{"id":5377,"date":"2015-08-27T21:04:46","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T01:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5377"},"modified":"2021-05-30T11:55:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T15:55:34","slug":"the-lions-of-al-rassan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5377","title":{"rendered":"The Lions of Al-Rassan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lions of Al-Rassan<\/a><\/em> (1995) Guy Gavriel Kay<\/a><\/p>\n

\"lionsofal-rassan\"<\/a>This is fantasy, but it parallels the history of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle ages. But the parallels aren’t complete, as women aren’t nearly as subjugated as they would have been in Europe at the time.<\/p>\n

Jehane is a Kindath physician, and in high demand in Fezana, even though the Kindath are outsiders, and often reviled as such, but she is still safer in Cartada than she would be in Espera\u00f1a, where the Kindath are rumored to kill and eat babies. In Cartada, her suffering is limited to high taxes, just for being a Kindath.<\/p>\n

I really really love Jehane.<\/p>\n

Jehane had been raised, by her mother and father both, to show deference where it was due and earned, and not otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch \u2018niceties,\u2019 as you prefer to call simple courtesy, ought to matter in Cartada as much as they do here,\u201d she said levelly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I also love Ammmar.<\/p>\n

Depending upon one\u2019s views, Ammar ibn Khairan was one of the most celebrated men or one of the most notorious in the peninsula. <\/p>\n

It was said, and sung, that when scarcely come to manhood he had single-handedly scaled the walls of the Al-Fontina in Silvenes, slain a dozen guards within, fought through to the Cypress Garden to kill the khalif, then battled his way out again, alone, dead bodies strewn about him. For this service, the grateful, newly proclaimed king in Cartada had rewarded ibn Khairan with immediate wealth and increasing power through the years, including, of late, the formal role of guardian and advisor to the prince.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And yet just as much do I love Rodrigo.<\/p>\n

(T)he talk was of crop rotation and the pattern of rainfall here in the tagra lands. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t the real warriors of Valledo,\u201d he\u2019d said to his company upon mounting up again after one such conversation. \u201cThese people are. It will be a mistake for any man who rides with me to forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cThis,\u201d said Rodrigo Belmonte of Valledo plaintively, \u201cis distressingly familiar. A woman putting me in my place. Are you sure you\u2019ve never met my wife?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And there are so many passages that rang true for me throughout the book.<\/p>\n

I can only say that past a certain point accepting the things (he) has done feels like sharing in them. Being responsible for them.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

Jehane hated to cry; she regarded it as a defeat.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

There was something to be said for straightforwardness in a world of oblique intrigue.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

It is an old truth that men and women sometimes miss what they hate as much as what they love.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

(He) opened his mouth and then closed it. There was nothing he could think of to say. There were places into which words could not go. Not the words he knew.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is so much I love about this book–love even though it made me cry–makes me cry now, re-reading passages as I write this.<\/p>\n

It is beautiful. It is wonderous. Even decades after I first read it, when all the details were gone, the feeling remained, true to what I felt reading it again.
\nRating: 9.5\/10<\/strong>
\nPublished by Harper Voyager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995) Guy Gavriel Kay This is fantasy, but it parallels the history of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle ages. But the parallels aren’t complete, as women aren’t nearly as subjugated as they would have been in Europe at the time. Jehane is a Kindath physician, and in high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[192,27,2],"tags":[135],"class_list":["post-5377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-5-10","category-alternate-history","category-fantasy","tag-guy-gavriel-kay"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1oJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/31","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":0},"title":"The Lions of Al-Rassan","author":"Michelle","date":"June 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995) Guy Gavriel Kay This is a very good, albeit very depressing book. Set in the same world as Sailing to Sarantium, this book describes the battles between the followers of Jad versus the Asharites. If Sailing to Sarantium reminded me of Rome, this book reminded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2416,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2416","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":1},"title":"Under Heaven","author":"Michelle","date":"June 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Under Heaven (2010) Guy Gavriel Kay A new Guy Gavriel Kay book is like a small discovered treasure, something to be saved until a time when it can be enjoyed and savored. Some books I love because they are romps, others because they are long slow strolls through another place\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Under-Heaven.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/81","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":2},"title":"Tigana","author":"Michelle","date":"June 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Tigana (1990) Guy Gavriel Kay Why is it that every time I finish one of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, I ask myself, \"How could I have forgotten how good his books are?\" Even reading this book for a second time, I was still surprised at how good it was. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/06\/Tigana.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6272,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6272","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":3},"title":"Sailing to Sarantium","author":"Michelle","date":"December 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sailing to Sarantium (1998) Guy Gavriel Kay Guy Gavriel Kay is an incredible writer. He doesn't wrote epic fantasy in the sense of swords and sorcerey--in fact there is often no magic in his stories. He instead researches a subject an a time period and grounds his story in those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Sailing-to-Sarantium.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":4},"title":"The Sarantine Mosaic","author":"Michelle","date":"June 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sarantine Mosaic: Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors Guy Gavriel Kay On a note unrelated to the story, I do have to say that I greatly prefer the Canadian cover art to the American. That's the problem with thorough websites. You get to find out what you're missing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/52","url_meta":{"origin":5377,"position":5},"title":"The Last Light of the Sun","author":"Michelle","date":"January 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Last Light of the Sun (2004) Guy Gavriel Kay Good luck finding this book. I came across it only because I was searching Amazon for another of his books, and realized that he had a new book out. Of course I've found a lot of books on Amazon recently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/last-light-of-the-sun.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}