Customer Reviews

Kirith Kirin

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I must say I approached this one with both curiousity and trepidation; I've read most of Jim Grimsley's novels - Winter Birds, Comfort and Joy, Dream Boy - and found them well-written, engrossing, unusual, even masterful. But Kirith Kirin is a huge departure for Grimsley, who has crossed a line most authors won't: from 'literary' fiction to genre fiction, in this case fantasy. I wondered, starting the book, if he'd pull it off. Verdict? He stumbles in places, and Kirith Kirin is not up to the level of his other novels, but there's some good stuff in there. In short - it reads like a lot of the better first novels do, and as long as you can read it without dwelling on either its flaws or the fact that it *isn't* a first novel, it's quite enjoyable.

But let's go back to those flaws for a second. First on that list for me was the main romantic relationship in the book, between Jessex, the farmboy-turned-magician-turned-savior-of-the-world, and Kirith Kirin, the virtually immortal king. Jessex is *15* for most of the book. For me, the disparity in ages - thousands of years old v. 15 - was too great. Sure, Jessex was willing, but the relationship seemed to me to be coming too close to pederasty. And the rationalizations offered by Jessex, as the narrator, weren't really enough to make me comfortable. (I also found myself wondering why Kirith Kirin, who has lived for millenia, couldn't find the wisdom and self-control to keep his hands off Jessex long enough for him to start shaving.)

Another problem with the book is the length. It's 500 dense, closely printed, oversized pages. Now, I've read some great books of that length, books that needed and deserved to be that long, but Kirith Kirin isn't one of them. It begs for some judicious editing. In places, the excess verbiage drags the pace of the book down considerably - in particular, it seemed to me there were areas where Grimsley could've omitted his detailed descriptions - with things like travel itineraries, for example, and the many ordinary days the characters spend on horseback.

However, the book has some great strengths, too. Despite a rather standard-issue plot (one that shows Grimsley's familiarity with fantasy literature, I might add), there is some true inventiveness in Kirith Kirin. In particular, the magic system and magic use stood out as an order of magnitude above what most fantasy books have to offer; for once in my life, I read an entire book in the genre without hearing any echoes of the Dungeons & Dragons magic system.

Also, Grimsley displays his usual command of the language despite the padding effect. Even the excess prose is a pleasure to read, especially in a genre like fantasy, where the writing isn't always of a high order. He also takes the opportunity to do some additional explorations of his usual themes - isolation, for example - and images.

Overall, there's a lot more of Grimsley in this book than I had feared, and a lot less of the derivative stuff that fills a lot of fantasy novels. Although it did seem to me that the author hadn't quite settled into the genre, the book is very readable, and I expect that if Grimsley continues with the fantasy experiment, we should be seeing marvelous stuff in a book or two. So, in the final analysis: if you can give the author a bit of slack, you'll find a book that lives up to the genre, and in places goes beyond it.

When I first picked up this book, I expected it to be light, brainless reading. Certainly, the blurb on the back cover gives no insight as to the depth and emotion of the story. More than a conflict of immortal royals and their wizards, it is the story of a rise to power and a loss of innocence, the devastation of war and the end of an era.

The book is written in a first person narrative which allows the reader to experience the emotions of the main character as he develops his magical powers and discovers love in the form of his king, Kirith Kirin. Jessex's magical training is described in minute detail which caused the book to drag at times. On the other hand, the description of the circles of magic also led to an appreciation of the scope of Grimsley's imagination and attention to detail.

The love affair between Jessex and Kirith Kirin was poignant and touching. Although at first glance, their romance appears to border on pedophilia, it is clear to see that Jessex had reached adulthood not only by Aeryn's conventions but in maturity as well. Grimsley manages to describe their growing affection with dignity and without resorting to the type of melodrama prevalent in many other fantasy books.

Lastly there is the war itself and the conflict between Jessex and his enemy Wizard. The battles are described almost as an understatement. This only serves to make the destruction and the horror Jessex feels about this destruction more immediate.

I could go on forever writing praises of this book! But I think the best way to truly appreciate this book is to read it yourself and immerse yourself into the characters. With Grimsley's powerful writing, Jessex and his friends come to life and it is not so difficult to imagine world such as the one they live in. Grimsley is a master storyteller with an amazing sense of imagination. I hope that he will write more fantasy books in the future of this caliber.

I want to start by saying that I've read just about everything Jim Grimsley has thus far written, so when I learned he was writing a strictly "genrefied" fantasy book, I was a bit curious (not to say skeptical). Like Grimsley (in his authorial comments above), I grew up reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy but more or less abandoned it for more "classic" (read: literary) fiction. This isn't to say I am denigrating genre fiction, as Jim has proved to me (via Kirith Kirin) that you can go home again.

Kirith Kirin is vintage Grimsley with a twist, and I hear echoes of his other works coursing through this novel. It's ostensibly the coming-of-age story of Jessex, a 14-year-old farmboy who is prophetically called to become the saviour of the mystical world of Aeryn Along the way, Jessex discovers he is especially adept at magic, of which he is taught by three ancient "sisters" known as the Diamysaar. He also discovers that he loves, and is loved in return by, the soon to be prophetically-decreed king, the eponymous Kirith Kirin. Typical of the genre, there are inevitable conflicts involving battling magicians, armies of quasi-humans (called Verm) engaging the forces of Kirith Kirin, and the like. Through it all, Grimsley's prose shines beautifully. There is as much imagistic influence from Dream Boy and Comfort and Joy (particularly the emphasis in Kirith Kirin on singing) as there is from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Samuel Delaney.

Having said this, there are of course caveats. Kirith Kirin is quite long (472 pages, plus glossaries and appendices) and sometimes tedious. The echt pedophiliac relationship between Jessex and Kirith Kirin (of which David Tedhams, in his June 2000 Lambda Book Report review, voiced concern) is utterly superfluous. Ironically Grimsley, perhaps showing his own Southern propriety, even apologizes (through Jessex) for "too much information" after their first erotic encounter.

This isn't Grimsley's first foray into sci-fi/fantasy (his short story in Nicola Griffith's anthology Bending the Landscape and his play Math and Aftermath are the most obvious predecessors) but it certainly is his longest and, perhaps, most ambitious. I'm a great fan of Jim's writing and would eagerly recommend any of his books, including Kirith Kirin. I would also be interested to see if he continues in this genre. Well done, Jim!

I had no intention of liking this book. The cover is the worst sort of generic- dark horse riding through the woods-and the back cover blubage does little to convine anyone that there is anything interesting here. So why did I read it? Word of mouth from folks who never lie kept saying "you've got to read this". The plot is summarised in other postings so I won't repeat any of that. It's the writing itself I want to tell you about-if you are wondering should you pick it up-the answer is: only if you want something exquisite. I said to myself as I read it "I am not worthy. I haven't died and gone to reader's heaven with good lighting, huge cushy armchairs, and belgian chocololate yet. But here is an insider's view of magic and subtle states of trance, the regrets of living as an immortal, all the nuances of perception as an adolescent is trained as a magician. Move over T.H White!"

The word I want first to describe the writing is intelligent. By that I mean that as a reader I was never condescended to: I wasn't hit over the head with clunky expository lame dialogue. What a relief! Charachters that were fully imagined, not a stick figure sketched in anywhere. And no simplistic good wizard / bad wizard junk cluttering up the pages either.

This is writing that far exceeds what might be reasonably expected. It's a great novel that happens to have magicians in it. Brilliant, tender, insightful, filled with life. Damn I didn't want this book to end.

Read it and be seduced, dazzled, and end up buying copies for everyone you know. I was. I did. And I'm glad.

If only action packed sword and sorcery fantasy novels are to your taste you should carefully avoid the trouble to look for this out of print book which I happened to purchase for a rather outrageous price.

It is extremely slow paced, with longish descriptions of magic theory and magical duels and little action. We find here the coming of age story of young Jessex (the real main character), an anonimous adolescent peasant boy drawn into a civil war he hardly understands by a dim premonition of a long lived priest.
As it is always the case in any fantasy novel, Jessex turns out to be far more important than everybody expects.
He falls in love with his liege, gorgeous and long lived prince Kirith Kirin, learns magic and finally save his beloved, his kingdom and prevents an apocalypse.

Sensitive readers should not get alarmed: sex is mentioned but never graphically; Jessex is very young but his love for the centuries old prince is authentic and mature, a little more than it is to be believed of a teenager.
Mr Grimsley seems to be interested in creating a strange, melancholic, sensuos atmosphere; a world full of wrecked ghost cities populated by evanescent wraiths. The characters seem to partake in this misty setting, they seem to live a half life made much more by different shades of gray than by crude black and white. Even the main villain, though despicable, is only half alive. Much attention is given to the landscape instead: we get many (perhaps even too many) details and the land of Arthen seems to be the only character really alive.

The writing being fine I only feel like complaining about the overabundance of invented words: it looks like an alltoo easy device to create an exotic setting; we are given a full glossary at the end of the book, together with some appendices regarding various aspects of this fictitious world, but why hinder the reader with strange sounding names when a well chosen common word could have served just as well is something I have not come to explain.

At any rate this novel is beautiful and should not be out of print.

Could you tell that I liked the book from the title?
Okay, so, just to let you know. I'm a straight female. For those people out there who think that you can't read something with gay guys in it because you're not one, you need to get over yourself and read this.
The language was elegant, beautiful, and, just so you know, the sex wasn't over powering. I've read romance novels that were so much worse, you'd laugh.
I must admit, that the age difference threw me at first. You see, from the reviews I read here before I bought the book, I thought that Kirith Kirin was some crusty old man, which he isn't. True, Jessex is only fifteen, but the way I was thinking about it was, Kirith Kirin only looked like he was 20, 25 maybe. My dad was 12 years older than my mom, so, looking at it that way, it didn't sound so bad. That's just a comfort thing for myself, though, if it will help more people read the book, great.
The magical system was awesome. I loved the discriptions some other reviewers said were too long, and I thought that, even though Kirith Kirin might have been a bit more interactive and discribed, over all, the book was magnificent.
This is most definitely a book that I will compare others to for a very long time, if not for the rest of my reading life.

For a start, let me say this book is very well written. Like Dream Boy, the prose is well constructed, and has a similar dreamlike quality at times. The story itself is slightly different to the standard fantasy fare, notably with the interest in dualism, which at times seems to border on obsession. It has a bittersweet, elegaic quality to it, reminding me of the same sort of atmosphere that is so prevalent in The Lord of the Rings, which marked that book out from its many clones that followed. Also interesting is the portrayal of the relationship between Jessex and Kirith Kirin. It is not even described as 'gay' as such. It is simply a relationship based on love, the gender of the 2 is shown to be irrelevant.

As for flaws... the characters are a little sketchily drawn, but this seems to be a feature of Grimsley's writing. He provides the framework, and we fill in the details. The magic system was well described but seemed self-indulgent: the depth of description made me glaze over on occasion, and did not seem strictly necessary. As for the supposed 'pedophilia', I would direct the reader to the contents page, which states that the year of Aeryn is substantially longer than our own, making Jessex at least 18 in our terms at the time he first slept with Kirith Kirin.

Overall, an original fantasy well worth giving your time to. Will reward with ideas that people like Terry Goodkind can only wish they could write about.

You get tired of the same old romantic-adventures where the hero save the maiden and good prevails over evil. I read Jim Grimsley's DREAM BOY on recommendation from a friend in my theatre. I really enjoyed it, not so much because of the story but because of the style in which it was told. KIRITH KIRIN, much like DREAM BOY, gives you a sense of knowing the characters and growing with them. Though a little slow in the begining, once the story really got rolling I couldn't put it down. The world Grimsley has created is a complex in its peoples and history as Tolkien's Middle Earth. What I really enjoyed about this book, however, is the conflict between people; each character has the potential for good or evil, giving them each their own spirit and the ability to surprise you.
The big battle near the end is not the preditcable climax of any other book that gives you a sense of closure. Rather, it makes you want to keep reading and wondering how the characters will continue the rest of their lives, and you miss them when the book is done. I wish there were a sequel, or a prequel, or something with the same characters.
All in all, this is a great book for fantasy lovers of any persuasion, male or (as in my case) female.

Grimsley is one of my favorite authors. Kirith Kirin is his first effort in fantasy and he has once again proven his talents. Kirith Kirin surpasses my expectation. It is an outstanding fantasy with an absorbing plot, a magical and colourful world and unique characters. I enjoy the book immensely and hope Grimsley will invest his talents in another fantasy soon.

I don't know what it is about this book.... I had heard about it from a friend and looked it up here on amazon, it had enough good reviews for me and I decided to get it. I was very disapointed, the story line was good and the characters could ahve been interesting and fun, but there is just something about this book that made it VERY dificult for me to get through and even harder to really like. I felt no connection to the characters, and the romance between Jessex and Kirith Kirin was just.... it didnt seem real to me. I truely don't know what to say about this book. It wasnt my favorite but I cant say it is the worst book I have ever read.