River of Stars

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Overview

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty. Ren Daiyan was ...

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River of Stars

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More About This Book

Overview

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty. Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north. Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor—and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has. 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.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Set in Song dynasty China, four centuries after the events of his Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay's new standalone novel tracks the lives of two young people through a tumultuous time. Ren Daiyan is a man with a past: His killing of seven men served as the spur for life changes; now with invaders attacking Katai from the north, he now must confront a challenge to redeem himself. Scholar's daughter Lin Shan has led a far different life. Sheltered and culture, she discovers that to save her beloved father's lives, she must change her ways. A lyrical and convincing historical epic.

The Washington Post - Bill Sheehan
As always, [Kay] merges fantasy and historical realism with deceptively effortless mastery…River of Stars…is…a grand entertainment that immerses the reader in the particulars of a vividly created world, providing an absorbing account of love, war, politics, art and the relationship of the individual to the state. It manages the difficult business of constructing a narrative around a believably larger-than-life hero, while celebrating the value of anonymous, largely forgotten lives. It is also, in the Tolstoyan sense, a philosophical romance, combining an intricate, deeply engaging story with a meditation on the forces that help shape the larger movements of history. From whatever angle you approach it, River of Stars is a major accomplishment, the work of a master novelist in full command of his subject. It deserves the largest possible audience.
Publishers Weekly
The second chapter in the history of the ancient China–inspired empire of Kitai is exquisitely rendered alternate historical fantasy. Several hundred years after the events of Under Heaven (which was set in the equivalent of the Tang Dynasty), teen Ren Daiyan demonstrates legend-level archery prowess and becomes a marsh outlaw. Years later, when a cloistered emperor’s hobby begins destroying lives, Daiyan tries to redeem his honor by joining the imperial army to halt the empire’s decline. In a world ruled by gentleman scholars, female artist Lin Shan is lauded for her unique talent in the masculine arts of poetry and calligraphy. Shan’s courtly skills will prove vital to Daiyan as he navigates around scheming ministers, supernatural fox-women, and horsemen who drink from the skulls of their enemies. Students of Chinese literature will delight in allusions to Song Dynasty poetry and Chinese classics, and even casual readers will savor a flawed, complex culture, meticulously researched and recreated in powerful prose. Agent: John Silbersack, Trident Media Group. (Apr.)
Kirkus Reviews
An elegant, imaginative inhabitation of Song-dynasty China of 1,000 years ago by prolific historical novelist Kay (A Song for Arbonne, 1993, etc.). The time is a fraught one: Nomadic raiders from the Central Asian steppes encroach along the length of the Chinese border, while on the other side of the Great Wall, the old imperial order is cracking. As Kay's epic tale opens, a young boy, "big for his age, and grimly, unshakably determined to be one of the great men of his day," can think of nothing more than how he can serve that empire, even as he must face all the odds that stand in his way: being stuck in a backwater without resources or a teacher in a time of drought, famine and widespread infanticide. Lin Shan, meanwhile, has it easier; her father is well-placed in the court, she is "tall for a woman" and pretty without being beautiful, and, well, she escaped being killed just for being female. Naturally, the paths of Ren Daiyan and Lin Shan are destined to cross--and so they do, but in no way predictably. Kay reveals--and revels in--the endless intrigues of court, which, in the end, will prove to be accomplished, indeed indispensable, Ren's undoing. Yet that undoing is for the larger good, as Kay tells us, drawing straight from the annals: "The peace between the newest steppe empire and Kitai...would last more than two hundred years...with almost unbroken trade, diplomats exchanged, even gifts between ever-changing emperors on their birthdays, as the rivers flowed, and the years." Lucid and lyrical, and skillfully written, with the sweep of an old-fashioned Pearl S. Buck or James A. Michener saga.
Library Journal
As a boy, Ren Daiyan kills seven outlaws while helping guard an imperial magistrate, and he flees into the forest to emerge many years later as a folk hero who eventually gains the ear of influential generals and courtiers. Lin Shan, raised by her scholar father to be a gifted poet, musician, and calligrapher, finds her unwomanly skills valued by certain powerful people. Set in the Empire of Kitai during a decadent period of imperial excess and the emergence of an aggressive barbarian horde, Kay's historical fantasy takes place in the same world as Under Heaven but separated by 400 years. Mirroring the glittering, doomed Song Dynasty of China, it portrays a world of changing traditions, casual cruelty, and strict codes of honor and respect. VERDICT The author captures the nuances and subtleties of life in China during the Mongol invasions while simultaneously creating a fully realized imaginary world, much as he did in Song of Arbonne (medieval France) and Tigana (medieval Italy). A powerful and complex tale told with simplicity and elegance, this alternate history should attract those who love the genre as well as the author's many fans.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780451464972
  • Publisher: Roc Hardcover
  • Publication date: 4/2/2013
  • Pages: 656
  • Sales rank: 36653
  • Product dimensions: 6.30 (w) x 9.10 (h) x 2.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Guy Gavriel Kay is the internationally bestselling author of twelve novels. He has been awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his work in the literature of the fantastic, is a two-time winner of the Aurora Award, and won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008. His works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 5 )
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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Wonderful

    I have been a fan of Mr. Kay for sometime although I dont particulary care for a lot of fantasy books but river of stars is a mesmerizing read, well researched and rendered in a flawless almost poetic language. I am halfway through the book. Well done.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    This book takes place in the same universe as "Under Heaven

    This book takes place in the same universe as "Under Heaven," about 400 years later. It's not necessary to read the other book first, although this one has some references to episodes and characters.

    Mr. Kay's usual masterful writing allows you to lose yourself in the story of duty, destiny, and intrigue. As usual, the characters are fascinating, complex, and completely realistic. The plot moves in unexpected directions, and I was on the edge of my seat more than once. Not my absolute favorite, but damn! Can that man write, or what?

    Hey, B&N - when will the Nook version of the Fionavar Trilogy be available? Arbonne? Huh?

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  • Posted Fri Apr 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    GGK is just a very mature, talented writer who has a love of dep

    GGK is just a very mature, talented writer who has a love of depth of thought. He is just a talented writer who can really get a story and history across.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

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