The Lions of Al-Rassan: A Masterwork of Literary Fantasy

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Guy Gavriel Kay is one of those authors whose been around for decades, and yet flew under my radar until this year--despite the fact his writing objectively appeals to me in every sense. Oh well, we can only know about the things we've been exposed to.

Released in 1995, The Lions of Al-Rassan is one of Kay's most well regarded works.

At the heart of Literary Fantasy is the individual, the person--something Kay has mastered weaving into Fantasy. So often Fantasy gets swept up in quest, archetypes, and made-up religions. What I admire most about Kay's approach is that he doesn't seem care much at all about the fantastic elements of his Fantasy. There was only one major magical component to the tale, and ultimately it was used a literary device to support the core theme of this book:

The world is brutal and unforgiving, so we must give love and savor love with the little time we have.

"Love is a flower

For the sweetness it gives

Before it dies away.”

Kay is famous for adapting historical periods and regions into unique secondary worlds that closely reflect their real-world counter parts. Lions closely resembles late medieval Spain and the religious conflicts between the brittle coexistence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians within close proximity and ever-shifting borders. Al-Rasan is a direct reference to the seat of the Islamic Empire, Al-Andalus.

What's so brilliant about the historical world building is that Kay is able to let unfamiliarity carry the mystique of the world. Most American readers are simply unfamiliar with other countries' histories and customs, thus simple inclusions of Middle-Eastern influence makes the Fantasy world feel vast and unrecognizable.

This is in-part due to the landscape of modern Fantasy literature, which remains largely Euro-centric mirrors of a romanticized Medieval period the Victorians were obsessed with. And while I have no issue with this trope, I will always gravitate towards Fantasy that takes its inspiration from other places, other people, and depicts lands and things you may have yet to see and but still actually exist in our world.

It's clear that Dungeons and Dragons, TV, films, and video games have major influences on the genre, and a symptom of this is the creation of made-up and redundant fantastical elements that really don't need to be there. There's plenty of mystery in our world, strange and unknowable things that, not too long ago, were truly attributed to the divine and magic.

Anyone who reads scientific or medical journals knows we've still only scratched the surface of SCIENCE! Mythology is the historical interpretation of science, through the lens of peoples with limited capacity to explain what they're witnessing. In terms of Fantasy, science and myth can be interchanged, and Kay leverages this function masterfully.

If another writer wrote Jehane's character, surely she would have been a healer--not a doctor--who used magic to treat her patients. We tend to forget simple facts, such as early Middle-Eastern physicians pioneered modern medicine, following the examples set by Hippocrates centuries before. We don't need magic, the middle-ages had medicine! Instead we received a complex, brilliant female lead who inspires the reader--and everyone around her. Jehane is a doctor, not a witch or a sorcerer, but an honest doctor whose sworn an oath to preserve life.

Another component that makes this book so unique: Kay addresses the dreaded love triangle with shocking tact, only briefly falling in the drab "will they, won't they?" spiral that continues to make Romance the hottest genre on the Kindle store (which is great for Romance, but I yearn for the depiction of lasting, healthy relationships; something Kay does exceptionally well).

The plot primarily focuses on the intense connection shared by Rodrigo Belmonte, Ammar ibn Khairan, and Jehane bet Ishak. There is mutual respect and kinship between the three, and sometimes romantic tension. Kay uses the love triangle trope to explore the complexity of human connection, and the importance of being decisive in times of need. Ironically, this element becomes the driving force behind the family-oriented themes running through the entire narrative. Eventually, the couples are chosen (or were established from the start) and yet the respect remains between the life-long friends. Decisions are made, then finalized.

The stand out flaw, or rather my only gripe, is poor Alvar is relegated to a minor role, serving only as a functional character. I felt he had so much more to offer the narrative, but I suppose sacrifices must be made when condensing such a sprawling narrative into a single book.

That's the most contentious aspect of Kay's method, for the most part he writes standalone novels rather than the industry standard of never ending, open-ended series, always ready to be expanded for another cash grab.

On the one hand, I mourn the end of the book as I'm hungry for more adventures in his world. On the other hand, I have to commend Kay for putting his hands up and refusing to ruin a good thing. It's all too common for cool stuff to get tainted by the inevitable commercialization that comes with endless sequels. I respect the authors and creators who aren't afraid to call a work finished, and allow it to sit on its own as a testament to art for art's sake.

“He opened his arms and she moved into the space they made in the world, and laying her head against his chest she permitted herself the almost unimaginable luxury of grief.”

Would I recommend reading The Lions of Al-Rassan? Absolutely, especially if you're interested in submitting to The Literary Fantasy Magazine or other upcoming projects The Arcanist has brewing. LitFan exists, its alive and well, and is in no way new.

Those who prefer to stay away from horrific violence might be sickened during scant few scenes of carnage. On a scale from The Last Unicorn to A Game of Thrones, I'd rate this book's maturity level as The Blade Itself. That's to say, it has some edge and you might find yourself skipping a few pages here and there.

I haven't even touched on the importance of poetry in Kay's world building, but I will write more about that when I bring myself to write about Under Heaven, which I am still reeling from, months later.