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This is not your typical fantasy book. There is really no magic. The only thing that could be seen as such is one characters knack for knowing where and what his father is doing, and being able to feel the presence of his twin brother and mother as well. So the story is bascially historical fiction.
The setting is essentially medieval Spain. The area is ruled by two parties. The lower half is called Al-Rassan and ruled by the Asharites who worship Ashar (read: Muslims / Moors). The upper half of the area (the map looks like Spain) is called Esperaña, which is broken into three separate kingdom’s (Valledo, Ruenda, Jaloña) since the death of King Sancho. Those that live there are Jaddites and worship Jad (read: Christians). Then thrown into the mix are the Kindath (read: Jewish). In addition to these three are the Muwardis who inhabit the Majriti Desert (basically Africa on the map), and are very devout followers of Ashar, even calling those in Al-Rassan infidels for being so non-strict with their beliefs.
There is a whole host of characters that are very well drawn out, especially the main three; Jehane bet Ishak, a female Kindath physician who lives in the Kindath quarter of Fezana, an Asharite city; Rodrigo Belmonte, know as “The Captain” and “The Scourage of Al-Rassan”, leader of the Jaddite Horseman from Valledo; and finally Ammar ibn Khairan, Asharite poet and assasin for King Almalik I of Cartada, the ruling seat of Al-Rassan.
Minus the Prologue and Epilogue, the book takes the reader through about 2 years of the characters’ lives. The hardships, the friendships that are made or broken, the battles of personality, inner battles of character, and physical battles of war. It is so well written and put together. And it’s storyline keeps everything moving. Even the beginning, where the story and ideas are being built, big things are happening and you are drawn in immediately.
There are two of Kay writing traits that show up in this book that add to the story, but sometimes can also ruffle a reader’s feathers. The first one is by playing out a scene or series of events over the course of 15-20 pages. Then playing out the same scene or series of events from another characters side of it for another 15 to 20 pages. This really got to me sometimes when reading “Tigana”, because there was a lot of it. At times it made me think that the book would have been just over half the length if I only had to read about an event once. This writing trait happens very little in “Al-Rassan” and actually is used very well to enhance the story. The other trait is Kay leaving out information of an event. Like someone dying, and having the reader go through another 20 pages to find out who in fact died! He does this a few times in “Al-Rassan” to add to the suspence. Most of the time I wanted to start flipping through the pages to find out who it was. But it still has a good effect on the book.
It is well known in circles that Kay can write, and boy can he ever! And those that are not necessarily “fantasy” fans and just like a good book would still find a lot to enjoy about “The Lions of Al-Rassan”. It is not just for fantasy geeks.
10/10
