The Darkest Road (Fionavar Tapestry, Book 3)

Initially, I was very disappointed with this book. I absolutely loved The Wandering Fire, the second book in the trilogy. I came to care deeply for these characters; they had depth, despite the archetypes in play, and I wanted to see how everything turned out for them.

And so I snatched The Darkest

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Road up the second it arrived in the mail... and that connection seemed to be gone. Things happened, true, but none of them seemed to have the same depth as the events in the previous volume. They felt a bit superficial. I had a lot of trouble getting into the book. I think I might have abandoned it had it not been the third volume in a trilogy.

The last hundred pages, however, were excellent. I felt that I regained that sense of the characters that, for me, is so essential to a good book. I couldn't put it down. I read as quickly as I could, desperate to see how everything turned out. The archetypes began to disolve as the characters broke away from their proscribed roles. There were some truly heartwrenching surprises as the final battle unfolded. And the end, in which the surviving members of the five must decide who is to stay in Fionavar and who will return to our world, was just perfect.

I get the feeling that I'll enjoy this book a lot more the second time through. I think it really relied on momentum. I had a gap of a little more than a week between the time I finished The Wandering Fire and the time I started The Darkest Road. I don't think I would've had as much difficulty getting into it if I'd been able to proceed right from one book to the other, relying on the momentum I'd already built up to carry me through. I still recommend the series, but urge you to read them back-to-back if you possibly can.

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My favorite fantasy series. The Celtic-tinged world created here is filled with heroes, magic and myth and best of all modern people thrown into the mix.

Well, I think Kay pulled it off. After my reservations halfway through the trilogy, I did find the outworking of the story to be compelling reading, and the final outcome was effective and affecting.

The tale is a lot more self-consciously 'psychological' than Tolkien (is Stephen Donaldson an

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influence here?), but this adds human depth to the narrative, and does something to make up for Kay's comparative lack of interest in scenic description. The way in which the actions of the gods are circumscribed reads almost like an answer to questions raised about the powers and motivations of Tolkien's Valar.

I'm still a teeny bit underwhelmed by the Arthurian thread, and the narrative parallels with Tolkien do, once or twice, shout so loudly that they can't be ignored (a small, overlooked character sneaks through the gate to the Dark Tower while the armies of the Dark and Light face off on the battlefield; and after the victory, there is a great harvest, which after the recent climatic disturbances is simply implausible). But all in all, I think this deserves to be placed in the first rank of large-scale fantasies. MB 31-xii-2007

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I have mixed feelings about this book (and the entire trilogy). I've re-read it a few times over the years, and once I start re-reading, it's definitely quite addictive.

This doesn't mean it doesn't have flaws though, the most major one being that the entire series seems to be a modernised,

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'how-I-would-have-written-the-LOTR-if-I-were-Tolkien'. Indeed, if you read the entire series with that as the caveat, it is quite an entertaining one.

The Darkest Road itself has quite a few weak points, the Arthurian thread being my major pet peeve. I found it extremely irritating with how Kay tells - not shows - over and over and *over* how terribly tragic the whole thing is - I get it already! I love the Arthurian myth cycle, and have read a good deal of material from there, and Kay doesn't even begin to do it justice. In effect all he has done is lift the names.

There are three moments in this book that stand out with crystal clarity for me though - I'd say these three are the ones that make the book worth reading. So, one star each. ;)

(Warning: spoilers.)

1) Diarmuid's last battle with the urgach Uathach. This one was beautifully done - with Kay having the courage to kill off a very engaging, major character in a memorable, meaningful way.

It's a pity he seems to lose his nerve for doing such things in his later works - in the Lions of Al-Rassan, there's no contest really. It's so much more obvious that Ibn Khairan is going to live. Which on the one hand is great, because I found him much more engaging than Belmont... but on the other hand...

2) Kimberly's refusal to bind the crystal dragon - and the cost of that choice at the final battle.

Although here I have reservations because I find it hard to swallow that one tiny unicorn with an even smaller rider, blessed by a goddess or not, can take down a dragon. And Tabor doesn't even die.

3) The Lios Alfar as bait for Rakoth at the final battle.

This one was a brilliant stroke for me - I never could buy that Sauron would bother with an army of 7,000 at his gate, led by Isildur's heir or not, and a chance of the Ring.

Using the Lios as bait though, and counting on Rakoth's hatred of them to make him unable to restrain himself given the opportunity to wipe them out entirely... that rings far more true with me than Tolkien's, 'Oh look, my great grand-grand-grand-ad-infinitum-daddy cut off your finger a millennia ago, won't you come get me now, nyah!' approach.

All in all, if you've read the other 2 books and liked them, then read this one. It's not one of the books I'd recommend as superb fantasy, but it's definitely entertaining, especially if you found yourself unsatisfied with how Tolkien handled some things...

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In the final chapter of the Fionavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay (GGK) manages some good endings but still manages to annoy me. Don't get me wrong, I'm giving it three stars, and it's worth a read, but I can't give it a strong recommendation. Once again, the repetitive storytelling style (that has

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symbolic significance but STILL) and treatment of one of my favorite myths irritates me. However, the treatment of the importance of free will is interesting, if a bit apologist. The ending is mostly satisfying, and there are a few good surprises in store.

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A WONDERFUL series. Something I believe will be considered a classic.

As much as I really like this series, I can't rate this book any higher. If you liked the first two, you'll like this one. Its actually quite a bit longer, though most of the action takes place in the first two books. The ending is a bit predictable, and very, very sweet. Good, but really overly

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sweet.

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'There will come a tomorrow where you weep for me': And I almost did...This is my review of the Fionavar Tapestry, and in particular, the strongest and most heartfelt book in the trilogy, The Darkest Road. FT starts with the Summer Tree, where five University of Toronto students (Dave Martyniuk,

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Paul Schafer, Kim Ford, Kevin Laine, and Jennifer Lowell) are brought into another dimension by the mage Loren Silvercloak for the King of Brennin's 50 year of his reign. The world is Fionavar, a beautiful land of magic and intriguing mysteries.
Evil is stirring in Fionavar, however, and the evil Unraveller, Rakoth, finally breaks free from its prison. The world is in danger from the immortal who has been trapped for 1000 years.The ultimate story of sacrifice and love, the Fionavar Tapestry is simply compelling. In the Darkest Road, the son of Rakoth and Jennifer, Darien, has to chose between good and evil and the entire Tapestry (Earth included) is at stake!
Very well written, please read FT and all Guy Gavriel Kay's novels!

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This is the last book in the trilogy and in some ways it is the simplest (which is not to say that it is simple). It is, after all, the tale of the final battle that all the rest of the tale has been leading us towards. There will be skirmishes and surprises and a final contest of epic proportions.

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There will be moments of heroism and cowardice, of tragedy and joy. And there will be deaths.

Kay neatly and seamlessly brings together the threads of his story and ties them off, one by one. This book will break your heart and will uplift you. It will remind you why you love all the old tales in all their old forms and all their new ones. This is a great story, well-written - read it. You won't be sorry.

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Brilliant series. I don't even have words to describe how wonderful these books are, just read them! :)

In this finale, Kay is finally marshalling his newfound techniques. This book was the first in the series where I had those wonderful moments forgetting I was reading, because I was submersed in the world. The scenes in the dwarves' kingdom; the scenes with Lancelot and the Lady; the final battle

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sequence. It's not often that an author grows in ability and execution as a trilogy perspective, this one definitely does.

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Third and final book in The Fionavar Tapestry. Still derivative, but reaching power at the end.

I liked it in general but the way these college students were able to do the things that they did in Fionavar required a tremendous amount of suspension of disbelief. The worst example was how Dave was able to use an Ax with no training whatsoever. I'm pretty sure an untrained ax wielder on

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horseback will very quickly kill his horse.

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Like the other books in the series, for me, this is a hard slog at the beginning, but once I get into it I soar right to the end. Even knowing what happens, I still get swept away in it every time.

Superb, absolutely superb. I make it a point not to spend over $9.99 for a Kindle book, but I have been waiting a long time for this series to be released, so I didn't hesitate at all to buy each of the three books in this series despite the fact they were each around $12.99. Though I have only

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read it once before, about fifteen or twenty years ago, I remembered it as an outstanding story, and I wanted to read it again. That impression was vindicated as I came to the last page of the last book. Kay really knows how to end a story.

This is an outstanding series on every level: characters, plot, theme, setting. Highly, highly recommended, though definitely for older readers due to some mature content.

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I'm sad, I didn't like this more. I thought the first book was such a magical experience that I probably expected way too much from the sequels, but I didn't enjoy the Arthurian legends Kay introduced in book two and ended up mostly skimming book three.

I'm still going to read Guy Gavriel Kay's

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other books because I love his prose, love his writing and think he's a fantastic author.

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The cumulation of our time in Fionavar, this book takes us through some dark times for the Grand Alliance as the forces of the Unraveller appear set to overwhelm all before them. Kimm, Seer of Brennin fails to take away the glory of the Dwarves, thereby appearing to doom the armies of Light to the

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oversight of the swans of Maugrim but she was sickened by the way the War Stone ripped out the heart of those it glowed for. Jennifer's child from her rape at the hand of Maugrim makes his way to the Dark Lord who he thought was the only person to love him, only to be cruelly disappointed.

If there was one disappointment with this closing part of the trilogy, it was just how easily the conflict was brought to an end but the story is more or less consistent with the rest of the storyline

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This is the conclusion of the Tapestry series. Rakoth Maugrim, the Unraveller, is busy assembling his armies for battle. Everyone knows magic must prevail...but will it? It all comes down to the decision of young Darien. Darien, who was born of Darkness and Light; half mortal, half god; good versus

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evil and so on and so forth. Darien still struggles with his identity. Because his mother insists on giving him space to work out his issues he feels lost and unloved. There is a lesson to be learned from this. Darien is left to his own devices, not because he isn't loved, but because he is trusted to do the right thing on his own. Which side will be his? Enter Lancelot to be his protector from both sides of identity. There is a whole lot more that goes on in The Darkest Road. All the typical battles and trysts; atypical alliances and love affairs. The humans are in there, too.

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Seemed like a Tolkien Spin-off to an extant

A very strong finish to this series. I didn't love some elements of the world (specifically using characters from Arthurian legend in another context) but I think they were fully justified by the way this story was told.

The connections between this series and Lord of the Rings are clear, but Guy

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Gavriel Kay has different goals and methods of achieving them than Tolkien did. His characters often solve problems in unexpected ways, and they grow perceptibly with every conflict and challenge. I loved the way that the end of the story was set up in the first book and built towards consistently in both the plot and the themes of the story.

I think I still preferred "Tigana", a book this author wrote much later, but this series was great. I look forward to the upcoming TV adaptation.

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Gave this four stars because there was one death that actually made me cry (no, not the death that resolves the "how do you kill the super immortal all-powerful evil dude", though that one was quite neatly done). Without spoilers, it was unexpected and heroic in a great way - choosing to do

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something that he didn't have to do and which gave other people new options that they otherwise wouldn't have had.

Otherwise, very readable but oh-so-subTolkien. He has the equivalent of elves, actual dwarves, riders on the plain, and a noble city stuffed full of history. No hobbit-equivalents, but Kay's "elves" go across the sea in boats when their time comes, to a world that only they can reach. Etc. I am particularly exercised by his use of time - the original defeat of Morgoth Maugrim only happened a thousand years ago, which surely to immortals like Maugrim should be hardly any time ago, and even to quasi-immortals like the lios alfar elven people should hardly count as much time. Why name a time-span at all, when you choose such a human time span?

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classic high fantasy done very well indeed. a nice conclusion to the trology.

A beautiful ending to the Fionavar tapestry.

If you've come this far, then you can't stop. All threads are tied off, all endings are found. The hand of fate falters and change is allowed. Heroes live, and die, and triumph.

The striving is worth it, as striving should be.