zemroner's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jandi's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Why did I find this book so compelling? The plot moves very slowly, and it is inexplicable why every female character finds the not so interesting Crispin so alluring. Yet, the way that Guy Gavriel Kay describes the world, I felt transported to Byzantium, sharing in the excitement of the chariot races (which added nothing to the plot, but were fun to read) and navigating the struggles of power succession. I enjoyed the prose, the twists and the exciting races. I really wish that the female characters, all of them powerful, intelligent and with agency, were better fleshed out and had more depth. I was not a fan of the ending .
Spoiler
Crispin and Aliana setting out together. I'm sure Aliana had other options...ldasoqi's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is an adequate sequel and conclusion to the series, GGK's prose and world-building continue to improve on what I thought was a perfect rendering of a fantastical Byzantium. I'm not even sure if I want to classify this as a sequel, it felt more like an expansion; with new characters, more depth, and a greater emphasis on city life. Unfortunately, issues that I wrote off in the first entry have returned and are even more obvious, my two main issues being the romance/portrayal of women and the ending. I will admit that I finished the last third of this book while fighting a nasty cold, but I really felt this story come apart as I approached the closing chapters.
This book picks up right after the first and details the remainder of Crispin's stay in Sarantium, the affairs of a newly introduced Bassanid (Persian) physician, and Emporer Valerius II's plan to reconquer Rhodia. The bulk of this novel is devoted to the characters and their development; Crispin in particular. I did not love the balance of plot to development in this one, it felt like none of the characters had any influence on what was going on, and their development was likewise forced and poorly articulated, which is a surprise given how amazing and lyrical the prose was.
The main problem that I kept running into was with the female characters. First of all every single female character in this book is otherworldy gorgeous, mensa-level intelligent, and witty, and fashionable, on-and-on. There are no normal women period, and GGK writes every interaction and description of these pseudo-goddesses as if he'd never spoken to or met a woman in his life. The descriptions of sex and the intermingling of sex and politics are written from such a bizarre and detached perspective. The emotions involved totally absent from the dialogue, the female characters acting more like tools than women. It's a serious issue given how prominently the female characters feature in the plot and in the development of the principal male cast.
My knowledge of Byzantine history largely agrees with the details that GGK has included in this series, with my only real question remaining being whether Rhodias is supposed to be Greece or Italy. Where Sailing to Sarantium largely stuck to the record, this book deviates significantly. I get that this is historical fiction and that GGK was trying to tell a historically flavored story not a retelling of Justinian and Theodora, but this book breaks many of the conventions established in the first entry. It makes me question the need for such attention to the historical record when the plot never intended to respect it in the first place. I would normally be fine with deviations, but where this story deviates it turns into a very generic fairy tale with themes pulled straight from the catalog of the Brothers Grimm. It offended me to see such lyrical prose, incredible world-building, and historical detail wasted on a nonsense plot.
This brings us back to the issue with the women in this novel. It compounds with everything else to make the entire novel worse off. What I loved in the first book, the fantastical realism and attention to detail, are still there but robbed of their authenticity and diminished by the presence of what I am coining as Machiavelli-fuckdolls™. I can see some readers saying that this portrayal is by design and that women in this period of history were to some degree as this book portrays them. I'm not buying that. I could understand a lack of agency being excused by the historical record, but these women don't lack agency at all, instead, they're politically focused robots even at their most intimate moments. Real women aren't like that, and I don't care if they're part of some ruling caste and trained from birth to be pragmatic and unfeeling, it just doesn't jive. As I've noted above this entry doesn't even care to stick to the historical record all that closely, so the women are as they are by the deliberate choice of the author. It sucks.
This book gets full credit from me for the quality of the writing, and the city of Saratium is spell-binding, to say the least. The Chariot race in particular is probably my favorite moment of the entire series. All that said this is a little bit like putting lipstick on a pig because the core story mechanics just weren't there.
TL;DR: Come for the city and the chariots, Stay for the Machiavelli-fuckdolls™.
This book picks up right after the first and details the remainder of Crispin's stay in Sarantium, the affairs of a newly introduced Bassanid (Persian) physician, and Emporer Valerius II's plan to reconquer Rhodia. The bulk of this novel is devoted to the characters and their development; Crispin in particular. I did not love the balance of plot to development in this one, it felt like none of the characters had any influence on what was going on, and their development was likewise forced and poorly articulated, which is a surprise given how amazing and lyrical the prose was.
The main problem that I kept running into was with the female characters. First of all every single female character in this book is otherworldy gorgeous, mensa-level intelligent, and witty, and fashionable, on-and-on. There are no normal women period, and GGK writes every interaction and description of these pseudo-goddesses as if he'd never spoken to or met a woman in his life. The descriptions of sex and the intermingling of sex and politics are written from such a bizarre and detached perspective. The emotions involved totally absent from the dialogue, the female characters acting more like tools than women. It's a serious issue given how prominently the female characters feature in the plot and in the development of the principal male cast.
Spoiler
[A big part of this novel is Crispin's relationship with the four most powerful women in the story, and which of them he ultimately beds/couples with. Given the way they are written, it's hard to get a sense of the characters' feelings for each other, so the fact that any one of them was interested in Crispin came off as contrived.]My knowledge of Byzantine history largely agrees with the details that GGK has included in this series, with my only real question remaining being whether Rhodias is supposed to be Greece or Italy. Where Sailing to Sarantium largely stuck to the record, this book deviates significantly. I get that this is historical fiction and that GGK was trying to tell a historically flavored story not a retelling of Justinian and Theodora, but this book breaks many of the conventions established in the first entry. It makes me question the need for such attention to the historical record when the plot never intended to respect it in the first place. I would normally be fine with deviations, but where this story deviates it turns into a very generic fairy tale with themes pulled straight from the catalog of the Brothers Grimm. It offended me to see such lyrical prose, incredible world-building, and historical detail wasted on a nonsense plot.
This brings us back to the issue with the women in this novel. It compounds with everything else to make the entire novel worse off. What I loved in the first book, the fantastical realism and attention to detail, are still there but robbed of their authenticity and diminished by the presence of what I am coining as Machiavelli-fuckdolls™. I can see some readers saying that this portrayal is by design and that women in this period of history were to some degree as this book portrays them. I'm not buying that. I could understand a lack of agency being excused by the historical record, but these women don't lack agency at all, instead, they're politically focused robots even at their most intimate moments. Real women aren't like that, and I don't care if they're part of some ruling caste and trained from birth to be pragmatic and unfeeling, it just doesn't jive. As I've noted above this entry doesn't even care to stick to the historical record all that closely, so the women are as they are by the deliberate choice of the author. It sucks.
This book gets full credit from me for the quality of the writing, and the city of Saratium is spell-binding, to say the least. The Chariot race in particular is probably my favorite moment of the entire series. All that said this is a little bit like putting lipstick on a pig because the core story mechanics just weren't there.
TL;DR: Come for the city and the chariots, Stay for the Machiavelli-fuckdolls™.
unavezmas's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I liked this book more than the first one. I takes all that it intoduced and develops it.
I loved Valerius and his wife Alexia cracking spicy jokes at eaxh other. They actually care deeply for each other and their subjects which is probably more rare that white tigers.
Political intrigue is extremely realistic here. Pewerful people doing bad stuff and suffering 0 consequences. And being Shitty to their subjects. It was more or less easy to follow which coming from a person who cannot remember a name longer than 5 letters says something.
I want to discuss all the turns and twists but it'll spoil the fun so I won't.
I loved Valerius and his wife Alexia cracking spicy jokes at eaxh other. They actually care deeply for each other and their subjects which is probably more rare that white tigers.
Political intrigue is extremely realistic here. Pewerful people doing bad stuff and suffering 0 consequences. And being Shitty to their subjects. It was more or less easy to follow which coming from a person who cannot remember a name longer than 5 letters says something.
I want to discuss all the turns and twists but it'll spoil the fun so I won't.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism
Minor: War
henryorhank's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
reasonpassion's review against another edition
5.0
Have you ever read a book of which story and word is so profound that you feel a need to weep but know that to refrain would be to honor it greater? This is such a story. The mosaicist Crispin finds himself in the midst of a world that is equal to the complexity and beauty of the images he seeks to create. What else is there but to swim as best you can and hope that you do honor to self and others? That is what he does, meeting heartache with poise, dishonor with righteous anger and life with a profound need to find expression within it. While this is the second book in the story, it should be read immediately after the other to see the sheer glorious scope of what is accomplished.
joosty's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It is difficult to write down all my thoughts on this book without spoiling things. Like its predecessor, the story meanders a bit through the daily livees of various characters, some from Batiara, some from Sarantine, some from Bassania. Some of the things that happen are mere points of interest along the journey, while others turn out to defining moments in the history of the world.
I think this is one of the major strengths of the book. We don't know if something will be important later on as something unfolds, but it is always important to the characters, and because we get to spend considerable time with them, we as a reader start to care too.
Another thing the author does very well, is economic use of the number of pages. The events of the story don't spiral out of control, requiring ever more words to resolve, and the stories of characters intersect in clever ways to make something that happens impact various characters at once, and in different ways.
I've never given mosaics a lot of thought to be honest, although I've accidentally seen a few classical ones up close. At that time, someone joked that this is what people did before they had the internet. Now I don't think I'll ever look at a mosaic with just a casual glance again.
It is more court intrigue than epic fantasy, but mostly through the perspective of people who are outsiders to the court, entangled with it through circumstance. We are promised a war, but we get something much more intimate. This is a world which really comes to life, and it is one which doesn't reveal all of its mysteries.
And there's chariot racing, which turns out to be awesome.
I think this is one of the major strengths of the book. We don't know if something will be important later on as something unfolds, but it is always important to the characters, and because we get to spend considerable time with them, we as a reader start to care too.
Another thing the author does very well, is economic use of the number of pages. The events of the story don't spiral out of control, requiring ever more words to resolve, and the stories of characters intersect in clever ways to make something that happens impact various characters at once, and in different ways.
I've never given mosaics a lot of thought to be honest, although I've accidentally seen a few classical ones up close. At that time, someone joked that this is what people did before they had the internet. Now I don't think I'll ever look at a mosaic with just a casual glance again.
It is more court intrigue than epic fantasy, but mostly through the perspective of people who are outsiders to the court, entangled with it through circumstance. We are promised a war, but we get something much more intimate. This is a world which really comes to life, and it is one which doesn't reveal all of its mysteries.
And there's chariot racing, which turns out to be awesome.
janedoelish's review against another edition
5.0
The Sarantine Mosaic is as lush, subtle, and multi-faceted as the thinly disguised Byzantium it is set in.
jammasterjamie's review against another edition
5.0
What a beautifully written epic of a story - Speaking on both Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors at once, I was completely enrapt, and in fact wildly frustrated once I finished Sailing because I couldn't find a copy of Lord of Emperors in any of my local bookstores, taking a whole month until I finally tracked down what I think must have been the last copy in the entire city! But, my hunt was well rewarded as Lord of Emporers doesn't only continue the events of Sailing to Sarantium, but even improves upon them, introducing a few more key characters and plot-twists that inevitably intertwine by the end of it all in a satisfying and wonderful way. Reading my way through the Sarantine Mosaic was taking a fully bloomed rose and plucking away the pettles one at a time to reveal a great ruby heart in its centre. Beautiful. I was only introduced to the books of Guy Gavriel Kay about a year ago, and I consider that to be one of the great crimes of my life - I wish I'd been reading him forever.
peter_xxx's review against another edition
4.0
Again a great Guy Gavriel Kay book. As in part 1 this book is also about what art is but also what legacy is and how legacy and reality can be very different. There are also quite some scenes in this book that are viewing the same events from different angles to really showcase that the importance or the recollection of an event is a lot more in the beholder then in the actual event.
All these themes are wrapped in a nice political historic novel with some very slight fantasy elements. And like every Guy Gavriel Kay book of course with beautiful and thoughtful prose.
All these themes are wrapped in a nice political historic novel with some very slight fantasy elements. And like every Guy Gavriel Kay book of course with beautiful and thoughtful prose.