Children of Earth and Sky

I hated to come to the end of Children of Earth and Sky (#580).  To me, that's the highest accolade for an author.  Guy Gavriel Kay intertwines the lives and travails of his characters in such a satisfying way you feel immersed in his world.  In this novel, it's a clash of cultures between the West and East in a time resembling the Renaissance.  Seressa with her lagoons and canals is a powerful merchant power owing allegiance to the Emperor in far-off Obravic.  They trade with the East, ruled by a mighty khalif who conquered the storied city of Sarantium, bringing a religious divide to the world.  As long as the Seressinis are free to trade with the Osmanlis, and to subtly pull the strings of diplomacy, they are content.  The fly in the ointment for them are the raiders of the city-state of Senjan.  They are supposed to leave the cargoes of their co-religionist Jaddite merchants alone, but that doesn't always happen.  Any ships on the sea are fair game for the Senjani.  When they raid a merchant ship from Dubrava returning home carrying passengers from Seressa onboard, they change the course of events that the Council of Twelve in Seressa had planned.


We meet a female archer, Danica, whose mission in life is revenge.  Pero Villani is being sent to Sarantium, now renamed Asharias, to paint a Western style portrait of the Grand Khalif at the Khalif's request.  Surely there are opportunities for the Serrisinis here?  Also aboard are a physician and his wife, bound for Dubrava.  When the physician is killed during the Senjani raid, Marin Djivo, son of the ship's owner, takes it upon himself to protect the widow.  Their stories ebb and flow through the politics and religious and cultural clashes all around them.  The telling of these stories is both beautiful and poetic.


The reader will easily recognize Venice, Prague, Istanbul, Dubruvnik and even Rome in this tale.  The historical details about the Ottoman army, Venetian politics and the spread of Islam to the Byzantine empire and beyond are all accurate, and the emphasis on religious differences is provocative. 


Kay's books are assigned to the genre of Fantasy, and in many ways, that's a shame.  I think many readers who are fans of historical fiction would devour his books if only they realized how well-researched and reflective of the times and places in which he chooses to set his novels they are. They succeed in conveying a sense of time and place that is often lacking in straight historical fiction.  If you appreciate a marvelous story well told Children of Earth and Sky should be at the top of your "To Read" list.