Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240393 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

ROBERT JORDAN
‘LORD OF EMPERORS is wonderful. I never expect less from Guy Gavriel Kay.’

BSFA VECTOR
'This is Kay at his very very best!'

Synopsis
A magnificent epic fantasy from an author who appeals to the readers of J.R.R. Tolkien and THE NAME OF THE ROSE. The empire of Sarantium is beset to east and west. To the east the Asharites, star-worshippers, encroach ever closer to the imperial city itself; to the west barbarian tribes are becoming more dangerous year by year. But Valerius II wishes to take back the western lands which gave birth to the empire he now rules. Into his melting pot came Caius Crispus, a master mosaicist who is called upon to play a role in building a magnificent new sanctuary - but his final role wil be far wider and more deadly, both to himself and the empire. In this magnificent, colourful novel, first of a two-book series, Guy Gavriel Kay continues his long-running tapestry of tales from the world of TIGANA and A SONG FOR ARBONNE. This is his greatest triumph yet.

Customer Reviews

A magical book!
'Sailing to Sarantium' is the first ('Lord of Emperors' the second) of the Sarantine Mosaic 'duology' (?!). Together they provide you with a wonderful impression of life in a great city (modelled on Byzantium) and the people who live their lives there. We learn about the plans and desires of an Empress (though anyone who can figure out her husband and his plans should immediately apply to Mensa!) and a page later the hopes, fears and insecurities of a kitchen boy. The 'hero', the prime character, is a mosaicist - Caius Crispin. He has the opportunity of a lifetime and through his journey, relations to others, but primarily through his work, we get to know a wonderfully realised character.

There are intricate plans and plots by nearly everyone at court; there is thrilling, fast-passed action at the hippodrome where the chariots (which dominate every aspect of life in Sarantium) race; and there is the philosophical bent of the author who really does seem to be trying tell us something about human nature - though it feels like a discussion between author and reader.

One thing to note is the women! In Sarantium the women, as Crispin finds out, have just as much (or as little) control as the men do.

All of GGK's books are good, my particular favourites being 'The Lions of Al-Rassan' and 'A Song for Arbonne' - but the two novels comprising the Saratine Mosaic truly surpass his other works.

Not to be missed...
I'd read some GGK before 'Sailing to Sarantium' (the 'Favonia Tapestry' and 'Tigana' to be exact) so I had a fair idea what to expect. I had however, also read in some reviews that the rest of GGK's work was not up to the standard of the those books, and this lead me to delay my reading of his other work. Having read 'Sailing' and the second part 'Lord of Emperors' I regret that delay...

'The Sarantine Mosaic' pair are, I think, my favourite of his books. This first is a little slow to get going - while reading the (rather lengthy) epilogue I wondered if the novel was to be written in a textbook style without a central character. However, once we meet Crispin, the protagonist, the story progresses much more smoothly.

As with all GGK's books (apart from the Favonia Tapestry) the novel is set in a world derived from real history, in this case that of the Byzantium Empire. Crispin, a mosicist of great skill makes a journey across a fictional recreation of the ancient Empire from its fallen seat to the centre of it's power, the city of Saranitum. He makes this journey carrying an invitation sent to his aging partner Martinian signed by the hand of the Chancellor of the Emperor himself. Crispin navigates a relutant path through the machinations of figures of overwhelming power both on the road and once he reaches the city itself. All the while battling his own anger and darkened soul following the loss of his wife and daughters to plague.

Perhaps one small criticism might be that there are a few, intregingly masked, but unresolved nods to historical events which someone without a good knowledge of ancient history is left out of. This can be a little confusing in the part fiction, part fact setting of the novel. It's possible that these points may be picked up in the two books I've yet to read - 'A Song for Arbonne' and 'The Lions of Al-Rassan' and this minor niggle wasn't enough to impact the five-star rating that the book deserves.

Crispin's journey makes for a gripping and beautifully sculpted story, as does his arrival at the great city of Saranitum. A word of warning though, this is in some ways a book split in two rather than a two-part work. Therefore I advise you to have the second half -'Lord of Emperors'- on hand for when you finish this, I doubt you will want to wait too long to see who's waiting for Crispin at the bottom of his scaffold...

Amazing
This is a damn good novel about Belisarius, Justinian and Constantinople, bringing to life the decaying civilisation of the former imperial territories to the west, and the lonely and dangerous land route to the capital.

And yet of course this book isn't ostensibly about Justinian, or Belisarius, or Theodora, or the Byzantine Empire, but about the emperor Valerius, his general Leontes, his wife Alixana, and the empire of Sarantium. It is reasonable to ask if it is worth the hassle of Kay renaming a few personal and place names to tell his story. I think it is. For a start, it liberates him from any obligation to stick too closely to the historical events from which he has drawn his story, and in particular to be a bit more inventive about the religious beliefs and practices of his characters; and I suppose to write about faith and belief as universal human experiences, while separating them from what the reader may know or think about specific religions in our own world. And second, it allows him to inject a fantasy element or two, specifically an alchemist who can create telepathic metal birds, and an intervention from the Old Gods of the type favoured by Lois McMaster Bujold in her most recent novels.

Having raved about the scenery, I am now going to rave about the plot and characters. The core of the book is the story of Crispin the mosaicist's journey from the western city of Varena (ie Ravenna, Kay's least opaque renaming) to the capital to decorate the new Sanctuary, overcoming personal tragedy and deadly political conspiracy. But Kay builds up the mosaic of the narrative from lots of little glimpses of perspective as well, in a memorable sequence actually telling one part of the story backwards, each new viewpoint character taking us to an earlier stage of the action. All really well done, and yet the worldbuilding is even better than that. Well, I really enjoyed this, as I have enjoyed all Kay's books (apart from his first, coauthored with a more famous writer).