TL;DR Review: Beautifully lush writing, noble and compelling characters, and a story that takes its time to build to an emotional ending.
Synopsis:
From the critically-acclaimed author of The Fionavar Tapestry comes an epic fantasy novel of love, both courtly and forbidden, and two kingdoms endlessly opposed…
Blaise of Gorhaut is a warrior. He fought for his king and country, until the king died with an arrow in his eye at the battle of Iersen Bridge, and a dishonorable treaty ceded a good part of his country to foreign hands. He has broken relations with his father, adviser to the king of Gorhaut, and abandoned the use of his family name.
Now, Blaise is a mercenary. He never expected to work for the lords of Arbonne, the warm, fertile lands south of Gorhaut, whose people praise the love of women—they even worship a goddess, instead of the god. They are a soft people, or so he thought. But for all their nonsense about love, their troubadours and songs, they will fight for their country, when invasion comes from the north.
Full Review:
A Song for Arbonne is an ode to poetry and music, a story of love in all its many complexities. What starts out as a simple adventure deepens and grows into something truly spectacular and stirring.
Our story begins with what seems like a throwaway prologue: a young woman riding out to meet her lover in a dalliance of little consequence. But by the time we’re a few chapters into the main story, we see that there is a great deal more to it than that. For the time-jump that takes place at Chapter One shows that this dalliance has led to war between two of the strongest noble houses in Arbonne.
Arbonne is depicted as a lovely place: a kingdom of gaiety and revelry, where jonglars and troubadours are given places of honor and adored by the finest men and women around the world. A place where love is cherished above all else and hearts are given freely and without reservation in quiet, dark rooms and laughing, cheerful feast halls and taverns. It’s a kingdom where festivals and duels to the death intertwine, where brave men may rise to greatness while cowards always receive their just desserts.
Naturally, the brightness and color of Arbonne is hated by neighboring Gorhaut (a kingdom with a very Germanic flavor), who worship the stern male god of warriors, rival to the female goddess worshipped in Arbonne. The threat of invasion hangs over the story from the beginning—until, through the many twists and turns, it finally comes to pass.
And who will rise to champion Arbonne? Will it be the noble lord who swings his sword as well as he plays his lute, but who carries the deep pain of his lost lady love? Will it be the powerful, aging Countess who sees all, knows all? Will it be the wayward son of Gorhaut who comes to Arbonne to play hired guard (coran), only to find himself drawn into intrigues and mystery? Or will it be someone else…some other face we are not expecting to see until the very end?
As with Tigana and Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay tells a truly vivid, stirring, and beautifully deep story. We’re treated to a rare exploration of the deep pain that only family can cause, the decades-long grief and hurt pride that can drive otherwise rational men to hatred, and the many shades of love we all carry in our hearts.
Arbonne is ripped directly from historical Europe (France) and its pages feel like a portal through which we are given a glimpse into a past that might have been—a past filled with magic and love, song and laughter, brave men and audacious women. It’s a medieval tale that feels utterly enchanting and leaves you wishing that a place like Arbonne truly existed.
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