Rating: 
Summary: Takes a while to get into, but don't give up
Review: The Summer Tree is one of my favorite books. At first, I only read it because my dad insisted, but after I got past the first 100 pages, I was hooked. Really, people, don't give up, it takes a while to get started. The whole Fionavar Tapestry is wonderful. The book begins in Toronto, where five college students, Kevin, Paul, Kim, Jennifer and Dave, are whisked away by the mage Loren Silvercloak, and his source, Matt Soren, once king of the dwarves. There, in Fionavar, they each encounter adventure, horror, magic and sadness, as the Unraveler, trapped for a thousand years, is freed. They each come to realize their destinies, and all are needed to help save Fionavar, the first of all worlds, from the dark hand of the Unraveler. This is a great book, and so are the other two in the trilogy. HIGHLY reccomended. All of the characters are realistic; Kevin and his charm, Paul and his grief, Kim and her determination, Jennifer and bravery, Dave and his loyalty. The second and third books are better, but you have to read the first to understand the next, don't you? Also, if you like these, read Tigana and A Song for Arbonne.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, Lyrical fantasy
Review: This book is the most haunting work of fantasy that I've ever read. The premise of the story--five university students get taken to a fantastic world--is a nice spin on children's fiction (like Eagar's Half Magic) and updates that classic genre for adults. I spent most of the book wishing that I was one of the five students! The plot is brilliant, taking many twists and turns and it takes the reader on emotional highs, emotional lows, and adds a fair bit of dread into the story, as well. I am haunted, however, by Kay's voice: haunting, lyrical, and otherworldly. The Summer Tree will make you want to read his other books, as well
Rating:
Summary: The Summer Tree Trilogy
Review: How anyone could not like this series is beyond me. If you are familiar with mythology and arthurian legend, this is the series for you! These books are at the top of my 'best ever' list...I have read and re-read them so many times I have lost count. I cared very much for the characters and what happened to them; so much so, that when a certain prince died, I cried...Every time I read it! By far, I believe these three books are the best Mr.Kay has written; better than anything he has produced since then. I keep hoping he will return to Fionavar, and GIVE ME MORE! Until then, however, I guess I will have to read this series again!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Tolkein, but definately worth it...
Review: I first bought the Summer Tree as a high-school sophomore in 1986, and consumed it in days, as I did with the paperback Wandering Fire, and the hardback The Darkest Road. I have since re-read it occationally, and there are few books out there worth going back to. Are there times where you scratch your head asking "now, why did they do that?" Yes. Are there times where you wonder, "hm...I dunno if I would have put it that way..." Maybe. Maybe it's because I myself am an aspiring writer and am too critical. I admit it. However, semantics aside--it is the story itself that a reader buys a book for. I charged through the Tapestry and was sad when I got to the end--I wanted there to be more. Then and now. I'm sure that I'll get teary-eyed at the same places, (and I don't get teary-eyed at much, either!) and I'll cheer to myself at the same places. The fact that I can still do that--as a high-schooler and now as an adult--also says something for the staying power of this great story. I highly recommend it, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did...
Rating: 
Summary: Ugghhh
Review: Next to Kay's later works, this one stinks. I stopped somewhere under 100 pages. The characters are loosely conceived. Their behavior and dialogue are stilted.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding fantasy
Review: It has been quite a few years since I first read the trilogy that begins with "The Summer Tree," but I still have yet to see anything (except LOTR) that compares. It is epic fantasy that entertains and moves you. I truly hope that after GGK finishes his current series of novels, he returns to this type of 'sword and sorcery' fantasy. He handles it as well as anyone. Certainly better than the shallow and drawn out series of Jordan, Goodkind, etc.
Rating:
Summary: 1st Book in a Well Named "Tapestry"
Review: Probably my favorite Fantasy novel! What makes this book and series great is that it is truly well thought out. Each of the 5 heros have vital roles to play in Fionavar, and it is very satisfying to see how they find their place "upon the Weaver's Loom". Each character winds up affecting the other players, and all 5 heros are necessary to the final outcome. Kay is a master at character development (he worked with J.R.R!), and you come away from this book with an interest in ALL the characters. Many pleasant surprises for lovers of fantasy and myth. I was thrilled with the Arthurian twist. Read it, you'll see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Original, poetic
Review: I found this book in a package of the Fionavar Tapestry on the "for sale" shelf of my fantasy bookstore Nebula. I picked it up, read the first page, and the next, and the third, and the next, and would have kept going if the clerk hadn't come by and told me "Look, you can read it all in here, but you'd be more comfortable at home!" So I bought it. And devoured it. I love the fact that there are not only two sides: darkness and light, good and evil, but three: darkness, gray, light, good, unknown, evil. I find Guy Kay's writing quite poetic, and I enjoyed every line and every character.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful. And egotistical. And bad.
Review: Ordinarily, when I am reading a book that I realize I'm not going to like, I keep going. I want to give it all the chances I can, and I want to be able to tell people, in detail, why I don't like it, if none of the chances pan out. Every now and then -- one out of perhaps every fifty or more books that I've read -- I come across one that I just can't finish. This book is one of those. I can, in the end, realistically only review the first couple of chapters. But they were terrible, just terrible. The characters were cardboard, and not very interesting cardboard. They didn't even have the excuse of being classic fantasy or fiction archetypes or set pieces; they were just really boring people, and not very well written boring people, either. The wordsmithing itself was trite and hackneyed; and the imagery, by extension, was distracting rather than revealing. And, finally, we come to the premise itself: Earth is but a pale reflection of the Real, True World, that just happens to be the one the author created, and that we're going to go to. This was a pompous, arrogant, *terrible* idea when Zelazny did it in the Amber series, and it's a pompous, arrogant, and now cliched idea, this time around. If you want fantasy about parallel worlds and finding magic in them, try The Incompleat Enchanter (by L. Sprague de Camp), and leave this tripe wherever it lies.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy is wonderful! I've re-read it several times. Even though this is a fantasy, the characters are very real and very human in the midst of all the magic. Parts of it are very tragic, but overall a beautiful story with a lot to impart to anyone who reads it.
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