[smile] _The Fionavar Tapestry_ is one of my favourite things of what I've
read. I had stopped reading fiction for a couple of years, and in deciding
to go back, picked up a copy of _The Summer Tree_ kind of at random. My
reaction was, wow, why did I ever stop, I'd forgotten reading was this
good. A lot of it since then has been something of a letdown....
I met someone recently who read _tFT_ and didn't like it, though, so such a
thing *is* possible. :) If you were considering reading it, it's high
fantasy, with Arthurian and Tolkeinesque elements (although I'm reading
Tolkein now and not enjoying it as much - for an entire world view it could
have just a few more women in it, and the writing is more pedestrian); Kay
was also strongly influenced by Campbell, so it contains a lot of
archetypical stuff. Kay's got a beautiful, epic, poetic, powerful writing
voice. He's emotionally draining, but he's good. And I agree that the
characters are definitely worth meeting.
My biggest problem with Kay's later writing is after you've written the
archetypical fantasy, where do you go? Kay's answer has been to stray
farther and farther away from that world. And some of the characters seem
to be watered-down versions of stronger originals (e.g. Look, it's Diarmuid
again, but Diarmuid was better). Kay's strong storytelling ability keeps me
reading, but I'm not sure how much I like what he's doing now. Anyone else?
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Corene McKay ***ed_res@op.douglas.bc.ca*** ... & the word
Editorial Resource splits & doubles & speaks
Other Publications Society the truth ...
Freelance Writer/Editor/Proofreader - Atwood (from "Spelling")
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