Reviews

River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay

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joabroda's review against another edition

inspiring sad tense slow-paced

5.0

A beautifully told story, sensuous writing, characters that come alive. Written of the time when poetry and art were adored as much as the mandate of heaven.

I digress. Kay is my author, the one who I would read if he only had Kleenex to write on.

This book takes place 400 years after Under Heaven. The the world has become more complicated, invasion is imminent and yet it seems as though preparation is not happening. The army has fallen apart and only one man sees the future. Filled with mythology of the Far East and did I mention the beautiful writing?

Anything else I would try to say would only be gushing

esb234346's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.25

gabyk_lib's review against another edition

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informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The blurb sells it as two main characters - a warrior named Daiyan and poet named Shan. Shan's part is much smaller and I found this book disappointing in its minimal women characters who are almost entirely on the sidelines even when they could be fleshed out and given more space. An interesting look at a fictionalised history of China but overall disappointing.

sincerelymendacious's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

reasonpassion's review against another edition

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5.0

Historical fiction is a fascinating enterprise. One can go too far and make it almost entirely fiction, rather like movies that are "based on a true story." Then there's the opposite where so much detail is put in that the person might as well be reading a history book. The goal, I think, is somewhere in the middle, where the love of the history in question shines out through the exploration of the characters and the essential aspects of the culture are captured, understood better and appreciated in all their nuance. This is what Kay does so beautifully. The story is profoundly depressing, the fall of an empire, and not dismissed by the epic quality of the character's stories. Instead the reader cannot help but be carried along, even knowing what's going to happen in a broad sense, because this is the beauty of lived history, the relationships and struggles of those who were in it. Kay brings that to life, brilliantly.