Last Light of the Sun

By Guy Gavriel Kay

Roc, 2004

Reviewed by Bruce Durham

I was introduced to Kay through the now classic Fionavar Tapestry trilogy. At the time the excitement for us local fantasy types was the fact portions of the series took place in Toronto, utilizing locals such as the Royal Ontario Museum. That it was exceptionally well written and detailed and internationally recognized was gravy.

The Last Light of the Sun continues Kay’s legacy of imaginative fantasy. The story occurs in an area of the world thinly disguised as England and Wales.

The main thrust of the story is about an Erling raid on Cyngael soil some 25 years after a previous raid resulted in the death of one of their most beloved warriors. The raid is only partially successful, and results in gathering together several divergent personages into a common cause. The people of Cyngael and Anglcyn respond swiftly to the attack, forcing the Erlings to make some hard decisions. Woven around this core plot line are a series of subplots that ultimately lead the reader toward the climatic confrontation. If there’s anything to knock about the story, it’s the fact that so much takes place, leaving sections of it feeling rushed. But that’s a minor quibble, as the book weighs in at nearly 500 pages.

As stated, Kay has crafted an assortment of rich characters drawn from all sides of the conflict. Each has their reasons and motivations, all completely justified within their particular point of view. Another nice touch is the extended biographies for incidental characters who interact briefly with key individuals -– very reminiscent of David Gemmel. One particular segment deals with an item left in a forest to secure passage for a party. The same item is discovered generations later by people who have no knowledge of the reasons why it was first placed. Nice touch.

I’ve always found Kay’s prose extremely readable. I can even handle his use of telling asides in brackets (a gimmick that normally irks me to no end). The Light of the Last Sun is no exception. Kay takes the grand scope of competing civilizations, politics, religion, cultural differences and surrounds it with intimate characters. The whole collection is finely weaved into a fascinating, page-turning tale.

If you have never read Guy Gavriel Kay, you can do worse than start with The Last Light of the Sun. If you have read him, then you’ll likely find it not quite at the level of The Fionavar Tapestry or Tigana. However, it’s definitely recommended, and a welcome breath of fresh air in a genre that has become somewhat stagnant over the past few years.