The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel KayMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Well this was a disappointment after Tigana. If you haven't read Tigana, don't judge Kay by this. I think it could have been interesting, but the style is so flowery and pompous and full of info dumps that my eyes glazed over far too many times. It read like an attempt at being Tolkienesque, with the tone like when Gandalf sets up the back story before the quest, but liberally throughout, and with so much meaningless detail because I didn't know any of the names that were being thrown about.
There were some interesting things in the actual story, even if the entire book read like a prologue. Unfortunately, the distant tone made it hard to connect with the characters, even with some huge things happening to them, and then came the rape and torture. Before that, I would have probably given this 3 stars, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Now I understand why reviewers are always talking about 80s fantasy as being overly flowery and full of rape.
I might still have to give the second book a chance, since it ended right where things are really just starting, and on a cliffhanger.
