A Brightness Long Ago is the kind of novel that makes it easy for readers to form lasting bonds with the characters. We feel the fear of retribution for dark deeds done, the drama of rivalries that define the country, the intrigue of flying under the radar to benefit the greater good. The story is packed full of deeply wrought characters, history-defining events, and the every day battles that lead up to a war. It’s exceptional storytelling to be admired for its complexity and determination.

Review to be published 5/14: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/05/14/a-brightness-long-ago-book-review/

4.5
Guy Gavriel Kay’s new book is set twenty-five years before his previous. Instead of a sprawling epic, the story paints three interrelated setpieces, each with a leisurely beginning, building to white-knuckled tension.

At the center is the hatred of two formidable mercenary captains, Folco Cino d'Acorsi and Teobaldo Monticola, based on two colorful Renaissance figures. Running tangentially is the story of Adria Ripoli, whose tale intersects with the occasional first-person reminiscence of Guidanio Cerra, a young man venturing into the fraught world after years of first-rate education.

Guidanio’s tone is elegiac, and many are his reflections on the merciless flow of time, of the violence of his time, contrasting with the universal appreciation—worship, even—of art.

It’s a deeply engaging story, sharply painful at moments, filled with beauty and violence (as is much writing about the Renaissance). The three set-pieces are all set against the incipient fall of Sarantium/Constantinople. There’s little magic. When the supernatural enters the story, it’s quite effective, imbuing those scenes with the shimmer of the numinous—a contrast to the many scenes of deliberate violence.

At first I thought this book was a frame tale, especially as it becomes clear that Guidanio is writing his memories of those brief years much later, when he’s older and wiser. The interspersion of third-person chunks from others’ POV I thought at first were inserted by Guidanio, though they never quite fit together, jinking back and forth in time, overlapping events and sometimes repetitions of ideas, but when we got to the POV of a ghost, I was thrown out of the story. How could Guidanio obtain that?

As I read, I was always aware of these narrative pieces not quite fitting together (especially when we got chunks from various POVs sitting alone in a room thinking exposition at the reader) and began to long for an omniscient narrator to fit it all together either right up front a la Thackeray, or subtly, as Jane Austen’s narrator does in her later novels especially. Even the shifts in tense were not as jarring as the patchwork of third person scenes interspersed with first person—these matched the intensity of the scenes they were employed in. An omni narrator could have woven all this into one narrative, shifting tenses when necessary, and (at least for me) lifting the whole to another level.

But we all read differently. Most readers won’t notice, and most of those who do won’t care because the story will draw them into the lives (some tragically brief) of these memorable characters, and the thoughts offered about big questions as well as small. But for me it’s the difference between a really good book and what might have been a great one.

Guy Gavriel Kay writes magical books. Not magic in the sense of mighty wizards and spellcasting with unicorn-hair wands and cauldrons bubbling with potions best not tasted. The magic in Kay’s novels is a more elusive thing. He takes a plot and cast of characters, ones that would be interesting enough even in the hands of lesser authors, and turns them into something extraordinary through his lyrical and profoundly thoughtful storytelling, his insights into human character and motivations, and his musings on life and its meaning.

"We like to believe, or pretend, we know what we are doing in our lives. It can be a lie. Winds blow, waves carry us, rain drenches a man caught in the open at night, lightning shatters the sky and sometimes his heart, thunder crashes into him bringing the awareness he will die.

"We stand up, as best we can under that. We move forward as best we can, hoping for light, kindness, mercy, for ourselves and those we love."

A Brightness Long Ago, like most of his recent novels, is what Kay aptly describes as “history with a quarter turn to the fantastic.” It’s a prequel of sorts (though a stand-alone read) to his equally excellent 2016 novel Children of Earth and Sky, set some twenty-five years before the events of that novel, in a slightly fantastical version of Renaissance Italy, here called Batiara. (I spent more time than I should have, researching to figure out the real-life counterparts of all the cities and historical characters that play a role in this story. Seressa is Venice, Rome is Rhodias, Sarantium is Constantinople, and so forth.) Inspired by the feud between historical figures Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Malatesta, two great military leaders, Kay tells of the clashes ― both military and personal ― between Folco Cino, lord of Acorsi, and Teobaldo Monticola, lord of Remigio. Their lives, and that of Folco’s niece Adria, a rebellious daughter of a duke, are seen through the eyes of Guidanio (Danio) Cerra, the son of a tailor.

Danio, who narrates most of the tale as the reminiscing of an older man, is chosen to receive an education with the children of nobility, raising him far above his humble beginnings. After finishing his schooling he obtains a position in the palace of Count Uberto, known as “the Beast” for his violent and even murderous sexual proclivities.

"There were stories of youthful bodies carried out through the smaller palace gates in the dark, dead and marred. And good men still served him ― making their peace with our god as best they could.

"Balancing acts of the soul. Acquiescence happens more than its opposite ― a rising up in anger and rejection. There are wolves in the world, inside elegant palaces as well as in the dark woods and the wild."

But Falco (admittedly for his own self-serving reasons) and his niece Adria have concocted a scheme to bring Uberto down. They set Adria up in a farmhouse outside of the city and eventually, almost inevitably, word of the attractive farm girl comes to Uberto and she is summoned to his palace. When Danio sees Adria being brought to Uberto’s suite of rooms and recognizes her as the duke’s daughter who once visited his school, that recognition could be deadly to either Danio or Adria. Or it might prove of immeasurable benefit to both of them.

A Brightness Long Ago follows Danio and Adria, Folco and Teobaldo, and others through the next year or two, as their lives touch and separate and then interweave again. Adria is a particularly bright spark, a spirited and courageous young woman who is doing her best to live a life outside of the normal restrictions on noblewomen, though she knows the freedom she’s found can only be for a limited time. Doors of opportunity open and then close. Her participation in a particularly unusual horse race in Bischio is a high point in the story, where multi-layered plans and schemes of various characters collide in a truly spectacular way.

In his narration, Danio frequently comments on “the random spinning of fortune’s wheel” and how chance occurrences can affect the entire direction of our lives. Our lives aren’t always in our control. But he realizes that personal choices have an equal impact on the path of our lives.

"Fortune’s wheel might spin, but you could also choose to spin it, see how it turned, where it took you, and she was still young, and this was the life she wanted."

Kay weaves a pleasurably complex tale with a large cast of characters, but these characters are so vividly drawn and memorable that I never got confused. Kay’s storytelling evinces understanding and sympathy for even deeply flawed characters, even those who served the Beast and were aware of the terrible things he did to innocent youths.

"I think, it is the best thought I have, that he was devoted to the idea of being loyal, in a world with little of that. That a man needed to drop an anchor somewhere, declare a truth, find a harbour… Perhaps in the darkest times all we can do is refuse to be part of the darkness."

In his later years, Danio recalls the unforgettable characters from this time in his youth, who still shine as bright torches in his memory. Their brightness will linger in mine as well.

"International bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay's latest work is set in a world evoking early Renaissance Italy and offers an extraordinary cast of characters whose lives come together through destiny, love, and ambition.

In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life. Danio Cerra's intelligence won him entry to a renowned school even though he was only the son of a tailor. He took service at the court of a ruling count - and soon learned why that man was known as the Beast.

Danio's fate changed the moment he saw and recognized Adria Ripoli as she entered the count's chambers one autumn night - intending to kill. Born to power, Adria had chosen, instead of a life of comfort, one of danger - and freedom. Which is how she encounters Danio in a perilous time and place.

Vivid figures share the unfolding story. Among them: a healer determined to defy her expected lot; a charming, frivolous son of immense wealth; a powerful religious leader more decadent than devout; and, affecting all these lives and many more, two larger-than-life mercenary commanders, lifelong adversaries, whose rivalry puts a world in the balance.

A Brightness Long Ago offers both compelling drama and deeply moving reflections on the nature of memory, the choices we make in life, and the role played by the turning of Fortune's wheel."

A Renaissance-esque epic not to be missed.

This is a book that is more about the human element than the bigger picture of the world. How people’s lives can be defined, shaped, altered by a single moment. It is about those passing moments and memories. There are no guarantees in life, just because you feel something should be doesn’t mean it will happen or be that way. This book is full of danger, excitement, betrayal and love. Kay continues to prove his skill at storytelling is on a different level from most authors.

Within the first hour of reading this book I was quickly reminded that even though I know I love reading Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, reading a new one is a fresh and strong reminder of how much I love them and why. I had a hard time putting this book down because I just kept wanting more, I was invested in the characters, their lives and the potential I could immediately see in them and the story. I wanted to see where things would end up.

There is a decent size cast of characters and perspectives in this and I loved reading each character’s individual story. I feel like every character was important and their role in the larger story was critical, there was one individual that seems to be at the center of it all. Danio Cerra, a merchant’s son who was lucky enough to attend a prestigious school, seemed to find himself in the midst of many defining moments. He is very intelligent and quick witted. He is an excellent read of the people around him and seems to have a knack for understanding what to do and say to sway the tides.

Among those unexpected and defining situations, he meets a woman who he realizes he can either save, at risk of his own life, or he can essentially ensure the end of her life. His decision here is so critical, yet has to be instantaneous (no decisions is essentially a decision in itself). A brief moment that changes everything. This book is full of moments like this, and Danio is in the middle of them more often than one would think. He can easily be seen as a trivial player by those around him, he is just the son of a tailor who happened to attend a good school. But he proves himself time and again to be more.

I want to note that this book is not told in a traditional, chronological format. There are time jumps both forward and back for individual characters throughout. So 20% in, you might get details about what a character might be in 5 years, or perhaps you will get a flashback. It is a format that could cause a reader frustration or confusion in some instances, but I found it worked well and helped highlight how important instances in time as well as memories can be. Kay did an excellent job crafting this story and used the timejumps very effectively. They were also easy to follow and served the story well. Highly recommend, and as a bonus, typical of Kay, this is a standalone. It is very satisfying to read a single book and get the completed story.

I will read absolutely anything Guy Gavriel Kay writes! This is another one of his lush, fascinating books with incredible world-building and was impossible to put down.

As this book is by GGK, it goes without saying that it is beautiful. But I have to say it anyway: goddamn this is a beautiful book. This review isn’t going to be as eloquent as others you’ll see for it. I am finding it rather difficult to even get words together for my thoughts on it that aren’t just ‘breathtakingly beautiful’ over and over. So it goes. The Lions of Al-Rassan is the only other Kay book that I’ve read up until now, and I wasn’t really expecting to latch on to the very next I read like I did Lions… but here we are. They’re about even.

This story takes place in what is… more or less Italy in the 15th or so century, and it follows Guidanio Cerra, who is the son of a tailor who still nonetheless finds himself being allowed to study at a rather prestigious school. After that, he takes a job in the court of a duke, known as The Beast, and one night recognizes Adria Ripoli, the daughter of a powerful Duke as she enters The Beast’s rooms with every intention of assassinating him. She succeeds, but gets injured along the way. Danio helps her escape the castle. This won’t be the last time they meet, but it is the first. The story unfolds around Danio, and encompasses many people, but mainly two mercenary commanders who have had a long standing rivalry with each other, Folco Cino D’Acorsi and Teobaldo Monticola di Remigio.

As I said, this is a beautifully written story, and once I sat down with it, I couldn’t stop reading it until well into the wee hours of the morning. Kay’s prose is absolutely gorgeous, for a start, and the way it forms a story slowly but so intricately really puts the comparisons of Kay’s work to tapestries into perspective. It really is rather like having a story woven into a tapestry around you. The characters were so well built that I was emoting hard for them right from the start. Even characters that didn’t show up quite as often, such as the healer Jelena, or the rich and rather frivolous nobleman Antenami Sardi were so well written even in their comparatively brief appearances that they seemed to just emerge fully-formed into the story whenever needed.

"We want to sink into the tale, leave our own lives behind, find lives to encounter, even to enter for a time. We can resist being reminded of the artificer, the craft. We want to be immersed, lost, not remember what it is we are doing, having done to us, as we turn pages, look at a painting, hear a song, watch a dance. Still, that is what is being done to us. It is. Even so… we do turn the page, and can be lost again."


So all told, this book was amazing. It was beautiful and rich. It was evocative and thought-provoking. It was tear-jerking and smile-inducing. In short, it was a masterpiece. GGK is a Canadian national treasure. Since he has already been given the Order of Canada, which is our highest civilian honor, we should knight him, or give him a Tim Horton’s gift card or something. Everyone loves gift cards, right?

All of the stars in the universe out of 5.

Thanks to the author, as well as Berkley via NetGalley for the review copy.

I loved this book more than I thought I would. At about 45%, I turned to my roommate and said "I have no idea what this book is about, but man am I enjoying the hell out of it." Our main characters Adria and Guidanio are stuck in some trouble. Guidanio by accident, Adria on purpose. They end up in between two mercenary war lords, each with their own motivations and agendas.

What I love about this is you get multiple POVs, for both Adria and Guidanio, but also for random characters around them. It helps to see events through "normal civilian's" eyes. Pretty freaking great and so well done.

I know this was a stand-alone but I want MORE.

I always look forward to reading Kay's books because of their slow savoring richness. Words like "weaving" and "tapestries" are always applied to his lyrical stories. I love the accurate historical detail he applies to imaginary places and people. Even if the medieval Italian setting is not so easy a place to survive, it makes you yearn to have lived in such exciting scenarios. His narrative character possesses more imagination and courage than wisdom, and that's all part of the magic.

"A Brightness Long Ago," is another masterpiece by Kay. One that is a gorgeous as it is bittersweet. Having read Kay for over 30 years, no one does world building as well as he. Reading one of his books for the first time is always a wonderful, rewarding experience.

In this latest novel, Kay builds the story around the “little people,” characters of seemingly little significance. The story revolves around the choices these people make, and how they impact the world at large in the days before the fall of Sarantium. The hands of fate are displayed with seemingly minor choices characters make which drives the story forward. The lives of a tailor’s son, the youngest daughter of a Duke, the youngest son of a prominent banker, a healer, and two mercenary captains are woven into a captivating, overlapping, layered story.

While not a fan of novels dealing with so many differing points of view, Kay demonstrates he is at the top of his game. The story shifts from one character to the next flawlessly telling the same story from their perspective while adding a new layer to it. In Kay’s astute hands this narrative works beautifully.

"Brightness" is a story I did not want to put down. It was one where I kept telling myself one more chapter. While bittersweet, the story was a sheer pleasure to read. I feel sure fans of Kay will love this book, but it is a book I believe anyone should enjoy.

Note: An eARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Read this as an eARC from Netgalley.

With his usual evocative and intelligent prose, Kay continues to weave stories in his alternate history fantasy world that has been the setting of many of his previous books. This time he is centered in Batiara, the parallel to 15th century Italy and the constant warfare and maneuverings of its many city states. This book focuses on the idea of power and the ripples that it creates to push around or draw people. We spend the most time with characters that exist on the peripheries of powerful men and see the ways their lives are affected and changed through the slightest brush with fate or fortune.

The book almost seems to be a series of vignettes that slip and slide through time. One character is presented as a man recalling memories of a time before and we get his story through the lens of experience and wisdom he has gained since those days. The stories of other characters are also told out of time, with the present day actions of one triggering the memory of a past event that completes the story.

Although this book is set in an established world, it definitely stands alone from Kay's other books, though return readers can enjoy many references to characters and events in past books-though they have been obscured by the haze of history. I would recommend this book to readers looking for something after they have caught up to George RR Martin's last book in A Song of Ice and Fire.

Electronic ARC provided by NetGalley.

Reading a new Guy Gavriel Kay book is always a wonderful experience. This one, like most of his works, is about people, and nations, and about how seemingly small or random choices can change the fate of the world. The narrative in "A Brightness Long Ago" weaves in and out of the lives of several characters in the last days before the fall of Sarantium. The narrator is a counselor in the court of Seressa, looking back on events that happened twenty years before. His story starts with an impulsive decision to help conceal an assassin, and goes on to lead him in and out of the circles of two powerful mercenary captains and those who surround them.

The strength in this book is in seeing how the stories of individual people can intersect in unknown ways. A chance encounter on the road may be quickly forgotten by one party, but lead to life changing decisions for the other. Kay delights in showing us that the heroes and villains of history are really just people making decisions, and that even they really have no idea how those decisions will end up. History moves regardless of the wishes of individuals, and stories don't really have beginnings and endings. Kay is always quick to tell us that the stories of his characters continue on well after the endings of the books. What we're getting are snapshots of history, an excerpt from a story that began before this book and continues after.

For those who've read Kay's previous books, this one takes place about a thousand years after "Sailing to Sarantium" and about twenty years before "Children of Earth and Sky" (in fact, I frequently found myself wanting to return to Children so that I could trace the connections here). Through his body of work Kay is slowly filling in the outlines of his semi-fictitious Mediterranean world, and I will continue to snap up each new volume as soon as I can.

I've universally loved everything Kay has written, something I can say about only five authors. This novel is no exception. With his usual penchant for gorgeous pride, Kay brings to life a world similar to 15th century Italy, full of vivid and complex characters, and bring treaders a meditation on thought and memory. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my own collection.

“We like to believe, or pretend, we know what we are doing in our lives. It can be a lie. Winds blow, waves carry us, rain drenches a man caught in the open at night, lightning shatters the sky and sometimes his heart, thunder crashes into him bringing the awareness he will die. We stand up, as best we can under that. We move forward as best we can, hoping for light, kindness, mercy, for ourselves and those we love. Sometimes these things come, sometimes they do not.”

Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Brightness Long Ago is a masterpiece; perhaps the finest work of one of the world’s greatest living storytellers.

Set in the fictional nation of Batiara (serving as a near-proxy for 15th century Italy), Kay effortlessly drifts through a complex narrative while developing a wide cast of fully-realized characters. The reader experiences some of the same events through several different viewpoints, gaining multiple insights that helps to enrichen the story’s depth. The plot is reminiscent of The Lions of Al-Rassan as most major events swirl around two charismatic adversaries, mercenary captains Folco d’Acorsi and Teobaldo Monticola di Remigio, neither of whom can be easily defined as good or bad men. They have both made a career out of being hired by powerful city-states to wage war and expand their employers’ territories, and have been finding themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield for decades. Their history of hate runs deep.

But the story isn’t always centered d’Acorsi and di Remigio. Although their presence casts heavy shadows throughout the book, Kay chooses to spend most of the narrative through the eyes of characters who dance along the outskirts of these historic events. Most of these characters will not find their way into history books, but their influence on the world are just as powerful. These lesser-known players on the periphery are catalysts for change, and their impulses inadvertently help shape the world.

“An encounter on a springtime road. The random spinning of fortune’s wheel. It can sway us, change us, shape or end our days.”

Guidanio Cerra is the leading first-person POV in the story; we start and end with Cerra’s narrative, as his sections of the book are shared memories told from the later years of his life. Adira Ripoli is a noble’s daughter who defies her station through adrenaline-fueled assassination missions and high-stakes horse races. Jelena is a pagan healer with a supernatural sense of the spirit world and keeps finding herself amidst powerful players on the cusp of death. We spend time with dukes, High Patriarchs, scholars, soldiers, and many others as their lives drift in and out of some of the most important moments in the nation’s history. Some grow. Others die.

Throughout the story, Kay keeps exploring the consequences of impulsive decisions and the chaos that spawns from them. Decisions such as hanging around a hallway for an extra minute, or turning your horse north instead of south – all are actions that one thinks nothing of at the time, but their repercussions can last beyond your lifetime. Interestingly, Kay challenges this theme by offering the possibility of divine intervention. Depending on your level of faith, this is one of the very few times the book veers into ‘low fantasy’ territory. It asks the reader to contemplate the existence of God, and if God plays a role in impulsive decision-making and its oft-fatal outcomes..

Around the halfway point to the novel, there is an interlude that feels deeply personal. Kay outs himself by breaking the fourth wall and commenting on the nature of stories, how they are told, how they spread, and the reader’s role in experiencing it all. It feels like Kay is sharing his wisdom gained from a lifetime of crafting his stories for a worldwide audience.

This story is shocking, devastating, and beautiful. Kay’s language is elegant in its simplicity, yet painstakingly profound as it cuts to the core of what makes us think, and act, and remember. Time and again you may guess where the story’s heading, only to be wrong over, and over again. Passages were read and re-read, and tears were shed more times than I care to admit. I believe that A Brightness Long Ago is a book I will revisit throughout my lifetime, with hope that I will gain new perspectives as my memories change or linger, and my feelings grow or fade.

“Shelter can be hard to find. A place can become our home for reasons we do not understand. We build the memories that turn into what we are, then what we were, as we look back. We live in the light that comes to us.”

10 / 10

Set in Kay's analogue of Renaissance Italy, when violence and war between rival city-states were the norm. Unusually for Kay, it is partly told in the first person, as a memory of young Giordano Cerra.

Like all of Kay's books, this is slightly formal with a deep well of emotion underneath. It is not his very best work, but it is far from his least.

I grew up reading Kay. I was in high school when I found the Fionavar Tapestry and then kept up with much of his work. The Lions of al'Rassan was one of my favorites from his catalog. I hadn't read anything by him in quite a while so I went in to this with high hopes for a return to my childhood magic.
The story mainly revolves around Guidanio Cerra, who is now an old man recalling a tumultuous and eventful time in his youth. The story also has other characters who take over the narration at various points, but Danio is the central character. Danio was the son of a tailor who won what amounts to a scholarship to attend a school with the aristocracy. He finds placement in the city of Mylasia after his education which then finds him witnessing (in a sense) the assassination of the city's duke. This event puts his life on an interesting course that leads him to spend time in the company of the greatest mercenary commanders of the time, to witness a stunning horse race in an important town, and to be witness to great events. His love interest is Adria Ripoli, although they are only in the same room twice. She has thrown off the chains of what is expected of a daughter in this time and is trying to live life as she wants. That lasts for a while but the reality of the time comes crashing down on her.
I enjoyed the story told in this book, but at times the writing was a bit too, for lack of a better word literary? for my tastes. I wish I knew more about medieval Italy so some of the places would have been easier for me to figure out what they were referencing. This is billed as a fantasy, but aside from some mysticism, I wouldn't put it in with your typical idea of fantasy. It was good enough to keep me reading, don't get me wrong, but there were just some things that I didn't like.