The Lions of Al-Rassan
I am very conflicted about Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan. The first 90% of the book was flawless, but I found the last 10% deeply disappointing. Going into this, I knew Kay was known for breathtakingly good prose, and the book met those expectations. I was pleasantly surprised that the other stuff is good too. The narrative was interesting, setting up complex political pieces deftly. The characters are likable and even minor characters are memorable. For the first 90% of the book, I was in love.
Let's talk about the last 10%. The bromance between Rodrigo and Ammar dies when they end up on opposite sides of the holy war. I love the idea of these two legendary men fated to meet on the battlefield, but I don't believe the justifications to put them there were well executed. For me to buy into the inevitability, I have to feel like there were no alternatives. Why does Ammar choose the Muwardis? We see repeatedly in the narrative that his allegiance changes as the wind blows. Either him or Rodrigo could have easily walked away; it wasn’t as if they had no choice but to join the war.
After a perfectly paced 90%, it's amazing to me that we skip instantly a year ahead to the final battlefield at Silvenes. We built up Ghalib only to have him killed off-screen. The entirety of Ragosa's siege is glossed over. We rapidly set up the one to one combat then sped forward years later when the war is over. I felt robbed of the pay off and the fallout.
My other big issue with this book is Jehane. I was led to believe she was a main character in this story. She's around for a lot of the major events, and she's tied to many of the other characters. What happened? How did we lose her character so completely? Carnival happens, she finally chooses Ammar, and suddenly that becomes ALL she is. She went from "I don't need your protection" to "I will not leave him". She chose her side in the war based on which her lover picked. Don't forget, that's technically the side that sent assassins after Rodrigo that ultimately led to Velaz's death.
Not only did we lose her character, we also lost her arc. I am mystified why the trepanation on Diego was done by her father. Why is Jehane robbed of her character moment? What is her arc if not this? Her father is mutilated after accomplishing a surgery thought impossible. One of Jehane's defining characteristics is trying to live up to the legendary physician her father was. She should have finally stepped out of her father's shadow and become a legend in her own right. She does essentially no physician's work after Carnival. It's just so disappointing.












