Seldom I've seen an author so learned and imaginative, so rich in detailing characters and fictional mithologies as the Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay.

His alternate history worlds are most convincing, and his characters spring out of the pages, their motivations and feelings deeply explored. In The Song for Arbonne, for example, we have perfect renditions of an imaginary country set in a fictitious two-moon Earth inspired to the Medieval South France of Languedoc, with its trobadours and fascinating demoiselles, and love and his joys and tragedies is celebrated in a vivid, poignant description that captures the heart and imagination of the reader. In this country, Arbonne, men and women are equally empowered, and women have frequently the last word, whilst in the very male-oriented country of Gorhaut, women are severely oppressed. This is reflected in the Goddess worship of Arbonne and the worship of an harsh male god in Gorhaut. But the complexities of love and religion intertwine with the more earthly intrigues of politics, and Arbonne will face the treath of invasion and war, when two nobles wrestle in the name of a woman they loved and who has long gone to the Goddess' embrace. Trobadours poems enrich this wonderful novel.

In The Sarantine Mosaic (Sailing to Sarantium and Lords of Emperors) we have another masterpiece of this writer. Set in an alternate version of the Byzantine Empire, those novels explore the darkest corners of religion, the devious cruelty of polytical intrigues, and the various aspects of the search of love, in a scene of Lord of Emperors in which various characters search and find love and face the peril of death all in one single night.

Fascinating, intriguing, learned and at times romantic and deeply erotic, this author gives new scope to alternate history fantasy, and I think that his writings are a worthy male counterpert to the writings of Storm Constantine (notably the Magravandias novels and stories and Sign for the Sacred).

About the Author:
Angelo Ventura lives in Italy. His email is angeloventura@iol.it.