In the south lies Arbonne, a land of beauty and art that encourages its citizens to use their creativity and expand their minds. To the north is Gorhaut, a barren land where the people fight the elements and each other to survive and carve out a life for themselves. Although completely different, the two countries have lived next to each other in relative harmony for centuries. Now the bloodthirsty king of Gorhaut turns his attention to the prosperity of its southerly neighbours and plans a vicious attack.

Accepted by silmarillion as part of the "Window Shopping!" Relay

this book arrived today with another three, looking like a reading feast :)

thanks for sending them, lauraloo29, i'll read them and most surely journal them :))

for a long time i avoided guy gavriel kay's novels - after reading the feeling-heavy "the wandering fire", second novel of "the fionavar tapestry", that had a deep impact on me at a tenderer age.

now i wonder what made me put aside kay's books for so long :)

"a song for arbonne" has action, feeling, compelling characters, a beautiful choreography and, while portreting a world quite unfamiliar to myself (i'm more used to sketchier fantastic settings) still impressed me. i liked the complexity and skill of the novel and it sure convinced me kay's novels are to be read.

what i didn't like was the final unwrapping of bertran and miraval's feud... in the spirit of old romances, i sure would've loved to see the lost child being brought to life (well... A child is brought to life, but not the expected one) or at least spoken of as if it had lived for a while. hmm... you can't have it all.

this book WAS a good read, and i'll make sure to lend it to my friends. hopefully, they too will review it, if i can convince them :)