Kay remains a professional operating at the top of his game, creating multi-layered characters of great intelligence, shaping events and destinies across a familiar and evocative historical landscape. I could not recommend this any more!

Kay’s technique of making a legend out of history is one that always works for me. It makes the story half-familiar and sends me to look up the events that are the starting point of his imagination.

The fall of Sarantium (this world’s equivalent of Constantinople) is in the past but it is still reverberating through the countries of the Middle Sea. There are power struggles between the different countries, and empires. An assassination is planned and this has a domino effect that leads to an assault on a coastal city. Those who were once captured as slaves, rise to become rulers, at the same time as those who thought their riches and power kept them safe can lose all.

Nadia is perhaps the main protagonist of the story, a child taken in slavery, taught to be a warrior, and escaping to become a corsair. But the other characters shine in their own narratives. Even a minor character becomes rounded and memorable in Kay’s hands.

This can be read as a standalone book but has callbacks to his other works which are like greeting an old friend in the street. Kay is one of may favourite authors so I would recommend anything he wrote.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley

I absolutely adored Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana and Lions of Al-Rassan, but for some reason haven't read his most latest books (perhaps knowing they'd need more time and attention than I would've given them in recent years). So I was a little nervous opening All the Seas of the World? Would I get right into it, or would it take a while?

Luckily, the story of the main characters pulled me in right away - Rafel and his partner Nadia/Lenia arrive at a coastal city with a challenging and dangerous task to complete, one that will set in motion change throughout the known world (or at least most of the near-Renaissance Europe that this world takes place in)...

Once their task is complete, the story broadens and this is where I began to wish I'd read recent titles like 'A Brightness Long Ago'. Also, I absolutely love reading on Kindle, but I had a few moments were reading a paperback and being able to easily flick back to the list of characters at the front of the book really would have helped (okay, I know I can technically do this on my Kindle, but the point is that I never do). There are a lot of characters, a lot of kingdoms/territories, and a whole lot of politics. Gavriel Kay's writing is excellent as always, but sometimes it was a little tough to keep up with who was aiming to do what to who and why.

But I hugely enjoyed the main thrust of the story and the world that was depicted - All the Seas of the World was a good reminder to come back and visit Guy Gavriel Kay's universe more often.

A new novel by Guy Kay is always going to jump straight to the top of my out of control TBR pile. They always reward their priority spot, and this one was no exception.
This is a sort of a follow on to his two previous novels, A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky. Indeed it has several returning characters from each of those books. As per the earlier books, the fantasy elements are firmly on the sidelines and don't form the main crux of the storyline. These are almost but not quite historical fiction/almost but not quite fantasy novels. A writer of Kay's talent walks that tightrope with exquisite grace.

In this one, the world is still reeling from the fall of one its mightiest cities in the previous book. Political allegiances flow and sway with the tides, trades are made, killings ordered. Some achieve their aims, others don't.

This is storytelling on an epic scale, as well as the intimate. We follow traders Rafel ben Natan and his associate Nadia bint Dhiyan from their dangerous commission in the opening of the book, and the repercussions of that mission throughout the lands of this almost Europe,

We also see into the lives of dozens of other characters, some with the power to change the known world, some struggling to keep their place, however influential they might be, others of low status but surprisingly important.

The roles people play in events far beyond their ken is a continuing theme in this sequence of books, along with the power of stories and storytelling. Any book about the power of stories needs to be one hell of a story itself, and this doesn't disappoint on any level.

The story has a relaxed pace. Despite the ever enlarging ripples through the societies in this world, we never lose sight of the smaller pictures contained within. The frequent diversions into the impact of the larger events on the smaller people in the story are beautifully done and frequently deeply moving.

This is all done in Kay's normal lucid and hypnotic prose. I was reading this in a crowded pub yesterday and so completely absorbed I barely registered any noise around me.

These aren't books to rush. They should be savoured and enjoyed slowly. There is real complexity and subtlety here that can't be skim-read without doing the world Kay has created a huge disservice. This whole series will reward multiple re-readings.

They will work well as stand=alone novels even though there is such a strong continuity. The returning characters are fleshed out anew for any fresh readers and the fallout from previous books described in detail. I would still advise to read in order, otherwise you'll go into the earlier books knowing who lived and died and which cities were still standing at the end and spoilers are called spoilers for a reason..

Assassins, a king poisoned, a medieval world almost but not quite like our own where Kindath (Jews) struggle to survive in a violent, romantic and colourful parallel world where death from the Inquisition, complicated politics, noble houses, dashing Dukes, exile from their (Spanish) homeland and Ottoman Constantinople all present danger, challenge and an opportunity to find new lives. This is a story of Lenia the escaped slave and her partner in crime, Rafel, the owner of the ship, the Silver Wake. It's a potent mix of introspective moments where the author and his characters inwardly reflect on where they are in their lives and their set of choices (even the ones that have just died!) and a movement through exciting set pieces and locations as the story moves forward. The author has an original and powerful imagination - but would have as easily had the same impact if he had set it in the real world. It was sometimes difficult to follow all the fictional place names when the real life equivalents would have worked as well. However that is a very minor point - I really enjoyed this story and recommend it.

With thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a complimentary review copy. Opinions are my own.

I was excited to start reading this because I remembered liking A Brightness Long Ago very much, back when I read it. What I didn't account for was the fact that although by objective time, having read that one in April 2019 isn't that long ago, in book publishing time, I have forgotten everything I loved about that one except for vague impressions and, of course, my own review.

Which made for a frustrating feeling of not quite getting the impact that I should be getting out of this book. Sure, it's wonderfully written: a brilliant tapestry of many different yet ordinary lives that affect each other, of futures that shift and change with each person's rather humdrum decisions, whether they are the ex-slave Lenia Serrano, her Kindath merchant partner Rafel ben Natan, or the famed Folco d'Acorsi. I have also not caught up on any of the other stories set in this world--which, if looking at other reviews, might also have impacted my reading experience. This is despite the fact that All the Seas of the World is touted as a standalone. It may have been meant to be, but it didn't always feel that way.

All the Seas of the World starts with an assassination-turned-heist with a side of murder and unintended consequences. It ends with a siege and battle. In between, it explores the intersections of faith and race with identity--and how changing one's faith and name could change your fortunes, but also how faith is often tied to race and vice versa. It also looks at fate and timing, and how being somewhere at a certain time could make or break your future--and how our reactions and unexplainable impulses can set us on a different path altogether. But ultimately, it is also a story of revenge, of people being driven by revenge, and that thirst for retribution for past wrongs.

Like A Brightness Long Ago, the narrative shifts between POVs, though the majority of it is in Lenia & Rafel's POV (third person). But added to the mix is a first-person narrative from Danio which jumps out at the reader suddenly with no explanation, musings from the dying, an omnipotent narrator with Opinions, as well as strange foretellings of what is to come. I remember some of this from A Brightness Long Ago; I feel that I was okay with it then, but there's something about it that irks me now. Then again, taste is a subjective and ever-changing thing.

All in all, All the Seas of the World is a good, thoughtful read, but probably best read and enjoyed in relation to his earlier books. It may come across as a little slow and ponderous, though it is definitely not as repetitive as some of Brandon Sanderson's narratives.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Guy Gavriel Kay’s new novel is set in the same world as his previous two, Children of Earth and Sky and A Brightness Long Ago, but although the three books are closely linked, they are separate stories and I’m sure you could read this one as a standalone if you wanted to.

The world to which I’ve just referred is a fictional world which closely resembles the area surrounding the Mediterranean during the 15th century. Countries and cities are given different names (Italy becomes Batiara, Spain is Esperaña, Venice is Seressa) and the characters belong to one of three religions which clearly correspond to the main three religions in that part of the world at that time. The Asharites (Muslims) worship the stars, the Jaddites (Christians) worship the sun and the Kindath (Jews) worship the two moons, one blue and one white, which both shine in the sky. This third novel is set just after the Jaddite city of Sarantium has fallen to the Asharite Osmanlis, who have renamed it Asharias – like our own world’s Constantinople which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and would become Istanbul.

Some of the characters we met in A Brightness Long Ago appear again in this book, but the focus is mainly on two new characters. First, there’s Lenia Serrano, a young woman who was abducted by Asharite raiders as a child and raised as a slave. Now free, she longs to return home to Batiara but, convinced that her years in slavery will have brought shame upon her family, home is the one place she’s determined to avoid. Rafel ben Natan, our other protagonist, is a Kindath merchant whose family fled persecution in Esperaña some years earlier. Rafel’s brother has disappeared without trace, leaving Rafel responsible for his sister-in-law and her children.

As the novel opens, Lenia and Rafel have been hired by two pirate brothers to carry out the assassination of the khalif of Abeneven. Their decision to accept this assignment brings them life-changing wealth, but also has huge consequences for the balance of power between rival states, bringing the world to the brink of war.

Some readers may be put off by the labelling of Kay’s novels as ‘fantasy’, but other than the alternate names for people, places and religions, and one or two very subtle supernatural elements, this book (like most of his others) is much closer to historical fiction than it is to traditional fantasy. Setting his story in a thinly-disguised version of Renaissance Europe gives Kay an opportunity to explore that period of history while being freed from the constraints of having to stick to historical fact. However, in this particular book, there are also some obvious parallels with today’s world; exile and displacement are major themes, with various characters being forced to leave their own countries because of war, persecution or other reasons and then either searching for somewhere new to make their home or trying to find a way to return.

This is a beautifully written novel, but I do think Kay’s writing style is probably a bit of an acquired taste. Much as I like his books, I’m starting to find his habit of going off on tangents to explore the lives of minor characters and the heavy messaging around choices and the consequences of our actions very repetitive. These most recent books are not his best, in my opinion – his earlier ones seemed to have stronger plots and a tighter focus, so if you’re new to his work I would recommend starting with one of those; Tigana is my favourite and The Lions of Al-Rassan is also very good (and set in this same two-mooned world several centuries earlier). Readers who’ve already enjoyed some of his other historical fantasy novels should enjoy this one too; I did and am looking forward to reading the remaining ones I still haven’t read.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of the book in return for an honest review.

The book tells the story of a set of characters caught up in seemingly endless conflicts between city states, with religious tensions fuelling the flames. The story seems to be heavilty inspired by various political and commercial happenings around the mediterranean, drawn from various historical periods. There are clear references to the persecution of the jewish people, the crusades, the split between the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the Muslim conquests, infighting between Itailan states, etc. Other than a minor event in the book, there is no element of fantasy or the supernatural in the novel. It's basically a sort of speculative fiction version of a historical novel, not unlike other works by the author.

My overall verdict is positive. The writing is well paced, and ineresting. There is sufficient tension in the plot's evolution. The dialogues and relationship between the characters are credible and realistic. I particularly liked the protagonists, who were easy to like and empathise with. They also evolved and learned over time, and there was even a nice romantic subplot, which was quite nicely done, without being overly dramatised. It was also refreshing to find kind characters, both main and secondary, unusually for books of this genre.

There are some things I liked less. First, and perhaps most importantly, I wasn't sure what the book is about, and why I should care. It ends up being a character driven novel, as you care deeply about the protagonists, but the events they are involved in are just not exciting or interesting, and it's not clear why I should lose sleep over them. It's clearly a choice the author made, but it's something that was missing, personally for me. I also struggled with some of the writing style - there were constant expositions (that also repeated the same facts a few times), the interjections that followed a side path of a particular character into its own future fate were tedious, and the patchy and non linear introduction of secondary characters was sometimes unnecessarily long and complex.

Overall - would recommend to anyone interested in history but uninterested in historical novels, and to anyone who likes the author already (from his non-fantasy books).

Guy Gavriel Kay is a master storyteller and a master of fantasy. This new book, set in a fictional simil Renaissance, it's brilliant novel that you cannot put down.
Great storytelling and world building, excellent character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Kay’s evocation of a world that is almost, but not quite, the Renaissance Mediterranean is terrifically atmospheric, and he peoples it with characters you care about and believe in. Perhaps the most elegant fantasist working today, he marshals events on intimate personal and global political scales and walks us through their effects and reverberations in wonderfully smooth prose. No one else produces work like this in the genre and this new novel is to be celebrated.

I completely lost myself in the exciting All the Seas of the World, its people, places and culture!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this wonderful experience.

"All the Seas of the World" was a true joy to read. I love the way this book made me feel, made me think, and made me lose track of everything but the story (perfect!) and characters (wonderful!). There's an ease to the writing that makes you want to keep reading, and start the book again once you've finished. Sign me up for future releases by Guy Gavriel Kay!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Guy Gavriel Kay revisits his alternative renaissance world in this wonderful book. As usual this is a story on an epic scale with a full cast of characters. This book follows on from A Brightness Long Ago but can easily be read as a stand alone novel.
I love the historical setting of the book, the geographical scope and the subtle and unobtrusive fantasy element. The characters are the main attraction of the book, the way they develop and interact, particularly the two main characters. The action, I felt, was rather episodic and at times pedestrian in pace, but this did not detract from my reading experience. The scale of the story and the beautiful, lyrical writing make any book by GGK a pleasure to read.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written with a compelling narrative and well developed and relatable characters that I loved reading about. A period of history that i don't know that much about but it certainly peaked my interest. I will definitely be reading more by this author.