Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

FIONAVAR TAPESTRY TRILOGY
by
GUY GAVRIEL KAY
Summer Tree cover Wandering Fire cover Darkest Road cover
The Summer Tree
Book One (1985)		 The Wandering Fire
Book Two (1986)		 The Darkest Road
Book Three (1986)
Cover artwork for above books by Mel Odom

The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy tells the story of five contemporary students, Kimberly Ford, Kevin Laine, Jennifer Lowell, Dave Martyniuk and Paul Schafer who are induced to cross from Toronto Canada to the magical world of Fionavar, supposedly only to attend the celebration of fiftieth year of the reign of the High King.  Once there they learn of darker omens, and they are drawn deeply into the tapestry of events.

The story has Gods and Goddesses, mages and Magic.  There are dwarves, giants, riders on the Plains, "elves", and incarnations of King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.
From the back cover of Ace paperback of The Summer Tree
Beneath the mountain, the evil one waits, chained, longing for release.
In the castle of Brennin, the old king sleeps restlessly, fearing the shadow of the Summer Tree.
In the bedrooms and taverns of the High Kingdom, a young prince takes his pleasures---and quietly prepares for the war that will surely come.
In the woods, the silvery lios alfar gather, hearing the howls of the wolves at night.
In a lakeside cottage, the Dreamer dreams of the Five who will come from a world called Earth, the Five who are Fionavar's last and only hope.

From the back cover of the Ace paperback of The Wandering Fire
Rakoth Maugrim sits in his mountain of ice, imprisoning Fionavar with the cold touch of eternal winter.  The kings and wizards of his own world have failed against him; how can five men and women of our own hope to succeed?  Even if one wears the glowing Baelrath on her finger, and can raise the very dead from their rest.  Even if one survived the Summer Tree, and another carries the Horn of Pendaran Wood. Even if one bears Rakoth Maugrim's own son...
The Tapestry of Fionavar is woven with the thread of destiny.  And if the Unraveller is not stopped, all the worlds of the Weaver will come undone...
RATINGS:
How we each rated this book
Dan 8 Amy 8 stack of books 10   Wow! Don't miss it
8-9  Highly recommended
7    Recommended
5-6  Mild recommendation
3-4  Take your chances
1-2  Below average; skip it
0    Get out the flamethrower!
U    Unfinishable or unreadable
-    Skipped or no rating given
Cheri 9 Barb 10
Aaron 5* Cynthia 6*
Lars - Jackie 8
*book one only
Our book group has also read the following books by Guy Gavriel Kay:
-- A Song for Arbonne  in December 1994
-- The Lions of Al-Rassan  in May 2002
-- The Last Light of the Sun  in September 2006
-- Ysabel in February 2009
Bibliography:
Guy Gavriel Kay (1954-     ) is a Canadian fantasy writer.

Awards
1987 Aurora Award for The Wandering Fire
1991 Aurora Award for Tigana
2008 World Fantasy Award for novel Ysabel

Kay worked for several years during the 1970s as an assistant to Christopher Tolkien in editing J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion (1977).

Fionavar Tapestry trilogy:
-- The Summer Tree (1985)
-- The Wandering Fire (1986)
-- The Darkest Road (1986)

His following books, all stand alone fantasy novels, are:
-- Tigana (1990), set in land inspired by Italy
-- A Song for Arbonne (1992), set in an alternate troubadour era France
-- The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995), set in an alternate medieval Spain

Sarantine Mosaic duology, set in an alternate Byzantium Empire
-- Sailing to Sarantium (1998)
-- Lord of Emperors (2000)

-- The Last Light of the Sun (2004), is inspired by the Vikings and Saxon England

-- Ysabel (2007), is a fantasy set in present day in Southern France

Poetry collection
-- Beyond This Dark House (2003)

Links:
Our book club's page for The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Our book club's page for The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay
Our book club's page for Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay: Bright Weavings, the Authorized website
Guy Gavriel Kay - Wikipedia
SF Site Interview - A Conversation with Guy Gavriel Kay (2000)

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 This page was last updated February 15, 2009