The Last Light Of The Sun (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.The Last Light of the Sun is another of Guy Gavriel Kay’s brilliant historical fantasies. This one blends Norse, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon histories with a bit of faerie mythos. We follow a few main characters from each of these societies as they interact with each other to shape their land and destinies. As usual in a Guy Gavriel Kay novel, we see the struggles from each perspective, so there’s no single “hero” or “villain.” We understand what motivates each of the characters and their culture and we can admire their strengths and recognize their weaknesses. In the end, we want everyone to win but, of course, that’s not what happens.I thought the cast of The Last Light of the Sun was not as accessible or compelling as that of Tigana and A Song for Arbonne (though I really loved a couple of the side characters, especially Judit and her brother Athelbert) but, as always, each is a work of art. All of GGK’s characters (even the minor ones) are passionate people full of hopes, fears, dreams, and plenty of spirit. This complete characterization — the reader’s ability to be fully in the head of the point-of-view character — is one of the things that sets this author above others. It occasionally makes the plot move slowly, because there may be a lot of history and motivation to relate, but it’s usually interwoven so well that it serves to give us necessary information while moving the plot at the same time. Here’s an example from the beginning of the book from the point of view of a character who we’ll never meet again:Here in the remote, pagan north, at this wind-scoured island market of Rabady, he was anxious to begin trading his leather and cloth and spices and bladed weapons for furs and amber and salt and heavy barrels of dried cod (to sell in Ferrieres on the way home) — and to take immediate leave of these barbarian Erlings, who stank of fish and beer and bear grease, who could kill a man in a bargaining over prices, and who burned their leaders — savages that they were — on ships among their belongings when they died.Just as the people that GGK writes about are full of passion, so is his writing. Kay is so serious about his style — obviously working hard to get it just right — that it’s a joy to read, even though occasionally it goes just slightly over the top:She said nothing, though he thought she was about to. Instead, she stepped nearer, rose upon her toes, and kissed him on the lips, tasting of moonlight, though it was dark where they stood, except for her. The blue moon outside, above, shining over his own lands, hers, over the seas. He brought his hands up, touched her hair. He could see the small, shining impossibility of her. A faerie in his arms.Tasting of moonlight? I’m going to let that one pass…There’s also quite a bit of philosophizing in The Last Light of the Sun, mainly about how an individual’s actions can have unexpected and life-changing effects on others. Some of this was relayed in a few vignettes in which we’re quickly told the rest of the life history of very minor characters. These episodes were meant to be contemplative, but I found them intrusive since they felt rushed (decades of life summed up in a few paragraphs), broke up the plot, involved characters whom I didn’t care about, and contained repetitive insights about the uncertainty of life or the tendency for seemingly small actions to have long-lasting consequences. Perhaps more pensive persons will appreciate these parts. Fortunately, they were short, so they didn’t preclude my enjoyment of the novel.I listened to The Last Light of the Sun on audio (Penguin Audiobooks). Holter Graham did an excellent reading. I hope to hear more from him in the future.www.fantasyliterature.com
Reread 30th November, 2009.I've read all the rest of Guy Gavriel Kay's fiction since I read this the first time. It's definitely not my favourite. The writing style doesn't quite seem so smooth and easy -- there's something a bit dictatorial about his writing in places in this book, so that instead of letting us make observations, he's handing them to us pre-packaged and not letting us do so much work. I don't remember that in his other books, but it struck me quite strongly, rereading The Last Light of the Sun. It's funny: I think I like The Last Light of the Sun more than I did the first time I read it, and yet I have more criticisms. For example, I don't think I got to know and love the characters as much as I did in, say, the Fionavar Tapestry, or Tigana. GGK can tug on my heartstrings with the best of them -- probably is the best of them -- and I did feel it, in this book. Alun was a character I found compelling because the Cyngael are so obviously Welsh. I tried to sympathise with him, really wanted to, but so often he was too cold and presumptuous... I wish that Judit had been more of a character; I think she would've been fun. I found her a sympathetic character.I found that the end wrapped everything up a bit too neatly, too. Alun marries Kendra, Bern goes home and marries the girl bitten by a snake (and to my shame, I can't remember her name, I found her that much of a non-character -- she, too, could have been more compelling), Thorkell dies, Alun gets to free Dai... all of it. I wish there'd been more attention paid to the raggedy-ends -- Thira, Bern's whore, or Hakon, the Erling who loved Kendra, Rhiannon... It feels like all the threads are resolved with a bit of handwaving. I wanted more. But then, I always do, with GGK.I don't know how I feel about the portrayal of the Welsh (yeah, yeah, Cyngael, but we know what he means) in this book. It certainly doesn't anger me, certainly.Read 25th July, 2008.I really, really liked The Last Light Of The Sun. Some things about it were predictable, but that's not a new thing for me when I read fantasy. Some of the things were predictable but I never figured out how they would come about. I really love the melding of different cultures in this, the Norse and the English and the British. One thing I have started to observe in Guy Gavriel Kay is that he can't really write romance -- at least, not in a way that satisfies me. In the Fionavar books, in Ysabel and in this book, there are characters that I can plainly see he wants to be together, but he seems to bring them together too suddenly and then... it doesn't quite work for me. The character-building and world-building is wonderful, and sometimes his relationship building is too (see: Paul and Kevin, in The Summer Tree, in my opinion). He's better at writing friendship than romance.Halfway through reading this book -- fifty pages in, even -- I put it aside for a bit and ordered all the other books of Kay's I could get my hands on. His writing is lovely, and his storytelling just right for me.
What do You think about The Last Light Of The Sun (2005)?
Really excellent fantasy set in the medieval Europe . There’s a minor fantasy element (the fey), but the majority of the plot concerns the Vikings’ last raids on England. Exile Bern Thorkellson and his fellow mercenaries venture onto Anglcyn for plunder and glory, but waiting for them are the combined forces of King Aeldred and his Cyngael allies. The majority of the book does not concern war, but rather the inner workings of the characters’ minds and the wyrdness of Fate. The characters are each well developed and very interesting, and I would have read a book about any one of them. Unlike Barbara Hambly, who struggles to marshal all of her characters together into a single story, each little act and decision adds up to a greater whole. Near the beginning, a peasant girl’s murder is mentioned—and near the end of the story her sister’s nonviolent vengeance turns the tide of battle.
—Wealhtheow
I really enjoyed reading this, but it doesn't stand out to me as being as... memorable as GGK's other works. It seems ironic to me that when working with real history (Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Celts), Kay's depiction of his settings seems less than fully realized. There were precious few characters in here I didn't like, and I was completely satisfied with the ending... which maybe is why it feels less epic? Less haunting? This won't stick with me and cling to the corners of my mind for days and months (years?) like some of Kay's other novels will. Not to say that it isn't well-written. On the whole, with the scope and style of the narration (some beautiful thoughts, but a few of the narrative insights felt a little... pushy), it feels less like sociopolitical commentary and more like a fairytale or a story told to you by the fire. Which, considering the course of the story, is perhaps what he was working towards. :-)
—Ashley
Yeah, so this guy's books have become a recent and consuming obsession for me. Reading on lunch breaks, staying up too late...it's ridiculous but I can't stop reading. For this one, I particularly liked the interweaving storylines and multiple character interactions. The whole set up of historical fiction + fantasy is perfect: I finish feeling smarter, but with the (for me) needed escapism element that just isn't going to happen with a biography, no matter how well written. This was the 2nd (of three) books of his that I've read that are set in a time period to which I've had basically no prior interest, and yet I devoured the books.
—Rachel
