- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Collins; New Ed edition (9 July 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0586215247
- ISBN-13: 978-0586215241
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 276,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"In some ways Kay's work is more satisfying than Tolkien's...a highly literate, lovingly detailed work of fantasy." --Fantasy Review
"Immense scale, literary richness and dazzling heroes." --Toronto Star --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Immense scale, literary richness and dazzling heroes." --Toronto Star --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
“ A FINE, INTELLIGENT SERIES PROBABLY THE BEST OF ITS KIND” BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Read the trilogy out loud, it has all the quality of a saga. The Arthurian sub-plot was the most inovative take on the legends this century. GGK has learnt all the right lessons from his work on Tolkiens papers. I cannot recommend this book too much (It's the most 'borrowed' series in my collection). Also The Fionvar Tapestry is the best starting point for his later, more difficult, books; which are themselves equally gripping. One of the very top writers of modern Fantasy.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While the three books that form the "Fionavar Tapestry" are engaging, they all suffer, to varying degrees, from a loosely scripted, and at times, implausible plot, as well as the inclusion of Arthurian elements that remain contrived and unnecessary except as a "hook" pandering to the appeal the Camelot legend holds for many readers, and that has already elsewhere been overworked. Further, I question the plot device of characters that are transported by varying means from "our" world into parallel fantasy realms that appear popular with many fantasy writers: Effectively used to inform the story in Donaldson's "Covenant" series, other writers turn to its use solely as a clever artifice by which to move characters around.
While better than most of the fantasy fiction about, this trilogy lacks the focus of Kay's later, more mature and individual works, such as "Tigana" or "Song for Arbonne." Read these if you are seeking serious and original fantasy tales. Save the "Fionavar Trilogy" for moments of simple, unexamined diversion.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Fionavar Tapestry - the trilogy of which this book forms the last part - is clearly sub-Tolkien, and it's also in my opinion journeyman work. That sounds like a very bad beginning for a review - indeed it is - but this trilogy (and this book) is very far from poor work. It's close to the best fantasy available, and that, I think is why I'm inclined to judge it harshly. It just falls short of real greatness.
Why does it fall short? Well, for me there are a number of reasons.
Firstly, the homage to Tolkien is just too strong. It isn't surprising - Kay was the joint editor of the Silmarillion in preparing it for publication - but in my opinion it stunts these books.
Secondly, I find the 'Holiday from America' framing narrative just too corny. If you want to write a work of fantasy, fine, do so. If you want to introduce a group of characters who are foreign to the environment of the narrative (which is a useful device because it solves a lot of exposition problems) do so. But why, for heaven's sake, do they have to be dragged out of contemporary North America? It's presumably intended to add credibility to the story, but for me it does exactly the opposite.
Finally, what utterly sticks in my throat is that - as with Tolkien, as with so many other works of fantasy - the outcome for which our heroes strive, the ultimate triumph of 'good' over 'evil', is the restoration of an absolute, hereditary, pure-blood, patriarchal, male monarchy.
Yee-uch!
And yet despite all that it's good. Despite all that and less than perfectly rounded characters. The reason that it's good is Kay's extraordinary depth of knowledge of European (and North American) folklore, and his ability to borrow and integrate folklore elements from many traditions into a cohesive and compelling narrative. That, and the fact that he can write.
This is nothing like as good as Kay's later work, which for me is the finest fantasy available today. But it is still very good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The fionavar Tapestry - beyond your wildest dreams
I hunger for good fantasy and sci fi and when I get it I devour it. I feel sorry for those previous reviewers who didn't finish the book. I must admit I almost fell into that trap. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2007 by the realrosemonster
Kay impresses!
The Fionavar Tapestry, this brilliant fantasy work impressed me a lot at the time I read (and re-read)it. I still hold it in high regard and think it's a marvel of a trilogy. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2004 by B. Jonsson
THE BEST TRILOGY I HAVE EVER READ
Each one of these books was amazing but the third installment was a masterpiece. I have never gotten so caught up in a book before that after I'd read the series once I had to read... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2002
The importance of individuality
After reading The Summer Tree and The Wandering Fire it's impossible not to conclude with the third part of this amazing trilogy. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2001 by Mr. Jean-loup Rebours-smith
Better than expected, but...
In this third and final volume of the Fionavar Tapestry (started with The Summer Tree and The Wandering Fire), the various armies are slowly marching northwards to meet and... Read more
Published on 6 April 2001
Brilliant
The conclusion of the Fionavar Tapestry is everything you'd expect it to be - moving, fascinating, exciting. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2000
A good series, but has weaknesses
I enjoyed all the books in the series, and prefer them to GGK's one off novels. They are impressively written, with some moments causing extreme emotion. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 1999
The Best is Yet to Come
There are few words that can describe the mastery that GGK has over the English language and through this the mastery that he has over his readers. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 1999
Another Example of Kay's Masterful Skills!
If someone told me beforehand that the premise for this story involved five modern-day college kids being recruited to battle the forces of evil in a parallel fantasy world, I... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 1998
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