Rating: 
Summary: Elegant and poigniant
Review: I found The Fionivar Tapestry a delight to read, especially as a fan of the Arthurian legend. The series had great character development, and it managed to avoid being "hokey" like so many fantasy novels can be from time to time. Very much worth reading, as is all of Kay's work.
Rating:
Summary: The fruits of genius!
Review: I read this series well after it was published, and am deeply sorry I didn't get turned to Kay earlier. The Fionavar Tapestry is awesome in its scope and heartbreakingly beautiful in its writing. Kay is truly a master of the art of the written word, with the power to draw you into the story like no author I have ever experienced, to make you laugh and cry and love with the characters, and to enable you to fully experience the bittersweetness of life as he describes it in his books. He is simply a brilliant writer, and one that should not be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Nowhere near Kay's true ability
Review: This first book of the Fionavar Tapestry, as well as the second and third, are an interesting insight into a very talented author's earliest efforts, but not much more. It is only in light of Kay's later, superbly conceived and written books "Tigana" and "Song for Arbonne" that I am even able to rate this trilogy a 4. It's fun to see Kay's early experiments with fantasy elements. The magician's inextricable bond to some source of power, so brilliantly brought to life in "Tigana", is shown in a simpler form in the mages of Fionavar. And although the historical references are rather muddled in this trilogy, one can feel Kay's fascination with real-world history, and see the seed that will eventually lead him to seamlessly blend history and fantasy in "The Lions of Al-Rassan" and "Tigana". Overall, however, the most positive feeling I had from the trilogy was relief that mediocre writing at an early stage in one's career does not seem to be an impediment to brilliant writing later. The story line was overly intricate while lacking complexity, the plot and characters were one-dimensional and much too Tolkienesque, and the writing itself had none of the subtlety and power that one finds in Kay's later novels. Emotion was often conveyed through the use of italics, and the moments that are meant to give us insight into the characters are so stock that it's almost laughable. If you've never read Kay before, please don't start with this trilogy. Start with "Tigana" and be amazed. If you've read some of his other work, you might find this an interesting look at a great writer's developmental period, but don't expect to be as satisfyingly enriched as you have come to expect from Kay. Mr. Kay, if you are reading this, please grace us with another "Tigana".
Rating: 
Summary: Competent Swords & Sorcery Melange
Review: Kay borrows from a disparate sources in this trilogy. There are obvious echoes from (for example) Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books and Joel Rosenburg's Guardians of the Flame series, as well as Celtic and Greek mythology. Though the books are competently put together, I found very little that was new and the themes borrowed from other authors less well realized than in their orignal sources. For example, Donaldson handles the horror and despair of choosing the lesser evil much more vividly than Kay does. If you want a competent example of the Tolkeinesque genre, this is one. Just don't look for much that's new.
Rating:
Summary: Genius at its finest!
Review: It has taken me ten years to discover Kay and his ability, and I can feel the loss. The man has an aptitude that surpasses his genre. The psychological aspect of the characters in The Summer Tree lend an aspect to the novel that would not be there if this were just another fantasy novel. The depth of character allows the novel to become something more than just another story. Each character stands on his or her own and is able to shoulder their part of the story, so that a combination of all the parts has given us a rich 'tapestry' of work to admire (pun intended). The story is excellently put together with only a few weak spots involving the introduction of the Princess Sharra and her subsequent try at revenge and the ease at which Dave and his two indigenous friends become close. None of their personalities seem suited for allowing quickness of friendship to develop, but just 4 days into Dave's visit and they are all blood brothers. This can be overlooked, however, because of the strength of the rest of the novel and the characters that are brought together. Paul's emotional status and trial on The Summer Tree should be in every anthology under the heading on how to write a scene and build a character. The inhabitants of Fionovar are excellently portrayed and a decent history has been put together for us, if a people can keep it all together as it is being handed to us. This book is a must read. I will be in a constant state of confusion and disarray until I can stumble on to the other two books in the trilogy. The Summer Tree has got me hooked on Kay's writing.
Rating: 
Summary: A few good moments, but no Tolkien!
Review: Those reading this book and expecting it to live up to Tolkien's lovingly detailed and internally consistent world will be very disappointed. Five characters from our world are plunked down into a world that resembles Middle Earth in the Fourth Age, indeed, it resembles Middle Earth so much I found myself wishing Kay had just dispensed with the formalities and set his story in Tolkien's world! Leaving that aside, though, I found the juxtaposition of characters from our world onto the fantasy world of Fionavar to be jarring at best and ridiculous at worst. I was annoyed when one of the characters from Earth is dropped in the midst of primitive tribesman of Fionavar who happen to speak English! This can be forgiven on Star Trek, but not in a long epic such as this. That said, there are some very good moments in this book, including the scenes with Dave among the Dalrei tribesman, and the transformation of Kimbery into a seer. Also, I had no urge to abandon the series at the end of the first book, as I have done with some other fantasy trilogies.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Tolkien!!!
Review: I mean that whole-heartedly. This is one of those "how can you call yourself a fantasy buff if you haven't read The Fionavar Tapestry?" series. For those of you tired of the trite and specious plots in the fantasy great wanna-bes (Eddings, et al) these books ring with and plumb the depths of the true epic tone Tolkien first introduced. Kay uses traditional mythology--elves, the Wild Huntsman, etc--but adds his own perspective. I loved his use of the Summer Tree (the tree of life/knowledge) as his own take on the crucixion. My only great is that he doesn't write new book faster than he does--but if that's what it takes for novels of this quality, so be it!
Rating:
Summary: I don`t get you guys.
Review: How can anyone call 'The Summer Tree' the best work of the genius who wrote 'Tigana'? I`m willing to bet Kay looks back on it as an amateurish, early effort, certainly no more than that. Why? Well, where do I start? First off, the structure is simply atrocious, flipping back and forth seemingly at random between the five main characters, and flashing occasionally to others besides. The plot itself is flabby, being replete with useless moments. It was too dumb to be funny when Diarmuid, Kevin and Paul risked their necks so that Diarmiud could seduce the Princess Sharra. These are our heroes? The writing was for the most part annoying, imitating Tolkien two-thirds of the time, and though I managed to plow through the whole thing, I can hardly remember what happened at any given time--and I`m not usually the type to forget. Basically, this thing was formless, plotless, and pulpy. The only part I liked was when Paul was on the Summer Tree, though even then it was just a bit overdone. It was one of the only places that showed a trace of Kay`s upcoming genius, written in a style that was for once undeniably his own. Now, I`m only bothering to criticize this because people were proclaiming that it is superior to 'Tigana', a claim that would probably insult the author if he is any judge of his own work. Anyone turned off by this should try 'Tigana'.....there`s nothing to match it, except perhaps another of Kay`s later books--I don`t know, since I have yet to read them myself.
Rating:
Summary: The cover art mirrors the substance: simple and superb.
Review: Kay stumbled a bit after the Fionovar tapestry, at least with regard to sheer entertainment value. However, the slightly dry state of Tigana and A song for Arbonne does nothing to diminish the beauty of his first trilogy. I read it almost ten years ago and it is no less distinct in my mind today than it was the night I reluctantly turned the final page. This is and was the perfect fantasy saga, standing shoulder to shoulder with Tolkien in every way. By the way, if anyone has an original edition of any of these three books, especially The Summer Tree, I would be willing to pay a significant amount.
Rating:
Summary: just great
Review: I read the book in Swedish, and the book was really great, one of the best I ever have read! And the book is always the best in the original language. I havn't been able to find the book in English here in Finland... I can just imagine how good the book is in English. It has just the story and language I require from a excellent book
|
