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Book: “Written on the Dark” by Guy Gavriel Kay
Publishing Info: Ace, May 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Thierry Villar is a well-known–even notorious– tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.
But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.
As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king–and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.
Review: When I think back about my burgeoning love of fantasy fiction, Guy Gavriel Kay is right there at the beginning. I obviously can’t remember exactly, but I have a feeling that his Fionavar Tapestry trilogy may be one of the first adult fantasy series I picked out and read myself, without the direction of my mom. That said, I’ve been hit and miss keeping up on all of his books since, having read a few here and there, but definitely not up to date on them all. So I was excited to see he was coming out with a new one this spring, giving me a great excuse to jump back in!
This book was pretty much everything I’ve come to expect from this author over my many years of reading his work. Mostly, the intricate weaving of historical events and new fantasy worlds, this one taking on the 100 Years War. I will say, I found myself putting the book down quite a bit to look up real-world facts about the major events/players during this period of time and my primary reaction was often a feeling of being let down by my high school education! But, at the same time, Kay does an excellent job of creating something wholly unique, even while pulling from history.
For one thing, he deftly uses a wide variety of characters, giving the reader glimpses of people whose lives are touched in many different ways. From the most lowly, to the most powerful, to those who seek out influence, to those, like our main character, who are pulled into the action. I often struggled with books that rely heavily on large casts of POV characters, but it works incredibly well here. Without these insights, the reader would lose the greater scope of events or fail to see the trickle down effects of some points of action.
Granted, it’s been a bit since I last read a book by this author, but I do feel like his style of writing was changed somewhat here. I’m guessing it must have been intentional, but the writing was much more choppy, with shorter, more emphatic sentences throughout. I wouldn’t go as far as to say his writing before was “flowery” or “lyrical,” but I do seem to remember a more verbose style, with a greater emphasis on weaving sentences and drawn out thoughts. Personally, I prefer this latter sort of writing, so it took me a bit to sink into this new style and its more abrupt manner of story-telling. That said, this is definitely a preferences thing, as, on its own, the writing was still very strong. I just prefer his other style more.
Overall, this was an excellent read! I really didn’t expect anything else, but it’s always re-assuring to find your favorite authors out there still killing it here in 2025. This is definitely a book to check out, especially if you’re a fan of this author or enjoy historical fantasy fiction!
Rating 8: An expert at work, Guy Gavriel Kay hits another one out of the park!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Written on the Dark” can be found on this Goodreads list: My favorite Medieval Fantasy novels.
The Library Ladies 