Tigana

Tigana is the internationally celebrated epic of a beleaguered country struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the dark sorceries of the tyrant king Brandin that even the very name of their once beautiful home cannot be spoken or remembered. But, years after their homeland's devastation, a handful of men and women set in motion a dangerous crusade--to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the world the lost brightness of an obliterated name: Tigana. Against the magnificently realized backdrop of a world both sensuous and brutal, this masterful novel of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision, and changes forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction.

With this rich masterfully written extravaganza of myth and magic, the internationally acclaimed author of the Fionovar trilogy has created an epic that will change forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction.

To the Imperial City there comes another voyager on a journey of self-discovery, this time from the east. Rustem of Kerakek, a physician, must find his own balancing of family and ambition, healing and death, as he, too, is drawn into the deadly webs of Sarantium.

In the three novels that make up the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy collected in this omnibus edition (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road), five University of Toronto students find themselves transported to a magical land to do battle with the forces of evil. At a Celtic conference, Kimberley, Kevin, Jennifer, Dave, and Paul meet wizard Loren Silvercloak. Returning with him to the magical kingdom of Fionavar to attend a festival, they soon discover that they are being drawn into the conflict between the dark and the light.... Praise for Guy Gavriel Kay "[Kay] stunningly weaves Arthurian legends into the fluid mix of Celtic, Nordic, and Teutonic, creating a grand fantasy that sweeps readers into a heroic struggle that the author makes all the more memorable because of the tributes he pays to past masters.... Kay is undoubtedly one of the Canadian masters of high fantasy." —Jeffrey Canton “Kay is a genius.” —Brandon Sanderson “As captivating as any classic of the fantasy field.” —Maclean’s “Can only be compared to Tolkien’s masterpiece. This is a series to cherish and reread.” —The Star-Phoenix “The essence of high fantasy.” —Locus

Inspired by the glory of Tang Dynasty China in the eighth century, Guy Gavriel Kay melds history and the fantastic into something both powerful and emotionally compelling. Under Heaven is a novel on the grandest narrative scale, encompassing the intimate details of individual lives in an unforgettable time and place. Shen Tai is the son of a general who led the forces of imperial Kitai in that empire's last war against their western enemies from Tagur, twenty years before. Forty thousand men on both sides were slain beside a remote mountain lake. General Shen Gao himself has died recently. To honour his father's memory, Tai has spent two years of official mourning alone at the battle site among the ghosts of the dead, laying to rest their unburied bones. One spring morning, he learns that others have taken note of his vigil. The White Jade Princess in Tagur is pleased to present him with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses, given, she writes, in recognition of his courage, and honour done to the dead. You gave a man one of the famed Sardians to reward him greatly. You gave him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor. Tai starts east towards the glittering, dangerous imperial capital and gathers his wits for a return from solitude by a mountain lake to his own forever-altered life.

For the first time in one collection, the two internationally bestselling novels of The Sarantine Mosaic, one of Guy Gavriel Kay’s most loved works. Sailing to Sarantium Sarantium is the golden city: holy to the faithful, exalted by the poets, jewel of the world, and heart of an empire. Artisan Caius Crispus receives a summons from the emperor and sets off on a journey toward the Imperial City. But before Crispin can reach Sarantium, with its taverns and gilded sanctuaries, chariot races and palaces, he must pass through a land of pagan ritual and mysterious danger. Sailing to Sarantium, the first volume of the brilliant Sarantine Mosaic, weaves an utterly compelling story of the allure and intrigue of a magnificent city and the people drawn into its spell. Lord of Emperors Having finally achieved his journey to fabled Sarantium, Crispin the mosaicist wants nothing more than to confront the challenges of his art high on the scaffolding of destiny—but in Sarantium no man may easily withdraw from the turmoil of court and city, or forget that the presence of the half-world is always close by. To the Imperial City there comes another voyager, this time from the east. Rustem of Kerakek, a physician, must find his own balance of family and ambition, healing and death, as he, too, is drawn into the deadly webs of Sarantium. In this concluding volume of the Sarantine Mosaic, Lord of Emperors merges page-turning adventure with a deeply moving meditation on art and power, and the eternal human struggle to leave a legacy.

A page-turning, sweeping fantasy, full of devastating treachery, deadly magic and ruthless women, perfect for fans of House of the Dragon and The Jasmine Throne. In an ancient matriarchal world of magic, gods and warriors, the last girl – unbeknownst to the five Queendoms – has just been born. As time marches on, the scribes of Bastian find no answers in their history books. The farmers of Sestia sacrifice their crops to the gods. Paxim, the empire of trade and dealings has nothing to barter but boys and more boys. Arcan magic has no spells to remedy the Drought of Girls, as it soon becomes known. And finally, Scorpia, where every woman is a fighter, their commander, their Queen, has no more warriors to train. The lines of these once-great empires soon to die. After centuries of peace, the ensuing struggle for dominance – and heirs – will bring the Five Queendoms to the eve of all-out war. But the mysterious curse is linked to one of the last-born children, an orphaned all-magic girl, on the run from the Seekers of Daybreak Palace, who is unaware she has a claim to the Arcan throne...

Home to three very different cultures, Al-Rassan is a land of seductive beauty and violent history. Peace among the Jaddites, Asharites and Kindath is a precarious, elusive thing, made so by the ever-present shadow that divides the peoples but draws extraordinary individuals together. Ammar ibn Khairan—poet, diplomat, soldier; Rodrigo Belmonte—accomplished military leader; and Jeanne bet Ishak—brilliant physician; these three find their lives interwoven by a series of remarkable events that take Al-Rassan to the brink of war. Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, The Lions of Al-Rassan is an exhilarating story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when passionate beliefs conspire to remake—or destroy—a world.