Rating: 
Summary: Kay, what happened to you?
Review: This is the same guy that wrote Lions of Al-Rassan? This is the same guy that wrote The Sarantine Mosiac? The only recognizable trait between the two is that both apparently get a kick out of random romantic pairings and sex. Oh, and bnoth use the omniscient voice.
The other Kay evoked emotion with a master's hand; this one appears to be using a sledgehammer. The other Kay had brilliant characters (Crispin! Jehane! Ammar! Alixana!). But here there are no recognizable characters in this. I'm not even sure who's who. The plot is utterly contrived.
Oh, and whoever read this and thinks this is what Kay is like, I'm sorry. Try another of his books: they get better.
Rating: 
Summary: Patience Required, Enjoyment Offered
Review: The Summer Tree leans on gleanings from Tolkien and Zelazny, its prose can be stilted at times, its beginning is cliché and rather dull, and its main characters are rather shallow. Fortunately some of the characters flesh out a bit over the course of the trilogy, the borrowed Celtic myth is inserted well enough to overcome much of the cliché, and the Arthurian legend is woven into the story so as to pull the course of the tale away from those told by Tolkien. If anything, the use of the Arthur legend in the trilogy turned me off, since I had read enough of Arthur by the time I was thirteen years old to know that what could be done with the story had already been done. However, I try not to fault Kay for using Arthur, especially since this is one of Kay's earliest works and the initial flexing of creative muscles was not yet complete. I do disapprove of the near (...) of his Lios Alfar description from Tolkien, but if you are not a very critical person I think you could get past this without it interfering with your enjoyment of the book.
On a positive note, the main characters, while very flat in the beginning were fleshed out a bit and performed some of the most novel self-destructive, self-sacrificial actions I have read in any fantasy novel, before or since. These actions, and their feeding of the spirits or gods of nature, gave the book a very strong Celtic feel. This feeling diminished the negative aspects of the book and heightened my enjoyment of it until, by the end of this first volume, I was fully resolved to enjoy the rest of the trilogy.
As to some of the other complaints concerning the main characters: who can't admit that many of the people currently walking around college campuses are relatively self-absorbed, often shallow, frequently narrow-minded, and sometimes overly imaginative? If one begins to read The Summer Tree with this in mind, the characters are, perhaps, a bit predictable, but are better developed than some people maintain.
Rating: 
Summary: Unexpected
Review: I am amazed that this book has recieved such negative reviews, in particular those that compared it to the work of Tolkien. I enjoyed this book 10 times more than I did Tolkien's books (which are far too cliche). I must admit that it did, in fact, borrow some concepts, relating to creatures (like elves) found in fanatasy. However, this infact works to the book's advantage as the creatures become recognizeable as ones which we have heard of in other stories. The Summer Tree was exquisitely written and deeply enthralling. The flawed characters were extremely sympathetic and I as a reader cared deeply about them. This book is fascinating also in the way that it combines an original story with characters who we recognize from myths. The only book that outshines this one is the sequal, and the only book that outshines that is the conclusion. The Fionavar Tapestry series is a mind blowing accomplishment and all three books are amonst my top-ten favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Purple Prose
Review: The Summer Tree borrows most of the characters, plot devices and conventions from other, more notable books and then attempts to tie them all together. The author borrows most heavily from Tolkien; in one section, his description of the "lios alfar" is almost word-for-word the description Tolkien gives to the elves. While I have no objection to authors writing books based on archetypes (most fantasy authors do), this particular author did not even bother to create his own characters based on archetypes. He stole other authors' characters and storylines and then made only minor changes. If I wrote a paper this way I would quite rightfully be accused of plagiarism.
The author also commits one of the cardinal sins of writing: he relies heavily on purple prose. While some reviewers called his prose "rich" and "vivid", I felt it was grossly overdone. The commonly used example for what makes purple prose is this: Take the Bible sentence "Jesus wept" and change it to "Jesus, the Savior of the world, overcome with grief, burst into a flood of tears." Purple prose consists of words and phrases that sound stilted, overly descriptive, or cliché. There is a difference between beautiful, descriptive language and prose that has merely been embellished and made gaudy.
This was the author's freshman effort, where he attempted to write a novel in the form of an epic. In order to do so, he "borrowed" heavily from other successful epic novels and myths. He also attempted to replicate the formal prose style usually found in epics. However, where Tolkien and others succeeded in creating beautiful, cadenced language, this author created stilted, overdone language. Many sentences in this book would be at home in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.
Rating: 
Summary: Tapestry a bit frayed
Review: Guy Gavriel Kay first made his mark on fantasy by working with Christopher Tolkien on the legendary "Silmarillion." His SECOND mark was the Fionavar Tapestry, a flawed but prettily written fantasy trilogy. First book "The Summer Tree" is an entertaining read, but Kay was clearly still getting into the idea of writing an original book.
Five college students are chatting with a visiting professor, Lorenzo Marcus, who is accompanied by a peculiar dwarf. Suddenly the mysterious man reveals that he is a mage, Loren Silvercloak, and whisks them all into the world of Fionavar. He asks them to come stay awhile -- but none of the students know the strange destinies that bind them to Fionavar. Worse, one of them -- Dave -- vanishes during the crossing.
The four friends soon learn of the sinister political and supernatural problems in Fionavar. An evil wolf is lurking around, and the evil svart alfar are killing the beautiful lios alfar (elves). Suddenly sweet-natured Jennifer is kidnapped and tortured by the evil god, the Unraveller. And Paul offers his own life for the sake of Fionavar -- to be hung on the Summer Tree as a human sacrifice.
Take the world-crossings of Narnia, and the mythic qualities of Tolkien. That pretty much describes "Summer Tree." It's not terribly original, and the plot doesn't really work until about halfway through the book. But it hints at future grandeur, and makes good use of its old Celtic legends and customs in a typical fantasy setting.
The biggest flaw of "Summer Tree" is unoriginality -- Kay lifts ideas from Robert Zelazny and J.R.R. Tolkien, and combines them with a heavy dose of Celtic mysticism and a bit of Arthurian legend. Sure, these are hardly unusual -- but it's hard not to flinch at a lios alfar describing his people to Jennifer. It's an exact description of Tolkien's elves, down to a copy of the Undying Lands.
Kay's writing is exceptional, however -- lush, detailed, and rich. He can enspell you, or horrify you. Most compelling is Jennifer's rape -- Kay doesn't get graphic with the details, but her horror and violation are ghastly. At the same time, descriptions of the lios alfar, visions, spells and the strange creatures that populate Fionavar are almost intoxicating. The scenes were Paul hangs on the tree are stunning and powerful.
One small problem is that Kay seems to have a little trouble with his lead characters -- he's a little too eager to get them into their respective places. None of them seem very disturbed over being snatched into another world, and expected to become a part of it. And the college students are actually the flattest people in the whole book -- the kindly king, womanizing prince, stern wizard and vindictive priestess come across as much more real.
There are deep flaws in "The Summer Tree," but its luxuriant prose makes it a worthwhile read. But hopefully the second and third books can reach beyond the limitations of the first.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Work
Review: The Summer Tree, and indeed all of The Fionavar Tapestry, is a delightful fantasy, full of strange worlds, important events and vivid characters.
One gets the impression that Kay chose every word with care, rather than ripping through the story as quickly as he could write. A friend who recommended this series to me said, "It's kind of like Tolkien, but without the throw away Boromir characters."
Obviously, Kay and Tolkien will be compared and contrasted, since Kay helped compile The Silmarilion. Also, any writer who attempts a fantasy trilogy is bound to be compared to Tolkien at some point. I find his writing style remarkably dissimilar and enjoy both authors immensely.
What Kay does exceedingly well, is allow me to care greatly about his characters. I don't have to work at it, like I do with some writers. They have depth and unique personalities all their own.
Comparisons with Tolkien aside, I think The Summer Tree and its sequels are excellent reads for folks who want more from their fantasy than a rip-roaring hack and slash dungeon in literary form. These are GOOD books and they deserve to be enjoyed, savored and pondered.
The occasional overly romanticized situation between a couple of the characters, as well as an annoying writing tick (I won't give it away as it's most likely a pet peeve of my own) prevents me from giving this series five stars, but I'd give it 4.5 if I could.
Rating: 
Summary: Only for die-hard Tolkien fans
Review: Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite authors and as such, I had very high hopes for this novel. Unfortunately, his Tolkien influence not only shows here, but it overwhelms the book entirely.
The plot is relatively straight-forward: five young people are led through a portal into another world by a mysterious mage and his sidekick. They're told they're only there for a celebration, a few days at the most, and then they can go home. But things go wrong from the very beginning. One of them doesn't make it through with the other four, and the plot just gets jumbled from there.
It sounds like standard fantasy fodder - and it should be. Unfortunately, the language is almost archaic, and the dialogue stilted. Sometimes entire pages are devoted to scenery. It may have worked well when Tolkien wrote, but in today's society, I expect a fast-paced story, full of intrigue and adventure.
At times, Kay offers glimpses of his talent by creating a character so wonderful (Sharra), and a culture so rich (the Dalrei), it takes my breath away. Unfortunately, those glimpses were few and far between. The main characters are bland and uninteresting, with the possible exception of Kim Ford, and they're all much too quick to accept this strange new world they've been thrown in (if a mage came up to you and plunged you through a portal, wouldn't you be a little more resistant to that kind of change?).
If you're a Tolkien fan, chances are good you'll enjoy THE SUMMER TREE. For the rest of us, this book is best left on the shelves.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Story set in a Beautiful World
Review: I love the Fionavar Tapestry. In these books Kay has woven a beautiful, complex story. The setting is Fionavar, a gorgeous and enchanted world filled with magic and history--a world which reminds me of Narnia or Middle Earth. The story is filled with strong, compelling characters, both male and female, who sometimes have to make difficult choices. At times the story is sad but Kay's writing is so graceful that I enjoyed even the sad parts.The Summer Tree, the first book in the trilogy, begins the story very nicely and draws the reader into the deep magic of Fionavar. The part of the story with Paul hanging on the Summer Tree was very beautifully written, and at many points reached the magestic feeling of an ancient myth or legend. I would highly recommend The Fionavar Tapestry to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy with powerful magic and attractive settings.
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