Product Description

The once powerful empire of Al-Rassan, King Almarik is on the ascendancy, adding city after city to his realm aided always by the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan -- poet, diplomat, soldier and assassin. Almarik's empire is threatened only by the ambitious Jaddite kings of the north who are eager to reclaim the lands they once held.

But the Jaddite lands are divided and their own celebrated war leader Rodrigo Belmonte and his war-band are forced into exile. Thus in the exquisite lakeside city of Ragosa, Rodrigo and ibn Khairan meet and serve -- for a time -- the same monarch. And observing the byplay between the two men is Jehane, the beautiful, accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232390 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

LOCUS
'A magnificent, deeply moving book'

KIRKUS REVIEWS
'Impossible to put down'

The Financial Post
One of the premier fantasists of our time

Customer Reviews

I am not impressed
So far, I have read:
Tigana
A Song for Arbonne
The Last Light of the Sun
The Lions of Al-Rassan

I really liked Tigana and The Last Light of the Sun. I believe one of the best fantasy I have read.

A Song for Arbonne - I found to be mediocre. A whole story was good but the ending was realy of ..meh..

The Lions of Al-Rassan - I liked and didn't like it. There were a few drawbacks that force me to say I didn't like it more than I liked it.

1. The beginning was very good. However, sometime starting from 1/3 or maybe 1/2? of the book there are huge time gaps when we have no idea what was happing to characters. We just have a very brief summary or hints on what happened. It is like a story should be 3 volums series, instead it was made 1 volume book with a few concise summaries in the middle of the book. It was very annyoing.

***WARNING***MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD***

2. Politics. I hated this part. I hated that one moron who is responsible for thounds of deaths that could be avoided stayed alive and enjoyed a happy married life while another brave man died leaving his family without a husband and father. I wonder how much of it was just foolish Political Correctness, so the book would not make a certain group of people belonging to a certain religion angry.
I believe the last 50 pages spoiled overall impression of the book for me completely.

The Perfect Novel
I've now read Lions several times. Each time I am struck by its enduring relevance to modern society (particularly the treatment of the theme of religious tolerance) and the sheer perfection of the story-telling. Reading it with the benefit of hindsight, I am always struck by the quality of the story-telling and the technical construction. I cannot find one single thing that could be changed to improve the novel. This is, to my mind, Kay's most accomplished, sophisticated and mature work to date.

The story of a fragile balance between competing cultures that has led to the flowering of a great civilisation doomed to eventual collapse is beautifully told. We see this in both the macro (the wider global politics) and the micro (a perfectly drawn, yet incredibly understated, love triangle between three characters, including a fictionalised El Cid). The tragedy, as always in Kay's work, is that the prevailing course of events serves to push people with instinctual connections into opposing sides on a greater conflict from which no-one can emerge unchanged. Whatever happens, there will be change and the protagonists will not be left unmarked by it. These are some of Kay's favourite themes, but he deals with them best here. Controversially, I would say even better than in his seminal novel _Tigana_.

I will concede that the denouement is somewhat melodramatic. But it serves a narrative purpose in pointing out that regardless of which side 'wins' the world is diminished. Don't expect a simple tale of good v evil. This is far more subtle and complicated than that, and much the richer for it.

Wow!......and to think I only bought it because of the cover
I have to say that one of the reasons I bought this book because I liked the artwork on the front cover. Yes I read the reviews and everything but I am sorry to say I do judge a book by it's cover. As you can see from the rating of four stars I did find a fault. The only fault I could find, (I would of given The Lions of Al-Rassan Five stars otherwise) is that the beginning took a while to get me hooked, it still sat on my shelf about two months after I got it. Maybe it's because I'm only 15 years old and not too intellectual(yet).

(Now without any spoilers, i'll use my weak skills of persuasion to urge you to buy this book)

Anyway, If you buy this book you will not regret it. GGK really makes you care for the characters, they will seem real and you will be rooting for them, it is the type of book you will read until 3 o'clock in the morning just to find out what happens to them. It is one of the only books that has almost made me shed a tear. The Lions of Al-Rassan is a powerful, involving novel, with realistic characters and a complex storyline. Everyone should read it, buy it, borrow it, but get it, now, go on, i'll wait.

DH