Oct-Series Discussion-The Fionavar Tapestry

[rune]

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

Well guys, a new series to discuss Unfortunately I've not read any of this authors works, so I'll be following this thread with interest

 

[polymorphikos]

I read these books when I was nine or ten. I recall they were hard to get into but after a little bit picked-up. I also remember someone dying from sex.

In summation - this is a good series.

 

[GOLLUM]

I remember reading this trilogy when it first came out in the mid 1980s.

It starts off as an Urban fantasy before the characters end up in the magical world Fionavar,

I'll need to refresh the memory cells before going further on this but I'd rate it as a very goos series with some nice prose in parts, one of the best fantasy series of the 1980s that I read anyway.

 

[rune]

I read these books when I was nine or ten. I recall they were hard to get into but after a little bit picked-up. I also remember someone dying from sex.

In summation - this is a good series.

Someone dies from sex!

 

[finvarre]

Someone dies from sex!

Yes. Interesting, isn't it? It was more of a sacrifice, anyway, sex with a goddess in order to persuade her to act. And, needless to say, mere mortals cannot survive such an experience .

I liked the Fionavar Tapestry very much, especially because of the characters. Most of them were brilliant in their own way. My favourites were Kevin and Davor (Dave), two out of five young people from 'our' world who came to Fionavar, the First World through a gate, and Diarmuid, one of the two princes in Fionavar. Unlike many other authors, Kay mostly focuses on the feelings of the protagonists and I found it difficult not to sympathise with them. Besides, it's an epic fantasy trilogy with lots of characters and many simultaneous plots taking place at one time, so it's basically my favourite kind of fantasy book.

What I've always found hard when reading Guy Gavriel Kay's books is that unlike some other authors, he makes his characters suffer a lot. No victory is easy, and lots of characters are killed in unexpected ways. Sometimes it really made me angry, and one of my friends, for instance, doesn 't want to reread this trilogy because she doesn't accept the ending. BTW, for those of you who read the entire trilogy and remember it: how did you feel about the last volume?

Anyway, I think this book is a classic and definitely worth a read, even though I like Tigana and some other standalones by Kay more.

 

[Mark Robson]

I liked the fact that Guy did not make this a predictable 'happily ever after' style fantasy. The fact that just about all of his protagonists suffered in one way or another through the series kept you guessing. As I recall, the ending was not what I expected, (or really wanted) yet I was left satisfied that I'd enjoyed the overall experience of reading the series.

Sadly, I no longer own a copy of this series with which to remind myself of more detail, and it was a long time ago that I read it. However, I do remember that the prose flowed really well, and the description was vivid.

 

[Rosemary]

As usual I had a bit of trouble to start with. Too many characters and plots all happening at once. Luckily it didn't take too long to sort out.

Despite the ordeals that a couple of the characters had to suffer, I thought it was a great series.

 

[Shoegaze99]

I quite enjoyed the first book in the series - Kay's prose is excellent - but found the second book to be very slow going and really rather dull. I lost interest and never read the third. Having finished my most recent book last night, maybe I'll get around to finishing this trilogy for the thread.

 

[GOLLUM]

I think you'll find its worth the effort Shoegaze..