The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

I read A Song for Arbonne a few years ago and LOVED it, so I have spent the last few years casually looking for more Guy Gavriel Kay books in used bookstores. Finally, I have started his Fionavar Tapestry, and I couldn't be happier!

This book reminded me so much of Pamela Dean's Secret Country trilogy! It had that same slow but necessary introduction of all the characters (both at home in our world and in the fantasy world to which they are transported). Except instead of the main characters being a group of bored children, it's a group of bored postgrads.

The fantasy world in this book is much more Tolkeinesque than Dean's world, though. As our heroes fall through, the roles they assume prepare them and the country for battle with the "big bad." Hm… Okay, that actually does sound a bit like the Secret Country. I guess the difference is that this war is more inevitable and more eminent. And it involves a bit more dreary, unpleasant creatures and monsters.

One thing that made me smile though…flying chestnut unicorn… I mean, out of nowhere--wham!--FLYING CHESTNUT UNICORN! I'm excited for the unicorn to make a "reappearance" in the future! (P.S. It wasn't really "out of nowhere," but I just wasn't expecting that!)

I think the thing I love best about the book is that I experienced a lot of "WTF" moments. One, I will admit, was due to my own stupidity in not putting two and two together (I realized that A was B and that B was C, but I never connected A to C--eek!). There are several moments when you will genuinely be surprised…whether you caught that whole A = C thing or not (you really should catch it--it's pretty obvious).

~8/10~