Guy Gavriel Kay's THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN | Discussion
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- Welcome to our discussion of Guy Gavriel Kay's THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN! We will begin spoiler-free before discussing spoilers.
Guests:
@jakebishop7822
@RedFuryBooks
@laurablakeauthor
Other places to find me:
GRIMOIRE DISCORD:
/ discord
TWITTER
/ johanna_reads
INSTAGRAM
/ whatresonates
GOODREADS
/ johanna
Fully agree with Jake on Kay's rendering of humanity. Its felt more honest and realistic to me than most Fantasy I've read. They're just people.
I concur! An amazing accomplishment to construct characters who seem very realistic while making them feel legendary.
I guess youtube doesn't like comments with links, so I will not be linking the GGK essay. Whatever. you can all google it if you want to.
Thanks so much for having me on, it was lovely to talk about this book with all 3 of you.
I want to read that essay! Maybe post it in Discord? You knocked it out of the park with this recommendation, so thank you! Loved chatting with you about the book!
More Canadians, yay!
Thanks again for having me in this discussion - it brought me much joy! Looking forward to the next GGK read!
You're welcome! It was a pleasure chatting with you, and I look forward to future discussions!
My internet died mid-conversation so I couldn’t finish watching live and I’m bummed about it haha 😫 This was a great discussion guys! 😍
Oh no! I'm so sorry your internet died, and I loved all your thoughts in the comments and on Discord! Thank you, Mariana! ❤️
5 min in and already know Imma love this 😂. Guy is extraordinary; he TELLS stories, and he tells STORIES. Salute! ✊🏿
Beautifully said!
Easily my favourite standalone I read last year.
If I'd to rank my GGK reads so far:
Tigana
Sarantine Mosaic
Lions vs Under Heaven for the number one spot
It's certainly now one of my favorite standalones! Looking forward to getting into more of his books!
And that’s FACTS 🗣️✊🏿
Only thing that keeps me on the fence about Lions is the mid-section of the story, that always dragged imo (JUST a lil bit tho, to be fair)
Thanks for having me! 🥰
My pleasure! Thank you for being a great guest! ❤️
Excellent discussion for one of my favorite authors. I have read Children of Earth & Sky (my GGK novel), Brightness Long Ago, All The Seas of the World, The 2 books of the Sarantine Mosaic series & Ysabel. I have Lions of Al-Rassan as my next GGK novel to read. Kay is excellent storyteller and his characters are definitely multidimensional. So glad you had this discussion, Johanna. Kay definitely needs more recognition. He is one of our great contemporary novelists regardless of genre.
Thank you so much! I’m really looking forward to reading more from Kay since this was my first Kay read. I hope you love The Lions of Al-Rassan! It’s such a gem!
Aye - PLEASE let us know your thoughts after to complete lol. You shall enjoy 🙏🏿
Thank you all, I thoroughly enjoyed this discussion of my favorite book by my favorite living author. Beyond the beauty and elegance in his writing, GGK's worlds spark such an interest in me to learn more of times/places on which they're based. This one of course for the Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula of which I had a very limited and vague understanding. The Sarantine Mosaic and A Brightness Long Ago are others that have done the same. I think that's what sets GGK apart for me, in addition to being captivating and beautiful his books make me want to know more, to fill in the gaps in my understanding of this world.
That is so beautifully and perfectly said about Kay’s approach to fantasy. It was such a pleasure to read this one and learn a little more about this time in Spain’s history.
Thanks for this, it is nice to have a refresh on The Lions, it has been a long long time since I read it and I'm really wanting to reread it, but it's in a box somewhere waiting for the day we move into a new house. I really need to reread all of GGK's books (except maybe River Of Stars) to confirm my favourite.
I'm so happy you enjoyed the discussion! I am certain this book would hold up upon reread. I'm looking forward to reading more from Kay!
Just finished by reread of this book, and it was even better the second time!
It was nice to have a spoiler discussion of the book to watch, I am kind of surprised Josh said he didn't much care for the surgery scene. It might be recency bias after just having reread it, but I think that might be my favorite moment in any book I've ever read!
How wonderful to finish rereading The Lions of Al-Rassan! Such an incredible book. Thanks for watching!
Whoops... I'm somewhat late to the party and only just watched your discussion, which I enjoyed. But, around 1:19, there's some commentary that Rodrigo and Jehane weren't in love with each other. As I read the book, they were in love, but it was... complicated and they were both mature enough not to hurt others by pursuing things any further. In their final scene together, Jehane asks Belmonte "is it wrong for a woman to love two men?". Rodrigo responds "No more than for a man to love two women". I think Miranda sensed it, because she mentioned feeling jealous to Jehane. Jehane's response was something like "No one who is loved as much as you are should ever feel jealous". Of course, Miranda also felt jealous of Ammar, whom Rodrigo also loved. There was a line where Rodrigo said something like "No man ever came close to making...the act of living through days and nights so full of richness" about Ammar. I think a big theme of this book is that one must make choices. These choices are frequently dictated by pre-existing circumstance and obligations, even though the choice made is not regretted, there is still a wish for the path not taken. Anyway, that's my rambling two cents worth....it was a fun discussion to listen to.
There’s a wonderful quote in the book, “There are moments in some lives when it can truly be said that everything pivots and changes, when the branching paths show clearly, when one does make a choice.” I read the relationships as a love triangle as well, and then my guests here made me reconsider that. You’re swaying me back the other way!
Thanks, for responding! I don't often get the chance to share GGK opinions with folks. At times I think he's the best writer no one reads.
But, that said, let me see if I can sway you a little further back the other way.... An argument could be made that the real tragic romance here is between Rodrigo and Ammar. Admittedly, neither seems physically attracted to the other, but look at their reactions to the first time they fought together - in Ragosa against the 5 mercenaries - they both have reactions along the line of "I've never had an experience like that with another man" and are both feeling a little dazed and disoriented from the experience. Later, Rodrigo even says not even Raimundo brought so much joy to the act of living day-to-day. That's not so much an expression of appreciation and respect as it is saying "I want to spend my life in his company".
So, hopefully, I'm not being too long-winded or pedantic here, but my impression is that it really was a love triangle, but unlike in standard triangles, there was a love connection between each of the members. However, I've been known to be wrong.@@Johanna_reads
Kay pronounces it R-Bone, but he's from Winnipeg and therefore, like Erikson, incorrect.
😂
Oh really? hahaha! 😂
@@Johanna_reads Of course, we all say Tisty Andy-Eye, right? Right?
This is so correct and hilarious 😂
Beautiful tragedy
It's such an impactful story!
"... Sex scenes were solid..."
Cough cough cough cough
😂
😂