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Book Review
Jan. 7th, 2025 10:50 pmRiver of Stars
by Guy Gavriel Kay
This is a sequel of sorts to Under Heaven in that it is set in Kitai, a fictionalized fantasy version of pre-modern China and tackles some of the same themes. However, it takes place a few hundred years after the first book, and covers events based on the defeat of China by the massed tribes of the northern steppes (not the Mongols - this is earlier). The stories of two unconventional and fascinating characters are interleaved and then intertwined. Ren Daiyan is a town clerk's son who dreams of being a soldier in a time when the military is disdained as a career. When he kills several men while defending a magistrate, Daiyan himself becomes an outlaw. This path eventually leads him into the imperial army. Lin Shan is a young woman who has been given the same education as a man. She is a poet and calligrapher, and is very unusual for women of her time and class. This grants her an ambiguous status and unusual opportunities. Both Daiyan and Shan must navigate the politics of a dangerous court and find a way to face the impending disaster that is the coming conflict with the northern peoples.
River of Stars is a beautiful novel of people living through terrible and precarious times. It explores how very small decisions and actions can have very large and momentous effects leading to significant world-altering events. Both Shan and Daiyan are unconventional people for their society, and this brings them both rewards and danger as they grapple with living through the utter transformation of their world. I found them both fascinating and very sympathetic. Their actions and decisions say a lot about what it means to be heroic and brave even when that does not bring the victory you'd desired.
by Guy Gavriel Kay
This is a sequel of sorts to Under Heaven in that it is set in Kitai, a fictionalized fantasy version of pre-modern China and tackles some of the same themes. However, it takes place a few hundred years after the first book, and covers events based on the defeat of China by the massed tribes of the northern steppes (not the Mongols - this is earlier). The stories of two unconventional and fascinating characters are interleaved and then intertwined. Ren Daiyan is a town clerk's son who dreams of being a soldier in a time when the military is disdained as a career. When he kills several men while defending a magistrate, Daiyan himself becomes an outlaw. This path eventually leads him into the imperial army. Lin Shan is a young woman who has been given the same education as a man. She is a poet and calligrapher, and is very unusual for women of her time and class. This grants her an ambiguous status and unusual opportunities. Both Daiyan and Shan must navigate the politics of a dangerous court and find a way to face the impending disaster that is the coming conflict with the northern peoples.
River of Stars is a beautiful novel of people living through terrible and precarious times. It explores how very small decisions and actions can have very large and momentous effects leading to significant world-altering events. Both Shan and Daiyan are unconventional people for their society, and this brings them both rewards and danger as they grapple with living through the utter transformation of their world. I found them both fascinating and very sympathetic. Their actions and decisions say a lot about what it means to be heroic and brave even when that does not bring the victory you'd desired.
