Sardian horse would greatly reward a man, four or five would exalt him and possibly earn him a death sentence from jealous rivals but the gift of 250 of the magnificent animals is unprecedented. A stipulation that he must collect the horses in person may just be enough to keep him alive when he returns home and decide how he can deal with this gift. Tai's new found wealth necessitates a visit to the imperial court where much has changed in his absence. Political intrigue abounds with the new prime minister seemingly at loggerheads with a favoured general. How will Tai's arrival with the prospect of so many horses to dispose of upset the balance of power?This book is set in an alternate version of China around the time of the T'ang Dynasty and includes elements of fantasy and the supernatural throughout. Shamanistic rites, fox spirits and ghostly occurrences all feed into the story and drive the narrative to varying degrees. A wonderful lead character supported ably by a Kanlin warrior, Wei Song, who accompanies him on his journey as his newly acquired bodyguard and Sima Zian, the Banished Immortal and foremost poet of the age, who tags along as it promises to be an interesting trip. It's not just well-rounded characters that draw you in as the setting which they inhabit is also vividly portrayed. From the remote valley at the outset of the story to the sumptuous and slow moving life at the imperial court of Xinan in Kitai and the steppes of a neighbouring country. The only slight let down was the exposition heavy conclusion as the author uses historians to wrap up what happened to all the major players that appeared throughout the tale. It jars a little with the rest of the book which is very much character driven but it is still an enchanting read.

Wonderful book set in, like much of Kay's writing, in a place that is very close to our world (in this case ancient China), but not quite our world. The central them regards responsibility, what is a son's duty to his dead father, what is his duty to his country and emperor, what is the daughter's duty to her family. All of these questions get tangled up when the son of a dead general mourns his father by going to the scene of his father's greatest victory (on the border) and spends two years burying the bones of the tens of thousands of dead soldiers on both sides. His act causes the queen of the neighboring country (the other side in the war) to give him a gift of some very special and valuable horses. What he does with them sets off events that shape his life and take his country in a totally new direction. Wonderful book.

Under Heaven is my first read of a Kay novel. It’s quite a beautiful work, rendering a convincing, captivating account of ancient China. Some would call this historical fantasy, but the fantasy elements were so subtle that I am as comfortable calling it a work of historical fiction. The writing was lovely and sure, the protagonist a man worthy of respect and love. By the end numerous critiques had reduced to quibbles, fairly insignificant in the face of the pleasure I took in this world. I was immersed in the Tang Dynasty with minimal disruption from sharp or irksome authorial missteps. When I tried to start a new book, I found I was not yet ready to enter a new fictional realm. I'm still living with this one.

In Under Heaven Guy Gavriel Kay once again shows just how good he is at epic storytelling. This is a fantasized version of China’s 8th century Tang Dynasty, and from the referrals to the one moon it is obviously set on a different world that his usual two moon stories are. From the opening chapter the reader is swept along following the story of Shen Tai, and to a lesser extent that of his sister Shen Li-Mei while around them swirls the treachery, duplicity and ultimately the open rebellion of the powerful and ambitious.Using the fictionalized country of Kitai, with its complicated traditions, values and beliefs, as a backdrop, the author introduces and brings into the story his well-drawn, fully realized characters that are constantly surprising the reader as they evolve. I didn’t always agree with the characters choices, but every move was well thought out and made sense in the context of the story. Honor, duty, and patriotism were strong motivators. Even the most secondary of characters had depths and motives that added to the intensity of the book. Under Heaven is a story that tries to find a balance between sheer adventure, political intrigue and romantic tension and for the most part it succeeds. The one area that I found a little lacking was the romance aspect, while the story unfolded in a believable way, I was hoping for some different outcomes. So although this is not my favorite book by this author, it is still a beautifully written, multi-layered epic that I enjoyed immensely.

I loved so much of this book. Particularly the opening. Guy Gavriel Kay writes beautifully, and the images and thoughts in the opening are beautiful, and had me hooked right there -- even if it is a relatively quiet, contemplative opening. I loved the characters, the women with their subtle ways of power, the politics of the court. I found it hard to follow, in a sense, especially because it's so strongly based on the history and ideals of a culture I've never been very familiar with; I felt like I was often a step behind what seemed obvious to the characters involved. That didn't bother me too much, though.

I loved the first three parts a lot. I loved the characters of Tai and Sima Zian, and Wei Song. I loved the relationship between Spring Rain and Tai, how honourable they both are, and I find it interesting how it works out. I loved Tai's relationship with Wei Song, up to a point. In a lot of fantasy that seems based on history, it feels like the author decides that because women in medieval times didn't have much agency, the female characters in their own books should be powerless. Guy Gavriel Kay rarely submits to that, if ever. Wei Song is mouthy, independent, not submissive at all. The way her relationship with Tai ends up, I didn't like so much: I didn't like how much she surrendered of herself, although in the context of the story and the society portrayed, it makes plenty of sense.

The first three parts, I loved pretty unconditionally. Part four, however, was a bit of a problem. Which I kind of expected, knowing that the central character is an expendable piece in the war: a pawn with one protection and one purpose only. Following him through the story, it gets so far and then he isn't there to witness it any more, which absolutely makes sense for his character, but makes parts of the narration very much like a summary.

And I didn't get the ends for some characters that I so much hoped for. I'm quite resigned to that, with Guy Gavriel Kay, and in some cases it is gracefully, beautifully done, and makes absolute sense for the story. I thought part four could have done with more of Li-Mei, Meshag, Spring Rain and Sima Zian. I didn't like the way their stories ended. It felt like the threads were snipped short, instead of followed to more interesting conclusions: everything made sense, really, but it wasn't the most interesting way for it to play out. Li-Mei and Meshag especially earned better send-offs.

Part four is written beautifully, and there are some excellent, well-placed, well-written scenes. But it doesn't seem to fit quite so easily with the rest, and I wish it had been five parts, and less summary.

I will probably love this even more and understand even more of what Guy Gavriel Kay is doing, when I reread this book. That, I expect. I'm looking forward to letting this book wine and dine me next time.

Shen Tai mourns his father for over two years by burying the bones of the dead in a vast battlefield on the western edge of the Kitan empire. A backbreaking labor of grace daily and the company of the restless shades of soldiers nightly. He gains the respect of friend and foe and the attention of women in high places with influence, intrigue and power. The unfathomable gift of two hundred and fifty horses from a rival empire courtesy of a Kitan princes sent as tribute sets Shen's life adrift on the high tide of potentially lethal imperial politics. He receives unlooked for and unlikely assistance from several women as he travels from the far western reaches to the very center of the Kitan empire in Xinan: a well trained assassin, Wei Song, sent by a former courtesan of the northwestern district previously known as Spring Rain and a former dancer now the favored courtesan of the emperor himself.

Even though we only ever see one of the famous Sardian horses for much of the novel, Shen repeatedly attempts to exchange them for knowledge of his sister and her rescue from the Bogu barbarians of the north, since his own older brother, now adviser to the prime minister, allowed her to be elevated to an imperial princes and sent as a tribute bride to the Bogu leader. But not even the most powerful players on this corrupted game board can assist Shen with his quest.

Kay delivers sweeping epic vistas of the open grass steppe and the heart-stopping gut-wrenching frenzy of court intrigue and rebellion. No other prose flows so seamlessly as Kay's, completely engulfing me in the world he unfolds before me.

My only quibble with this novel, and which almost made me drop my rating to four or four and a half stars, was with the ending. Shifting to third person and a more remote historical sagacious point of view distanced me from the characters just as the story culminated and resolved. I still enjoyed the novel immensely, though, and highly recommend it.

This is the fourth Guy Gavriel Kay book I've read with a book club and will probably be my last GGK for a while. Set in a fictional version of ancient China this is a retelling of the An Shi or An Lushan Rebellion.

The world is incredibly detailed drawing images in my mind reminiscent to movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. Each path is well written and the characters feel real. At times it did get a little bogged down as Kay got carried away with the descriptions but eventually things would pick up again. The last quarter of the book felt a bit rushed after the start but by that time I was quite happy for it to move along.

It's hard to really call this book a fantasy. There are some fantastical elements, and one that plays a key role, but overall it is far more a fictional retelling than anything else. A haunting, evocative book I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in ancient China, with courtesans and Emperors and honour.

Awesome, as always. Kay remains pretty much my favorite fantasy author ever, or at least in the top 5. Fascinating story with lots of twists & turns, vivid setting (a fantasy China/Mongolia), and complex compelling characters. Plus: ghosts! assassins! warrior monks! palace intrigue! spooky stuff! Devoured the whole book in about a day, which is probably a little crazy; in my defense, it was a sick day. Sometimes his endings are painful, this one splits the difference with both happiness & melancholy.

C just finished it yesterday, and as he notes, it's also great fuel for my still-developing Central Asia-based game world, up to and including the inside-cover map. :)

This was good, but not my favorite Kay. Or maybe, just maybe... maybe favorite Kay was only my favorite because I read it when I was 19, at just the right time... and this book is just as good but I'm not in that place anymore.

No, I'm forgetting about Ysabel! I really loved that one...

It was a well written book that did not spark much enthusiasm with me. I felt curiously distanced the whole time. Like I was watching myself read the thing. I never got to that place where you are in the scene with the characters living the thing as its happening. I was always on the sidelines cooly observing and giving it some mild tennis applause.

I don't know why, it was pretty well written. But for whatever reason - I mostly just didn't care.

In this alternative history set in eight-century China - or Kitai, as it is called - a young man mourns for his father by burying the dead at the site of a devastating battle. His work is reward by a gift from Kitai's enemy, the Tagurans, in the form of two hundred fifty Sardian horses - a gift of tremendous value and danger. The gift changes Shen Tai's life - and places it in danger - as he journeys back to Kitai's capital and is drawn into the schemes and politics of the imperial court. With a diverse cast of characters, fresh writing, and an epic scale, Under Heaven makes for good reading.