Sailing to Sarantium

ISBN: 0-06-105117-9 Order from: Amazon.com

This skilled, at times touching portrayal of the people in an alternate Bizantine Empire, features excellent characters, but suffers a bit from view-hopping and foreshadowing.

Reviewed by David on April 04, 1999

Genre: Fantasy (Alternate Reality, Historical)

Synopsis: In a Europe much like our own in the 6th century, the Emperor of Sarantium summons a master mosaicist to decorate his claim to immortality: a huge temple the likes of which the world has not seen. Instead of the aging master named in the Imperial summons, his younger and fiercer partner, Crispin, travels to the fabled city in the East.

The trip, full of perils and wonders, is vital not only to the young mosaicist, but to many others, from a barbarian queen to an aging magician, from the ambitious emperor to the venal bureaucrats of the court.

Full Review: The Byzantine empire of the sixth century has been getting a lot of SF attention recently. It is interesting to see the different prospectives on Justinian and Belisarius in this book with that in The General or An Oblique Approach.

Yeat's famous "Sailing to Byzantium", with its themes of mortality and art, has inspired at least one other SF novel: Silverberg's Sailing to Byzantium.

As many of Kay's alternate history novels, this appears meticulously researched and remakably faithful to the the recorded history of the period. Crispin, a talented and arrogant mosaicist, has little to live for after his family perishes in a plague. Pressed by his friends and relatives to answer the Emperor's summons instead of his older partner, Crispin makes the perilous jorney to the capitol. On the way, he provides an excellent viewpoint for the story: he combines a love of comfort with physical endurance, a civilized background with a rustic straightforwardness, impetuosity and brilliance.

The other, supporting characters are drawn vivdly as well: the brilliant but ruthless Emperor, his passionate, fierce and intelligent Empress, the brave, venal, beautiful and cruel society of the Sarantium as represented by the soldiers, politicians, nobles and, of course, the Chariot factions.

Despite the brilliance of the book, there are drawbacks to Kay's style. The use of multiple viewpoints, with occasional retelling of the same event, is a problem. While used with skill, the frequent short-term foreshadowing is also distracting. In addition, the magical elements are used very sparingly: this is a novel which would not change drastically of all fantasy elements were removed. In an almost unrelated subplot, the magic is used in a theme of sacrifice, repeating another of Kay's motifs (see, for example, his epic Fionvar Tapestry).

Unlike Kay's many other novels, the plot is centered on one man, Crispin, and his search for beauty and art, which makes the book more coherent. Most of the tragedies occur on a more personal level, with the shadows of massive disruptions in the background. This is a relatively slow book, which, while serving well by itself may well be used as a set-up for a larger epic. Perhaps the foreshadows of wars are intended to be developed in a later book.

This novel, with the love of art and compassion running through, is a pleasure to read, despite some stylistic flaws and lack of relevance in its fantastic elements. One almost hopes that no sequels will be forthcoming to turn it into yet another war and politics-infested epic.

Overall: 6.5; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6.5; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 7;

ISBN: 0-06-105117-9 Order from: Amazon.com