2022 – “All the Seas of the World” by Guy Gavriel Kay

I have a few auto-buy authors whose books I buy new whenever they come out in paperback. I also have a select few authors where I will buy their books in hardback – Guy Gavriel Kay is one of those and has been for many years because he is an author whose books have never disappointed me. All the Seas of the World is no exception and is, as I would expect, an intelligent and thought provoking fantasy novel with some exquisite writing.

This is a stand-alone novel but it is linked to previous books such as The Lions of Al-Rassan, A Brightness Long Ago (which I talk about in my favourite books of 2019 here)and Sailing to Sarantium. You don’t have to have read those books to enjoy this one but if you do understand the references it enhances the reading experience and it certainly delighted me to be reminded of past stories I had enjoyed.

The book is a fantasy but the overall geography, society and culture is modelled on that of Europe in the fifteenth century. There are three religious systems which mirror those of Judaism, Islam and Christianity without replicating them, and there are references to events such as the fall of Constantinople and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. For a fantasy it has very little use of magic or supernatural events but they do occur and the whole book has an unearthly feel about it as though these things might happen at any time. It is mostly a story about people and is very character driven – what happens usually happens because of who the people are and a lot of the book is about how people make choices and the consequences to themselves and others when they do. The author includes many minor characters in the book and takes time to tell the reader how they saw things and what happened to them once the events of the plot move away.

The story is about a ship owner and trader, and his female partner who once used to be a slave. They are paid to take an assassin to murder the lord of a minor city. When things don’t quite go as planned they become involved in a cascade of events leading from this one action that changes their lives and the political structure of the area for ever. The story moves from one point of view to another and the author weaves the individual stories of the people together to make a rich and compelling narrative. In the midst of this each character lives their own personal life; one finds a missing brother, one searches for a missing brother and one has a brother die. Many of the characters live in exile and a longing for home and security is one of the themes of the story.

This book is not as fast paced and action filled as some of this author’s previous books but it is compelling reading. I was completely engaged in the lives of these characters and found this book very difficult to put down. This is an author I highly recommend and a favourite with whom to finish my 60 Books from 60 Years challenge – I’ve been reading his stories for at least half of those years !