Ysabel time...

It's been a while since I last posted (around a month or so!), but during that period I haven't been lax.

I started reading _Hammer's Slammers_ and got...bored. I may not be ready for it (yet). I sometimes find if I put a book on the shelf for a while, I can come back with a fresh perspective and enjoy it. For example, when I first started reading _God Emperor of Dune_ I couldn't get into it. Later when I came back to it I enjoyed it. I'm sure _Hammer's Slammers_ will be the same...

In the meantime I read instead Guy Gavriel Kay's _Ysabel_. I'll not try not to deny it: Kay is one of my favorite authors. After reading the superlative _Tigana_ I always look for his books eagerly.

_Ysabel_ is along the lines of his other fantasy books, in that it freely mixes history with fantasy. Unlike Kay's other books (a historical pastiche with fantasy elements...you can almost read the books and guess what historical personalities he's writing about), this book is very much set in the modern world with a barely-glimpsed at fantasy world behind the scenes.

The action starts out in Provence, France. A young boy...so on and so forth. What is interesting about this book is that the main character is a witness to the drama, rather than a true participant. It involves an age-old rivalry between a Celtic warrior and a Greek merchant -- and the clash of cultures that come with it. What is maddening though, is that he sets up a number of mysteries and doesn't follow through with a resolution. Does this mean there will be a sequel (maybe, probably not)? Only time will tell...

While this book was not one of Kay's best (there have been others), its interesting enough, and I think it is a book that might have a more popular appeal to those who generally don't read SF/Fantasy. In that sense, it was almost a fantasy version of a Chrighton book...