The Last Light of the Sun

The Last Light of the Sun is vintage Kay. It’s one part fantasy novel and somehow one part reflection on the vagaries of life; the unfairness of fate, luck, and the gods. This story is filled with viewpoints from all sides and is set in a fantasy version of England and Wales, with some Viking analogs thrown in.

Kay does things that few other authors can get away with. He writes from a third person omniscient viewpoint and that’s incredibly uncommon in modern fantasy. It also serves to give his stories an historical feel. His worlds and nations are so well fleshed out that it feels like you’re reading a fictionalized account of actual history rather than a fantasy novel. Another thing that Kay does well is characterization. Not only are his characters deep and authentic, they are also believable. By this I mean that their reactions are exactly what you might expect. Their viewpoints are shaped by the world in which Kay has placed them. It’s rare to see both world building and characterization tied tightly together. Kay does very impressive work here. There is such a sense of longing to some of the characters, of confusion and pain over how unfair and unforgiving the world can be, that the reader is immediately drawn in themselves. There is a certain nihilism to some of the characters, but very well done, for example:

Alun heard birdsong. The doings of men here, the wrack and storm of them, hardly mattering at all. It was a summer’s day. The bird would be here when this was over, one way or another.

In The Last Light of the Sun there are a number of places where I think Kay could have tightened up the plot, however. As in other books, Kay sometimes has a tendency to use thinly veiled character reminisces as a way of catching the reader up on plot threads rather than showing what has happened. Perhaps slightly more forgivable, he tends to use one-off side characters to reveal certain aspects of the story. But many times these could easily be explained elsewise, or perhaps ignored all together. These vignettes do help the book to have that historical feel, but they also feel jarring and mostly decrease the tension or connection to the main characters that I’d rather feel.

Even with these weaknesses, it’s impossible to consider The Last Light of the Sun a weak novel. It may not measure up to some of Kay’s other stories, but it’s still well worth the read. Like any Kay novel, it leaves you thinking, processing, and feeling at the end. 4/5 stars.

5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing