River of Stars

Guy Gavriel Kay has once again taken this reader on a soulful journey. The very cadence of his words is evocative; I know this place and these finely drawn characters and am left with the gift of wonder at the end. I was carried away by a river of stars!

I like very much the relationship with Under Heaven. River of Stars appears to me a little less inspired but still very much worth reading. It is my belief that a new reader will benefit from reading Under Heaven first - this will give perspective to the historical and political development

Beautifully written, as are all of Kay's books. It's hard to read a book of this size in a single day/night, but I did that the first time. I'm now reading it for the third time. That pretty much says it.

Before reading the rest of this review, I must add Chinese history has always disenchanted me, not because of the setting, but in its reverence of figureheads, many of whom are portrayed as unworthy of their titles and yet are revered nonetheless. Tragedy of the common man is a recurring theme. I have stopped watching Chinese war movies (The Warlords, Red Cliff, et al.) as a result of this.

To this book. I have been reading many of Kay's novels of late, and pre-ordered River of Stars because Under Heaven, while anticlimatic as can be, was a thought provoking, good read overall. River of Stars begins spectacularly, with a strong set of characters (whose personalities are set in stone in this novel, it seems), and contains Kay's finest battle depictions yet. I began reading his novels because his prose resonates with that of my favorite author, the late David Gemmell, and although his plot is more realistic than epic, his characters are believable and well crafted.

Unfortunately I am also making River of Stars my final Kay novel, because after reading River of Stars (and numerous others), I am convinced that his endings will disappoint me more often than not, underwhelm me every time, and let me down after allowing me to dream higher than ever before, especially in this latest work. If you do read this book, go back and read my first few sentences and you'll understand why I began by referring to my movie inclinations.

Sorry...boring...too many flashbacks, too many pseudo-philosophical musings, too many flashforwards, too many "woe to us mortals", too much threading water, instead of letting the story rip along....Too many stops and starts...
Not up to his good ones....skip this one, not worth the money....

It's really more a collection of short stories that are only loosely tied together.

In fact there really isn't even a main character.

It has alot of world/culture building but that's about it.

At the beginning of River of Stars I was fascinated. Well and truly, to the point of buying it in the first place. A young man from modest beginnings with a dream of being a great soldier, and restoring honor to his country. An interesting a character, a goal, a great picture of the kind of alternate universe "not quite" ancient China the story takes place in.

And yet, over two hundred pages later the boy has advanced barely at all along the path of even starting to fulfill his childhood quest. And while some of those pages were filled with great context for why the world has come to be the way it is, and what challenges our character faces, and indeed an entire other main character to follow, the entire story still manages to get bogged down to such an incredibly dull pace that I can't bring myself to care anymore.

To explain, the author seems to delight in repeating to us the same exact information we've already received, but from different character's perspectives. The problem here is the different perspectives lend no new information nor insight into the story whatsoever, we're just being told the same exact thing we read five minutes ago for no apparent reason. And this happens again, and again, and again, and AGAIN. By around two hundred fifty pages into the book that's all it has become. A meandering little tale of nothing much happening, with some vague promise that something grand could happen, if only you'll withstand another couple hundred pages to get actually get there.

It is the equivalent, to borrow a metaphor from the Lord of the Rings, if you're familiar, of following Frodo around with the ring before he's ever set off from the Shire. Page after page after page of Frodo deciding whether to go on his epic journey, preparing for his epic journey, telling other he's going to go off on his epic journey, and then getting to see from those characters perspectives Frodo then coming up to tell them he's going off on his epic journey, and then... well you get the idea. In short, the phrase "Get on with it" doesn't seem to be in authors vocabulary.

Among its other themes, Guy Gavriel Kay's "River of Stars" is a powerful exploration of what it's like to be living in the wrong time and whether or not the price of chasing long-past glories and being loyal to principles is worth the fight. This isn't a typical Kay novel in many ways, most notably that instead of a plot driven by protagonists who change the world, here they swim upstream against the inevitable course of history. Overall, though, it is one of his more thoughtful novels. 4 stars.

Returning to the fictionalized medieval China that Kay first explored in Under Heaven, the Empire of Kitai is barely recognizable 400 years later. This isn't a sequel to Under Heaven and it's not necessary to have read the prior book to enjoy this one, but readers will be better off if they do as it provides full comprehension of the stark contrast between the thriving Ninth Dynasty and the teetering Twelfth.

Thanks to the aftereffects of the An Li rebellion and years of barbarian pressure, the Empire is a shadow of its former self. The Emperor spends far more time worrying about the placement of rocks in his gardens instead of his rule, the factious court is more concerned with political payback than governing, dissent is ruthlessly suppressed as cacophony, and the upper class clings to a pretentious veneer of culture to attempt to cover the rot of an Empire coming apart at the seams. What pokes through of this thin layer to gnaw at the heart of the Kitan, though, is the humiliating loss of the Empire's fourteen Northern Prefectures to the barbarians.

Despite the nominal strength of Kitai, there is little that can be done. Partially because of fears of creating another An Li from its ranks, the once-dominant Kitan military is a hollow force. Military service is frowned upon by all cultured individuals; no honorable family will let a son become a soldier. Into this vacuum arises Ren Daiyan, who believes he is destined to reclaim the lost Fourteen and means to prove that military genius can still coexist with culture and honor.

The other lead, the female poet and composer Lin Shan, provides a strong counterpoint. The status of Kitan women has fallen precipitously since the glory days of the Ninth Dynasty; they are expected to serve as uneducated, submissive, and fashionably hobbled servants to their husbands and in-laws rather than Kanlin warriors. As much as Ren Daiyan is an outlier to the military, Lin Shan is the same to her gender and Kitan culture. Without revealing plot, the price both characters pay as they try to make their mark in the declining Empire - as one character puts it, to "be allowed to be(come) what (they) might be" - is high.

As usual for Kay, the supporting cast is strong, the villains are three dimensional, the minor characters noteworthy, and the court intrigue fascinating. If anything, though, Kay's depth works slightly against him here. Setting up the world takes nearly 250 pages, with the main plot not beginning in earnest until Part III. This makes "River of Stars" a harder novel to digest than most of Kay's other work but also simultaneously among his most insightful, as the departure from the typical fantasy structure of a heroic epic allows him fantasy allows him some cutting observations.

Most notably, the exploration of the villains who contribute to the morass here is fascinating; none are particularly evil per se and only a few are borderline incompetent. They are merely self-interested and short-sighted, and the result of centuries of governing guided by those two principles is a setting in which even the best intentioned, as one poem puts it, are "powerless to amend a broken world."

There are two other issues that long time Kay fans may notice. First, as he has done in several of his other books, Kay uses an omnipotent narration that sometimes provides glimpses into the future for minor characters. He does so more often here, and it can be a little distracting. Second, with a couple exceptions "River of Stars" falls almost entirely within the realm of historical fiction rather than fantasy, to the point that in an interview Kay has stated that one of his overseas publishers is releasing the book on a mainline fiction imprint. (Being Kay, of course, even with this dearth of the fantastic he vigorously researched the historical and cultural background of what he does use.) As such, readers would do well to avoid reading about the real-world Song dynasty until they've finished the book.

This is neither Kay's easiest novel nor his most uplifting, but it may very well be his most insightful. Recommended and 4 stars.

River of Stars is a historical fantasy novel based on Song era China. This book would probably appeal to historical fiction readers more than those looking for fantasy. Magic is limited to a few ghosts and spirits as well as an overall sense of destiny.

According to the back cover blurb: “In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.”

River of Stars has a large cast of characters but spends the most time with Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan. Ren Daiyan has dreamed of reclaiming Kitai’s lost provinces since he was a boy, but after a fateful military uprising hundreds of years before, Kitai’s elites keep the army deliberately weak. Daiyan sets off on a path from outlaw to solider to legend, always focused on the prosperity of Kitai above all else. Lin Shan is the daughter of a court gentleman and a rare female poet. She was raised as if she were a son and occupies a strange position at court.

While the back of the cover suggested this was both Daiyan and Shan’s stories, River of Stars really belongs to Daiyan. Shan is intelligent and educated, but she has little impact on the overall events of the novel. In the end, it felt like she had little role outside of being a love interest. She’s also pretty much the only female character. There’s a couple of other women who have one scene each, but none of these reappear or even interact with Shan. Shan never speaks to another named female character, and it’s justified in the narrative by saying that other women dislike Shan because they feel she acts outside the proper role of a woman. Still, Shan has to speak to another woman at some point. Servants? Her mother-in-law? Other court ladies? The “other women don’t like Shan” would be a lot more believable if we saw any of them actually have a conversation with her.

While I’m on the subject of gender, there’s also a lot of objectification and sexual violence going on in the background. While rape is never explicitly described, it’s going on in the background. I got the feeling that Kay was trying to make a point about how horrible this time period was for women, but to do so I think he needs to have actual conversations between women, female characters who impact the plot, or heck, just more female characters in general.

Oh, there’s only one gay character, and he dies. Fortunately, his death isn’t a direct result of his sexual orientation but know this going in.

This is the second novel I’ve read by Kay, the first being The Lions of Al-Rassan, which I really enjoyed. Like River of Stars, The Lions of Al-Rassan was long and started off slow. Unlike River of Stars, the ending contained a sense of overwhelming urgency and tragic destiny. At the end of River of Stars, the only feeling I got was an annoyance that I’d stuck with this one for six hundred pages.

Other people may very well like this one better than I did. As I said above, people looking for historical fiction may very well like it. However, I would suggest avoiding it if you prefer books where female characters have a role outside of love interest or evil, scheming (and shortly dead) wives.

Reviewed by Maria
Book provided by the publisher
Originally posted at Romancing the Book

RIVER OF STARS is a very special read. For the lover of fiction, it is inspirational. For the lover of historical fiction particularly, it is, of course, a journey into another time and place. For the western reader, especially the one unfamiliar with the ways of the orient, it might just require a little bit of work to understand the finer complexities. The effort is worth it, however. Reading this novel is a bit like a journey which the reader will never want to end.

RIVER OF STARS is the ultimate historical fantasy, an epic, if you like to put it that way. The majestic empire of Kitai is anxious to win back its lost glory, the fourteen prefectures snatched away by the Xiaolu empire in the north. And while the empire of Kitai pits itself against the might of the Xiaolu empire, a myriad of smaller characters work out their destiny against that stunning backdrop. There are quite a few characters, but the principle ones would be Lady Lin Shan, who is quite a rarity, an educated woman in a society where only men are deemed fit to receive education. The opposite number of Lady Lin Shan is Commander Ren Daiyan, a village boy who dreams of becoming a great warrior. Ren Daiyan gets his wish in an unusual way, becoming a commander in the army of Kitai having inadvertently become an outlaw along the way. Lady Lin Shan could never have dreamed of entering the bureaucratic service of the empire, but like Ren Daiyan, she falls into her destiny through an unusual route. In order to enter the bureaucracy of the ancient Chinese empires, one had to be skilled in beautiful calligraphy as well as clever, witty, meaningful writing and Lady Lin Shan, her prodigiously intelligent father’s only child, receives the benefit of all her father’s knowledge. Her special status as an educated woman makes her something of an oddity in the society in which she lives. She is appreciated by some and hated by others. Married into the Imperial family of Kitai, she assists her art collector husband with his work of collecting and cataloguing historical pieces from the history of the empire.

Although I live in southern Asia, Chinese culture is quite unfamiliar to me. It is good that the author and his editors have supplied a list of characters to which to refer as the story progresses, because the several-single-syllable Chinese names leave me somewhat confused at times. But once one gets the measure of the feel and sound of the names, it’s really fine and the story flows.

There are surreal, almost supernatural elements in the story at times. Although one can see and hear the characters, there is an odd moment where a character steps out of a fantasy world and into the ‘real’ world of the story. This is where the lines between fantasy and reality become a bit blurred. This is a touch somewhat reminiscent, in my humble opinion, of the work of Isabel Allende and even, to some extent, Salman Rushdie.

The court women, in particular, come across as simply horrible. While it’s well known that women in the more traditional cultures can be very competitive with and cruel to each other, it is obvious in this story that that the higher the woman’s rank, the more rotten she’s likely to be, through and through. There is no such problem with the women of the so-called lower classes. Among the deceptively lovely court women, the purity of Lin Shan shines like a beacon. It’s as if her education has somehow liberated her from the need to compete with others. And by pure, I’m not necessarily talking about sexual purity. Lin Shan is not a long suffering wife, humbly waiting for her lord and master to return from his travels. There’s a refreshing freedom about this woman which is intriguing. It’s the same with Commander Ren. There is love, sexual attraction, acts of love, but all done in a beautifully tasteful manner reminiscent of the old classics.

The name RIVER OF STARS suggests a celestial, wonderful, heavenly world, yet alongside the glory there is hardship aplenty. Workers crushed to death in the effort to provide a rock for the emperor’s pleasure garden, humble peasants looking to holy men to cure their loved ones of mysterious ailments. Yet there is glory, grandeur and splendor too. The emperor himself is seen as something of a prisoner, dependent on correct information from his advisors. Likewise, the emperor’s ministers and advisors, playing politics, manipulating the system to get their opponents and critics sent to a fate worse than death posting by exiling them to a distant location where they will surely expire from the hardship. A world where life and death coexist, side by side in an uneasy harmony.

Like a real river of stars, it will lift you out of the ordinary and bring you to a heaven of pleasure, as you follow the fate of Lady Lin Shan and Commander Ren Daiyan and their contemporaries. Reading this book gave me a sense of timeless pleasure and piqued my interest to the very end.

How many stars? The full five, of course.

After having oft admired this book while perusing the bookstore and deciding that I didn’t have time to fit it into my reading schedule, I finally got the audiobook version. Of course, when I did this I wasn’t aware that, though not necessary, maybe I should have read Under Heaven first. You see, these two books are set in the same world, though many years apart. I can’t help but think I may have enjoyed River of Stars more had I understood the significance of some of the references made. But no matter, what’s done is done.

River of Stars is set in a world that is much like China, as you may have guessed from the cover, the names, or the synopsis. As a matter of fact, I recently read that it’s based off the beginning of the Jin-Song wars in the early 13th century. It’s majestic- gardens, imperial palaces, songs, poets, and war weave together to make a world realistic, with just the barest touch of the magical. The setting spans from the southernmost island where court exiles are sent to the northern steppes and the lost provinces, giving readers a variety of locations and climes to experience. These locations (of course) are a mere backdrop to the vast cast of characters presented within the pages of River of Stars.

There are truly only two protagonists in this story; however Kay gives his readers quite a lot of diversity. We get the perspectives of exiles, poets, palace officials, and soldiers to broaden the scope of the story and enhance the depth of detail. Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan are very different people, but their lives collide nonetheless. Daiyan, formerly a bandit leader, wants to lead the empire of Kitai back to former glory and retake the lost provinces from their northern neighbors. Lin Shan is a girl with a man’s education and determination- unheard of in the era she lives in. I can’t even begin to explain them because they are deep.

While River of Stars is definitely a masterpiece, it does not inspire great welters of emotion. Some passages were emotional or inspirational, but I was dispassionate and felt as if I were a great distance from the story rather than in the midst of it as I usually prefer. If you haven’t read Under Heaven, you can read this as a standalone without any trouble. It’s definitely worth reading if you’re a fan of Kay’s other works or are looking to delve into the land of historical fantasy.

Guy Gavriel Kay returns to ancient China the setting of his last novel, Under Heaven. But five hundred years have passed from the time of the fifth (Tang) Dynasty to the ninth (Song). The Song Dynasty was a time of prosperity, art, and scientific advance in China. But Kay depicts it as militarily weak, torn by political conflict, and becoming more and more socially conservative. In this setting, the two main characters, Ren Daiyan, who wants to be a great general, and Lin Shan, a brilliant young woman, are people out of their time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The characters are complex and interesting. Kay often circles around an event, approaching it only after giving warnings that something significant will occur. This can be annoying, but seemed less obtrusive in this book. The main event seems in sight at all times. As a result, I found the story moved more quickly than Under Heaven in spite of the fact that there are quite a few point of view characters. The writing is lyrical, also typical of Kay, and conveys his usual feeling of sadness at the way fate or the movement of history can be more powerful than the hopes and dreams of individual people.

It isn't necessary to have read Under Heaven to enjoy this book, but having read it makes the frequent references to the glory of the past dynasty and what has been lost more poignant. Together the two books make a fascinating picture of an ancient China which seems real and mythical at the same time.

Premise: Sequel to Under Heaven. It is a different time for Kitai. The balance between the court and the army is finally tilted to the court’s satisfaction, but what will that mean when Altai riders from the steppe pour over the border? Into this time are born a few people who may affect the course of history. Or they may not. It is not given for mortal men to know.

It is hard to describe a book like this. I can describe the characters: subtle, passionate, vengeful, honorable, wise, foolish. I can describe the prose: meditative, textured, delicate. I can describe the themes: the place of men in history, the role of narrative in destiny, the secret small reasons behind the sweep of ages.

But somehow, all of this together is more than the parts. Kay's style of historically-inspired fantasy isn't for everyone, but I usually find it satisfying.

River of Stars is a book about an invasion and a war. It is also a book about extraordinary people and how they both shape the time and react to the time that is thrust upon them. It is also a book about a romance.

I need to speak a bit of Lin Shan here, Shan of the sharp mind and the careful words. On the surface, if I were to tell you all the things that make her special, you might think that she is a too-perfect character, an unrealistic attempt to cover the fact that women had very little public life in a time like this. However, she is perfectly balanced by the male lead, whose skills are near mythic.

And even if she didn't read as wonderfully grounded as she does, she is based (loosely) on a real person. A real person, who really lived, the greatest female poet of her age.

This isn't the kind of book I always enjoy. Much of it is almost a series of vignettes,many of the active scenes happen off-screen and you have to piece it together later.

But if you're in the mood for a rich, delicate visit to an ancient China that never was, then follow Ren Daiyan, Lin Shan and all the ministers, warriors and poets, and relish the journey.

In River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay returns to the same world as he did with Under Heaven inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty, but jumps 400 years ahead and presents one of his own unique partly historical fiction, partly fantasy novels, this time inspired by the Song Dynasty. River of Stars is another great example of Kay’s lyrical writing and creative talent, making it no surprise he is a bestselling author with many readers worldwide.

Ren Daiyan was just a boy when he was ordered out on a mission to protect a magistrate and when besieged by highwaymen fought and killed them all in cold blood. It changed him, made him advance beyond his years and see the world and his life in a new way. From that moment he was different and never returned home, taking a new path. He finds himself joining a group of outlaws, becoming a Robin Hood type character, feared by those rich nobles who must travel throughout Kitai to serve the emperor.

Lln Shan is a beautiful woman and the daughter of a scholar who has educated her in ways most women never are. She is a talented songwriter and calligrapher who soon earns the interest of the emperor. She finds herself uprooted from her simple life and transported to one of lavish opulence in the city of the emperor, but it is one she is quite inexperienced with and must learn the complex politics and ways that a noble woman should perform.

As factions pit against each other and a war begins to brew in the north, Ren finds himself drawn to the wondrous city of Xinan and then Hanjin as he begins to serve the emperor in the army, doing what must be done to preserve the peace and the empire. He also meets a beautiful and talented woman by the name of Lln Shan.

River of Stars is well named, as it takes the reader on a literary pleasure cruise along a river of words and images, transporting them back in time to this great period of luxury and decadence, but also harshness. Kay does a good job of showing the various classes and levels of society, making this world seem not that different from our own, and certainly a relateable one. He also introduces his quasi-fantasy element; giving scenes and events a supernatural and spiritual feel that go beyond the mundane. Fans of Kay will delight in River of Stars, and for those looking to try the talented writer for the first time, this is a worthy example.

Originally written on September 23, 2013 ©Alex C. Telander.

For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site: [...]

'River of Stars' is historical fantasy set in China during the reign of the Song Dynasty. It follows 'Under Heaven', Guy Gavriel Kay's last novel, which was set during the reign of the Tang Dynasty. This one is not a sequel, so you needn't worry about continuity if you haven't read 'Under Heaven', although I will say that having read and loved that book as I did, I expected this one to be even better.
The story begins with Ren Daiyan, the younger son of a clerk in the western village of Shengdu, who dreams of becoming a warrior. His teacher presents him with a bow to practice with, and through a fortuitous series of circumstances he is given an opportunity to prove himself. While still a boy of fifteen the local sub-prefect picks Ren to fill a quota for what was meant to be a routine patrol to a nearby village. Although it was fate that put him there, what happens next is entirely due to the boy's speed, skill, and ability to think like a warrior. As we follow Ren through the next 600 pages while he makes his way across the length and breadth of China to fulfill his destiny, this interplay between fate and fortune, how a single whimsical decision can have consequences that can affect an entire kingdom, is a constant theme throughout this tale.
If you are a fan of historical fiction I would highly recommend Kay's books. They are excellently researched and the descriptive narrative keeps you in the period at all times: village life, customs at court, the elaborately planned gardens, the love of poetry and calligraphy, respect for family and elders. All the important characters are vividly portrayed and come alive on the page, empathetic and fallible in their hopes and fears. More importantly, his books are packed with exciting battles, court intrigue, jealousies, rivalries, love and hate, which makes you want to keep turning the pages.
However, if you only have time for one book you may do better with 'Under Heaven'. 'River of Stars' is a little bit slower, takes a little longer to get into the meat of the story, and seems a bit repetitive in between the action scenes, which in my opinion drops it to four stars.

Kitai, during the Twelfth Dynasty. Several centuries after a devastating civil war that left half the population of the empire dead and its armies disbanded, the empire has still not fully recovered. Soldiers and generals are mistrusted, the fear of another rebellion overwhelming. When Kitai is drawn into a civil war amongst the barbarians of the steppes to the north, their lack of military preparation will lead to disaster. For Ren Daiyan, a young outlaw-turned soldier who hungers to reclaim the Fourteen Prefectures lost to the barbarians decades ago, the chaos will be an opportunity to rise far.

River of Stars is Guy Gavriel Kay's twelfth novel and the second set in a lightly fantasised version of China. The setting being reflected this time is 12th Century China during the Song Dynasty, and specifically the events surrounding the Jurchen/Liao civil war and China's unfortunate intervention in that conflict (motivated by China's desire to reclaim its sixteen lost prefectures) which backfired quite spectacularly.

River of Stars is a self-contained novel but a few oblique references to the events of Under Heaven will resonate more for people familiar with the earlier book. Indeed, whilst being stand-alone in terms of plot and character, River of Stars's themes resonate more strongly when contrasted against the earlier book. Under Heaven was about an empire at the height of its power and River is about the same nation in what some might term decline. The excesses and dangers of the former empire that resulted in over thirty million deaths are also made clear, and make the current nation cautious as a result. If wars and conflicts (real and fictional) stem from often forgetting the lessons of history, River of Stars is about learning from those lessons, perhaps to the point of over-caution.

With Ren Daiyan (loosely based on the real General Yue Fei) Kay has created what initially appears to be a standard heroic protagonist. He is a young, callow youth with a supreme talent for archery and military strategy who grows up to become a leader of men and a national hero when he wins an important, morale-boosting victory in an otherwise disastrous campaign. Yet Kay is not interested in regurgitating Joseph Campbell. Daiyan is more complex than he first appears, his own belief in his own destiny (bolstered by a confrontation with a fox-spirit entity in the novel's only notable magical/supernatural episode) having to be tempered with what is best for Kitai, as Daiyan is - oddly for a former outlaw - a true patriot. The reaction of the Imperial Court to Daiyan's military adventurism is something that I think a lot of readers will find frustrating or even infuriating, but it's also fascinating to see how the court has learned from the lessons of the past and fears anything to prolong war and thus increase the power of the military (and again, it is based on real history; Yue Fei faced much the same opposition after he won a series of significant victories). Ultimately this conflict, between war and peace and between soldiers and governors, lies at the heart of the novel and though our sympathies may be best-won by Daiyan, the point-of-view of the emperor and his advisers is also presented with conviction.

Daiyan's story is only one part of the story. On the other lies Lin Shan, a female poet and writer (loosely based on Li Qingzhao) during a period when women are not expected to pursue such tasks. This wins her a certain notoriety at court and a difficulty in winning female friends, but brings her to the attention of the emperor. Refreshingly, this story sets up a cliche (a woman cutting her own path in a sexist world) which the author then refuses to indulge in. Shan's deportment is unusual for her culture, but she is not persecuted for it and ultimately wins respect and appreciation. However, Kay does use her to reflect on some of the less progressive elements of the period for Chinese women (such as being forced to wear hobbled footware) and muse on how this period was less free and open for women than the preceding one in Under Heaven. Kay also uses Shan's storyline to explore issues such as sexuality and the power of myth and story versus the reality of history.

River of Stars (*****), like so much of Kay's work, is a novel that moves between being bittersweet, triumphant, tragic and reflective. It engages with a variety of themes against a backdrop informed by real history and is told with flair, passion and elegant prose.

Kay is much loved for his writing skill. Fans know and enjoy Kay's tendency to wax poetic on matters such as fate, turning points, love, destiny, history and other matters. In this book, however, it felt like these passages were lengthier and more frequent. For example, when, early in the book a previously unmentioned young guard is cut down, Kay waxes on for a bit about a life cut down too short, and what might have been. Then, later in the book, when the son of an influential character is killed -- a son who did little other than follow his father around -- Kay again waxes on about what could have been, at some real length. Kay does this deliberately, and even alludes to the first death when discussing the second. While some might find this a clever literary device, I found the length and frequency of these detours to be indulgent. While I normally either enjoy or don't mind Kay's literary asides, here I found it too much in just the same manner that too much candy can make one sick.

Bottom Line: Kay has a distinctive style and pattern of writing, and that is present here. Many fans will enjoy this book greatly, just as they have Kay's other books -- there is no great deviation from how Kay has written in the past. However, some might find that something is subtly off, as I did, and leave a little disappointed.

Late autumn, early morning. It is cold, mist rising from the forest floor, sheathing the green bamboo trees in the grove, muffling sounds, hiding the Twelve Peaks to the east. The maple leaves on the way here are red and yellow on the ground, and falling. The temple bells from the edge of town seem distant when they ring, as if from another world.

Guy Gavriel Kay's River of Stars begins in a time we know - on an autumn day. This autumn day, however, is set in an imagined China of the Northern Song Dynasty, in the years before 1127 C.E.

Guy Gavriel Kay is known as a writer of fantasy, but his fantasy worlds are those of real times, real places, and sometimes even real people. River of Stars introduces us to a woman poet, an artist emperor, a wily 12th century Chinese minister, and a boy from a small village on the western edge of Kay's imagined Kitai, who rises to become the empire's most beloved hero. They are fictional characters in a fictional land set like a palimpsest over the very real people who lived in the very real China of the 12th Century C.E., and as such they can tell a vivid story of their time, their country, their lives.

Su Shi, a real poet of the Northern Song, wrote:

Oh Moon, how I wish to get closer
By riding on the breeze.
Yet I fear your crystal and jade chateau,
Are much too high and cold.
So, let me just dance here with my moonlight shadow.

I often make the argument that we are the same people we always were.

Chan Du, an imagined poet of Kay's (or so I imagine), could be writing today.

...I cannot find rest
Because I am powerless
To amend a broken world.

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay
Audio performance by Simon Vance
4 stars

When is a sequel not a sequel? In this case, the not-sequel takes place four centuries after the original book. This allows the omniscient narrator of River of Stars to make occasional historical references to the events and characters of Under Heaven.That historical context contributes the rich complexity of Chinese culture that Gavriel Kay creates in this intricately plotted fiction.

As in the first book, this is a story of court politics and war. The story follows the intertwined lives of Ren Daiyan and the poetess Lin Shan. Ren Daiyan is presented as something like a Chinese Robin Hood. I was interested to learn that he is based on an actual historical figure. Lin Shan serves as a love interest, but also allows a perspective on the increasingly restricted role of women in this Dynasty. The story is filled with other colorful characters from poets and soldiers to the Imperial family. Kay manages to take the smallest actions of even an unnamed under-gardener and connect them to the broad picture of a crumbling culture and a world at war.

There are a few magical elements added to this story. Ren Daiyan has a mystical encounter with a fox spirit and retains a permanent mark as a result. The affable, dissident poet, Lu Chen, sees ghosts. These elements are so integrated into the story that they do not have the effect of magical realism or fantasy. This is historical fiction, full of war and adventure. Readers looking for fantasy will not find it here.

As usual, Simon Vance creates distinct voices for each member of the large cast of characters. The audio production is easy to follow, but the print copy provides a map that is very useful to understanding the action.

Another beautifully told story of ancient China from Kay. This one takes place about 500 years after the events in "Under Heaven." Unlike some other famous, writers Kay keeps his focus on the main characters and although the Chinese names sometimes confuse, he always returns to the people you know.

This is a story of a women born in a time where there are no women's rights and yet she becomes educated and is able to live an exciting life despite the obstacles. It is a story about a boy who becomes one of the strongest, most important leaders of his time. Again, Kay gives us a beautiful epic filled with action, romance and politics. My only complaint is I thought he lacked courage telling of the events leading up to the ending and the ending itself. It left me somewhat annoyed. Despite this, River of Stars is still worthy of a 5 star rating.

It's the Twelfth Dynasty, and fifteen year old Ren Daiyan swings his bamboo sword and dreams of winning back the lost rivers and mountains of the Kitan empire. But even he knows that becoming a soldier, a profession for drafted peasant farmers, is a disgrace to his family. So he attends the only academy in his prefecture, where he reads poetry, memorizes the classics, and studies history in the hope he might eventually pass the jinshi examinations and enter civil service in the capital. Little did he know that joining the guard of the sub-prefect into the forest one day would alter the entire course of his life. Years later he emerges from the outlaws of the Marsh with the opportunity to become the glorious war leader he always dreamed of.

Two and a half years after Daiyan became an outlaw, sixteen-year-old Lin Shan is excited to visit Yenling, home of the Peony Festival. Her father, court gentleman Lin Kuo, passed the jinshi examinations years ago and has just completed a book on Kitai gardens. He's raised her daughter as if she were a boy, educating her in the classics, poetry, calligraphy, composing, and even briefly, in archery. He's taken care in arranging her betrothal to a man who will accept her the way she is. Shan lives a mostly quiet life with her husband, Qi Wao, aiding him in his collection of ancient artifacts until the life of her father is threatened by the dog-eat-dog politics of the time, and she's forced to act as no woman has. But it is when her fate becomes intertwined with Ren Daiyan's that her life is truly altered.

Guy Gavriel Kay's latest installment in his Under Heaven series about China's Song Dynasty was another review request I accepted last month. Some of his earlier fantasy novels, such as the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy and Tigana, are loved among my blogging friends and as a fan of epic historical fantasy myself I planned on reading something by Kay at some point. I hate to admit that the doorstopping length of many of his novels hindered my willingness, as well as other common ailments like shiny new book syndrome. But when Kay's publisher contacted me, I felt like it was the perfect time to stop making excuses and start reading, even if it was his newest work, which is more historical than fantasy. I'm happy to report that any hesitation I felt was unfounded.

Of course that isn't to say that River of Stars isn't long, nor is it to be devoured quickly, but it nonetheless captivated me from the very beginning with it's masterful storytelling. It's obvious that Kay is a writer, and not the kind who turn out a book every year. He has written, researched, and crafted River of Stars down to each minor and major character and every foreshadowing word, and I am in awe. The world of Kitai (based on ancient China) - with its court politics, battles, poetry, outlaws, women, peasants, and emperors - is fully imagined. The point-of-view changes often and there are many minor characters introduced whom the reader will never meet again, but each viewpoint matters in the overall portrait of an empire vividly and comprehensively drawn. The influential yet flawed characters of Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan fit strongly on this canvas. Separate they are powerful but together they are unstoppable players in the future of Kitai as it continues to decline under a decadent, out-of-touch emperor and the invading Altai (based on the Mongols). Their attraction to one another is unexpected and lovely and a little bit heartbreaking. Daiyan's complete devotion and commitment to Shan in particular is striking on several occasions. I wouldn't change any of the lovely words his uses to express his feelings for Shan. They are restrained, minimal and absolutely perfect, and I dare you not to swoon. There are many themes at work here, most notably distinguishing legend from history, the profound effect one life or one choice can have on a nation, and the power of self-belief. When the Altai begin to invade northern Kitai, the effects of war on the civilian are explored as well as the definition of honor, whether it be through fulfilling duty or following dreams. At the end of this grand and ambitious novel, Kitai, an ancient empire that almost becomes a character in and of itself, is left in an unexpected, real and life-affirming place that readers will be happy with regardless of how it differs from Daiyan's dreams. In a class of its own, River of Stars is strong, engaging, and compelling historical fiction that has guaranteed I will be reading more by Guy Gavriel Kay in the future. Recommended for fans of Patricia McKillip and Juliet Marillier.

Despite what some have written here, River of Stars is indeed a sequel to Under Heaven. And, like many sequels, it pales in comparison to its original source.

My problem is specifically with the ending. It seemed rushed, unfulfilling, and unsatisfying. Perhaps Kay has tied his denoument too closely to actual history. Without giving much away, any reader can see several possible ways to wrap up the plot of River of Stars, and Kay chooses the one which is the most faithful to actual ancient Chinese history.

Unfortunately, that's also the ending that's the least desirable for a work of fiction, at least for me.

Still a good read, and I hope Kay writes another book based on these places and times.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Once again, Guy Gavriel Kay has immersed himself in the historical culture of ancient China, this time focusing within the 12th Dynasty. Just he did in the acclaimed Under Heaven, he slowly and methodically crafts his tale. Perhaps a little too slowly in River of Stars. There were times when story seemed to drag a bit, and yet I could not help but continuing on with the story.

Kay has a way about his story telling. In River of Stars he puts so much detail into creating the world that you almost feel as if the setting is itself a character of the book. It is clear that he spent a great deal of time researching this period of the Song Dynasty's history. By the story's end, the readers feels almost as if they visited that time, so long ago. Or maybe that is because they feel a compulsion to read up on some of the history on their own.

The two primary characters in River of Stars, Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan are clearly inspired by actual historical figures. Kay has a way of taking people and moments from time, and weaving a fictional account of what might have been. Within his telling, he pays homage to the existing mythology by capturing their truths of beauty, loyalty, and honor.

The characters of Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan remind me of the Yin and Yang. They are bound together and yet they are opposites. Ren Daiyan has a clear sense of his place within his time, a purpose that motivates him. Whereas, on the other hand, Lin Shan is a woman out of place in her own time and struggle to find her place in society. While they are very different, they both share an ability to recognize truth.

In addition to characters and themes, Kay incorporates much of Song Dynasty culture in this opus. In fact, while this book is often categorized as fantasy, the fantastical elements play more into the cultural superstitions of the time, making them seem more of a historical interpretation of events through the eyes of the characters. The author really seems to like the concept of fox spirits, featuring one in both River of Stars and Under Heaven. He details the prominent role of poetry and art and their cultural significance to that time. I can't help but reflect that in our modern equivalents of pop music and movies just do not hold the same serene sense of beauty. In contrast, the battles scenes are sharp and brutal, yet equally brilliant in the telling.

I experience River of Stars in audio book format. The narration is very calm and slow. I thought that this worked well for Under Heaven, but found it frustrating for River of Stars. There were just moments that I felt would be better told with more energy. In particular, the understated vocalization did little to capture the sassy and mischievous nature of the Daji (fox woman). At times, the calming tones felt as if they might lull me to sleep.

While I enjoyed the story, I did struggle to get through the book. The entire tone of the story was so calm and methodical that it made an already long book feel even longer.

This booked provoked me to research the Song Dynasty to learn more about this time period and the historical figures on which the characters are based. That is a testament to how compelling Mr. Kay paints the story. I say paint because sometimes his writing eludes me. Often the sentence structure and dialogue left me wondering which character was speaking and to what they were referring. Now, I'm no genius but I tend to be decent at following the context of a passage. At one point I actually checked to see whether the book was originally written in another language and then translated to English.

I may recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, but the mis-categorization of this book as fantasy by retailers and reviewers is astonishing. In 656 pages there is one, vague, dream-like sequence that turns out to be a supernatural occurrence. I get more "fantasy" reading the local police blotter.

All-in-all I am glad I read this book. I was educated and entertained.

Sadly Guy Gavriel Kay, one of my favorite authors, appears to be declining into self-indulgent, maudlin, hypersensitive, ponderous lethargy. His worship of the deep sensitivity of his characters and this pseudo-chinese culture makes for very slow reading. I swore I was going to stop reading it at least 5 times, but he just manages to keep me interested enough to finish it. The first 100 pages in particular are hard to stay awake for.

I think this is a trend in fantasy writers as they get older. They seem to long to be poets, and try to write novels that ultimately explain why we have poetry. Poetry allows for the concise expression of depth and beauty. Novels like this allow for the prolonged flagellation of depth and beauty.

That being said, Guy Gavriel Kay's earlier works are some of the best in the genre, so I still cut him a little slack.

This is my second GGK novel (read Under Heaven as well) and I have to say, this guy is going to probably occupy most if not all of my summer reading. I love historical fiction. I love fantasy. To have the two fused in such a subtle way is surprising and wonderful.

As in, Under Heaven, GGK has managed to have the cadence of his writing match the tone of the period. I don't know how he did this and would require a few pages to describe the effect. Take away the characters, the plot, the setting. . .and just leave the writing and I'd still feel as if I were in Ancient China.

Plot wise, I think I enjoyed Under Heaven a tiny bit more, it is by the smallest of margins. What River of Stars does better, however, is the description of the various battles fought. Also appreciated was the standard fantasy trope of "Poor farm boy from nowhere is destined to save the world" being turned on its head a bit.

River of Stars is a book worth savoring. Like many of Kay's books, themes and characters intersect in surprising ways, and I was engaged by the thoughtful writing throughout the entirety. Although it takes place in China, this novel was more reminiscent of the Sarantium books than Under Heaven (which is a good thing). The themes of loss, and the cost of regaining those losses, provide a bittersweet backdrop to the characters and plot. Thank you for another amazing novel!

Bite-Sized Review:
Guy Gavriel Kay has a wonderful way with words that is as beautiful in this book as in any of his others. With sweeping themes and characters that are painfully easy to fall in love with, River of Stars is a masterpiece.

Chocolate (things I liked):
-I have loved all of GGK's books, and in every case, one of my favorite things about them is the writing. GGK is an absolutely brilliant writer -- there's really no one better. So even the slower parts of the book are a pleasure to read and filled with meaning.

-In addition to being a spectacular wordsmith, GGK has the ability to bring broad themes to life. The pages of his books are filled with love and war, how things long past can affect the present, what duty people have to their rulers, and the difficulty of certain choices. It's especially brilliant because the conclusions the reader draws from the story seem completely natural and not forced at all, as they sometimes are in other books.

-It is heart-breakingly easy to fall in love with GGK's characters. In River of Stars, my favorites were Daiyan and Shan, who were both unorthodox and startlingly clever.

-GGK puts a lot of effort into making his novels historically genuine (which isn't necessarily the same as historically accurate), and it really shows. Especially after reading certain other books, it's really nice to see that much attention to detail in making so many aspects of the characters' lives fit into Song China.

-I loved the ending, though not everyone will.

Brussels Sprouts (things I didn't like):
-The only negative thing I have to say about River of Stars is that the first half was sort of slow. The plot didn't really start until the second half. Of course, I still enjoyed the first half, but I would have preferred if it had been condensed a bit.

Notes:
River of Stars takes place about 400 years after Under Heaven. While it's probably helpful to have read Under Heaven, it's not at all necessary. I read Under Heaven several years ago, when it first came out, and have forgotten most of what happened, but I had no trouble at all following River of Stars.

Recommended for:
Fans of historical fantasy, beautiful writing, and wonderful characters. People who have enjoyed the works of Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman will probably like River of Stars as well.

Set in a fictionalized and truncated version of China' s 11th century Northern Song Dynasty, River of Stars is a graceful, lyrical novel filled with beautifully drawn characters and moments that stab the heart. It is marked by a masterful sense of structure and pace and an overall elegance and skill that denotes a novelist in complete control of his creation, and as such is on a very short list of best books of the year so far (and it's hard to imagine anything knocking it much done that list).

The storyline is roughly that of the aforementioned period in China's history. The Kitai Empire, reacting to long-ago rebellions by army commanders against the royal court, has allowed its armies to grow weak and its commanders incompetent, leaving them open to the predations of the northern nomadic tribes when they come sweeping down. Caught up events are a number of major characters, including: Ren Daiyan, a young man whom we watch grow into a fine military mind; Lin Shan, a young woman given a boy's education by her idiosyncratic father; Lu Chen, an exiled poet; Hang Dejin and Kai Zhen, dueling prime ministers to the Emperor.

There really isn't a weak spot in the book. Endlessly graceful, perfectly attuned to time and place and character and mood, never a line out of place; the prose in River of Stars is beautifully crafted at the sentence level: lyrical, but in a muted fashion, beautiful but not clamoring for attention, and often bearing the burden of sorrow:

" But the boy was killed in a moonless summer dark under stars and wisps of cloud, and certain futures ended with him, just as others opened up because he died.
This happens all the time. It is why men pray to their gods."

" There were peonies in Yenling when spring came, even in that year. Flowers grow, whether or not men and women are able to celebrate them, wear them in their
hair."

"There is only so much a woman can do to help her children through the hard, dark spinning sorrows of time and the world."

The characters are vividly drawn and compelling in their own right as well as in their relationships one to the other, whether they be tied together by love, by loyalty, by marriage, by the bonds between parent and child or brother and brother, by the oaths between Emperor and servant. Kay takes his time developing these characters and their relationships and over the course of those 600 pages you come to care deeply about what happens to each of them. Perhaps more impressively, you also come to care about what happens to those characters you meet for only a few pages or less, such as that young boy above killed on the moonless night.

The novel mostly moves forward in linear fashion, but interrupted now and then by flash forwards, as when Kay gives us a glimpse of one character's future:

" Zhi-li will never marry, never leave their village. She goes to serve in the temple of the Sacred path not long after that night of power, when late-season fireflies
had gathered . . ."

Kay also interrupts periodically with running themes dealing with how history will look back on events and how writers construct their tales:

" The line between history and storytelling isn't always easy to draw."

"But sometimes storytellers want to inhabit certainty. They assume more than mortals ought . . . will deceive himself into believing he has the otherworldly
knowledge of a fox spirit, a ghost, a god."

This narrative voice slides in smoothly and easily into the spaces between plot movement, adding a nice layer of depth to a novel already filled with it thanks to characters who think, out loud and to themselves, about big events, about time and history, about the measure of men and women, about art and death and beauty. River of Stars is a beautifully crafted, moving novel and one I can't recommend highly enough.

In 2010, Guy Gavriel Kay released UNDER HEAVEN, his fictionalized take on the An Shi Rebellion of Tang Dynasty China. Its lyrical, beautiful story earned it a place as one of the Ten Best of 2010 from this reviewer. Closing the book, I was unsure if anyone could eclipse what Kay had put on the page. I questioned whether he could surpass it himself. Now he has released a new novel, RIVER OF STARS, set in the same world after the passage of hundreds of years, and my question has been answered.

Yes, Guy Gavriel Kay can best UNDER HEAVEN.

Loosely based on the Song Dynasty, RIVER OF STARS finds the Kitan Empire under assault from outlaws while infighting amongst the Emperor's advisers threatens the stability of the land. The Kitan Empire has been fractured after a failed war with the northern Xiaolu. To survive now, feeling the shadow of the growing might of the Altai, old grievances must be repaired and alliances forged anew. The Emperor, however, seems to have little care for actual leadership and the responsibilities of his title. Instead, his art and his gardens draw the majority of his attention.

Among those thrust together in service to the Emperor are Ren Daiyan, a clerk, and Lin Shan, a woman whose father holds a place of distinction at court. Both face roadblocks along their road; Ren based on his lack of proper teaching and standing, Lin simply for being a woman. As the web weaves and the two are drawn together, RIVER OF STARS begins to ask more intriguing questions than are usually found in fantasy works: What must one sacrifice for the greater good? What is the cost of peace? What makes a legend? What is the effect of the road not taken?

Kay is, without question, one of the greatest fantasists in the business. Though he is overshadowed by the "bigger" names, the quality of his work is often shoulders above the standard fantasy fare. In fact, those with little interest in fantasy would not be turned off at picking up one of his novels. Kay's greatest gift is the historical weight he provides all of his works, crafting a story around well-researched history. RIVER OF STARS is no different. In truth, it rises to a level above UNDER HEAVEN and really shines.

The two principal characters are perfectly crafted, and as the pages go by, you are eager to see what will become of them. It does not take much for Kay to make you gravitate towards them, to care for them. Lin, in particular, is intriguing because of the path she must take because she is a woman, one who has survived the threat of death solely based on her gender, who has grown into abilities often denied women. Her interactions with Ren do not follow expectations, and Kay's thinking outside the usual mold makes his story all the more enjoyable. That his ending is also less rigid leaves readers with a rare opportunity to explore ideas and decisions, to look at events from multiple angles. It is not a situation of "This is how it ends" but more a case of "These things happened. What do you think about them?"

It is important to note that you do not have to read UNDER HEAVEN to appreciate RIVER OF STARS. While they exist in the same world, the long passage of time between them does not make this a true sequel. The characters from the prior work are long dead. On occasion, an older event will be referenced in the new novel but nothing that would leave a reader wondering what was missed. However, I would strongly encourage the reading of UNDER HEAVEN because it is so wonderful.

RIVER OF STARS is an extraordinary work --- epic in scope, exquisite in its presentation, and engaging across all levels. It is a glorious narrative poem, relaying a period of high honor, mysticism, and a celebration of art, both as seen within the story and comprising the story itself. Kay is a well-respected writer, as he should be, but deserves far more of a readership than he has, and his name should be uttered more often by readers. Perhaps RIVER OF STARS will expand his reach.

The greatest question, though, is: What will Guy Gavriel Kay do that can possibly top this?

- Stephen Hubbard

I enjoyed previous books by this author, but "River of Stars" disappointed me. It's huge in scope, and after following along for almost 600 pages the story simply dissolves. In his previous works, Kay has taken liberties with history because he's fictionalizing history; yet in this book he does nothing to make it a better outcome for the characters he's developed with such care. This is not a book I would recommend to someone who's never read his work before. In his previous novels, Kay was very good about reconnecting all the loose threads into the tapestry of the story, but in "River of Stars" he just ended with an ambiguity that was extremely unsatifying (to my way of thinking).