Under Heaven
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- ISBN13: 9780451463302
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
In his latest innovative novel, the award-winning leader evokes the dazzling Tang Period of 8th-century China in a tale of honor and power.
Inspired by the glory and power of Tang period China, Guy Gavriel Kay has made a masterpiece.
It starts simply. Shen Tai, son of an illustrious all-purpose serving the Emperor of Kitai, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late father by burying the bones of the dead from both armies at the site of one of his father’s last fantastic battles. In recognition of his labors and his filial piety, an unlikely source has sent him a treacherous gift: 250 Sardian horses.
You give a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him momentously. You give him four or five to acclaim him above his fellows, force him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor.
Wisely, the gift comes with the stipulation that Tai must aver the horses in person. Otherwise he would probably be dead already…
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Second son Shen Tai has spent the last two years as the only living person amidst the forty thousand dead, burying the bones of the dead from both sides. He does this to honor his late father, Kitai Empire Left Side Commander of the Pacified West All-purpose Shen Gao who died here while leading his side to victory.
Tai’s endeavor is rewarded with the unexpected stunning gift of 250 Sardian “Heavenly Horses”, the greatest steeds on the planet. To take his gift, he must come in person to the Sardian Court of their ex- enemy so he leaves the ghostly mountain battlefield for the capital of the Kitai Empire, Xinan. Tai knows how valuable they are, but soon learns others agree as assassination attempts to send him to his late father start even lacking his claiming the horses yet.
Under Heaven is a superb past epic that builds off an very ancient Chinese period to tell a gorgeous tale of power abused, treachery, honor and like. The secondary characters enhance a strong sense of what the hero is going through as the audience will feel we accompany Shen Tai on his travels. Guy Gavriel Kay provides a deep saga of a hero rewarded and consequently beaten for honoring his father by interring the remains of valiant soldiers from both sides to their ghosts can silently rest forever.
Harriet Klausner
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Kitai, during the Ninth Period. The Emperor has agreed the nation many years of peace and prosperity. Far to the west, in a valley where the last fantastic battle between Kitai and Tagur was fought, a dutiful son pays homage to his dead father by burying the bones of the fallen. His honourable task is noted by the Tagurans who give him a princely gift: two hundred and fifty Sardian horses. You give a man one Sardian horse to honour him momentously, four or five to elevate him above all others. Two hundred and fifty is an overwhelming gift, a gift that straight away elevates Shen Tai into a player in Kitan politics.
These are perilous times. The First Minister and the empire’s greatest all-purpose are feuding, the Emperor is distracted by his most favoured concubine and there is clannish dissent among the Bogu people beyond the Long Wall. Shen Tai and his family tree are thrust into the midst of fantastic events, and find they and their horses may determine the balance of power, and of life and death, for many.
Under Heaven is Guy Gavriel Kay’s eleventh novel, and inscription a return to his favoured alternate-history setting and genre after the World Fantasy Award-winning Ysabel, which was a departure from his normal work. The setting this time is 8th Century China during the Tang Period, during the lead-up to the colossal An Shi Uprising (the most devastating war in human history until World War II, if the sufferer facts are to be believed), although as normal the setting is lightly fictionalised, with characters and events hewing close to the originals but not reasonably replicating them.
Kay’s China – Kitai – is a place of scheming nobles, courtly poise and etiquette and labyrinth conspiracies, all of which are depicted impressively. As normal, Kay is less interested in war and battles than in the human characters of the tale, from Shen Tai and his ambitious brother Shen Liu to First Minister Wen Zhou, the poet Sima Zian and the women of the tale (the Beloved Companion Wen Jian, Tai’s sister Shen Li-Mei and the Kanlin warrior Wei Song), whose roles are crucial. Kay’s grasp of character is as assured as ever, and he brings these people to life to the extent where the reader finds it impossible not to care about what happens to them next. Kay’s grasp of emotion is as also keenly-judged as ever, with moments of genuinely raw emotional power which never overreach into mawkishness.
The pacing is also well-handled, and the plot unfolds in a gripping manner. Kay shows greater confidence here as a writer than he has in some time, and his weaving of events, conspiracies and characters into a greater whole is impressive. This is easily his most assured and well-executed book since The Lions of Al-Rassan, if not ever. The only possible criticism I could find is that the ending is slightly abrupt, although the main storyline and character arcs are satisfyingly resolved.
Under Heaven (*****) is a superb book from one of our best writers effective at the top of his game, and will likely be judged one of the strongest books of this year, in fantasy or otherwise. It is available now in the UK and USA.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Guy Gavriel Kay is a truly outstanding leader. From our initial exposure to Under Heaven, he captures our keen attention upon the tale of Shen Tai and his traditional time of mourning and honouring of the ancestors. A gift of 250 horses complicates the task, and his journey back home is fraught with examination both during and after his arrival. Any change, no matter how insignificant, has repercussions forever. That is just part of the tale.
Few novelists can aver the a reputation as levelheaded, and through his work exhibit a passion for historically, culturally accurate writing. It is clearly obvious that Under Heaven benefits from such effort.
Truly, Under Heaven is a pleasure to read, a treasure to hold, and filled to full measure with enjoyable, compelling characterization.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I had read all the pre-press of this in the offing book of Kay’s and went so far as to pre-order it here. Sorry to say, I don’t reflect the book lives up to its hype. It’s a wonderful book and as said in my title of this review, perfectly written, lyrical and engrossing, but fantastic? No. The characters and the dialogue are rich, but the tale/plot itself is underwhelming and a tad dull. Fantastic characterizations but the tale was just seemed ho-hum to me. I still reflect the Fionavar Tapestry is Kay’s best work. All are excellent, as is this one; just not his best IMHO.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
Plenty of people have already outlined the plot, more or less terribly, so I will merely say that the master has surpassed himself. Nobody can blend history and fantasy as well as Guy Kay. Yes, it is fantasy, in that Kitai never existed and banshees howl in the night, but any pragmatist with a trace of a soul could read and delight in this one. It will suffer when 99% of this year’s books have been forgotten.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5