Sailing to Sarantium (Sarantine Mosaic, Book 1) 
asked by webin on November 5, 2006 6:04 PM
Sailing to Sarantium is a small story. Its hero, Crispin, is unassuming as heroes go. He's a skilled mosaicist, an artist who makes pictures with decorative tiles, and responds to a request from a distant emperor to travel to the imperial capital and work on the new sanctuary there. Hardly the makings of high adventure. But then again, Guy Gavriel Kay could write about a peasant going to pick up a pail of water and you'd probably hang on every word.
If you don't know Kay, you should. His pedigree is impeccable, starting with a well-loved fantasy debut, the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road), and a compilation he did with Christopher Tolkien called The Silmarillion. Sailing to Sarantium, the first half of the Sarantine Mosaic series, evokes his other historical fantasy titles, such as A Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan, and is a well-researched analog to the Byzantine Empire and fifth-century Europe--with all its political and religious machinations.
Despite its seemingly prosaic cast and quest, Sailing to Sarantium is a charmer, another Kay classic. As usual, the character descriptions are subtle and precise--the mosaicist, Crispin, is a shrewd, irascible, and intensely likable man who is fiercely devoted to his art but troubled by guilt and loss. Reluctantly surrendering to events, he agrees to travel to Sarantium to work for the emperor. ("Sailing to Sarantium," we learn, is an expression synonymous with embracing great change.) As Crispin moves from roadside quarrels to palace intrigue, Kay gracefully shifts perspective from character to character, moving forward and backward in time and giving a rich sense of the world through the eyes of soldiers, slaves, and senators. --Paul Hughes
Reviews
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I had suspected it before I picked up The Sarantine Mosaic but it was only after reading Sailing to Sarantium and the Lord of Emperors that my thoughts were confirmed. Guy Gavriel Kay is my absolute favourite author alive today. I've read every novel he's published to date and I think the two novels of this duology are his best ever. I admit I was hesitant at first. I asked myself how a novel about a mosaicist could possibly be intriguing. If it was any other author I may have even passed. But this was Guy Gavriel Kay so I had to purchase the two books. To say that I was not disappointed would be an understatement. Caius Crispus and his journeys (both physical and mental) were so absorbing that I was all actually sad when the ride was over. Other than the protagonist, for me the most satisfying characters were the women of Sarantium. Alixiana, Styliane, Shirin, Kasia, Linon, Gisel, etc. were not only central to the plot but were each fascinating in their own ways. I've read all of Goodkind, all of Jordan, and have tried many new fantasy authors over the years but all pale in comparison to Kay. Are there major battles scenes, powerful wizards/sorceresses, an evil spirit trying to destroy the world? No. If this is you cup of tea do not waste your time. That's not to say that there is no action, murder, court intrigues or fantasy elements. It's just in these novels, they are not the core of the story. If you're interested in being transported to ancient history and becoming involved in a journey of self discovery, I cannot recommend these novels enough. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
reviewed by mike on November 10, 2006 9:36 PM
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Kay is a masterful writer (ignore for a moment his Fionavar Tapestry) and Sailing to Sarantium is an excellent example of how he weaves real history with echoes of fantasy and intrigue. Of all his quasi-historical novels, I liked this one the best. Why? First of all, I personally like this time period (5th C or so by Earth reckoning). Since I've been to Ravenna and seen the mystical mosaics like that which our hero Crispin creates, I can relate to their ethereal beauty that is timeless. I was overcome when I first saw these Byzantine marvels in Ravenna just as Crispin and others are struck when they see some of the mosaics mentioned in the book. OK, so beyond the mosaics, what is the appeal? Many fantasy enthusiasts might be put off by Kay because he does not inject too many fantasy elements in his work, but what he does put in is pure magic. Using Yeats' poems on Byzantium as an influence, Kay uses the motif of the soul in a golden bird as the primary fantasy device in this book (and to a small extent in its sequel Lord of Emperors). Some of the most haunting and harrowing scenes in this book involve the bird soul Linon and what she does. Truly amazing and moving. You must read it for yourself else I spoil the surprise.
The book would not be true to its word if the plot were not Byzantine, so be prepared for intrigues, deceptions, seductions, and a crazy cast of characters. So set your sails now and enjoy...
The book would not be true to its word if the plot were not Byzantine, so be prepared for intrigues, deceptions, seductions, and a crazy cast of characters. So set your sails now and enjoy...
reviewed by borat on November 28, 2006 3:33 PM
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FABULOUS!! I had never heard of Mr. Kay before and I've had this book on my shelf for a while because I could not imagine liking a book about a mosaicist. Could I have been more wrong?! Once I started reading, I could not put this book down.
The book is a bit hard to classify as it reads like historical fiction but includes some magic as well. StS has many good traits: It is well written, has interesting and well developed characters, creates a vivid and realistic sense of ancient history, religion and politics, and tells an intriguing story with good pacing that never falters. Unlike books by many of today's writers (Tad Williams and Neal Stephenson to name two), this book is well edited; the story is concise without long sections that drag on or lead nowhere.
Ultimately the mark of a good book is that when it ends, you still want more and that was definitely the case for me. As soon as I could, I went looking for more GGK books.
The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it had to end.
The book is a bit hard to classify as it reads like historical fiction but includes some magic as well. StS has many good traits: It is well written, has interesting and well developed characters, creates a vivid and realistic sense of ancient history, religion and politics, and tells an intriguing story with good pacing that never falters. Unlike books by many of today's writers (Tad Williams and Neal Stephenson to name two), this book is well edited; the story is concise without long sections that drag on or lead nowhere.
Ultimately the mark of a good book is that when it ends, you still want more and that was definitely the case for me. As soon as I could, I went looking for more GGK books.
The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it had to end.
reviewed by iread on November 28, 2006 9:18 PM
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With novels like _Tigana_ and _The Lions of Al-Rassan_, Guy Gavriel Kay virtually invented the sub-genre of 'fake historical' fantasy. Kay's settings in these novels are immaculately derived from the actual culture of specific regions of Europe. However, he adds his own original twists to produce cultures that are not alternate history or historical fantasy. In _Sailing to Sarantium_, he extends this approach to create his own 'fake historical' analog of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire.
The novel ostensibly focuses on the provincial mosaicist Crispin, who is summoned to the Emperor's court in Sarantium. There he encounters various elements of intrigue surrounding his commission to build a mosaic in a grand new temple. Kay poignantly describes the subtle shades of light and glass that comprise Crispin's mosaic-laying art, as well as his muted anguish over the deaths of his wife and daughters from a plague. In Sarantium, Crispin faces arrogant nobles and devious schemers struggling for power. He holds his own in deliciously sly conversations with several nobles, including the Empress herself. Yet once the political intrigue heats up, threatening Crispin's life, the novel ends abruptly with no resolution.
Crispin is by far the most compelling character in the novel, but Kay bogs down Crispin's story with digressions. The fifty-page prologue, set decades before the events of the novel, is completely unnecessary. Two characters met on Crispin's journey to Sarantium, are virtually forgotten once he arrives there, displaced by a tangential plot concerning factions of chariot racers. Kay tells the major event in the last quarter of the book from several different characters' perspectives, but he slips further backward in time as he moves to each new one. This jumbled chronology slights Crispin's final and most important account. Kay's narrative voice often hovers above the secondary characters in languid prose, occasionally even using present tense. This hazy tone makes these characters feel far more distant from the reader than Crispin.
Kay's 'fake historical' Byzantium is fully developed, from the rural pagan gods to the uncertain future of the provincial queen to the various noble factions constantly at odds for power within the empire. The lengthy sections on chariot racing feel authentic, although that entire plotline is tangential to the story.
With the lazy pace and the sudden ending, _Sailing to Sarantium_ doesn't feel like a whole, complete novel. Rather, it feels like a long introduction to the sequel _Lord of Emperors_, as though both books were originally one large manuscript that was chopped in half. Crispin's story could have been told in one long book with far fewer digressions, and it would have been all the more powerful for it. Yet Kay's emotive characterization still places him well ahead of most current fantasy authors.
The novel ostensibly focuses on the provincial mosaicist Crispin, who is summoned to the Emperor's court in Sarantium. There he encounters various elements of intrigue surrounding his commission to build a mosaic in a grand new temple. Kay poignantly describes the subtle shades of light and glass that comprise Crispin's mosaic-laying art, as well as his muted anguish over the deaths of his wife and daughters from a plague. In Sarantium, Crispin faces arrogant nobles and devious schemers struggling for power. He holds his own in deliciously sly conversations with several nobles, including the Empress herself. Yet once the political intrigue heats up, threatening Crispin's life, the novel ends abruptly with no resolution.
Crispin is by far the most compelling character in the novel, but Kay bogs down Crispin's story with digressions. The fifty-page prologue, set decades before the events of the novel, is completely unnecessary. Two characters met on Crispin's journey to Sarantium, are virtually forgotten once he arrives there, displaced by a tangential plot concerning factions of chariot racers. Kay tells the major event in the last quarter of the book from several different characters' perspectives, but he slips further backward in time as he moves to each new one. This jumbled chronology slights Crispin's final and most important account. Kay's narrative voice often hovers above the secondary characters in languid prose, occasionally even using present tense. This hazy tone makes these characters feel far more distant from the reader than Crispin.
Kay's 'fake historical' Byzantium is fully developed, from the rural pagan gods to the uncertain future of the provincial queen to the various noble factions constantly at odds for power within the empire. The lengthy sections on chariot racing feel authentic, although that entire plotline is tangential to the story.
With the lazy pace and the sudden ending, _Sailing to Sarantium_ doesn't feel like a whole, complete novel. Rather, it feels like a long introduction to the sequel _Lord of Emperors_, as though both books were originally one large manuscript that was chopped in half. Crispin's story could have been told in one long book with far fewer digressions, and it would have been all the more powerful for it. Yet Kay's emotive characterization still places him well ahead of most current fantasy authors.
reviewed by crafty1 on November 29, 2006 2:59 AM