The Summer Tree
by Guy Gavriel Kay
The (a) story follows five students from the University of Toronto who, at the request of a mysterious mage and an ex King of the Dwarves, are swept away to the magical world of Fionavar. There, as honored guests of the High King of Brennin as he celebrates his fiftieth year on the throne, the companions find themselves quickly integrated into the kingdom and into the lives of the colorful cast of characters that reside there.
But the realm of Fionavar is known to its citizens as a bright, eternal tapestry, and each person’s destiny is woven tightly through it. And the longer the companions stay in the kingdom, the more it becomes apparent that their own destinies are deeply entwined with that of the wondrous new world they have entered. And as dark forces begin to awaken across the realm, it looks as though the five strangers from Earth may be the only ones who can save it.
The (A) story is about destiny. While the companions are hesitant—and even apprehensive, in some cases—about traveling to Fionavar, they ultimately find their own separate, but equally important, paths within it. Some of the main characters fit more quickly into place than others, but in the end it seems as if they were never a part of any other world to begin with. And since the citizens of Fionavar view the universe as a woven tapestry, it is clear that they believe each person is born to play a specific part in the overall “plan.” Beyond the main characters, this theme is also highly expressed through the character Ysanne, who has much to share on the subject.
But the story is also about friendship. At the start of the book, the five companions are merely students who attend the same school. Some of them have pasts that align, and some are nearly complete strangers to each other. And as they each find their own separate paths throughout the story, it seems as if they might only grow further apart. Yet by the end of the book, once the overhanging threat has fully reared its ugly head, their paths all inevitably lead back to each other. And because they have each come into themselves over the course of their journeys, they come back stronger. They come back ready to fight, and they are ready to fight together.
If you are familiar with my post, “Thoughts on Suspension of Disbelief,” then you know that I was worried about picking up this book. I knew just by the first page that it was an old, high fantasy story, and I was bracing myself to slog through something that essentially read like the Bible.
And while there are a few moments scattered throughout the book that sound akin to and Balthazar beget Mathematicus, who beget Aiatuch, first Voice to the Throne of Tothnar, etc., etc., the rest of the book is fairly straightforward. And as I read, I grew more familiar with the names and places, and had a much easier time of following along by the second half.
And, frankly, this turned out to be the best book I have read so far this year. Sure, there were a few moments and even some word choices that made me roll my eyes a bit, but overall, it intrigued me enough to keep reading. Even during the first part of the story, when I actually found the main characters to be somewhat dry and uninteresting, my attention was still captured by the richness of the side characters, and the world of Fionavar itself—which seems to be a character in its own right. When I later discovered that Kay was greatly inspired by Celtic mythology and spirituality, I was not in the least bit surprised. And even the dry, uninteresting characters grew on me over time.
I’m anxious to pick up the next book in the series!
