Review – A Song for Arbonne

Posted November 11, 2014 by in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel KayA Song for Arbonne, Guy Gavriel Kay

I can understand people who don’t like Guy Gavriel Kay’s work. I think I’ve said it before, but there are definite quirks of style, ways he plots and deals with characters, that can drive even me mad in the wrong mood — which is why I first picked this up to reread in April, and now it’s November when I’ve finally finished. I do love most of Kay’s work when I’m in the right mood, though, and A Song for Arbonne is additionally up my street because of the Court of Love, the troubadours, all the stuff that’s part of the Arthurian legends as well once they hit France.

I don’t think, though, that I fell for this book quite as much as I have for some of the others. I’m not as attached to Bertran as to Alessan or Diarmuid; not held in sympathy with his rival and enemy, Urté de Miraval, as I am with Brandin in Tigana, not until the very end of the book; not really caught up in Blaise’s story, in his fight for a throne, as I am with Aileron’s or Alessan’s. There’s some good stuff here, but some promising background characters didn’t really come to full bloom for me — Valery, Rudel, even Hirnan — and despite the women-centric society, we didn’t have female characters as striking as Catriana or as pivotal as Kim. Rosala was probably the female character I was most interested in, but she comes somewhat late into her own, and I felt as though I should be more aware of the other female characters. They shadowed the story, they were behind it, and yet they weren’t the visible drivers. Not quite the story Kay was aiming to tell, I think.

Still, all of that sounds harsh, when I really do enjoy this book. When Kay gives you a scene, a character, a moment, he expects you to remember. He will use it. One character’s chance word reveals another’s secret, one introspective passage becomes suddenly important. It’s a rich world he creates, and some parts of it dance with life — and ache with sadness.

It’s just, it does pale when held up against some of his other books. Even the flaws of The Summer Tree and the other two books of that trilogy are brilliant. I was a little surprised to like this book possibly less this time than last, which may be some combination of mood and timing; normally I like Kay’s work better with each reread.

Regardless, there’s always something to treasure in Kay’s work.

Rating: 4/5

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4 responses to “Review – A Song for Arbonne

  1. Is it bad that my main reaction to this review is “Yay! You finished the reread!”? Because it is.

    I’m glad to hear you still enjoyed it. ^_^ I haven’t reread Kay’s work very often yet, but this is probably my favourite for no other reason than that it was my first GGKay novel. I also think it was the first time I really, truly noticed how beautiful and complex a novel could be. (Don’t ask me why this book, though.)

      • We did. But I remember it being on your TBR pile for quite a while, so I squeed when I saw you’d finished it. ^_^

        He is that. I’ve been trying to work out why it was this book that showed me, but I just have no clue. Other books I was reading at the time were also beautiful and complex. I’m wondering whether it’s something to do with the prologue to this one.

        • Yeah, it’s been on the go a while and got started over twice during that time. Now I shall hopefully not do the same with Al-Rassan

          Hmmm. I did end up thinking today, Kay does give women a fair amount of credit in his work and yet I can’t think of one that really takes up arms and fights. They all seem to wave their men goodbye and sit back. It’s almost surprising when you think of his characters…

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