The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay – Review

Published: April 1, 2001 (reprint)

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: The Fionavar Tapestry #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 383 (Paperback)

My Rating: I can’t rate this.

Synopsis:

The first volume in Guy Gavriel Kay’s stunning fantasy masterwork.

Five men and women find themselves flung into the magical land of Fionavar, First of all Worlds. They have been called there by the mage Loren Silvercloak, and quickly find themselves drawn into the complex tapestry of events. For Kim, Paul, Kevin, Jennifer and Dave all have their own part to play in the coming battle against the forces of evil led by the fallen god Rakoth Maugrim and his dark hordes.

Guy Gavriel Kay’s classic epic fantasy plays out on a truly grand scale, and has already been delighting fans of imaginative fiction for twenty years.

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I started writing notes as I read this in hopes of having some intelligent statements when writing the actual review, but it turned into a stream of consciousness/live-tweet style thing that was such fun I decided to use it as the review. HERE WE GOOOOO.

A wizard shows up at a collegiate lecture and tells these five guys and gals that he’s from another world and he wants them to think it over and then come with him to this other world. 

THEY’VE ACCEPTED THE OFFER WITH LIKE, NO INFORMATION. 

Is it because they’re Canadian? Or because this is from the 80’s? Did he offer them drugs?

These people didn’t even bring supplies to an unknown medieval world. What. Like, I would have over-packed. Like, weight limit exceeded.  

Also, are they bathing? 

And these guys – I am HOWLING because they just keep getting laid by all these beautiful women. And the guys are such shallow characters I keep getting them mixed up. And good buddy Dave is still out in Fionavar somewhere!!!!

The prince is seducing the princess of a neighboring kingdom REALLY dramatically. Good grief, it’s kind of embarrassing. What a cad. 

And WTF, now one of them has sacrificed himself in the summer tree? That escalated quickly. I mean, I get he was really depressed after his girlfriend died, but MAN. Voluntarily hanging from a tree for three days until death is kind of extreme and seems like something Odin would do.

Okay, okay, one of the girls has just gotten kidnapped by an evil, mangey swan. That has got to be the definition of the ugly duckling. Fairytale gone WRONG man.

OOOO and the other gal, Kim, has some mythical bling now. And her hair has turned white and she’s a seer. She’s just vibing.

I’m honestly unsure if I can finish this. I have 6 hours left in the audiobook.

Also, I can’t believe that no one in this strange land has asked them about their world. Like, bruh, what’s Canada like? Oh yeah, ice hockey? Cool! Oh and you don’t ride horses for transport?

Aaaand now things have gotten much more serious. I’m enjoying this part a little more, perhaps because it has that GGK gravitas.

We’ve finally shifted over to Dave’s perspective. It’s a relief to know he wasn’t teleported to a ravine where he then died. He seems to be having a good time, hanging with the Dalrai where he’s along for a hunt.

The ending was alright. I’m not super enthused by this series and likely won’t continue on with it. I’ve loved GGK’s more historical leaning fantasies, so I think I’ll stick with those. This was described as Tolkien-esque and I can kinda see that because this was a slog to get through, even with Simon Vance’s delightful voice acting.