Although you can read Guy Gavriel Kay's latest novel All The Seas Of The World (#1,078) as a stand-alone book, it will be even better if you've read the two previous books in this series: Children of Earth and Sky, and A Brightness Long Ago, as a number of the characters and events in Seas are from these two books. The point is that Mr. Kay is a wonderful storyteller to spend time with. I always feel as though I'm reading the very best historical fiction even though the library classifies his books as both science fiction (!!!) and fantasy (which does make a kind of sense). Here, you recognize the actual events and people involved in this fantasy world of Italian city-states, the Moorish conquest of Spain and northern Africa, and the fall of Constantinople. That all feels so true, down to the three major religions that dominate the areas, it's hard to believe it's, as one of the blurbs puts it, "a quarter turn to fantasy".
He begins with three assassins dropped on an isolated beach, tasked with changing the balance of power in the region. Who they are, and the consequences of their actions, intended and unforeseen, are the basis for this riveting novel. It's a book to be savored.
If you haven't discovered Guy Gavriel Kay yet, there's no time like the present.
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