Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York: Roc, 2013, c2013.
Pages
639
Description
"Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life-- in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later-- and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north. Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor-- and alienates women at the court. But when her father's life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has. In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars" -- from publisher's web site.… (more)
Media reviews
Kay succeeds in honoring the memories of the people who existed in that vanished world by creating a deeply respectful simulacrum of the latter, in which even the most maligned, hated person is acknowledged as human, and vital to the shaping of history we now take for granted.
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2014)
Sunburst Award (Shortlist — Adult — 2014)
CBC Bookie Awards (Nominee — 2014)
Evergreen Award (Nominee — 2014)
Copper Cylinder Award (Adult — 2014)
Prix Aurora Award (Finalist — Novel — 2014)
Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice (Fantasy)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (Fiction — 2013)
RUSA CODES Listen List (Selection — 2014)
Language
Original publication date
2013-04-02
Physical description
639 p.; 9.3 inches
ISBN
9780451464972
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User reviews
LibraryThing member fiverivers
It pains me to give only three stars to one of my favourite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay.
The story Kay relates takes up events several hundred years after the fall of the great dynasty in a China-like world Kay created in Under Heaven, revolving around, primarily, an unorthodox and intelligent woman,
I could not help but feel, however, Kay revisited what have become familiar and comfortable character-types and plot constructions, and thus the experience of reading River of Stars lacked lustre. His heroine is of course intelligent, an unorthodox woman in an orthodox society. His hero is caught in both political and magical nets. Both characters can easily be found in any of Kay's previous impressive canon. And thus, by now, one could hope for something new, something fresh from that highly literate and artistic mind of Kay's.
Certainly Kay's writing remains evocative and lyrical, with some breath-taking images and descriptions that cannot help but move the spirit. Yet even that was marred by Kay's understandable love of poetry and the poetic form, so that much of the narrative ended up lost beneath esoteric discussions that stopped all action.
Beyond that, Kay has chosen a narrative style in this novel wherein many subsidiary characters are introduced in detail, so that the reader is set up to believe this is a character which will continue throughout the novel because of the level of detail devoted to them, only to find by the close of the chapter they've been exiled, or killed, or in some manner marginalized, their complete future revealed and summarized and ended. By the second or third introduction of such a character, the reader no longer invests either attention or interest, longing to return to the main thrust of the story.
Most readers, I suspect, will enjoy River of Stars. Indeed there is much here to enjoy. But this reader, who longs to be surprised, found only the familiar, relatively well-executed tale, but without that lingering bouquet of a fine story-telling.
The story Kay relates takes up events several hundred years after the fall of the great dynasty in a China-like world Kay created in Under Heaven, revolving around, primarily, an unorthodox and intelligent woman,
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an unwitting and reluctant warrior/hero, and the usual cast of supporting intellectuals and likable villains.I could not help but feel, however, Kay revisited what have become familiar and comfortable character-types and plot constructions, and thus the experience of reading River of Stars lacked lustre. His heroine is of course intelligent, an unorthodox woman in an orthodox society. His hero is caught in both political and magical nets. Both characters can easily be found in any of Kay's previous impressive canon. And thus, by now, one could hope for something new, something fresh from that highly literate and artistic mind of Kay's.
Certainly Kay's writing remains evocative and lyrical, with some breath-taking images and descriptions that cannot help but move the spirit. Yet even that was marred by Kay's understandable love of poetry and the poetic form, so that much of the narrative ended up lost beneath esoteric discussions that stopped all action.
Beyond that, Kay has chosen a narrative style in this novel wherein many subsidiary characters are introduced in detail, so that the reader is set up to believe this is a character which will continue throughout the novel because of the level of detail devoted to them, only to find by the close of the chapter they've been exiled, or killed, or in some manner marginalized, their complete future revealed and summarized and ended. By the second or third introduction of such a character, the reader no longer invests either attention or interest, longing to return to the main thrust of the story.
Most readers, I suspect, will enjoy River of Stars. Indeed there is much here to enjoy. But this reader, who longs to be surprised, found only the familiar, relatively well-executed tale, but without that lingering bouquet of a fine story-telling.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
G. G. Kay returns to the pseudo-China world that was the setting of Under Heaven. The events of that first book are several centuries in the past as he sets up a fictional retelling of the wars that separated the Northern Song Dynasty from the Southern.
It's a good Kay story but not, I think, a
You sink slowly into the colorful, corrupt, convoluted life of the Chinese court. Even if you know nothing of the history of that period (I did not), you cannot help but feel stabs of apprehension as small, seemingly inconsequential moments and decisions become the streams that gradually funnel together to form the river of history.
And, of course, the characters are so intricately wrought that they stand up right out of the pages. In a sense, even though there are surprises in the story, there are no shocks because every character's actions just feel right...consistent with who we know them to be.
River of Stars is more grounded in reality than many of his stories. In fact, if we consider his Fionavar Tapestry, a pure fantasy, to be at one end of a spectrum, this book probably anchors the other end. Except for one, completely superfluous encounter this story is purely fictional history. Whether that's a good thing, a bad thing or completely immaterial is a matter for the individual reader.
So, why is this not a great Kay book? Part of it was that no character reached out and made me love him or her. I liked Ren Daiyan and I liked Lin Shan, the two main characters, but it never quite stepped beyond liking. And, most of all, I missed those moments of perfect poignancy that Kay did so well in the endings of The Lions of Al-Rassan or The Darkest Road. We came near to it but never quite reached it, having to imagine that it may — or may not — have occurred sometime after the book ended.
So, in the end, while I would unhesitatingly recommend this book, it wouldn't be my first recommendation to someone who said, "Where should I start with G. G. Kay?"
It's a good Kay story but not, I think, a
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great Kay story. Of course, a good Kay story is pretty darn good, standing well above most of the other stuff out there in this genre. Readers new to his work — you need not have read any other book to start here — are likely to enjoy it. One of Kay's strengths has always been his ability to create characterizations so real that you feel you know them, both of individuals and of cultures. This is no exception.You sink slowly into the colorful, corrupt, convoluted life of the Chinese court. Even if you know nothing of the history of that period (I did not), you cannot help but feel stabs of apprehension as small, seemingly inconsequential moments and decisions become the streams that gradually funnel together to form the river of history.
And, of course, the characters are so intricately wrought that they stand up right out of the pages. In a sense, even though there are surprises in the story, there are no shocks because every character's actions just feel right...consistent with who we know them to be.
River of Stars is more grounded in reality than many of his stories. In fact, if we consider his Fionavar Tapestry, a pure fantasy, to be at one end of a spectrum, this book probably anchors the other end. Except for one, completely superfluous encounter this story is purely fictional history. Whether that's a good thing, a bad thing or completely immaterial is a matter for the individual reader.
So, why is this not a great Kay book? Part of it was that no character reached out and made me love him or her. I liked Ren Daiyan and I liked Lin Shan, the two main characters, but it never quite stepped beyond liking. And, most of all, I missed those moments of perfect poignancy that Kay did so well in the endings of The Lions of Al-Rassan or The Darkest Road. We came near to it but never quite reached it, having to imagine that it may — or may not — have occurred sometime after the book ended.
So, in the end, while I would unhesitatingly recommend this book, it wouldn't be my first recommendation to someone who said, "Where should I start with G. G. Kay?"
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LibraryThing member chndlrs
Epic story, dully told. I have enjoyed so many of Guy Gavriel Kay's works which made the disappointment of this on all the more keen. It read like it was the plot draft -- the draft in which all the action is laid out and sequenced -- and that he forgot to go back and enliven the characters.
LibraryThing member Phrim
Kay is known for his immersive historical fiction with great, well-developed characters, and River of Stars certainly delivers on those counts. The protagonist Ren, his renaissance-woman paramour Lin, the master politician Hang, and even the short-sighted Emperor are all very intriguing characters,
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and as a reader, I felt very invested in their fates. However, the story begins with their disparate backgrounds, and the early novel feels a little disjointed as we learn about characters who have no connection to one another. The background of Song dynasty China seems very well-researched, but on the whole it seems like a rather depressing topic, as it's a period when the leaders are either too introspective or too self-interested, no one knows how to address external threats or the dissatisfaction of commoners, and everyone agrees that the nation is in decline. While the book's plot does nothing to ameliorate any of these (in fact, it tells of the disasters that can result), I do find myself particularly satisfied with the ending. Ren's ultimate choices do little to mitigate the fall of civilization, but they do immortalize him as a shining beacon of loyalty in a country with a long history of anything but. Show Less
LibraryThing member atticusfinch1048
River of Stars is one of the literary ‘hits’ of the summer and possible one of the best books of 2013. What Guy Gavriel Kay has created is a well researched beautifully written fantasy that will be read and loved by all who dip insides the pages. This is the first Kay book I have read and will
The two central characters of this novel, Ren Daiyon and Lin Shan we watch them grow and how their intertwined stories become one. River of Stars themes, characters and events are based on China’s Northern Song Dynasty one can see the mirror of these characters inspired by real people. Instead of China the state is called Kitai and this is the story of how Ren Daiyen will become a legend amongst the Kitai for his heroic skills as a soldier and commander. How in the end he does the right and honourable thing that will be the end of him, or is it? You will have to read to find out!
River of Stars is a book that you can very easily disappear in to and enjoy the fantasy as this beautiful story washes over you. This is a wonderfully vivid and very powerful story that was inspired by the Tang Dynasty. This is a wonderfully fantasy based on fact and history that fires the imagination. The words used by Kay evokes powerful imagery that is stunningly beautiful at the same time.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is a big book with a powerful story but well worth taking your time with it.
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be reading more after River of Stars as what I found was a complex, wide-ranging fantasy that just draws you in and feel as if you are there in the middle of the story.The two central characters of this novel, Ren Daiyon and Lin Shan we watch them grow and how their intertwined stories become one. River of Stars themes, characters and events are based on China’s Northern Song Dynasty one can see the mirror of these characters inspired by real people. Instead of China the state is called Kitai and this is the story of how Ren Daiyen will become a legend amongst the Kitai for his heroic skills as a soldier and commander. How in the end he does the right and honourable thing that will be the end of him, or is it? You will have to read to find out!
River of Stars is a book that you can very easily disappear in to and enjoy the fantasy as this beautiful story washes over you. This is a wonderfully vivid and very powerful story that was inspired by the Tang Dynasty. This is a wonderfully fantasy based on fact and history that fires the imagination. The words used by Kay evokes powerful imagery that is stunningly beautiful at the same time.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is a big book with a powerful story but well worth taking your time with it.
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LibraryThing member Yarrow
I couldn't wait to read this book, and it didn't disappoint. Kay is at home in his Chinese setting, and I love learning about real history from him this way. It always amazes me just how much of his stories really happened! The story hooked me in as usual, and although the characters weren't as
That said, his habit of foreshadowing literally everything that is going to happen in the book is starting to really annoy me. It seems like every three pages there's a sentence along the lines of "but that was not, in fact, how it turned out. How strange it is that the course of history can be changed by such a small thing", again and again and again. I get it! Any halfway intelligent reader will be able to appreciate when a plot turns on a slight coincidence, without neon signs pointing you at it. As a device I think it can be effective, but only if it isn't overused.
I'll go back and read Under Heaven now, as it's been a couple of years since I read it. The plots of Kay's books are so complicated it's hard to remember what happened, and I suspect these two books will blur into one otherwise.
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compelling as in some of his other books, they were still a sufficiently interesting cast. That said, his habit of foreshadowing literally everything that is going to happen in the book is starting to really annoy me. It seems like every three pages there's a sentence along the lines of "but that was not, in fact, how it turned out. How strange it is that the course of history can be changed by such a small thing", again and again and again. I get it! Any halfway intelligent reader will be able to appreciate when a plot turns on a slight coincidence, without neon signs pointing you at it. As a device I think it can be effective, but only if it isn't overused.
I'll go back and read Under Heaven now, as it's been a couple of years since I read it. The plots of Kay's books are so complicated it's hard to remember what happened, and I suspect these two books will blur into one otherwise.
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LibraryThing member Jim53
My goodness, the man can go on, and on. And so can his characters. Every one of them seems to be required to muse eloquently on the themes of the book. It was very clear after a couple of hundred pages that we're reading a plotted treatise on uncertainty, and how a person can decide how to act.
It
I was glad to see that the drunken poet who was one of my favorite characters in Under Heaven has become revered. Overall, I'm glad I read the book, but I'm not enthusiastic about it.
It
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takes over 250 pages for his two main characters to meet. They are interesting characters--he tells us so--but not up to his best. But even average Kay characters are pretty good compared to many.I was glad to see that the drunken poet who was one of my favorite characters in Under Heaven has become revered. Overall, I'm glad I read the book, but I'm not enthusiastic about it.
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LibraryThing member salimbol
Set in an alternate history/fantasy-lite version of Song dynasty China, this is as elegantly and elegiacally written as any of Kay's works, and the sense of decay and loss is palpable. However, I find the characterisation a little thinner than I'd like, and it's certainly possible to grow impatient
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with his frequently non-linear storytelling and his patented narrative "teases". While I think he's aiming here for the spare and fleeting feel of much historical Asian poetry (that nostalgic sense of the ephemeralness of things), it tends to be more distancing than otherwise, and the reader is terribly aware of the writer and his toolbox. This is why I probably enjoy his early and middle books more; his later books are simply too acutely self-conscious about the storytelling process, and that means that I, at least, admire them more than I like them (others may have the opposite reaction, of course. It's a YMMV thing). Having said that - it's a very fine book, telling a compelling story, and I gulped it down in one weekend. Even lesser Kay is still pretty damn good! Show Less
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: In centuries past, Kitai was a mighty empire, demanding tribute from their neighbors to the north and west. But centuries after a military revolt shook the nation, Kitai is only a shadow of its former glory. It is still unsurpassed in the areas of art and culture, but it has lost most of
This is the Kitai in which Ren Daiyan has grown up. A clerk's son who secretly longs to be a soldier, he is still a teenager when he manages to kills seven bandits singlehandedly, on the day that he walks away from his old life forever. He becomes a bandit himself, working to disrupt the worst excesses of the government and their tax collectors, but he holds tight to his dream of reclaiming Kitai's lost lands and restoring the empire to its former glory.
This is also the Kitai of Lady Lin Shan. An only child, she was educated by her scholar father far beyond what is typical for women of that dynasty. She is clever as well as being educated, but in the court of the emperor of Kitai, cleverness can be a danger as well as a blessing, especially for a woman.
Ordinarily, the lives of these two would likely never intersect, but when war descends on Kitai from an unforseen enemy, they - and many others - will have to sacrifice much to preserve their homeland.
Review: I know I have said this, or things to this effect, every time I've reviewed one of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, but ye gods, he is a wonderful writer. It's not so much that he can turn a phrase (although he certainly can), but more that he can craft these beautiful perfect indelible scenes out of the most basic moments, and give them a power and a vibrancy and an immediacy that you would never expect. Scenes that would otherwise seem inconsequential take on incredible significance just from the way that Kay writes them, which dovetails perfectly with his themes about the minor moments that can change a life and alter the course of history.
Other things that I've said about Kay's books are also just as true for River of Stars. This is not an easy book, nor a particularly quick-reading one. Kay is a very subtle writer, keeping his exposition to the barest minimum, and instead letting the reactions of his characters drive the story forward. It's a style that can be devastatingly effective, but it also demands a high degree of attention from the reader, especially since Kay is fond of cutting away from the climax of a scene, and leaving readers to piece together what happened from what they know of the characters, and from the consequences of their actions. This could be a dangerous ploy for a writer to pull, but Kay manages it, in large part since his characters are so finely crafted that I typically felt as though I knew what they would do next, even when the text leaves it ambiguous.
River of Stars does not have the world's quickest moving plot, particularly in the first third or so of the book. Because Kay has to set up all of his players, and their backstory, and the history of Kitai and its neighbors, it takes a while to get to the conflict of what I would consider to be the main plot. However, I wound up minding this less than I would have expected; although the first half of the book is somewhat all over the place in terms of introducing characters and setting up multiple story lines, Kay packs it with enough of those perfect wonderful shining nuggets of story that he never lost my attention. I did have somewhat of a hard timing keeping some of those characters straight, however. That may have something to do with the fact that I'm not as used to dealing with Chinese names, and it always takes me a while to remember that the first name is the patronym. It may also have to do with the fact that I listened to the audiobook - while Simon Vance does an incredible job, I can keep unfamiliar names straight more easily if I can see them than if I only get to hear them. (Also, there are a lot of secondary and tertiary characters, and listening rather than reading means I don't get the benefit of the Dramatis Personae that Kay's books usually have.)
Overall, though, I thought this book was great. It didn't make me break down weeping, like the end of The Lions of Al-Rassan or some of Kay's other works, but it did break my heart a few times. I don't know that this book officially classifies as a tragedy, but it's got a lot of elements that make it lean that way: when things are going so badly wrong, and they could have been salvaged many times by just one or two small changes, but people acting true to their characters meant that they never were. When you're glad a book breaks your heart, because it would have been a lesser book if the author had chosen another path, that's something worth reading. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: This is set in the same Kitai as Under Heaven, but it's not really a sequel; River of Stars is set centuries later, and while it mentions the characters and events of the previous book in passing, it's not at all integral to understanding this book. This book is classified as fantasy, but apart from one encounter with the spirit world, it's basically historical fiction, and I think it would be enjoyed by fans of either genre who like complex, mature novels with beautiful, subtle writing.
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its political influence and military superiority, and has ceded more territory than it cares to admit to the nomadic barbarian people in the North. Infighting and scheming amongst members of the court are common, and the emperor cares more about his extensive gardens than about the realities of life in his realm.This is the Kitai in which Ren Daiyan has grown up. A clerk's son who secretly longs to be a soldier, he is still a teenager when he manages to kills seven bandits singlehandedly, on the day that he walks away from his old life forever. He becomes a bandit himself, working to disrupt the worst excesses of the government and their tax collectors, but he holds tight to his dream of reclaiming Kitai's lost lands and restoring the empire to its former glory.
This is also the Kitai of Lady Lin Shan. An only child, she was educated by her scholar father far beyond what is typical for women of that dynasty. She is clever as well as being educated, but in the court of the emperor of Kitai, cleverness can be a danger as well as a blessing, especially for a woman.
Ordinarily, the lives of these two would likely never intersect, but when war descends on Kitai from an unforseen enemy, they - and many others - will have to sacrifice much to preserve their homeland.
Review: I know I have said this, or things to this effect, every time I've reviewed one of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, but ye gods, he is a wonderful writer. It's not so much that he can turn a phrase (although he certainly can), but more that he can craft these beautiful perfect indelible scenes out of the most basic moments, and give them a power and a vibrancy and an immediacy that you would never expect. Scenes that would otherwise seem inconsequential take on incredible significance just from the way that Kay writes them, which dovetails perfectly with his themes about the minor moments that can change a life and alter the course of history.
Other things that I've said about Kay's books are also just as true for River of Stars. This is not an easy book, nor a particularly quick-reading one. Kay is a very subtle writer, keeping his exposition to the barest minimum, and instead letting the reactions of his characters drive the story forward. It's a style that can be devastatingly effective, but it also demands a high degree of attention from the reader, especially since Kay is fond of cutting away from the climax of a scene, and leaving readers to piece together what happened from what they know of the characters, and from the consequences of their actions. This could be a dangerous ploy for a writer to pull, but Kay manages it, in large part since his characters are so finely crafted that I typically felt as though I knew what they would do next, even when the text leaves it ambiguous.
River of Stars does not have the world's quickest moving plot, particularly in the first third or so of the book. Because Kay has to set up all of his players, and their backstory, and the history of Kitai and its neighbors, it takes a while to get to the conflict of what I would consider to be the main plot. However, I wound up minding this less than I would have expected; although the first half of the book is somewhat all over the place in terms of introducing characters and setting up multiple story lines, Kay packs it with enough of those perfect wonderful shining nuggets of story that he never lost my attention. I did have somewhat of a hard timing keeping some of those characters straight, however. That may have something to do with the fact that I'm not as used to dealing with Chinese names, and it always takes me a while to remember that the first name is the patronym. It may also have to do with the fact that I listened to the audiobook - while Simon Vance does an incredible job, I can keep unfamiliar names straight more easily if I can see them than if I only get to hear them. (Also, there are a lot of secondary and tertiary characters, and listening rather than reading means I don't get the benefit of the Dramatis Personae that Kay's books usually have.)
Overall, though, I thought this book was great. It didn't make me break down weeping, like the end of The Lions of Al-Rassan or some of Kay's other works, but it did break my heart a few times. I don't know that this book officially classifies as a tragedy, but it's got a lot of elements that make it lean that way: when things are going so badly wrong, and they could have been salvaged many times by just one or two small changes, but people acting true to their characters meant that they never were. When you're glad a book breaks your heart, because it would have been a lesser book if the author had chosen another path, that's something worth reading. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: This is set in the same Kitai as Under Heaven, but it's not really a sequel; River of Stars is set centuries later, and while it mentions the characters and events of the previous book in passing, it's not at all integral to understanding this book. This book is classified as fantasy, but apart from one encounter with the spirit world, it's basically historical fiction, and I think it would be enjoyed by fans of either genre who like complex, mature novels with beautiful, subtle writing.
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LibraryThing member jkdavies
dense and flowing, atmospheric, but somehow, the setting maybe, the realism of it taking away from a traditional "high romantic fantasy" ending. As with Kay's other books, things will become more clear for me on re-reading, somewhen.
LibraryThing member Jaelle
Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite authors and I particularly loved and would highly recommend his previous novel, Under Heaven. River of Stars takes place in China several hundred years after Under Heaven. The story is interesting and the characters are well drawn, but the novel is slow to
Overall, River of Stars is disappointing and not up to the standards of Kay's best works.
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develop and is bogged down by too much detail. The author also much too frequently uses parenthetical asides to various characters thoughts and this technique becomes annoying after a while. Overall, River of Stars is disappointing and not up to the standards of Kay's best works.
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
GGK can always be relied on for an interesting and absorbing read and River of Stars gives you that.
It is written in his usual lyrical style which I'm sure many people would hate but I love.
A historically interesting time which I knew nothing about. Unfortunately, being able to look up instantly
I did enjoy it and thought it better than Under Heaven.
But he still seems to have lost his ability to make you really care about his characters. I used to be able to guarantee that a GGK book would make me cry at some point but his China books are just not doing that for me. Too many viewpoints? Too alien a culture? Not sure why.
But any GGK fan is not going to want to miss this.
It is written in his usual lyrical style which I'm sure many people would hate but I love.
A historically interesting time which I knew nothing about. Unfortunately, being able to look up instantly
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the real history of the time was a mistake as it pulled me out of the story.I did enjoy it and thought it better than Under Heaven.
But he still seems to have lost his ability to make you really care about his characters. I used to be able to guarantee that a GGK book would make me cry at some point but his China books are just not doing that for me. Too many viewpoints? Too alien a culture? Not sure why.
But any GGK fan is not going to want to miss this.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
I'm a huge Guy G. Kay fan, so I can't really give an unbiased review. I love his stuff. I don't always know why I love them until a second reading. Last Light of The Sun was like that for me. It grew on me after thinking about it.
As for River of Stars I have two non-plot-related thoughts on it. The
I should note that I really loved the book and was emotionally engaged by the story. It deserves its five stars, I just have to think more deeply about it to process.
As for River of Stars I have two non-plot-related thoughts on it. The
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first is that it feels like a prediction. Kay's choice of the fall of the Song Dynasty from a decadent civilization to anarchy is deliberate. Our decadent civilization may be falling to internal and external discord. The second is Kay's use of the legend as a literary format. At first I was a bit thrown by the impersonal treatment of the protagonist. He was much less of fleshed out person than previous Kay protagonists. In his acknowledgements at the end, Kay mentions the legend as a literary format and how he intentionally wrote a character informed by multiple re-tellings over the years. It is a bit jarring, but I want to think about it. I'd almost prefer he had chosen to tell the story of Zhao Ziji and Shao Pan, two side characters who appeared more human than the epic legendary characters Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan. Kay was doing something intentional with the scope of these two, something I'm going to have to process. I'm glad he's stretching himself as an author, I don't want to read rehashes of old successes or the same stories in slightly different settings. It is just going to take me a while to process what went on in River of Stars.I should note that I really loved the book and was emotionally engaged by the story. It deserves its five stars, I just have to think more deeply about it to process.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
I'm a huge Guy G. Kay fan, so I can't really give an unbiased review. I love his stuff. I don't always know why I love them until a second reading. Last Light of The Sun was like that for me. It grew on me after thinking about it.
As for River of Stars I have two non-plot-related thoughts on it. The
I should note that I really loved the book and was emotionally engaged by the story. It deserves its five stars, I just have to think more deeply about it to process.
As for River of Stars I have two non-plot-related thoughts on it. The
Show More
first is that it feels like a prediction. Kay's choice of the fall of the Song Dynasty from a decadent civilization to anarchy is deliberate. Our decadent civilization may be falling to internal and external discord. The second is Kay's use of the legend as a literary format. At first I was a bit thrown by the impersonal treatment of the protagonist. He was much less of fleshed out person than previous Kay protagonists. In his acknowledgements at the end, Kay mentions the legend as a literary format and how he intentionally wrote a character informed by multiple re-tellings over the years. It is a bit jarring, but I want to think about it. I'd almost prefer he had chosen to tell the story of Zhao Ziji and Shao Pan, two side characters who appeared more human than the epic legendary characters Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan. Kay was doing something intentional with the scope of these two, something I'm going to have to process. I'm glad he's stretching himself as an author, I don't want to read rehashes of old successes or the same stories in slightly different settings. It is just going to take me a while to process what went on in River of Stars.I should note that I really loved the book and was emotionally engaged by the story. It deserves its five stars, I just have to think more deeply about it to process.
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LibraryThing member wishanem
I enjoyed this book a great deal more than Under Heaven, the previous book by the same author in the same (fictionally Chinese) setting. What made the difference for me was that this book had a clearer arc of growth for its primary protagonist, more interesting themes, and more pleasant minor
As usual what makes Kay's books really unique is the way that he weaves thematic ideas together with an exciting story and how he conveys depth in characters with very few words. I think the central theme of this book was whether destiny (or one's sense of destiny) is a blessing or a curse, and how one should react to disappointment, opportunity, and change. He presented a wide variety of views, and left the conclusions open to the reader. I also appreciated the way that different sorts of love and loyalty (romantic, filial, professional, and national) were examined, tested, and questioned.
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characters. The story was unpredictable, but easy to follow, with humor, action, romance, and plenty of twists.As usual what makes Kay's books really unique is the way that he weaves thematic ideas together with an exciting story and how he conveys depth in characters with very few words. I think the central theme of this book was whether destiny (or one's sense of destiny) is a blessing or a curse, and how one should react to disappointment, opportunity, and change. He presented a wide variety of views, and left the conclusions open to the reader. I also appreciated the way that different sorts of love and loyalty (romantic, filial, professional, and national) were examined, tested, and questioned.
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LibraryThing member readinggeek451
Another Chinese history-tinged fantasy from Kay, set several hundred years after Under Heaven, in a diminished Kitai. This one isn't quite as gripping, somehow, as his best.
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Excellent historical fiction set in ancient China, with only a light hint of fantasy in the form of mythological elements. I love nearly all of GGK’s books. This may not be his best, but it’s definitely up in the top 50% of his works.
The story is not fast-moving (although it has action-filled
Ren Daiyan grows from an ambitious boy, to an outlaw, to a military man whose decisions may change the fates of empires.
Lin Shan is an exceptional woman, a poet whose work is a mild scandal due to her gender, but whose words reach the ears of the Emperor himself.
It’s a time when invading Mongols threaten the Empire; where bureaucracy has ascended over the martial way, and when an oblivious Emperor unwittingly sows misery and destruction in his pursuit of the creation of a beautiful garden. But with all its flaws, this civilization does have beauty and value to it.
The book is rather philosophical, and is told at a slight remove, as if a poet told a tale from history. But it’s also full of convincing, authentic characters, with plenty of intrigue, and builds to a powerful climax that was simultaneously unexpected but satisfying.
The story is not fast-moving (although it has action-filled
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moments), rather it builds slowly, like a tapestry carefully growing on a loom… weaving the tales of two people, and those they touch…Ren Daiyan grows from an ambitious boy, to an outlaw, to a military man whose decisions may change the fates of empires.
Lin Shan is an exceptional woman, a poet whose work is a mild scandal due to her gender, but whose words reach the ears of the Emperor himself.
It’s a time when invading Mongols threaten the Empire; where bureaucracy has ascended over the martial way, and when an oblivious Emperor unwittingly sows misery and destruction in his pursuit of the creation of a beautiful garden. But with all its flaws, this civilization does have beauty and value to it.
The book is rather philosophical, and is told at a slight remove, as if a poet told a tale from history. But it’s also full of convincing, authentic characters, with plenty of intrigue, and builds to a powerful climax that was simultaneously unexpected but satisfying.
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LibraryThing member stuart10er
Beautifully written book. If you enjoyed "Under Heaven", then you would really enjoy this as well. In typical Kay fashion, he retells with added detail and a very human touch a historical event - in this case the conflict from Song dynasty in China between a cripped and frail Imperial China and her
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northern barbaric neighbors from the northern steppe. Wonderfully rouded with interesting characters and gorgeous details. Show Less
LibraryThing member macha
beautiful, fully realized version of Song Dynasty China told as fantasy. second in a series of works on early China, the first one, Under Heaven, set in the Tang Dynasty. the language is spare and poetic, matching the landscape and the times.
LibraryThing member Carol_W
This author's name kept coming up, and I thought I should try one of his books. I don't know how typical River of Stars is, but I can say that it is extremely impressive. No brief plot summary could remotely do it justice. It's not that the plot is in any sense weak or conventional; it's just that
Kay has an odd habit of switching back and forth between present-tense and past-tense narration that I found distracting, though it wasn't very long before I didn't care because the story had me in its grip. Oddly, it was the past-tense parts that felt most direct and immediate to me. The present-tense parts felt more distant, in a sense, as if I was floating there, watching. Another quirk is the frequent insertion of little parentheticals that illuminate what surrounds them like tiny flashes of light. If he has a weakness it is that he sometimes belabors things beyond what I feel is necessary for his purpose. I always want stories to make sense, and I have a tendency in my own writing to over-explain. Kay, I think, is a writer who wants to explain things even more than I do.
This is not a happily-ever-after story. It is described as historical fantasy. There are supernatural elements that force the "fantasy" label, and the story really is fiction, although Kay draws heavily on his historical research – here, into Song Dynasty China. Whereas many writers would use fantasy as a vehicle to spin a yarn with an improbable feel-good conclusion, Kay pulls relatively few punches. This is not a place and time that makes things easy for people and Kay is very clear about that. He is an omniscient narrator who takes us into many characters' heads, sometimes so deeply that we can lose ourselves, but we also hear his voice, more or less, throughout. He is our clear-sighted, expert, and insightful guide.
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what makes this work truly exceptional is execution. You have to read at least a substantial portion of it to fully grasp what Kay is doing. He is painting a huge canvas, with strokes that are sometimes broad, sometimes narrow, sometimes minutely detailed, but always carefully placed to give us a living picture of his characters, their actions, their thoughts, their world.Kay has an odd habit of switching back and forth between present-tense and past-tense narration that I found distracting, though it wasn't very long before I didn't care because the story had me in its grip. Oddly, it was the past-tense parts that felt most direct and immediate to me. The present-tense parts felt more distant, in a sense, as if I was floating there, watching. Another quirk is the frequent insertion of little parentheticals that illuminate what surrounds them like tiny flashes of light. If he has a weakness it is that he sometimes belabors things beyond what I feel is necessary for his purpose. I always want stories to make sense, and I have a tendency in my own writing to over-explain. Kay, I think, is a writer who wants to explain things even more than I do.
This is not a happily-ever-after story. It is described as historical fantasy. There are supernatural elements that force the "fantasy" label, and the story really is fiction, although Kay draws heavily on his historical research – here, into Song Dynasty China. Whereas many writers would use fantasy as a vehicle to spin a yarn with an improbable feel-good conclusion, Kay pulls relatively few punches. This is not a place and time that makes things easy for people and Kay is very clear about that. He is an omniscient narrator who takes us into many characters' heads, sometimes so deeply that we can lose ourselves, but we also hear his voice, more or less, throughout. He is our clear-sighted, expert, and insightful guide.
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LibraryThing member quickmind
Once again, Guy Gavriel Kay has written about a historical time period, in this case the Song Dynasty, and fictionalized it, changed names and events and timelines, but more or less giving us a vision of what that time period could have been like, but also with very rare appearance of a ghost or a
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fox-spirit. Like a lot of his work, it is largely tragic, but it is about change and how societies rise and fall and how the major players are involved. I found myself wanting to learn more about the real historical people and their lives and how the invading Mongol army changed their world. This novel tries to stay as authentic to that time period including all of the social mores at the time, good or bad, like how sexist the society was. But then he will write about people who went against the norms and how they lived their lives to find a place in such a society. He writes believable, likeable (and also unlikeable) characters. But I also feel that they are awash in the flow of the world, and are unable to change the current of events, they can only make a splash, with some ripples being larger than others, but ultimately they cannot alter their course. And that's what makes these stories tragic. You learn to love these characters and suffer when they suffer. But you also feel joy and happiness when they do too. That's one of the great qualities of Kay's writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Guy Gavriel Kay returns to ancient China, or a fantasy version of it anyway, with a sweeping epic. I admire more than I can say how he deftly weaves culture and character without losing the thread of story. This is not a fast paced book, it is a steady and alluring tale, a romance, a political
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tapestry and a haunting celebration of time. Show Less
LibraryThing member jercox
A good sequel to Under Heaven - distantly connected across a large amount of time. Similar to the first one, it is strange and a little disorienting to read, as its characters adhere to many ideas and concepts of an eastern philosophy that is strange to the eyes of a western audience.
The story is
The story is
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well told. But I am ambivalent about the whole thing; possibly because of how different it is. Not something I would unreservedly recommend. But if you enjoy Kay's other novels and are looking for something similar but different, this is a worthwhile read. Show Less
LibraryThing member N.W.Moors
River of Stars is an epic read, written by one of my favorite fantasy authors. It's based on ancient China, incorporating the history of the Chinese emperors as well as the horsemen of the plains. I think tribes such as the Mongols, Tartars, and Koreans were referenced though since this is also a
There are poets, bandits, prime ministers, and farmers whose lives intersect in this fascinating story. The main characters are Daiyan, the bandit who is good with a bow, and Shan, the woman educated like a man. Shan's husband Wai is a minor character but a particular favorite of mine due to his archeological efforts. But every character is a treat to read about, each dealing with court intrigues and warfare in different ways.
I liked Under Heaven very much, the previous book in this series, but I think I enjoyed this story more. It's a great read and I recommend it highly.
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fantasy setting, it's not exactly as history would have it. There are poets, bandits, prime ministers, and farmers whose lives intersect in this fascinating story. The main characters are Daiyan, the bandit who is good with a bow, and Shan, the woman educated like a man. Shan's husband Wai is a minor character but a particular favorite of mine due to his archeological efforts. But every character is a treat to read about, each dealing with court intrigues and warfare in different ways.
I liked Under Heaven very much, the previous book in this series, but I think I enjoyed this story more. It's a great read and I recommend it highly.
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LibraryThing member donw146
Historical fiction from an alternative earth with a dash of fantasy. I had trouble putting it down. It starts as a series of vignettes introducing the characters and joins them together into the larger story. Sometimes the story would drag a bit but never for very long. The ending makes you think
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as it leaves alternatives that could have happened. It was consistent with the overall story even though it wasn't the heroic or epic ending I had been hoping for. Very well written with characters that I cared about deeply. Show Less