Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31550 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

A let down compared to other GGK novels
I've grown accustomed to picking up a GGK novel and being transported to a fantasy world beyond comparison. Tigana, Al-Rassan etc. do this to you and make you want to re-read those novels time and time again even if you have a pile of unread books waiting their turn from other authors. Unfortunately, Ysabel falls short of Kay's usual excellence with a mediocre, even light plot, shallow characters and way too detailed and travel-book like descriptions of the area of Provence. It seems as if GGK paid as much attention to writing his book as his main protagonist pays on writing his school essays... Perhaps Provence was _too_ beautiful?

In some sense, Ysabel is clearly targeted towards a younger audience than GGK's other works. Perhaps he also wrote this more to his own kids than to his usual grown-up fans?

Sceanic beauty painted in words
Upon first reading the book back to this tale I suspected something perhaps a little more like Timeline by Michael Crichton, that said however I was more than pleasantly surprised by the way that the tale unfolded. Although some people may say that this could have worked better as a short story the reader would have been cheated of the glorious landscape to which the author has clearly fallen in love with during extended research that clearly shows in the writing style used that paints the landscape in words that would have made even Cezanne weep.

What the reader gets out of this book, is a tale woven with ancient magic and a mystery that keeps them guessing right up to the end of the novel, with a surprise for the conclusion that I think few would even hazard a guess at. Wonderfully written, invocative and perhaps best of all a mystery that presents a landscape that the reader can't wait to explore. If only the photographic representation were possible, perhaps something the publisher could look into in much the same way that Transworld did with The Da Vinci Code. A cracking read by an author that continues to surprise with each new tale with a palette of not only fine colours but flavours and textures to the land to which he writes. The only other thing that this leaves me wondering is how much more magical this tale would be if read in Provance.

Wow! Its great to meet old friends!
What can I say? Having waited with baited breath for the next Guy Gavriel Kay novel, I am not disappointed! What's even better is you reacquaint yourself with some old familiar friends from the Fionavar tapestry (a trilogy whose brilliance remains undimmed through the fog of time!), this was a welcome surprise. The plot itself is brightly woven, with interesting characters, classy dialogue and a perfect plot. In fact i'm surprised this review is making any sense as I literally could not put the book down until 3 this morning!
With the exception of Robin Hobb, Guy Gavriel Kay is one of the few authors who can achieve this. The downside is I'm now going to have to read all his other books again in order to bide my time for the next new one!