Customer Reviews
Stock writing from Kay - By: Ben W, 06 Sep 2006 
This is a solid but unspectacular offering from Kay. It is set in the same alternate earth with which we are familiar from his other novels, & it benefits from many of the same familiar ingredients. In many ways this feels more familiar than normal, but this is perhaps because I have had greater exposure to British history than the various European regions in which his other novels are set.
He has a broad cast once again, which alllows for some good characterisation, but also leads to a slightly staccato feel as the viewpoint changes frequently. Some of the characters are a little similar (to each other) & most of them are bog-standard archetypes, but perhaps the main issue is that I didn't feel any particular emotional engagement with any of them. Contrast that with Tigana in particular, but also the Sarantine Mosaic, where I felt genuinely moved as the stories unfolded.
So, once again Kay does a good job with his brand of historical fiction - well researched, reasonably evocative of the era, some very nice details - but on this occasion it doesn't soar as I have come to hope from Kay.
Excellent as always - By: Chris Evans, 27 Jun 2006 
A great book. Agree that geography was a little disorientating at times but not enough to put me off enjoying it.
Characters were very good as always & I reallly felt for them as usual. I personallly like the 'chopping' style of the storyline as it is good to see how the multiple paths interact together. This is a fairly new direction for GGK & it was good that (unlike RJ's WOT series) there were no 'dull' paths which you felt were taking you away from the action you wanted to read about.
Emotionallly speaking I felt more for the characters in Arbonne or AlRassan but those were different storys with different focuses so this is in no way a criticism of LLotS.
All in alll an excellent read & throw in Vikings & Blood Eagles & in my book you have a winner ;)
Wonderful book - By: _astra_, 30 May 2006 One of the best fantasy books. It is better than Tigana imho. Tigana was sort of epic fantasy with wizards, etc. This one is a dark fantasy reminding me of Black Company by Glen Cook but in some ways it is even better. I am not very good at reviews, so I can only say that I reallly reallly liked the book. I would most definitely recommend this one. Love, death, heroes, loyalty, battles, ugliness of the war, unpredictable events & mystery. I am stunned. I never expected so much from a single volume fantasy work. 10 out of 10 without a cloud of doubt. The only slight drawback is a missing map.
Remind me again - which one is Alun? - By: dangermash, 15 May 2006 Definitely not as good as Tigana, Arbonne, Sarantium or Al Rassan. But passable though. And far superior to the trilogy that he wrote alll those years ago.
Four things in particular that I didn't like:
(i) The writing style - somehow it didn't glide down the way that I'm used to in a GGK novel. Others have callled this "choppiness", which I guess is about right.
(ii) Lack of a map. I'm sure that there were places in the book where A was east of B one minute & west of B the next (A & B being places, not people). I couldn't even tell you whether Wales is supposed to be on the west or east side of Britain in this world.
(iii) I didn't find myself getting emotionallly involved at alll. compare that to the second Sarantium book where the end left me gutted.
(iv) Worst of alll, indistinct characters. Alun & Bern had such similar characters that I was getting the two of them confused. Some distinction was needed between them. May have been a problem with this in the Sarantium books too (but with the women in that case).
Best book by Kay so far - By: Granny Weatherwax, 27 May 2005 I have finished this book in 3 nights, & that says a lot for a full-time working mother of a smalll baby ... This is Kay at his best, the only one of his books I loved more than Tigana.
Every time I pick up one of his books, I am amazed how the writer has managed to create an imaginary world similar enough to our own to be realistic, but completely different & fascinating at the same time. The Last Light of the Sun has the proper mix of familiar places & everyday people on the one hand & magic creatures & violent battles on the other, to satisfy any serious fantasy reader. I also personallly enjoyed a lot the references to places & events of previous books (e.g. Sailing to Sarantium) that create a sense of familiarity, while at the same time the story & characters are completely original. I wish more writers of "series" could be inspired by this example, & avoiding repeating themselves over & over.
