Dragons, elves, mages and a dark evil feature in this start to a fantasy trilogy

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favourite authors and I have read all his books. For me, The Summer Tree and its two sequels were where my love of his writing began and as it is some years since I read them I have decided to reread the trilogy. The books are mostly set in the fantasy world of Fionavar where five students from Toronto are brought to celebrate the reign of the king but who find themselves involved in the affairs of the kingdom as an ancient evil is released from captivity and seeks his revenge on those who imprisoned him.

There are several things which set these books apart from the many, many high fantasy novels available, often in trilogies or longer series. The first is the amount of plot which the author includes. Each of the students has their own story but so too do many of the other characters so there is always something going on and when you have finished the book, which is not particularly long for the genre, you realise just how much action and activity that there has been – this author tells a story in three novels that many authors would spin out to make a longer series.

The world building is superb and much of it is based on ancient British folklore – it is very similar to that of Alan Garner although the latter writes mainly for children (see a review of one of his books here). It is very detailed and atmospheric and the author has included dragons and also King Arthur but he also includes elements of Norse mythology as well as some inventions of his own.

The author is also a poet and the writing reflects this. I like his style and the way that he reveals things to the reader. The whole book reads like an epic or a folk tale which gives the themes of destiny, sacrifice and good versus evil seem very real.

This book ends on a cliffhanger but it is clear that it is part of a trilogy and, having read all three books several times before, I know that the author will tie up all the loose ends and weave them together to create a believable ending to the story ,but readers new to this author need to be aware that he doesn’t always do what you want or expect and that he is not afraid to kill off major characters if it suits the plot.

If you enjoy fantasy novels at all I recommend the work of Guy Gavriel Kay and this trilogy is as good a place to start as any – I review one of his later books here.