Children of Earth and Sky

Recommended.

I'm tempted to leave the entire book review as that single word. Recommended. Clearly I didn't, because I'm still typing, but I'm definitely tempted.

I had "started" this book a few months ago, and by "started," I mean, "read the first page." The timing wasn't good, so I didn't keep going, because Kay's books aren't put-downable. Yes, a real word that, "put-downable." This book wasn't. And what better day to read the book than jet-lagged and sick, and in need of comfort? Said jet-lag may have enabled me to stay up until 6:30 am to read this book. Or maybe not. It's like a migraine that way, maybe the caffeine causes it, maybe the caffeine didn't.

So, this book. It's "historical fiction with a twist of fantasy," as Kay describes others describing his works. I would say that description was true of his earlier books, but not really this one. While there is an itty bitty part that requires suspension of disbelief, the rest of it is pretty much a fictionalized story of the fall of the Ottoman Empire from a merchant's, an artist's, and soldier's points of view. But, ssssssssh, it's not really called the Ottoman Empire.

Kay moves back to his earlier style of writing in this book, in that in his earlier books, he wasn't explicit about the thoughts behind the characters actions, leaving the reader to piece things together and fill in the gaps. Subsequent books, he drifted to explaining everything, which lost some of the magic of his writing style. He has it coming back here, which makes me like this book so much more.

If you like his style, this book is recommended. If you haven't read Kay's books before, read A Song for Arbonne or The Lions of Al-Rassan first instead.