Having read most of Guy Gavriel Kay’s more recent novels, I decided it was time to go back to the beginning and read his earliest work, The Fionavar Tapestry, a fantasy trilogy published between 1984 and 1986. I had been warned that this was very different from his later books, and now that I’ve read the first volume, The Summer Tree, I would agree, but I was pleased to find that I enjoyed it anyway.
The Summer Tree begins with five Canadian students – Kevin Laine, Paul Schafer, Kimberly Ford, Jennifer Lowell and Dave Martyniuk – attending a lecture by Professor Lorenzo Marcus at Toronto University. After the lecture, the Professor invites the five of them back to his hotel, where he reveals to them that his true identity is Loren Silvercloak, a mage from the land of Fionavar. His High King, Ailell of Brennin, is celebrating his fiftieth year on the throne, and Loren has been sent to our world to bring five guests to the celebrations. Once in Fionavar, however, the five find themselves caught up in the politics of this other land and discover that each of them will have a part to play in the upcoming battle against the evil god Rakoth Maugrim, the Unraveller.
I was already familiar with Guy Gavriel Kay’s incredible worldbuilding from his other books – the way he plunges the reader straight into fully formed landscapes based on thinly disguised versions of real historical settings (such as China’s Song Dynasty in River of Stars or medieval Spain in The Lions of Al-Rassan). The worldbuilding is just as strong in this novel, but although he does draw on the mythology of our own world (particularly Celtic and Norse), this time he relies much more heavily on Tolkien and traditional high fantasy. That’s not surprising as Kay did work with Tolkien’s son Christopher on the editing of Tolkien’s posthumous book The Silmarillion. And so, in The Summer Tree we have Loren Silvercloak in the role of Gandalf the Grey, Rakoth Maugrim who resembles Sauron, an exiled Dwarf king, and the Elf-like lios alfar and their counterparts the svart alfar. There’s also a CS Lewis influence, I think, as there’s a character with the name Maugrim in the Narnia books and the Fionavar city of Paras Derval made me think of Narnia’s Cair Paravel.
With such a vast and complicated world to explore, Kay gives each of his five main characters individual storylines, taking them to different areas of Fionavar and allowing them to interact with different groups and tribes. For example, Dave Martyniuk becomes separated from the others early on and spends most of the novel getting to know the Dalrei, a plains-dwelling tribe of hunters, while Kim Ford discovers that she has the powers to become a Seer. However, I felt that some of the characters lacked depth and the novel as a whole feels less mature and polished than his later books.
I didn’t love The Summer Tree, but I liked it enough to want to continue with the second book in the series, The Wandering Fire – and as this one ended on a cliffhanger I probably shouldn’t wait too long before picking the next one up! I also still have A Song for Arbonne and The Sarantine Mosaic left to read, although at this point I’ll be surprised if anything surpasses Tigana as my favourite book by Kay.
This is book 4/20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2023
She Reads Novels 
I’m not a Tolkien lover, and fantasy leaves me cold, so …I think I’ll pass on this one.
Fantasy is definitely not for everyone. I don’t read much of it myself, but I usually enjoy it when I do!
I *am* a fantasy lover, and Kay is one of my favourite authors. Like you, Helen, I think Tigana is his best book by far – ‘three men see a Rusalka’ still resonates with me, and the central premise has become eerily prescient, given current events in Ukraine. I’ve read the Fionavar Tapestry, but a long time ago – I prefer my fantasy to be pure fantasy, and not mixed with real life (that stretches my credulity too far!). Kay is not only influenced by Tolkien, but also by Dorothy Dunnett – he fell in love with her books as a very young man, and even met her when he was in England in the 70s, working on The Silmarillion. He gave a lovely speech via Zoom to the Dunnett Centenary Conference in Edinburgh in April, and remains one of her biggest fans. I think you can tell!
Kay is one of a small number of fantasy authors I always look forward to reading, probably because most of his books feel much closer to historical fiction than to traditional fantasy. I’m less comfortable with books like this one, but still enjoyed it. I can definitely see the Dunnett influence in his writing. I’m assuming Diarmuid in this book was inspired by Lymond!
I suspect you assume right!
I finally got vintage paperback copies of the trilogy a couple of years ago but, and this may surprise you, haven’t yet got round to picking them up… 😐
Perhaps I just need to get the last bits of LOTR in my #TalkingTolkien thread finished before embarking on a voyage to Fionovar?! Anyway, I shall blame you, along with a couple of other blogging fans, if I become similarly obsessed…
Definitely a good idea to finish with LOTR before starting this trilogy, I think! I hope you enjoy it when you get round to it.
I’ve just got a couple of appendices and a summary post to go for LOTR, then it’ll be GGK for me, armed with the insights you’ve offered here, Helen!
It can be so interesting to go back and read a favorite author’s first book and see how they started out. Glad this one didn’t completely disappoint.
Yes, I think his writing definitely improved over time but this is still impressive for a first book.
I found that this series started out okay, but for me, it seemed more immature the farther in it went. I have read other Kay books that I liked a lot better, although I certainly haven’t read them all. I believe I’ve read A Song for Arbonne, though. I definitely read Tigana.
I’m looking forward to A Song for Arbonne, which I think will be more to my taste than this one.