Customer Reviews

Sailing to Sarantium (Sarantine Mosaic, Book 1)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third novel I've read by Kay. The first two were "Tigana" and "A Song for Arbonne" (which was one of the better books I've read in a long time, in any genre, not just fantasy). "Sailing to Sarantium" gave me no reason to doubt the impression I received from reading those two books, which is that Kay is a great novelist, not just a great writer technically. His characters are psychologically deep, his worlds politically complex; he does not shy away from such topics as a culture's religious philosophy and tolerance; his history is obviously well-researched, even if the reader is not familiar with the historical period or place. He makes his readers think. And the way in which he infuses his novels with his widsom about life makes him a rarity in today's literary world.

One of the things I liked best about this novel was Kay's theme of the artist wanting to have his name remembered in history in some way; though this is only one of several themes in the book. I also admired his knowledge of the visual artist's perception of the physical world; how he must learn to be conscious about seeing and observing everything. Kay's breathtaking depiction of a chariot race (the writing of which can't be an easy task) made me reflect on how little the gambling and gaming nature of man has changed over the centuries (yesterday chariots; today, the Daytona 500!). The unique idea of Zoticus's birds is a beautiful one; their characters provide some of the book's most poignant moments. And one other quality I admired, which seems to be a Kay trait, is the way he presents different view points of a single event through several characters' eyes. It is akin to the way a film camera revolves around an object to give an audience a 360 degree view of it, not just a straight-on, linear one. A very effective way to develop character. (The only concern I have about this technique is that it could potentially fragment a story too much.)

One other minor criticsm is the way in which Kay seems to overuse, a bit, a device of saying such things as, "later, so-and-so would realize that had things happened differently..." to create, perhaps, a sense of mystery and try to intrigue the reader into further interest. It is sometimes effective in that way, and in the sense that it proves Kay has the characters' futures, and the plot, mapped out, but was generally used too often, in my opinion. I also found myself wondering, in the final pages, what happened to the characters Carullus and Kasia. Was their absence deliberate, or just a loose thread?

By no means let these small flaws (if I may be so bold) stop you from immersing yourself in this detailed, beautifully-written historical fantasy. Kay is fast becoming a favorite of mine, and has already rated two places in my "favorite books" bookcase. I can't wait to read Lord of Emperors; it seems Kay just gets better with each book.

I found this book to be exceptional, because of what it was, and was not destracted by what it wasn't. Guy Gavriel Kay in Sailing to Sarantium creates a captivating story of an artist, without it flowing quietly into the depths of cliche. The characters are multifaceted, and he captivates you with the beauty, love, and power that flow from his writing. He takes a story that in most author's hands would have come across very boring, and the fact that Kay pulls it off is a testament to his ability. He even managed a rather frustrating cliffhanger at the end of the book, what a place to pause the story. It almost made me wish that I had waited until all the volumes were out, before I started reading them. In STS Kay's court intrigue is so complex that at times the monarchs seem almost psychic with their ability to reason out what is going on in the shadows of their palace. In most cases this would have made the story seem unrealistic. Guy Gavriel Kay manages it very well and to astonishing effect.Instead of a feeling of unreality, I was struck wondering how long Crispin could exist in such a hostile and duplicitous environment. This book is recommend to fans of Kay's past work. If you are new to Kay, however, start at the beginning with The Fionavar Tapestry, and work your way to the present.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. It's language is intoxicating, subtle, and quite pleasurable to read. I wish there was as much a story to go with such gorgeous wordsmithing.

I picked up this book, Sailing to Sarantium, while visiting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in May 2000, at an outlet mall near Ashland, Oregon. I had heard so much about Kay that I just had to find a book by him, so when I saw this book on the shelf, I picked it up.

Ah! the sights, sounds, and smells he describes are so real - Guy Kay is able to take you there to see what the characters see, smell what they smell. But I felt there was no there there. The characters barely move through this detailed world.

This book also didn't seem to stand alone: it's waiting for its sequel to be published (which of course has happened).

I must say, though, that I will buy the sequel, and hope that the story moves along a wee bit better than this one.

Kay is a magnificent writer - he can portray and evoke emotions like none other. His plots are intricately woven and exciting, intrigue gains another meaning after reading his works.

If only Sailing to Sarantium had been less annoying.

Don't get me wrong, I thotoughly enjoyed the book, although I've come to expect more from Kay. However, his works seem to be getting more ponderous - scenes that should be dealt with in two pages seem to take twenty. Now, I admire Kay for taking time with his plot and scenes, but he does tend to go a little overboard in the Sarantine Mosaic. He continually shifts perspective from one character to another, seeing the same scene from many angles.

On the positive side, the story runs deep and thickly; Kay paints a tale of the lost and the gained in exquisite detail. He pains to portray the Byzantine Empire and succeeds magnificently. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical-style fantasy and enjoys deep characterisation. If you're after Hack'n'slash Fantasy, go elsewhere.

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite fantasy authors, because he is able to portray some of the most believable characters I've ever read. After a string of fabulous single-volume novels, he has now published the duology "The Sarantine Mosaic". This story appears to be set in the same world as "The Lions of Al-Rassan", but in a different country and time. Still, there are references to Esperana, Trakesia and other countries in both novels. And once again this is a historical novel disguised as a fantasy novel. Magic doesn't play a very strong part, and anyone with some basic notions of history can draw easy parallels between this novel's characters and settings, and their real-world counterparts. Still, the novel will be enjoyable even if you are not familiar with the historical period. When someone says they are "sailing to Sarantium" (an obvious reference to "Sailing to Byzantium" by W. B. Yeats), it means they are going through a time of change, even upheaval, in their lives. Likewise, the major characters in this novel are experiencing change. The mosaicist Crispin, the guard Vargos and the former slave Kasia arrive in the city of Sarantium. This is the story of how they arrive there, and how the city influences them, and vice versa. I can't urge you enough to buy this novel, and any others by Guy Gavriel Kay you can find.

The easiest way to comment on this book is to compare it to other Guy Gavriel Kay works. Sailing to Sarantium is not as sweeping, grand, or dramatic. In addition, the story does not revolve around heroic characters. Instead it is a tale of a mosaicist, Crispin, that travels to a big city and deals with the court intrigue there. Although this is an unlikely hero and did not inspire the kind of love and repect I hold for other Kay characters, I cannot help but LIKE the guy--as most of the other characters end up doing in the book. The most interesting and complex characters are those with power--Valerius II, Alixana, Gisel, and Zorticus. As of yet, Gisel, the child-queen of the Antae, is the only character that I really feel for. Unfortunately, this is a let-down given Kay's artistry in giving depth to the characters in his previous works.

Speaking of art, this book does for mosaics what The Lions of Al-Rassan does for poets and Tigana does for music. Crispin is moved by visual effects the way words move Ammar and music move Alessan.

I realize that this is only the first book in a series of books, but I still feel that not too much happened in terms of plot except towards the end when Kay starts setting up for the next book. I feel that this novel is only a huge introduction sets the stage and the players. I remain optimistic for the later books because one of the underlying themes of the story is that events are interrelated and un-noteworthy actions affect lives in ways that cannot be predicted.

This story takes us back to the alternate Mediterranean basin first described in 'The Lions of Al-Rassan'. (I strongly recommend reading 'Lions' first, for background on the Jaddite and Kindath religions.) What I have enjoyed so much about these two books, and anticipate most about 'Sarantium''s sequel, is the way that this historical parallel enables Kay to explore some of the fascinating cultural issues arising from religious and political nexus. The stunningly clear historical research only makes Kay's cultural considerations the more believable. He captures true historical environments (even incidents, down to the Empress's quote against fleeing the Victory Riots), with the subtle changes that allow him to define the setting to his own liking. These books are marvelously engaging. While they represent a departure from the more fantastical (although still based on easily recognized cultures) 'Tigana' and 'A Song for Arbonne', I greatly appreciate the cultural issues raised in them. Mr Kay - have you considered a greater exploration of Muscovy? Perhaps under Ivan III and Ivan IV?

One of the many strengths of Guy Gavriel Kay is his ability to take a period of history, whether factual or mythical and transform it into a pathway for understanding deeper truths. His research is always impeccable and he brings to life, in Sailing To Sarantium, what one might initially think a boring story of an anonymous mosaicist who dreams of artistic immortality into a stirring melodrama of pain, sacrifice and inspiration. It touches that sacred secret place within us and evokes that same longing to leave such a mark on the world as well.

The artisan, Crispin, is a tortured soul whose life has been destroyed when his wife and children were killed by the plague that swept through his world. His pain is palpable and he is a walking dead man inside his shell of grief. His ordered, predictable life is turned upside down by events that send him on a long journey to Sarantium to work on the Emperor's new religious citadel. During his journey while escaping death at the hands of pagan worshipers his concept of god is challenged when he meets two different gods under deeply mystical circumstances.

His mind and heart are torn in conflict by the first experience in the Aldwood where he survives meeting the zubir/bull of pagan worship on the day of the dead. Extremely vulnerable to mystical forces he is again overwhelmed when, not long after, he views the eastern Jad as a dark and forbidding representation of their god on the ceiling of a sanctuary which is in direct contrast to his western vision of Jad as a blonde, blue eyed being.

These events become the nexus of his spiritual journey to find himself amidst the unknown and unwanted that await him. He is deeply shaken by his own fear and struggles with his notions of faith and how to represent it in the work he has come to Sarantium to do. At times you can feel his anguish as his loyalty, intellect, artistry and vision is challenged on every level when he is tossed into the melting pot of politics, intrigue and betrayal in the court of the Emperor Valerius II and his wily Empress. Escaping ambush and assassination by his enemies, the firy tempered, red haired Crispin is a loyal, devoted and deeply sympathetic man with great heart and an unyielding determination to surmount all obstacles in the way of realizing his artistic passion.

Kay places each piece of glass and tesserae in this colorful fantasy about that era's (Byzantine) history and art as if he were Crispin himself. His exciting description of the chariot races bring to life, in vivid pulse pounding reality their actuality so much so it seems as if the reader is sitting, sweating and screaming under the broiling sun in the grandstands of the hippodrome. He can really get the blood zinging in the veins.

The bittersweet characters are haunting, especially Linon whose soul was secretly captured by Zoticus the alchemist and placed in a bird construct for his own purposes at the moment of her sacrifice to the pagan god by their priests. Many years later, when Linon is freed by Crispin, Zoticus realizes his terrible error in capturing these souls, and he returns to the Aldwood to free them and to sacrifice himself in penance. There is so much pain and sorrow in this story, yet in Kay's hands one may also be rewarded with insight about the eternality of human striving while continuing to make the same mistakes again and again. Yet, there is also a promise of success in life for the journey is forever filled with hope.

If your type of fantasy is filled with swords and sorcery, non-stop action, and vivacious babes in see-through nighties, Sarantine mosaic is NOT for you. (Although there are a number of beautiful women in varying stages of undress.) Both Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors are more "literary" than your typical fantasy novel. Kay gives his characters well-formed personalities and doesn't shy away from moral or philosophical dilemmas they find themselves in.

The Sarantine Mosaic reads more like Historical Fiction than fantasy. Kay's world is an imaginative alternative to the Eastern Roman Empire. It works well by replacing actual history with similar fantasy constructs. However, these constructs are usually different enough to avoid confusion.

I disagree with the editorial review that claims this is a small story. It is a huge story. It is the story of Emperors and Kings and how history hinges on minor events and characters. Don't let the seemingly minor importance of the characters fool you, this is a big story.

I would recommend Kay's books to any intelligent fantasy reader. They may not be non-stop action, but the pacing is quick and the suspense draws ever further into the mosaic Kay has created.

With that last note, you might think, "How can this be a fantasy?"

Well, there are themes of both the war and the quest, but they're kept in the background of "Sailing to Sarantium," instead of loosed into the foreground to take over the world as they usually are in high fantasy. "Sailing to Sarantium" does have politicians threatening each other with war, and a main character on a journey of self-discovery. But politics, relationships, divinity, and, above all, art play a much bigger role in the story.

The main character is the mosaicist, Caius Crispus (Crispin), who has lost his wife and daughters to a plague and now lives only for mosaic. He doesn't want to live enough to take the journey east to Sarantium, though, until he gets involved in one of the political whirlpools in the book and agrees to do so for the sake of others. And off he goes, grumbling, cynical, and convinced he's going to remain the same- only to slam straight into people, magic, and gods that change him whether he wants to be changed or not.

The book doesn't always stay in Crispin's viewpoint, however. Also included are the young slave girl, Kasia; the man who travels with Crispin as guard, Vargos; the talkative Tribune of the Fourth Sauradian, Carullus; the Emperor Valerius II and his Empress Alixana; and a stream of other characters who disappear and reappear again and again, like repeating patterns in a mosaic. One of Kay's best characteristics is that, though Crispin is wonderfully detailed, he is not the only character with personality, as tends to happen too often in fantasy. We learn the details of the other characters' lives and personalities as well. Admittedly, this is one of those things that is not everyone's cup of tea, and in some cases, where Kay interrupts the action of a chariot race or a daring dawn escape to tell us what kind of childhood someone had, it can get annoying. But he does not wander away from the action altogether. He returns, and often the descriptions become stronger for the slight straying.

There is also humor in this book, which for Kay is somewhat unexpected. The scene where Crispin is introduced, along with various profanity that he often spouts, is extremely funny, as are the interactions between Crispin and Carullus and the scene where Crispin enters the court for the first time. In fact, if I can go so far as to single the court scene out for special praise, I will. Many fantasy authors talk about witty, splendid, dangerous courts, but don't often attempt to give examples of the kind of witty talk that goes on in them. Kay does. That scene is one of the most dialogue-influenced in the book, and makes the reader aware, along with Crispin, of the shifting alliances and complexities.

Annoyances with Kay, at least for me, are to be found mostly in his language. I've mentioned that it tends to drag in some parts. In others, he uses extensive foreshadowing, making it very clear that he, or the narrator, knows something neither characters nor readers know yet. It's part of his style, a very marked part of his style, and sometimes obtrusive. He also tends to use a host of deliberate sentence fragments and repeating phrases that show up outside the context of the scene they first appeared in, though these also enhance the mosaic-like effect of the book. I've heard that some readers actually have to try to ignore Kay's style in order to read the book.

But, if you can accept that "Sailing to Sarantium" isn't a book that just dashes ahead all the time (instead combining meandering and dashing) and has certain extremely beautiful eccentricities, I think it highly probable you'll enjoy it.