Rating: 
Summary: I concur.
Review: ... It's utter originality. Too many fantasy books are almost woodcut reproductions of the same world, same plot, almost the same characters. Kay has crafted a fantasy novel with no magic or traditional fantasy element (no elves, horrors!) in a very original setting and with a very original plot. It's sole concession to fantasy is that it takes place is a world not our own. ...I would suggest that by doing this, he frees himself to examine issues by telling a story that could not otherwise have been told had he been hamstrung by the need to adhere to historical fact. He also creates a powerful resonance with our own world, and by this, suggests that the issues that he raises are pertinent and relevant to us as well. Kay's powerful exploration of the issue of good. Goodness for him is, I think, different things, but the two main things that it is is civillisation/culture/thoughtfulness and personal honour. The tragedy is that civillisation is destroyed by blind greed, expansionism and ignorant intolerance and Kay evokes the loss of a culture and beautiful civillisation destroyed by these things. The tragedy is also that good individuals must destroy each other, overwhelmed by events beyond each individual's control. ... I suggest that this was not a fault , but a deliberate crafting . By this, he suggests the impersonal vastness of the events that force the characters towards their final confrontation, and in this context, evokes the heartbreak of good people forced by events to make the best choices that they can. Are there bad people? Yes, some, in Kay's view, but mostly there are people making blind choices as best they know how. In the context of our history (even as it is being made now), perhaps this is the power of Kay's novel. My Personal Rating Scale:
5 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative, thought provoking, pushes the envelope in one or more ways, a classic.
4 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative. Book that delivers well in terms of its specific genre or type, but does not do more than that.
3 stars: Competent. Does what it sets out to do competently, either on its own terms on within the genre, but is nothing special. May be clichéd but is still entertaining.
2 stars: Fails to deliver in various respects. Significantly clichéd. Writing is poor or pedestrian. Failed to hold my attention.
1 star: Abysmal. Fails in all respects.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Story
Review: This is a very good book, solid writing, engaging story, interesting characters (it's GGK, of course it's all that). However, I enjoyed Sailing to Sarantium, Tigana, and Song for Arbonne more. Matter of taste, I suppose. This book was a close 4th to those.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful.
Review: Superb storytelling coupled with a heartbraking story. Eloquently expressed emotions. A must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Why do people have this need to pigeon-hole authors?
Review: Let me begin by addressing the quality of this book: you will be hard-pressed to find another that is more smoothly written, from beginning to end, with better character development, plot and sub-plot development, and literary lyricism. Mr. Kay's use of language is clean and yet amazingly deep; the thoughtfulness that he puts into creating each of his characters is evident in the complexity of their interactions and growth. Based loosely on the unification of medieval Spain after its Islamic inhabitation, "The Lions of Al-Rassan" is a marvelously constructed one-volume epic of love, friendship, hope, betrayal, conquest, and all the other flavours that make great fantasy great. This one's a keeper. A question about some of the earlier reviews: why is it that some people seem to be disappointed by Kay's use of historical events as the basis for the plot? (For those of you unfamiliar with his works, he uses Renaissance Italy as a framework for "Tigana", Medieval Provence as the setting in "A Song for Arbonne", and early Christian Byzantium in "Sailing to Sarantium".) Personally, I see no reason for an author to create new worlds out of whole cloth every time s/he writes a novel. Moreover, Mr. Kay's method inspired me to learn more about the real historical events that his novels are based on. After reading LoA-R, I felt a compulsion to learn more about medieval Spain and the devastation that occurred with both the triumph and defeat of its Islamic invaders. After "Sailing to Sarantium," I hankered after knowing what really happened during the period of Justinian, Theodora, and Belisarius, the Byzantine emperor, empress, and general whom Kay patterned his characters after. Having read some of this background material, I have an even greater respect for Mr. Kay's ability to craft such beautiful stories from such an enormous scope of history. No need to pigeon-hole authors into "Fantasy" and "Non-Fantasy$", people. Who cares if El Cid's first name was Rodrigo? So what if Justinian isn't actually the emperor who built the Hagia Sophia? Just sit back, relax, and read. P.S.: Having said that, "Sailing to Sarantium" wasn't quite up to par with LoA-R or "The Fionavar Tapestry," but I'll wait to read the next two books of the "Sarantine Mosaic" trilogy before making a final comment.
Rating:
Summary: A+
Review: Kay's writing style, well developed characters and depth in scope have, perhaps, reached its fullest in A Song for Arbonne, or so I thought until The Lions of Al-Rassan arrived.
Rating: 
Summary: Strangely dislocating
Review: I was disappointed by this book. In the first place, it jumps to and fro between different character's points of view, and I've never liked that. In the second place, there were conspicuous, blatant parallels to the Reconquista of Spain and the career of El Cid. These made it very difficult for me to maintain my suspension of disbelief because they made it obvious that the events were artificial. And in the third place the author has a bizarre habit of concealing from the reader which character it is who is in a scene, even of deliberately misleading the reader as to what characters were present. In three cases characters were killed and the reader was left in doubt which characters had died. This despite the fact that none of the [surviving] characters in the story had any doubt at all. I found this very strange and off-putting.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost a great book
Review: Smart, well written material with three dimensional characters place this book head and shoulders above most fictional fare. So it is regretable that Kay ended the story so quickly, and with so little of the care that made the first three quaters so very good. I can only assume that the editors had their way over Kay's objections, the publishers were concerned with paper costs, or Kay got bored with the process. Still, Kay's ability to weave a story makes me eager to sample his other writings, if only to determine if "Lions" was a fluke, or if Kay really is one of the best writers available.
Rating:
Summary: The depth in his descriptive poetry is intensly pleasurable.
Review: Kay has the capacity few other writers have, of bringing the characters and their stories so alive with such elegance. The story, in view of todays history, is believable and the characters have a three dimensional depth even if he were to write in a more sparing voice. What adds to the pleasure of this read is the incredible descriptive poetry that he uses to form his story.
Rating:
Summary: Too realistic for fantasy too fantastic for a historic novel
Review: Although the style and storytelling of Kay meet his usual high standards this book had one major flaw in my opinion. For those with knowledge of medieval Europe it is playing in spain during the reconquistada and the major character looks a lot like El Cid. Kay's work has been based on medieval episodes and places in Europe for a while(Tigana - Italy; A song for Arbonne - southern France) but not before did he come this close to real events. With the amount of research into the events Kay should either write a 'real' historic novel in which at least major events and important persons have their own name or he should get away from reality and write once more 'real' fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: This is a must read.
Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan is possibly the best of Kay's work that I have read so far. It is vividly imaginative and simply the most moving piece of literature I have read in recent years. With this book, Kay made himself my very favorite author of the genre. Read this book!
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