The Lions of Al-Rassan || Adventure, Passion, & Aspiration (No Spoilers)
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- Special thanks to @jakebishop7822 for recommending this book as an introduction to Guy Gavriel Kay!
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One word that you mentioned at the end of your review that sums up a lot of what I feel about this book is true was sophistication. I was utterly blown away with the subtlety in which Kay handled so much of this book, whether it be character portrayal or development, or world-building, especially in terms of the religions. This sophistication and subtlety is something I yearn for with so many authors that feel the need to spoon feed or hit readers over the head with their themes. I'm looking forward to our discussion on this one!
I agree! It’s masterful how he achieves that 🔥
Thank you, Josh! I'm so excited for our discussion as well! I think we hit a home run with this book as our introduction to Kay!
@@Johanna_reads absolutely!
Lions of Al-Rassan is one of my favorite books! Read it earlier this year and found it so compelling and moving, a real page-turner with heart and complexity.
Beautifully said! It was an incredible reading experience, and I now consider it a favorite as well.
Thank you for this review, Johanna! I read Tigana many years ago, probably more than twenty, and since then I’ve meant to read more by GGK. This could be where I’ll start after a reread of Tigana. All the best!
I thought of you while reading it because I'm so confident you would love this one, Philip! It's also one of Janny Wurts's favorite books. I've heard many say it's better than Tigana though I haven't read that one. I would love to hear your thoughts if you do pick it up!
That would be a fantastic decision
@@Johanna_reads So many folks say start with Lions and its one of his best. For me I found Song of Arbonne and Tigana to be better, but I am sure it depends on mood more than anything. The Sarantine Mosaic is great as well. Lions was a great book, and maybe it fell short for me because of all the praise it gets. Kay is one of my favorites along with Robin Hobb and Steven Erikson.
Sometimes it's hard to do non spoiler reviews, but this was done really well. Great format and explanations of your thoughts!
It was tricky to keep it spoiler-free, so I'm very happy to receive this feedback! Thanks!
fantastic review, love to see more people loving GGK. Not at all surprised in your case, but happy. I love the description that these feel like real living legends.
Even the sun goes down.
Thank you, Jake! I'm not surprised either given everything you said about this book and GGK's prose (which was 100% accurate). You did an awesome job motivating me to read it, and it lives up to all the praise!
Enjoyed your non-spoiler review. Love GGK and the fact he writes standalones (I often need a break from series). I've only read Tigana and The Last Light of the Sun so far, but definitely want to read all of his novels.
Thank you so much! I imagine adult fantasy standalones are very difficult to write, and GGK mastered it with this one. I hope you enjoy it!
I can't begin to describe how the epilogue made me feel. Such a wonderful book!
It truly was so impactful!
Good to see more people trying out GGK, Jake is doing an excellent job of spreading the word.
GGK is my second favourite author and his writing is exceptional.
I could do with re-reading The Lions of Al-Rassan to see if I still feel this is his best book for me. It is very close between this and the Sarantine Mosaic duology.
Yes, I'm so glad I took Jake's advice! I look forward to reading more GGK and will have to look into the Sarantine Mosaic duology.
I do some good work
@@jakebishop7822 😀 it is a worthy endeavour. Keep it up.
Easily my favourite author of any genre.
He's a very gifted writer!
This was a wonderful review! Thanks Johanna :) I'm working my way through GGK's works in publication order. I've read two books of the Fionavar tapestry and am about to start the third soon. I'm really enjoying Kay's writing - it's beautiful, poetic and extremely evocative. Looks like I'm three books away from The Lions of Al-Rassan - I look forward to reading it soon :)
Thank you, Varsha! While I'm glad to have started my GGK journey with this one, I think going in publication order will work beautifully. I've heard many GGK fans say that Lions is their favorite of all his books, so it's nice that you're building up to the best. I look forward to reading more GGK and catching up with you someday!
Oh you've got a lot to look forward to. Fionavar is awful imo. I love everything book of his except Fionavar and Last Light of the Sun.
The Sarantine Mosaic duology is fantastic!
Kay is one of my absolute favourite authors, and Lions is possibly my favourite of his books. I'm so glad you liked it :)
I loved it! I'm so glad I read a fan favorite, but I'm also hoping other Kay reads don't pale too much in comparison. 😅
Not to me. I love them all ;)
A very passionate review for a book full of passion, I love it. I have only read A Song for Arbonne and while it was a bit out of my usual wheelhouse, I can really appreciate GGK's immersive storytelling. Eager to check this one out one day. Great review Johanna 🤩
Passion is the right word for this book and my feelings about it! Kay offers such a different flavor of fantasy that I can understand his books being outside your wheelhouse. I plan to read A Song for Arbonne next, and I’m excited about the troubadours! Thank you so much, Esmay! ❤️
@@Johanna_reads I am looking forward to hearing you thoughts on that one! I highly recommend doing an immersion read with the audio, that was a very wonderful experience for me!
@@esmayrosalyne Thank you for letting me know! I'll plan to go that route when I pick it up! 😊
Good review! I’ve read Lions long ago and I remember it being my favorite GGK along with A Song for Arbonne, which I would recommend next. I so hope his books would get more attention, I love his prose and style.
Thank you so much! I am planning on reading A Song for Arbonne next. I'm excited that it has troubadours!
I just finished this book last night. I know what you mean about the plot structure not having a straight forward line and I was feeling sort of adrift in the middle portion of the book but it comes back around in a great way and adds weight to all the smaller events. As with Tigana, I can't stop thinking about the ending, about the characters, about the poetic nature of Kay's writing. Great read and great review👍
Thank you! I’m so you enjoyed the book and love the way you stated the experience!
Thank you Johanna. Your review helps tremendously.
I am not a fantasy reader. But I try to get into it, while sometimes it works or doesn't. I thought, having an interest in history, this title would help me enjoy the book.
Ty for your review. 🌷
Thank you so much! I think this is the perfect recommendation if you’re uncertain about fantasy but enjoy historical fiction with light fantasy elements. I hope you enjoy it if you pick it up!
Not my favourite fantasy novel, but my favourite fantasy novel by my favourite fantasy writer. Just beautiful.
It truly is magnificent! What is your favorite fantasy novel, if you're comfortable sharing?
@@Johanna_reads Lol, hate to disappoint, but I’m afraid it’s the LotR. Read it very young, and though for a long time I didn’t get too interested in other fantasy…Arthurian aside…but it’s sense of a slice of a continuum I credit with a lot of the interest in history that has proven pretty significant to my life. So, maybe favourite isn’t precisely the right word, important or meaningful? Love the Warlord Chronicles, was unsure though if you guys were discussing that or there were crossed wires re: Conn Iggulden novel under another name than I have here in Canada, I know it varies regionally. Again sadly pedestrian, but I have fallen in love with GRRM’s Westeros stuff, though of course I have a lot of contradictory thoughts about various aspects and a sense of futility re: its conclusion. Kinda think the show lapping him killed that spark, but in any event that’s harder to pin down to a single novel (LotR exception). But though fantasy has taken an ever expanding place in my diet, with a great many true loves along the way, I doubt anything will ever have the impact of that initial LotR read, it wasn’t just a new painting, it was a revelation about how many potential canvases there are in our imaginations. I guess later Dune was slightly similar in terms of exposure to world building that seemed 3-D, just the sequels were…different…and never lead to any interest in sci-fi at all.
But GGK…ah. Not sure I’ve ever made it through even rereads of his stuff that didn’t leave me clearing my throat and wiping my eyes. The sense of bigger meaning than ourselves, of sacrifice for others (or sacrifice generally which imo is his most consistent theme) and the worldliness that evades cynicism, the maturity with which he addresses gender and culture and war, the non-apologetic celebration of art and artists that’s found in most of his works, and his capacity for letting me eat favourite meals cooked differently, Esparagnan take-out?…yeah, he’s a keeper. (Ysabel aside, maybe Fionavar though its highs are very high, just a bit more uneven…his first work and his homage to Tolkien, not sure if you know he’s the writer who worked with Christopher Tolkien to complete the Silmarillion? Just very different from his other work, though his voice is already evident.)
Brevity, not sure what your name is, but it’s not James.
Fwiw my favourite novel period and probably writer overall (Kay is very close) is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, if you’ve read it/him. Am here for the chat if you have/do. Others are King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett, Lions as discussed, I,Claudius, Mary Renault’s Alexander trilogy, Westeros, Dune, O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series…brevity, James…and too many mysteries to mention, which rivals historical fiction for my habits. Fantasy, loved Mistborn though probably not quite into the mechanics of magic as BS seems to be, Hobb/Assassin, Rothfuss though getting GRRM intellectual wanderlust vibes, LeGuinn, ah, too many.
Can never decide which Lions character is my favourite, but identify with Ammar most…possibly more aspiration that reflection as he’s not lazy and I very much am, ☺️.
@@jamesaaron7211 I love LotR and think it’s a worthy favorite fantasy series/standalone! I’m also a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, Warlord Chronicles, and Dune. I get tempted to reread LotR all the time, but there’s so much fantasy I haven’t read, including more GGK.
My favorite character in Lions is Jehane! 😊
Hi! :) Thanks for the lovely review. This book has been on my TBR for a few years now, but I've always held off because I wasn't sure it was for me. I really appreciate the deeper look you provided. I think I'll read it for the character development and prose if nothing else!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy The Lions of Al-Rassan. If you read it for the character development and prose, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I thought GGK excelled at both!
Wonderful review Johanna! Now I want to read it immediately! Along with his best known book Tigana! 😁
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy both books! 😊
Thanks for the review, I've heard nothing but great things about GGK since becoming intrigued by him from The Library Ladders videos on him. I have this book and A Brightness Long Ago already on my shelf to choose from one I finish Bakker's Aspect Emperor series. I will be reading nothing else till I do, and as usual I manage to turn my comment back towards The Second Apocalypse on an unrelated video hahaha.
Thank you! Like Bakker, GGK has a sophisticated quality to his prose while still presenting vivid characters and character dynamics. I don't think you'll regret reading this book after Aspect Emperor!
Ok this sounds really interesting Johanna, thank you. I still want to read Tigana first, but this will be my next one of his.
Thank you, Chas! I hope you enjoy both books!
Yesss!! I was waiting for this video haha 😍🔥 What a fantastic review Johanna, you’re so good at reviewing books 🔥
“The sex scenes added to the dynamic between the characters” YESSSSS. He’s honestly the best writer I’ve read for sex scenes. I want to do a video about that because people’s obsession with this topic is driving me crazy haha, but I want to read more GGK before.
Thank you so much, Mariana! I'd love to watch your video on the topic! It seems to be a hot subject right now. 🔥
@@Johanna_reads yes! There's a double standard in how sex scenes are judged I think... if I muster the courage to speak about a controversial topic like that I'll definitely do a video haha! 🤫
Thank you Johanna for such a great review! I've been looking at this book for a while. Your review gave me a much better grasp of the book. Think I'll take the plunge and give it a read. BTW, you have gorgeous hair. :)
Thank you so much for the kind words on my review and on my hair! I hope you enjoy The Lions of Al-Rassan!
This book really sounds great. It is added to my list! Thanks for the great review!
I'm certain you would love The Lions of Al-Rassan, especially with all the history connections and GGK's great prose! It also happens to be one of Janny Wurts's favorite books. Thanks!
Wow, what a review! I'm more open-minded to try Kay's works again after Jimmy loved The Lions but didn't care for Tigana (which is what happened to me). It seems the themes surrounding that book could lead to very interesting and thought-provoking discussions, which is always what I'm looking for in my Fantasy books, so I'll make sure to officially add it to the list, thanks to you (and Jimmy of course, but your review was the last push I needed). ☺️
Thank you so much! Like you, I’ve heard Jimmy and many others find Lions a far superior book to Tigana. I would love to hear your thoughts and hope this one delivers for you where Tigana didn’t!
This was great, looking forward to picking this up in September!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it!
I enjoyed Lions a lot more than Tigana. I have also seen El Cid, which time period this is loosely based, multiple times so I envisioned Charleton Heston and Sophia Loren and the book just had the feel of an epic 60s movie.
Oh wow! I knew Rodrigo was based on "El Cid," but I didn't know about that movie! Just looked up the movie poster image. That's perfect!
😘I was chuckling a little at the discussion of the rumpy-pumpy! I normally just skim past that stuff - a bit like singing songs in, say, “Lord of the Rings”! 😆
Hahaha! You could probably skim past those scenes in Lions. I didn’t mind them, but they also didn’t immediately come to mind when finishing the book. I had to remind myself to talk about them for this review! 😄
Guy Gavriel Kay is such an incredible author! I love almost all his work, minus Fionavar.
Sarantine Mosaic is incredible!
Also A Song for Arbonne is fun because it has more magic than most of his other work and there's just something about the setting that gets me.
His books can be read in any order however I'd look up some reading orders online because I think the optimal reading order is somewhat chronologically in time so you can see how the world evolves over time and how choices ripple on.
So the ones to watch out for are Sarantine > Children of Earth and Sky > Brightness Long Ago > All The Seas of the World. Those are the important ones to read in that order. Especially the last two. Brightness and Seas should honestly be listed as a duology, not standalones imo so reading Brightness first isnt a great idea.
Thank you for letting me know all your recommendations! I’m planning to read A Song for Arbonne next. 😊
Just got this book last week for my birthday. It’s pretty high up on my priorities, after I finish War and Peace and a couple other short titles.
I hope you love it!
Thanks, Johanna. I have this on my shelf unread as of now. Since both you and Jake give recommendations that you can take to the bank, this will jump up some spots on my TBR list.
Thank you! I really thought it was exceptional, and I hope you'll enjoy it!
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Go Johanna
Alright! :)
You did a great job presenting this book without spoilers. I am not sure why so many people get hung-up on the sex scenes. Sometimes, maybe a bit odd, but I am sure why. Maybe because it is mostly a male audience reading and doesn't per say care about romance/love? Tigana is the only one I know of that felt "odd." But sex is part of life. Most of our books in our genre doesn't confront them or use them. At times, no they don't "add" anything to the plot, but at the same time, relationships are part of the life and the character whether it is love or a one-night stand.
And give me another book with Jehane. Please.
Thank you so much! I completely agree with you on all of the above! At least with this book, I wouldn't have thought to talk about the sex scenes if not for so much discourse about GGK's use of them. I guess Tigana might be different from what you and others say. I loved Jehane!
Hi 👋 great video as always!! Following u on Twitter 😊
Thank you, Safina!
In my opinion, «Arbonne» is a good intro and «benchmark» of GGK’s writing: Great to awesome characters, World Building and villains, where «Tigana» has awesome villians and World Building, good side characters and decent main characters, and «Lions» has amazing characters, good World Building and decent villains in comparison.
Loved Rodrigo’s wife Miranda, just how he talked about her even before we meet her: Priceless! And every time a certain bottle is mention, had me chuckle!
It is easy to label GGK as polar opposite to Steven Erikson (they went to the same High School, and GGK was class mate with Erikson’s older sibling I believe): GGK as the academic writing «subtle, sensual, humane & efficient courtly» one shots based on his Mediterranean Culture Holidays, with Erikson as the «Grunt» Down in the Dirt Archeologist, writing huge brutal tomes with dinosaur with swords and flying castles based on his RPG trying to stave of the mundanity and misery of digging in the Cold Canadian Winters, Hot Mesoamerican Jungles and Wet English Weather. But that is ignoring how GGK shows the both subtle brutality (Death by Orange!) and pure brutality of court life (the Fezzana Massacre, pure horror) and Erikson’s ability to also write «courtly» (such as the fete in «GotM») and «humane», in his hard won compassion!
While the story is a standalone, it is set in the same Universe of most of GGK’s later novels starting with «The Sarantine Mosaic» (where a certain character is hinted to be an ancestor of one in «Lions» and delve deeper into the theological debates of the Jaddite Faith: The religion is mixing Catholic trappings with Greek Mythology and the Roman Sun Gods Sol Invictus and Mithras).
That's an interesting comparison between GGK and Erikson, and I love that they attended the same high school. They offer very different flavors of fantasy, and I'm happy we have such variety in the genre. I did read about how this was in the same universe as some of his other books and appreciate you mentioning that here!
@@Johanna_reads Did you check out Miklos Rozsa’s score for “El Cid” from 1961? The movie is not half bad either, with Charlton Heston as El Cid and Sophia Loren as his wife Ximena!
@@MacScarfield I haven't seen the movie but I just looked up the poster image. That is the perfect casting for Rodrigo and Miranda!
@@Johanna_reads Indeed! ua-cam.com/video/BMz6ouWI960/v-deo.html
@@Johanna_reads And Liz Taylor as Rebecca of York in "Ivanhoe" for Jehane! ua-cam.com/video/zRs4lydd8iM/v-deo.html
This is a great book.
It really is!
@@Johanna_reads if I were to levy a complaint, it would be I wish we had more time with the doctor than we got. She was by far my favorite character to follow in that book.
@@skippen I loved Jehane! She was my favorite as well.
Hey there hello there hi hey 😊
Hello!