The Summer Tree

Written by Guy Gavriel Kay

Not Yet Available

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
• Release date: Jun 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781436244299

Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay was born and raised in Canada. He lives in Toronto, although he does most of his writing in Europe. His novels include ‘The Fionavar Tapestry’ trilogy (described by ‘Interzone’ as ‘the only fantasy work… that does not suffer by comparison with ‘The Lord of the Rings’), ‘Tigana’ and ‘A Song for Arbonne’.

Reviews for The Summer Tree

[devilwrites · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise: Five college students--Kim, Dave, Kevin, Jennifer, and Paul are approached by a mysterious stranger and a dwarf with a most unusual offer. To accompany them to the world of Fionavar to attend the King's festival. Why not? After all, the time spent in Fionavar would be but a blink of an eye in real time, so off they go, only to find themselves pivotal players in a war that's been unfolding for centuries. My RatingWish I'd Borrowed It: actually, I kind of wish I'd thought of reading the summaries on Wikipedia just to get Kim and Dave's story, because I'd been told that The Fionavar Tapestry is Kay's weakest, and now I know why. Yes, it's his debut, and I was thoroughly spoiled by the mastery and beauty of Ysabel, but still. I've got the rest of the trilogy, and I'd planned on reading the books back to back to back, but I think I'm going to take a quick break, just because this book didn't win be over as much as I thought it might.The full review, which does contain spoilers, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Guy Gavriel Kay's THE SUMMER TREEHappy Reading!

[ainjel-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ehhhhhhhh.

So the thing is, there's nothing really *wrong* with this book. It's a set up, like so many first books in trilogies are. It's introducing you to an unfamiliar land (and is therefore filled with too much exposition) and getting you ready for the *real* story that's about to come. Normally, I don't have a problem with that: it's what you expect from high fantasy series, with new worlds and complex rules. However, there's usually something that keeps things from feeling too much like you are just being talked to: maybe it's poetic writing, or engaging characters, or witty dialogue, or an adventure so out-there that you can't stop reading. Unfortunately, this book has none of those things.

Really, it's a fine story, and I found Dave's plot to be super interesting, but I always felt there was something missing. A simple way to solve this lack, I think, would have been some better characters. They all felt like they could have been the same person; we are told things about their personality that don't actually present themselves, and everyone feels hollow and empty. All this book needed was some strong characters with large personalities who exert themselves and develop throughout the tale. Instead, they feel like shadows, thrown in because you can't tell a story without characters.

In the end, I liked it, but I doubt I'll bother to pick up the sequels.

[johnfair_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's sort of funny how Eighties science fiction is pretty near unreadable these days but fantasy written around the same time is actually quite good (both imo, of course!).The Fionavar Tapestry is, on one level, an answer to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it follows most of the tropes of this sort of series. A great threat is hidden away and has been warded by the various races and nations of Fionavar, the Central World of the fifty levels making up Reality. In The Summer Tree, we have the gathering; five young people from our world have been selected to come through to Fionavar to celebrate the High King's fiftieth anniversary on the throne. All have their foibles and in this book some will be pushed to breaking their points. What really marks out this book is the quality of the writing, which is far superior to most books even today and the use of female protagonists was well ahead of its time (though it shouldn't be!).

[jdifelice-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

DNF - I've been trying to read this book for the better part of 4 months - and I had started it about a year ago...I think I'm finally going to give up. I just couldn't get into this portal fantasy. I had no idea what was going on in the world, who was who, and why they kept repeating first and last names (Paul Shaffer, (also Paul Shaffer is a personality from my hometown, and I could not get over that)).

[vinjii-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Summer Tree is traditional epic fantasy. The kind where a small group of people get swept away through a portal into a fantasy land and become heroes and have to save the place from evil. I got lost in this book and couldn't stop reading.The prose is lyrical and it was a pleasure to read every single sentence... I got lost in it. It was almost like sitting around a camp fire and listening to a poet. Marvellous experience.I recommend this book to anyone who loves Tolkien and traditional epic fantasy. It does show its age (it's as old as me, eek) but I fell in love with all the characters and can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy.

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read The Fionavar Tapestry when it first came out and several times since over the years. When I read it is being made into a TV series, I knew it was time to read it again. Five college students from Toronto are transported by a mage, Loren Silvercloak and his source, Matt Soren, to the city of Paras Derval for the anniversary of the king. Each of the five has a part to play in the events that follow: Dave is lost on the way through the portal and is separated from the rest, Jen is taken, Kevin becomes one of the supporters of Prince Diarmund, Kim is introduced to the Seer of Brennin, and Paul must defeat the deep sadness he owns from the death of the girl he loved.This is the first of Guy Gavriel Kay's books. It doesn't have the power and depth of some of his later works but is still a fine work of art. His descriptions and world-building are some of the best in the fantasy world, understandable as he worked with Christopher Tolkien in editing his late father's works. Kay's later works delve into mythology set in Spain and the Far East, but the Fionavar Tapestry is very Celtic in tone with elements of British lore and tales. It is still one of my favorite fantasy works and one that I reread every several years. It's a lovely piece of art set in a world I love.

[ehousewright-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read a book like this in quite awhile-- interesting use of contemporary people being pulled into a fantasy setting, not cutting back and forth between time periods the way some books do. The five people have different and interesting reactions to what happens to them. The last scene is a bit tough to take, although it seems like things will pull together in the next books, I guess if you want to get a feel for real evil...I will read the next one, probably deserves an extra 1/2 star?

[aronfish · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful how he weaves all matter of myth into the story with his main characters. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[mirryi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a huge fan of crossover fantasy, or any kind of fantasy that attempts to maintain a secondary world alongside the primary. The language was also not entirely to my taste: it was much too conversational and "modern-sounding" (I prefer elevated language in fantasy), and it was too often rather exaggerated and melodramatic. Nonetheless, Kay always kept me curious as to what would happen next, and I'm glad I read this series.

[marklacy-355086 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book, very interesting, suspense, surprises, EMOTIONS, moving and touching.

[jercox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A group of people from normal Earth get pulled into a fantasy world that is dying.

The story pulled me in, but the writing was not at the top of my list. There were a lot of disconnected plots that sort of tied together later, character development was a little lacking. A lot of random bouncing around, with just in the nick of time events working out for no obvious or credible reason.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I've absolutely adored every other Guy Gavriel Kay book I've read to date, but this one was a complete miss for me. The characters seemed flat, the story trite and generic, and the language not up to par with what I've come to expect from him. In the audiobook version read by Simon Vance, normally one of my favorite readers, the accents used were awkward and distracting and the cadence stilted.

[andy_dimartino · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this and will probably pick up the other two books in the trilogy. Somebody referred the author to me and I say Thankee

[seschend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While there's a few places where this makes some debut mistakes, it's obvious that Kay's got talent and an eye for details and world building (sometimes to the detriment of his storytelling in this first novel).

Still, while it takes a while to get rolling, it's fabulous when it does so. Eagerly diving into Book 2!

Steven
who's started Tigana and Lions of El-Rassan but not finished either...this is the first GGK he's finished

[iffland · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I personally never really liked fantasy books that much where people from the real word ended up in a parallel universe.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved the GGK trilogy when it first appeared ~ my copy has yellowed and the binding loosened, but it was a novel that stayed long with the vintage fantasies in my library, probably due to nostalgia ~ like my Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's definitely high fantasy in the 1980's style. After much subsequent reading in the genre, I've outgrown the meme where the main protagonists find themselves transported to an unknown land, having to make their way in this realm. The world-building and backstories seemed less prevalent than expected and the five university students (from U of T, no less) dropped into a parallel world is very much like a trip into the Wardrobe à la Narnia. We are then immediately launched into conflict in an epic adventure. The absence of atmospheric description and engaging character development, at least in Book 1, left me uninterested in the narrative.

[wishanem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was Guy Gavriel Kay's first Fantasy novel, and I expected it to be clumsier and less effective than his later books. It wasn't. There were some bits that could've worked better (I didn't love the first couple chapters, for instance), but there were shockingly sublime moments that had an incredible impact on me.

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I went through this book incredibly fast, and it was much as someone else laid it out for me to find it.

It was rough and I could have used a little less of the word 'lugubrious,' but that aside it did all the dirty work for setting into motion the foundation the rest of the series would need (even if at times, for no other reason in the story, except it's own necessity).

While I was not massively attached to The Five, or what happened to anyone, save vague interests in Paul, I was vastly intrigued by the bare and slow revealing details of the world of Finoavar.

[sarah_buckley-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so mad at myself right now. Guy Gavriel Kay is an author that many people in my life have recommended I read. I always put it off because I always had other books to read that seemed more interesting and so this book kept being pushed back farther and farther. That was such a mistake.

I think you can probably tell how this review is going, but just to clarify: I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. On the surface it doesn't seem that interesting. It involves Five men and women find themselves flung into a magical land and (of course) they all have a role to play in the upcoming drama and conflict. On the surface this seems so cliche and boring. It is far from that. The writing is fantastic. Guy Gavriel Kay pulled me into each of the characters lives and inner conflicts so easily that I was concerned and sad and apprehensive as the overarching plot started to pull them all in and change their lives. Kay's writing is basically magical. The story starts out slow but soon enough it crystallizes into something hauntingly beautiful.

Beware though, this is a FANTASY story with all the tropes and trappings that this kind of story usually entails. This is a very Tolkien style story, with a band of people from different areas and cultures working together to defeat ultimate evil. Perhaps when the book was first published in 1984 this sort of thing wasn't totally played out. It is Kay's writing that elevates it from Tolkien rip-off to a beautiful story of an adventure.

This is only the first book in the series (of three) and I am so excited to read further.

I actually finished this book a while ago but couldn't find the words to articulate how much i liked this book. Just saying, " It's amazing, go read it!" doesn't really do it justice. but:

It's amazing, go read it!

[katesherrod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Why can't I give it six?

[ladycato · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a classic of the fantasy genre that wallowed in my to-read pile for several years. I found it highly readable once it got going, but events at the end have discouraged me from reading onward.At the start, I found the book rather confusing with five Canadian young adults to keep straight, plus the visitors from Fionavar. As this book was written in the 1980s, it tended to head-hop a lot and that made it even more confusing. Once they landed in Fionavar, however, it became much easier to follow, though the sheer number of mythologies that overlap in the book made it daunting at times. Still, it was fun and fascinating.This is very much a "getting ready for the quest" book. The five from Earth each go through terrible ordeals as they mature, come into their powers, and confront this new world as it falls into turmoil. The ordeal with Jennifer at the very end turned me completely off. I just don't like books that go there as a plot device.

[imyril · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a long-time favourite, and remains a great read. Kay deftly weaves together Celtic mythology and traditional (esp Tolkien) fantasy tropes in a bid to create his own epic cross-over fantasy (cheekily claiming that it is the First world that all others come from as a nice narrative touch to explain the wholesale borrowing).Five students from Toronto are taken to the world of Fionavar by a mage to observe the High King's 50th anniversary. But shadows have already gathered: an unnatural drought plagues the land; the King's eldest son has been banished for daring to ask to be the traditional sacrifice to the God; the svart alfar are abroad once more; and the politics that brought Ailell to the throne 50 years ago may be about to bring him down. The 5 foreigners find themselves at the heart of events that will shake every world - including their own. Lyrical, sentimental, and mythic in scope, if less polished than his stand-alone works.

[earthsinger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read about half this book, just couldn't get into it. I didn't find the characters interesting, or memorable, couldn't work out who was who and basically couldn't be bothered to make the effort.

[carsonkicklighter · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't able to finish this novel because I found it bland and awkwardly written.

Five kids from the University of Toronto follow a wizard and a dwarf to the magical world of Fionavar, where the king is decrepit, a drought is persisting, and an ancient evil is about to break loose. There's little in the world to set it apart from any other traditional fantasy realm or D&D campaign setting. There's a castle celebration where clowns perform and peddlers sell "colorful goods'; there are taverns where people drink ale and eat meat, cheese and bread. You are out of luck if you want to know what the clowns are doing, what goods the peddlers are selling, or what sets the taverns apart from every other tavern you have seen in fantasy novels.

The kids seem to have personalities only when convenient for the plot. They get to Fionavar and have little reaction to traveling across dimensions except to joke about the balconies outside their rooms. Since the main characters weren't that impressed by their journey, I wasn't either. And since they didn't feel like real people, I couldn't care about them.

The blandness is partly a result of wordiness. A creature "allowed a smile of lean pleasure to flit across its features," instead of "smirked." Later, we are told that a "realization hit with the force of apprehended truth," instead of... well, I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. In general, I thought there were a lot of words that didn't mean much.

I feel like I'm missing something, since Kay is a renowned fantasy author whom other people have recommended to me. Hopefully I'll feel a better connection with one of his other books.

[kenzen-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is difficult. If someone asked me how I'd rate this book, I would say "it was OK". On the other hand I liked it, so I ended up giving it three stars.

I don't understand exactly the raving reviews and the high ratings. It's a good book and writing and language are very often highly entertaining. At the same time I miss something. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something preventing me from completely enjoying it.

But at the same time I wouldn't want this odd feeling to keep anyone from reading it. They might share the highly enthusiastic feeling that seems prevalent in the readers of this book.

[atimco-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Summer Tree, the first in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, is high fantasy in the order of The Lord of the Rings and tells the story of five people brought from our world to the realm of Fionavar, which is "the first of all worlds." Our world is just a shadow of Fionavar, and if Fionavar ceases to exist, all the worlds will fail. Loren Silvercloak, the mage who brings the five University students—Kevin, Dave, Paul, Jennifer, and Kim—to the kingdom of Brennin, is fearful of the return of Rakoth Maugrim, who has been bound under the mountain for centuries. When the vigilant rituals fail, he will return to wreak his vengeance on a world that has rejected him. Only the five outsiders can resist him.Kay mixes a lot of mythologies and traditions into this story. Paul's sacrifice on the Summer Tree is unmistakably an echo of another sacrifice on a Tree two thousand years ago in our world. And like Christ, Paul gets to return from death, his sacrifice complete and effective. Arthurian legend also gets some attention in this story and is developed further in the next two books. Apparently Kay is a much better known figure in the realm of modern fantasy than I suspected; he helped Christopher Tolkien edit his father's sprawling work to posthumously publish The Silmarillion. How do you get that job? I had high expectations going in, especially for Kay's prose that has been so highly praised by fellow fantasy lovers. And so I was disappointed at some of his odd stylistic choices in this book. Kay certainly has a way of turning a graceful phrase, but I can't stand his habit of fragments. "So and So did this. Which was just what So and So intended." This is okay very occasionally for effect, but on almost every page? It gives me the impression of a ploy for profundity and gets annoying really fast. And yet there are powerful moments in the prose, where Kay really does plunge his reader into the story. Some of his descriptions are lovely. I could have done with a lot less of the sleeping around that Kay's characters engage in. They move in and out of sexual encounters with no residual effects, no regrets or emotional repercussions. Sorry, I just don't buy it. And while we're on the subject, there is a graphic rape scene that is not appropriate for younger readers. Other readers cautioned me that the Fionavar Tapestry is not Kay's best work, and although I enjoyed it, I am looking forward to reading more of his work and seeing him improve.

[comixminx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Three and a half stars - kinda overblown in many parts (I prefer my fantasy understated and practical in style) but even knowing that in the next book the author brings in Arthur, for god's sake, I still went and found the next in the trilogy on finishing this one. So there's definitely something there.

I think it's partly because I like the Dalrei - plains riders - best. They only turn up towards the end but pep the whole thing up when they turn up.

Also, there's ridiculously large numbers of extra-powerful, extra-special characters. I would normally see that as a fairly dodgy sign of weak writing, but almost he's larded it on so much that he can get away with it. Still, though. Arthur, for god's sake. Dude.

[mossjon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I took quite some time to warm-up to this earliest novel of Guy Gavriel Kay. I just couldn't get excited about five Canadian college students agreeing (with the exception of one malcontent ... but there's always got to be one rebel) to be whisked or warped or rifted or transported (take your pick) to the world of Fionavar just to attend the king's jubilee. Thrust into a seemingly medieval setting, complete with court politics, royal succession quandaries, manipulative magicians, kingdom-wide drought and blight and an approaching storm of vengeful evil, these young men and women adapt readily and a bit unbelievably. Even the initial loss of one in the crossing barely causes a blip of concern once the remaining four become embroiled in the avalanche of events bearing down on the kingdom.

Of all the characters, both from our world and Finovar, I respected Dave the most as well as Sharra (and I hope to learn more about her in the rest of the series). Paul seemed to excel at doing the right things for all the wrong reasons. Kimberly went native almost before leaving Earth, but Kevin remains an enigma to me. I barely glimpsed Jennifer's tribulations and fear for her fate.

I saw the influence of Celtic mythology throughout Kay's worldbuilding and drew parallels with other epic fantasies prevalent and popular in the late 70s and early 80s (Tolkien, Lewis and to a lesser extent Brooks).

I suspect I missed reading the Fionavar Tapestry in high school and early college because I had to rely on what I saw at the grocery store book/magazine aisle, since I didn't have access to a library or a book store and GoodReads wasn't even a gleam on the Internet's nascent horizon. Had I read this series then, I am confident I would have added it to my permanent re-read collection. While The Summer Tree and the rest of the Fionavar Tapestry will remain on my shelves besides Kay's other later great novels, I doubt I'll be tempted to re-read it. Not with Tigana or the Lions of Al-Rassan enticing me to return and relive the wonder and the glory.

[shirezu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a gripping tale of 5 young men and women who are transported to another world to fulfill a destiny none believed they had. The story was told well and was engaging all the way through but there was always something lingering and not quite right which stopped this book hitting 5 stars.

This is only the start though and I've yet to decide if I shall continue on.

[raschneid_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Agh, I wrote this passionate non-review about why I couldn't finish this book, and then the browser deleted it!

Anyway, to sum up - I'm not finishing this book because I'm a hundred pages in and nothing very interesting or important has happened yet. There's nothing to sustain my interest. Thought about this and realized that it's because the characters are FABULOUSLY PASSIVE. They are classic textbook examples of how to be passive characters. Occasionally it seems like they're doing things, but if you look hard you realize that they are standing perfectly still and the plot is moving around them.

I was so bored reading this book that I started reading a Henry James novel that has been sitting unfinished on my shelf for 2 years. I mean really now.