As someone who has small hands (albeit longish alien fingers, according to my brother), I appreciate the rating on this one!
And, as much as I want to read this one, I think I'll take that advice and wait for the paperback. My wrists couldn't handle The Way of Kings for very long and setting the book in my lap or on a table wasn't always doable.
Ah... another recommendation for ebooks (which is how I read it.)
A lot of Kay is sort of like this. Sailing to Sarantium is Byzantium. Ysabel was a little different. And the Fionvar Tapestry is essentially a first novel in three volumes.
I am very glad I read this as an e-book. I read MUCH FASTER on an e-reader (I got through this in three days, and I did things besides, y'know, read "Under Heaven" on those days) and it was definitely more manageable.
The Nook edition, at least, is a good edition. Some of the older books that are converted to e-readers have some weird errors on them where, I assume, the scanning software didn't understand a letter or a symbol and instead inserts a bit of garbage. I didn't see ONE instance on this in this book.
Do you know of a place I can go to learn more about what it takes to convert a printed book into an e-copy? I'm wanting to learn more about the process so I can better discuss why pricing for ebooks is the way it is.
Interesting that you mentioned the lack of magic in this novel, as I've seen other reviewers mention that as well. I've heard people say it's really more a historical fiction book than a fantasy book, as it's so light on the fantasy. I found that to be an interesting thought
( ... )
I didn't mind the lack of magic, mind you. It reads easily as secondary world fiction, which to me is fantasy unless there's spaceships, and then it's SF. But he added just enough to get away with calling if fantasy, you know?
I adore Guy Cavriel Kay's writing, and I am not as critical a reader as you are (and I mean critical in a good sense here), so my rating for "Under Heaven" was 5 stars. This said, one of my best friends (who just returned to the States after teaching English in China for three years) could not finish it - she said she just could not get into the story and the writing style did not work for her
( ... )
I guess where I was going with the line is this: he's telling the fictionalized story of a true rebellion, but to get to that story, he's made up a frame of characters and McGuffin to get to what I feel is the real thing. I know Tai and Li-Mei aren't based on real people, whereas the Emperor and his court were.
(the excerpt below is from the GGK essay I linked to. I think it explains wby he chose not to use "real" people. I understand that you disagree with his reasoning;)
....... I have come to dislike the hijacking of real lives as vehicles for an author's guesswork or deliberate distortions. I don't see saying, 'It is just a novel!', or offering an apology in an Afterword, as a 'get away with anything' card. I prefer to shape a character inspired by Spain's El Cid or the astonishing Tang poet, Li Bai, in Under Heaven, rather than pretend I have access to the mindset of the real figure. And I don't want to hitchhike a ride on the celebrity of a famous person. 'Spinning' the story a little towards an invented setting and characters feels ethically valid and creatively liberating. A win-win. ........
While I adored this book it still is no rival for my favorite Kay, The Lions Of Al-Rassan. I couldn't put an order to his other works except that Ysabel and The Last Light Of The Sun would be at the bottom of the list. Yes, even behind The Fionavar Tapestry. Amateurish as that trilogy may be, I loved the characters and to this day I re-read it and enjoy it.
But about this weighty tome, I agree that it would have benefited from an editor with a stronger hand. Initially I wasn't that enthralled with the story, not until it moves away from Tai did it really hook me. After that I couldn't put it down. Fake historical fantasy though it may be, I think Kay did an excellent job fleshing out the culture.
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And, as much as I want to read this one, I think I'll take that advice and wait for the paperback. My wrists couldn't handle The Way of Kings for very long and setting the book in my lap or on a table wasn't always doable.
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A lot of Kay is sort of like this. Sailing to Sarantium is Byzantium. Ysabel was a little different. And the Fionvar Tapestry is essentially a first novel in three volumes.
Reply
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The Nook edition, at least, is a good edition. Some of the older books that are converted to e-readers have some weird errors on them where, I assume, the scanning software didn't understand a letter or a symbol and instead inserts a bit of garbage. I didn't see ONE instance on this in this book.
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.......
I have come to dislike the hijacking of real lives as vehicles for an author's guesswork or deliberate distortions. I don't see saying, 'It is just a novel!', or offering an apology in an Afterword, as a 'get away with anything' card. I prefer to shape a character inspired by Spain's El Cid or the astonishing Tang poet, Li Bai, in Under Heaven, rather than pretend I have access to the mindset of the real figure. And I don't want to hitchhike a ride on the celebrity of a famous person. 'Spinning' the story a little towards an invented setting and characters feels ethically valid and creatively liberating. A win-win.
........
Reply
Reply
But about this weighty tome, I agree that it would have benefited from an editor with a stronger hand. Initially I wasn't that enthralled with the story, not until it moves away from Tai did it really hook me. After that I couldn't put it down. Fake historical fantasy though it may be, I think Kay did an excellent job fleshing out the culture.
Reply
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