A review by daumari
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

5.0

Oh, the prose in this was lovely, as exquisite as the poems quoted by characters (I somewhat wish I had paid more attention in premodern Chinese lit- I recognized some of the names of the poets in the acknowledgements section, but alas. I do remember the symbolism behind a lonely goose, though, and something about the four major beauties). I picked this up because I've been meaning to read a GGK, and it's not often you come across a fantasy novel set in an Asian culture (though given the fantastic elements aren't front and center, this is about as low fantasy as ASoIaF- touches of it here and there, but not omnipresent). Ironically, one of the nonfiction books I read earlier this month mentioned real-life Tang dynasty emperor Taizong who loved horses, and the famed Ferghana horses who allegedly sweat blood.

There are action scenes, there is violence, but it feels subdued, perhaps because our perspective characters spend quite a bit of time thinking to themselves. Looks like the library has [b:River of Stars|15808474|River of Stars|Guy Gavriel Kay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356089847s/15808474.jpg|21451403] so I can move on swiftly!