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Ysabel
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Roc Trade (2008-02-05)
ISBN: 0451461908
EAN: 9780451461902
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Paperback: 432 pages
SKU: 110608055
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: ...no markings or highlighting...edge wear on cover
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence is an ancient structure of many secrets-a perfect monument to fill the lens of a celebrated photographer, and a perfect place for the photographer's son, Ned Marriner, to lose himself while his father works.
But the cathedral isn't the empty edifice it appears to be. Its history is very much alive in the present day-and it's calling out to Ned...
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Customer Reviews
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My least favorite GKK novel
Rating  (2)
Date: 2008-10-06
Ysabel is about Ned, a teenager who becomes entangled in an age-old love triangle while vacationing in France. Kay does a good job of balancing the primary plot with the subplot of Ned's adolescence, feelings toward girls, and issues with parents. He sprinkles in song references (akin to the poetry in his fantasies?) and modern technology (Google, iPods) to good effect. As usual, Kay describes the setting beautifully and poetically. You can tell that he has visited the places in the book. It is also neat to see characters from Kay's other works reappear here.
The novel reminds me of the books of Sean Stewart and Charles de Lint, who also write about normal people encountering the paranormal in contemporary settings. The main difference, however, is that Ysabel is story-driven, whereas Stewart's and de Lint's books are primarily character-driven. In my opinion, the characters in Ysabel are peripheral to the plot. They do not propel the storyline--it propels them. I think it is a mistake. While the characters are likable and sympathetic enough, they are neither complex nor flawed. Frankly, they are uninteresting.
I have a few other criticisms. First, I think that the novel is uneventful. There is a lot of talking and not enough doing. The dialogue is circular: A lot of the same things are covered in multiple conversations, and it is all too explanatory. Instead of having Ned repeat events every time a new character showed up, I would have preferred to read about a new event. Different character must ask Ned, "Who are you?" three or four times. That's redundant. Second, I think that the characters sound too alike, especially when they try to be funny. Everyone has the same puckish humor.
I was disappointed with Ysabel, which bothers me because I am a devotee of Guy Kavriel Kay. On one hand, I might be biased: I am so fond of his historical fantasies that maybe I did not know how to absorb a novel outside of his established genre. On the other hand, I have specific issues with the novel, which lead me to believe that it is not as skillfully written as his other works.
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Disappointing to say the least
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-09-24
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I've read all of GGK's novels. I own most of them and will happily admit that I re-read them at least once a year. Certain passages in the Sarantium Mosiac are etched in my mind - pieces of prose that truly transport me to another time and place, to another reality that I know and love.
I scarcely know where to begin my critique of Ysabel. So little of it made sense. The dialogues perhaps were what irked me most. I wondered, about a chapter in, if GGK had switched genres and had written this for teenagers. Where was the delicacy, subtlety and wit that he had perfected in the dialogues in the Sarantium Mosaic? That we saw the sweet beginnings of, in Lions?
About a third of the way into the book, what began to annoy me were the coy 'who-are-you', 'stay-out-of-this', 'best-if you-don't-know' conversations that Ned had, over and over. It did nothing to build suspense, added nothing to the plot and was quite frankly, clumsy all around.
I was also frustrated by the repeated history lectures that Kate constantly had to give. Now, I am a reader who is greedy for historical novels, which is why I revel in GGK's other novels. He has a gift of re-creating worlds within context of the rich historical past in Spain, Byzantium and France. Somehow this was sadly missing in Ysabel. Instead of recreating Provence's volatile past in a more evocative manner (flashbacks, perhaps? To allow us to get to know both the history and Ysabel herself?), all he's done is create know-it-all Kate, and rendering his hero to a nothing more than a stereotypical, ignorant North American teenage tourist. All in order to bring us, his readers, up to speed with Provencal history. Clumsy, clumsy narrative. In the end, the book simply smacked of being a dumbed down version of the Da Vinci Code, ie a North American guy flying by the seat of his pants, complete with a 'local' French sidekick, dealing with dark secrets from the past.
Finally, what saddened me was that none of the characters truly drew me in. It's unbelievable that the book is named after a character that we never truly spend anytime with and scarcely know. All the characters are one-dimensional, and none of them really do anything particularly noble, or even notable.
GGK is one of my all-time favourite authors and I'm very much in despair that he's come to this. All I can think of and certainly hope for, is that he had a fantastic family vacation with his wife and sons in Provence and whipped up this little homage to his family on his way home. And that given time and space, he will return to give us novels redolent with history; coloured with rich, complex characters, dialogues with danger and wit; and the achingly bittersweet twists in the plot that he creates with deft and finesse.
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Does not even begin to live up to his past standards
Rating (1)
Date: 2008-09-19
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Taken in a vacuum, if asked the question "is this a good book", the answer is - it's ok. However, given the author, my expectations were very high for this book. If you liked the amazing character development, epic plot development and caring attention to detail that were present in his other books such as The Lions of Al Rassan or the Sarantine Mosaic, prepare for disappointment. Only buy this book if the plot summary seriously interests you, to the point that you are willing to put up with (what is for GGK) seriously sub-par writing.
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Another stellar Kay fantasy
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-07-08
I stand in awe of all of Kay's fantasies, and this one will take its place beside the rest in my bookcase of special treasures. It differs from his usual work by being based in the "real" world, which actually makes it easier for the reader to enter into the story. My only tiny complaint is that there were fascinating hints of a backstory that were never fully explained.
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Heart stoppingly brilliant
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-06-25
Kay has been one of my favorite writers since I found the Finnovar Tapestry Series over twenty years ago.
The way he writes, the way his chracters live and breath in way most writers can only hope to create is why I keep reading his books.
In a way without revealing anything to important this book comes full circle back to the first set of books. It kept me completely engrossed all the way through to the end. I think I shall have to go back to the Finnovar books again after reading this book. It has been a long time and I shall enjoy the trip, perhaps even revisiting all of Mr. Kay's books again, just to keep the contentment of reading such a brilliant writer going for awhile longer.
Read this book it will be worth it. Don't let other reviewers prevent you from deciding for yourself if this wasn't another beautifully woven tale by true storyteller.
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