Guy Gavriel Kay biography
Guy Gavriel Kay was born on the 7th November 1954 in Canada. He is still based out of Toronto. At the beginning of his career Gavriel Kay aided Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien's son) in the editing of Tolkien's great work, The Silmarillion. The pair met when at university together in Manitoba.
Guy Gavriel Kay incorporates real history into his fantasy books with the influences of medieval France, Moorish Spain and the Byzantium Empire all prominent in his novels. His first major and successful work was the Fionavar Tapestry which was first published between 1984 and 1986.
Guy Gavriel Kay is also an acclaimed author of poetry, his work being named Beyond This Dark House. He has twice won the Aurora award and has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award three times. His novels have been translated into 22 languages.
Kay's fourth novel, Tigana, was nominated for the World Fantasy Award whilst is also won the Canadian Aurora Award. The second book of The Fionavar Tapestry, The Wandering Fire also won this award.
Guy Gavriel Kay has gained himself the reputation of being a perfectionist, especially in regards to his meticulous research carried out in the process of writing his novels. In an interview Kay mentioned that the majority of his books can take up to a year of reading, contacting people, not-taking and travel before he starts the process of writing the novel itself. This is a process that he enjoys and leads to a broadening of his own knowledge and also the forming of friendships.
Kay still writes occasionally for radio and television but his main work consists of researching and writing the fantasy novels for which he is now world renowned. The film company, Warner Brothers, announced in 2005 that they were planning to make The Lions of Al-Rassan into a motion picture.
Authorised Guy Gavriel Kay website
Guy Gavriel Kay books
The Fionavar Tapestry
The Sarantine Mosaic
Latest news: Guy Gavriel Kay
Fantasy Book Review: Book of the Month
Every month a book comes along that is just that little bit special, a book that stands head and shoulders above the others that have been read and reviewed. This book becomes our Book of the Month and below can be seen the winners since the award began in June 2009. March 2010 – Apartment 16 by Ad [...]
John Jarrold interview (September 2009)
John Jarrold is a name that is respected throughout the publishing world. Working predominantly with new and established science fiction and fantasy authors, John uses his extensive knowledge and skills to help guide writers on the road to publication. Amongst those full of praise for his work are [...]
August 2009 edition of Locus Magazine now available
This month’s edition of the excellent Locus Magazine is now available and there is much to be found in there for the passionate fantasy fan. The highlight is a roundtable discussion on history and fantasy with one of Fantasy Book Review’s favourite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay. He will be j [...]
Isobelle Carmody interview
By Joshua S Hill
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit down with one of Australia’s most beloved authors. Isobelle Carmody is author of the critically acclaimed Obernewtyn series, as well as a veritable cornucopia of books for young and adult alike. Nominated for more than a dozen awards [...]
Penguin Celebrations: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Tigana is the internationally celebrated epic of a beleaguered country struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the dark sorceries of the tyrant king Brandin that even the very name of their once beautiful home cannot be spoken or remembered. But, years after their homeland's [...]
Guy Gavriel Kay comments on George RR Martin
A writer's engagement with readers via blogs and websites creates a real relationship and unleashes the demands – sometimes angry demands – that go with it. George RR Martin is the hugely successful purveyor of an ongoing, seven-volume fantasy series called A Song of Ice and Fire. Four books are do [...]
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay to be re-released in classic Penguin style
Former Winnipeg fantasy novelist Guy Gavriel Kay's 1992 title, Tigana, is being re-released in classic Penguin style. Kay, based in Toronto, is one of 15 writers Penguin Canada is publishing in a new series called Penguin Celebrations. The series boasts modern versions of the traditional Penguin cov [...]
World Fantasy Awards 2008 nominees
The 2008 World Fantasy Awards will be held in Calgary as part of the World Fantasy Convention between the 30th October and the 2nd of November. The Lifetime Achievement Award winners have already been announced, Patricia McKillip plus Leo and Diane Dillon will be honoured with this prestigious award [...]
Ysabel makes Globe and Mail best books of 2007 list
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay was listed aongst the best books of 2007 according to Canada's national newspaper, Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail say of Guy Gavriel Kay and Ysabel - "There are many writers who have shown us the gods walking among us, the age-old stories alive in the modern world. Rare are [...]
Martin Springett
Martin Springett illustrated the covers of the three books that make up my Fionavar Tapestry trilogy. The book's author was Guy Gavriel Kay and they feature the best cover artwork I have come across so far. The books themselves, The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road are pretty goo [...]
Guy Gavriel Kay interviews
In an interview with Raymond H. Thompson in 1989, Guy Gavriel Kay discusses the reasons behind the Arthurian thread running throughout the Fionavar Tapestry. He also talks about his research and books that have influenced him in his life. A very in-depth interview. Guy Gavriel Kay interview with Raymond H. Thompson >>
Sandy Auden interviewed Guy Gavriel Kay in 2005 and it turned out to be a fascinating interview. In particular, in reference to his novel Tigana, Kay mentions that the books centre-point - erasing a people's name from history - was a metaphor for the well-known actions of tyrannies all through history. Sandy Auden interviews Guy Gavriel Kay in 2005 >>
Guy Gavriel Kay critical acclaim
"A fine, intelligent series. Probably the best of its kind" The British Fantasy Society on The Fionavar Tapestry
"A remarkable achievement. The essence of high fantasy" Locus on The Fionavar Tapestry
"I'm not just impressed by The Summer Tree - I'm overwhelmed" Marion Zimmer Bradley
Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
Must-reads
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Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled
Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
