Rating: 
Summary: Exquisite
Review: I will keep this short and sweet. This book is absolutely exquisite. The writing is so beautiful is is almost poetry and the characters are tangibly real. The plot is flawless and the villain abhorrent. This is a must-read if you love the fantasy genre. After reading the fionavar tapestry, I immediately read every other book by Kay and waited impatiently for his new releases. Don't let me keep you- buy a copy today! (Even better, buy the whole series)
Rating: 
Summary: A Might-Have-Been
Review: I'll give it to Guy Gavriel Kay, he's got something good going. I found a lot of the imagery and plot elements in the book fascinating. And while clearly Tolkien-inspired, it's not a carboard clone but his own living, breathing creation.That's the good news. The bad news is: he ruined it. At least one quarter of the book is taken up with love scenes. All the characters are perpetually sleeping with each other--and for no particular reason that I can discern. They don't really seem to care about each other that much. One gets the feeling that they would hop in bed together on a rainy day simply because they had nothing better to do. Kay calls it "that act of love." Act of love indeed! A far better name would be "the act of recreation." I also found sub-plot about Darien intensely disappointing. Kay seems to be working towards a Gollum-type plot thread with Jennifer and Paul's insistence on letting Darien live. Well an good. But they're not doing it out of pity or compassion--they're doing it out of pure utiliarianism. They say that Darien should live because Rakoth did not intend him to, because he can make a choice for good or evil. No mention at all of the fact that killing an innocent child simply because of what he *might* do would make them no better than the Dark Lord. Ex*cuse* me, these are supposed to be the heroes? This might have been a really great book--it has real vision--but it was ruined by the sleazy characters. (Diarmuid was especially slimy; I was very disappointed that he didn't meet a slow and painful end.) Save your money for something better.
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien's Vision moved into the modern world!
Review: I've been reading fantasy and science fiction since I was 12 - and this is a phenomenal book / trilogy! Fantasy is fun, and fantasy with character complexity grounded in the "real" world is even more fun. These characters have the same internal dialogue and foibles as anyone else on earth - as opposed to a "pure" fantasy where we admire or despise characters but never really feel as though they're real - because they aren't. Don't get me wrong, I love pure fantasy. Tolkien was brilliant and Mr. Kay picked up many great style elements while he was working with Christopher Tolkien after his father's death. I do recommend that you read the trilogy from the beginning - "The Summer Tree" - and finish it!
Rating:
Summary: Here is your reward
Review: If you stood your ground and read through the entirety of "Summer Tree", than here marks the beginning of your long and fulfilling reward.
Rating:
Summary: Where's an editor when you need one?
Review: Kay makes all the same ridiculous errors he did in the Summer Tree. I confess I only lasted for four chapters until I decided that life is too short. I appreciate that others love these books and I don't mean to be insulting. However, Kay's here and there, there and here and back again, together with a plethora of characters who are never really set up shows he needed help. I do have some of his other books and I gather from Those Who Know that they are ever so much better. To compare Kay to Tolkien is mind-boggling, despite all the rave reviews and the reference to Tolkien.
Rating:
Summary: Haiku Review
Review: Kay tells a story
with skill and love for the craft.
Arthur tale intrudes.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the first book in this series
Review: Kay's writing improves in the second book of this series. I was disappointed by the Summer Tree, but I found the second two books in the trilogy to be enjoyable. Kay is at his best when he breaks free of the cliches of the genre and writes from the heart, such as his treatment of the Darien character. I look forward to reading his newer books.
Rating:
Summary: Brightly woven, Mr. Kay!
Review: Like the other books in the Tapestry, this too is a work of art to treasure...
Rating:
Summary: Return to Fionvar
Review: Our friends have returned to Toronto, but feel their lives have been forever changed and can't seem to fully live in their own world. Jennifer is heavily pregnant with the child of Rakoth Maugrim, and after she is attacked by the Wolflord in Toronto, she decides that she needs to return to Fionvar to give birth. Although born of rape, she believes that her child may be the key to defeating Maugrim. Eventually, they all return to take up their parts in the battle for the heart of all worlds. As they will discover, however, some of their burdens are heavier than others... The second in the Fionvar Trilogy-- as beautifully done as the first.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite there.
Review: Sigh. I really had hopes for this series. Unfortunately, after trudging through two mediocre novels, it remains to be seen whether I will bother with the third.
The Wandering Fire, the second book in the Fionavar Tapestry series picks up not exactly where the first book, The Summer Tree, left off. Some time has elapsed since Kim's rescue of Jennifer from Starkadh, and the five are back in their own world, waiting for something to bring them back to Fionavar. That something is a dream from Seer Kim Ford, which will tell them what their next move should be. We also find out that Jennifer is carrying the child of Rakoth Maugrim, which she intends to keep. Eventually Kim has her dream and the five are sent back to Fionavar through the power of Kim's ring, the Baelrath. Kim also summons King Arthur (yes, THAT King Arthur) to help them in their quest. Soon all five are involved in their own paths in the war against the Unraveller. The novel chronicles the struggle to find out how Maugrim is creating the perpetual winter that is crushing Fionavar, and then how to defeat it when they finally do find out.
The Wandering Fire is plagued by the same problems of the first novel- too much melodrama, not enough character development, and several rather silly things. I spent much of the first half of the book rolling my eyes, especially at the appearance of King Arthur. I mean, come on, can't you even think up your own heroes? I also spent a lot of time rolling my eyes over the ludicrous amount of sex in this novel. GG Kay uses sex as as such and important plot device that it left me wondering just where he was drawing inspiration from. I don't have a problem with sex in a novel if it's used correctly, but GG Kay dramatizes it to the point where it's sickening.
Don't be misled by the comparisons between this series and Tolkien's work. Tolkien's works are far more engrossing and monumental, and unlike Kay, Tolkien knows where to direct his attention and when to quit. The Wandering Fire suffers from too many different elements and characters, to the effect that the heart of the novel is lost.
Lastly, there was something that irritated me about both novels, and I couldn't put my finger on it until recently. And that is that GG Kay writes with too much ambiguity. Ambiguity has its place in fantasy novels, granted, but GG Kay uses it so much that I felt like I was wandering in a perpetual fog, unsure of what was real and what was imagined.
The Wandering Fire is at least entertaining, if you can manage to not be distracted by the aforementioned items. For me, the Fionavar Tapestry series takes itself far too seriously, and I think I'll take the advice of others and try some of GG Kay's later work.
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