The Summer Tree

Guy Gavriel Kay s fantasy trilogy about a land called Fionavar is a little over 20 years old. I ve never heard of this Canadian author before, but an online friend was so adamant that I should read it that he ordered the books from Amazon and had them delivered to me as a gift.

The trilogy is made up of Book One: The Summer Tree, Book Two: The Wandering Fire and Book Three: The Darkest Road. Since it s essentially one huge story, I ll be talking about all three books in one review.

In The Summer Tree, five Canadian university students Kevin Laine, Kimberly Ford, Jennifer Lowell, Dave Martyniuk and Paul Schafer - were spirited to Fionavar by a mage named Loren Silvercloak of Brennin. They were invited at attend the anniversary of the king s ascension to the throne, but not long after their arrival, it became clear that there was more to it than what they were originally told.

We learn that Fionavar is the first of all worlds. All that happen there will reflect in other worlds, including our own.

A thousand years ago, Fionavar survived a war against the evil god Rakoth Maugrim the Unraveller. Rakoth breaks free from his prison and is bent on finishing what he started - destroying the land.

Loren and Brennin Seer Ysanne would readily confess that Loren came into our world for Kim Ford, whom Ysanne dreamt will succeed her as Seer. What they didn t foresee is that the other four also had specific roles to play in the Tapestry.

The Wandering Fire, which is the middle book that will make little sense without the other two, is where Kay moves all his characters into attack position for the next book. It sees the Arthurian mythos joining the tale, along with deities and symbols from various Northern and Celtic myths.

The Darkest Road is where it all comes together and makes sense. This is where we get to appreciate how intricately woven the tale is as a whole. Light triumphs over Dark, of course, but the journey there is ultimately fulfilling to follow.

I m not a big fan of High Fantasy. Most fantasy literature is either Tolkienesque in depth and length, or just sorry imitations of it. I must confess that by the time I got to The Two Towers, I ve forgotten what Fellowship if the Rings is about and summarily gave up trying to read it.

Another friend commented that The Fionavar Tapestry is too much like Lord of the Rings and it's true. You have the big bad guy, a group of people unwittingly caught in a fight against the villain, a good wizard who help the good guys, another wizard who ends up batting for the other team, the return of exiled royalty, a nation of horse riders, dwarves, a race that will no doubt bring Tolkien s elves to mind, and a lonely journey made by a short guy to the very heart of evil.

Kay, who helped Christopher Tolkien edit The Silmarillion, deliberately set his novels in Tolkien s tradition of High Fantasy to show that there is still room to come up with something that follows a formula, yet throw many surprises of its own at the same time.

The prose is beautiful without being overbearing, and despite the many characters running all over the place, Kay still manages to make you care deeply for them. Often times, you don t realize it until the characters go off and sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

There aren t that many books out there that make me cry so much reading. The last one that comes close is Anita Diamant s The Red Tent, but that is just one book and this is three.

Every time I re-read The Fionavar Tapestry, I am reminded that there is hope for High Fantasy yet.

For more on Guy Gavriel Kay, visit his website at www.brightweavings.com.

(2006)