Kay, Guy Gavriel: The Summer Tree
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry: Book One)
Writer: Guy Gavriel Kay
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 383
Remember back when I read Kay's Ysabel and I was all bent out of shape because I wanted Kim and Dave's story? Thanks to all of you who commented, I quickly learned Kay had written that story ALREADY, and that was was told in Kay's debut trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry. So of course, I had to order that trilogy ASAP so it could sit on my shelf, waiting for the right moment when I was ready to read it. And after reading six Charlaine Harris books in a row, I decided I was ready.
The premise: Five college students--Kim, Dave, Kevin, Jennifer, and Paul--are approached by a mysterious stranger and a dwarf with a most unusual offer. To accompany them to the world of Fionavar to attend the King's festival. Why not? After all, the time spent in Fionavar would be but a blink of an eye in real time, so off they go, only to find themselves pivotal players in a war that's been unfolding for centuries.
Spoilers ahead.
It's an interesting thing to read first an author's most recent work, and then turn around and to read his debut. The difference is staggering. From the start, I was overwhelmed, not just by all the names and places to keep track of, but also by the point of view that shifted from one person to another, seemingly without significance in terms of importance of cast. This made it so hard to move forward, especially since there was no real reason that Kim, Dave, Kevin, Jennifer, and Paul were called to Fionavar, other than the trivial need to have five other-worlders attend the King's anniversary. Events unfolded without cause or consequence, and not even Kim's mysterious connection to the world was enough to interest me.
Conflict slowly unfolded: the inner conflict of Paul concerning the guilt of his girlfriend's death, which drives him to sacrifice himself on the Summer Tree so that Brennin might have rain. Jennifer is kidnapped, Dave is missing--having broken the circle of power when they crossed over, and Kim is discovering her latent powers as a Seer.
And then there's the signs of a great many things WRONG in the land: the drought, the svart alfars appearing at random, that sort of thing. I'm telling you: it wasn't until we finally got to Dave's story that I found myself seriously interested. Dave's section focused on THREE points of view (and if there were others, they were too minor to notice), and the story there was tight and focused and had an end-game, which was to get Dave where he belonged. I liked that section a lot, and I feel I learned more there than I did the rest of the book when it was hoping all over the map and scampering through a million peoples' heads. And when we finally get the cast reunited and everything laid out on the table, it's a relief, though the book is pretty much over.
Don't get me wrong, there's certainly a rich texture to this story and world-building, and there's a great many myths and legends and folk tales I recognized, though passively, working in the storyline. In some ways, this would be a really neat book to reach in a literature course on fantasy (I'm remembering one I took back in 2003 at Maryville College), because it's not a Tolkien clone, it offers something both new and familiar to the epic fantasy genre, and there's just so much meat on the bones.
However, and this being Kay's debut, there's bound to be flaws, I did have issue. For starters, I needed to connect with the characters, and I didn't get to do that until Dave's section because I never really got to know any of them. Admittedly, once Paul was on the Tree and we finally got his story, I was certainly sympathetic, but it was a little too late. My second issue was the structure: why have Dave's section kept apart from the rest, especially since his timeline happened simultaneously? Maybe it was to keep the two groups focused, but I know I was getting really impatient not hearing a single word about Dave and having no one seem genuinely INTERESTED in finding him, and it would've helped to have his story interwoven with the rest.
Can't say I was fond of the whole "people from the real world get transported to a fantasy world" premise, and in part that has to do with the fact I didn't connect with the characters from the real world enough to care they were in a fantasy world (nor did I buy their complete suspension of disbelief), and then there's the fact that nowadays (though it probably wasn't when it was written), this is a very common and overdone plot device.
And on a personal level, and I'm only slightly forgiving since this was published back in 1984, likely before it became a cliche, did Jennifer HAVE to get raped? Not just raped, but by a fucking Dark Lord? And not just ANY Dark Lord, but essentially a god? Are you KIDDING me? I mean, I get that a Dark Lord wants to cause immense pain and torture for all good he comes in contact with, but you'd think that once you're at that level, you'd find more ways to torture your victims than to rely on the oh-so-human means of RAPE. Sure, he does it in a sick way, transforming himself from her father to her priest to Kevin to who knows who else, but still? Oh, and then he gives her to a dwarf and commands her to do whatever the dwarf asks her, and then tells the dwarf she must die by morning.
Oy. Unthrilled with that, I was.
The ending too is rather abrupt. It's wasn't until I read a summary online that I realized that Kim managed to pull them OUT of Fionavar. I thought she was transporting the group to the Dark Lord's castle to rescue Jennifer, but nope, somehow she's managed to get them all and take them home. Would've like a bit more of an ending in that regard. Yep. :)
And yes, I know the Dark Lord is really called Rakoth Maugrim, but I don't feel like typing that every time.
My Rating
Wish I'd Borrowed It: actually, I kind of wish I'd thought of reading the summaries on Wikipedia just to get Kim and Dave's story, because I'd been told that The Fionavar Tapestry is Kay's weakest, and now I know why. Yes, it's his debut, and I was thoroughly spoiled by the mastery and beauty of Ysabel, but still. I've got the rest of the trilogy, and I'd planned on reading the books back to back to back, but I think I'm going to take a quick break, just because this book didn't win be over as much as I thought it might.
Next up:
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr