Guy Gavriel Kay

I had an opportunity recently to reread a trilogy of books I'd read years and years ago (possibly 10 years) when I was younger and very different from who I am now.  I've disliked these books for years and years (possibly 10) while at the same time I adored their author, Guy Gavriel Kay.  Contradictory?  Not really.  Even great authors can have a lackluster book or two, and the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy was his.  I thought.  10 years ago. 

But I went to the Book Barn last week (there was a sale!) and I saw that they had the entire trilogy for 70c each (sale!).  And I love Kay and I own so many other of his books that I thought, Why not?  So I bought them in the vague hope that I wouldn't regret it. 

Boy do I ever don't regret it. 


Did that sound confusing?
--If you are referring to the double positive 'do' 'do' followed by the single negative 'not' then--
Yes.
--The phrase could use some work.
Oh.  Too late.
--Technically not, you see the modern technology of the computer allows one to go back and edit the mistakes of a previous passage and--
Never mind.
--Would it be too much to ask if I were allowed to finish a--
~Yes.  'snigger.'
Be nice.
~No.  'snigger.'

At first I found myself reaffirming my previous opinion that this series wasn't all that great (clumsy writing--not bad, just not as good as his usual effort) when suddenly I realized that I was enjoying it on a level that hadn't been available to me 10 years ago.  Kay is the master of the unspoken thought, the price paid for freedom, and the beauty of tragedy.  10 years ago I was only 14, and like most 14 year olds I preferred straightforward thoughts and obvious truths to understated mystery.  It was too subtle for me, as well as being too different from what I thought was good.  I see it differently now and as I was reading I found myself crying so many times for the terrible majestic beauty of tragedy and loss--and what happens after.

Contradictory?

Maybe.  But that's Kay.  He's as unique a writer as I have ever found.  I cannot compare him to anyone else because there is no one to match him.  He has more in common with myths and fairy tales (his main inspiration most of the time) than with modern stylings.  He is an echo of glories that never were, and even those echoes have the ability to inspire us to greatness.