Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

[lightreads]

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A mosaicist is summoned east to not!Byzantium to serve the Emperor in construction of the mightiest sanctuary dome the world has known. His journey takes him through danger, mystical adventure, and court intrigue, culminating in . . . er . . . absolutely nothing. One assumes the point will arrive in the sequel?

Wow, this is remarkable. I really mean it. This book never once uses the word ‘vagina,’ and yet if you woke me up in the dead of night and asked me what this book was about, I would have groggily muttered, “cunts. Lots.” A woman is introduced to us, and the book leans over and mutters out the side of its mouth, “by the way, she has a vagina.” And a few pages later into a scene with her, the book taps you on the shoulder and whispers, “yep, still got one.” And when she exits, well, “vagina vagina vagina!” And then when the next woman comes along, the book is all, “she has one too! Do you remember what vaginas are for?”

Vaginas are for men to fuck, for anyone who didn’t know. Willingly, unwillingly, for political gain, for manipulation. Kay is partly in control of the subliminally horrible sexual politics: those portions are somewhat uncomfortable and sometimes unintentionally funny. Mostly, though, I don’t think Kay realizes that his entire construction of feminine sexuality is defined by how available any given vagina is to a man, and how attractive the body attached to the vagina is, and how politically valuable the body is. Those parts are creepy.

Should I read the sequel? Genuine question – I had pretty big problems with the book above and beyond the vaginas, mostly because it was, um, boring.

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Comments

[readerjane]

Huh.

I came away with something totally different.

Read these books long ago, and was fascinated by the craft of mosaic-making (there's much more about that in Book 2), as well as the alternate history in which not!Arianism had gained ascendancy in the realms of temporal power as well as in the church.

I guess I just wrote off any misogyny in the characters as "well, ancient history, didn't expect people from this time period to be that evolved."

Normally I'd rec these stories to anyone who loves fantasy, but if you were that annoyed and bored by Book 1, I suspect you probably would be by Book 2 as well.

The one particularly powerful part which I think might still appeal to you (though it may not be worth going through the entire second novel) is near the end, when SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER there has been a change of dynasty. Crispin, who had been commissioned by the former Emperor to create a mosaic on the ceiling of his not!HagiaSophia, is told by the new Emperor who adheres to a no-graven-images theology that all the work to date will be destroyed. The dome can display images of fruits, leaves and flowers, but no animals or people. The new Emperor offers Crispin that job, but Crispin declines. He then picks up his bucket of supplies and starts hefting it up the scaffold. The Emperor (who feels he is being greatly indulgent at Crispin's disrespect) asks why Crispin is going to finish that day's work (a cameo of Crispin's dead wife and daughters), since it's a waste of time. Crispin answers, "it's not a waste" and continues up the ladder.

[lightreads]

I think, as I was saying to someone else recently, that this book picks up and magnifies a lot of the gender weirdness present in Kay's other work. So a faint itch turned into 'aaaaah.'

What I need to do is try Tigana or Lions, as they come highly recommended and will probably clear my pallet nicely.

Agree with you, though, about the interest mosaic-making parts. I did like that. Not so much the so far pointless chariot racing and partisanship.

[readerjane]

(Agree with you, though, about the interest mosaic-making parts. I did like that. Not so much the so far pointless chariot racing and partisanship.)

There's a place where the artistry of mosaic-making informs the chariot racing... sort of...

Yes, I do recommend Tigana, and I think you'd like that one more.

Lions is tied into Sarantium, but it had a different feel to it, I thought. One of the main characters is a physician who is also very superstitious. It felt odd, having the representative of Science and Reason doing all these little rituals to ward off bad luck.

[readerjane]

Sorry! The physician is in Lord of Emperors (Sarantium 2), not Lions.

[castiron]

It's been nearly ten years since I read these, but I'd say if you didn't like the first one, the second one isn't enough different to be worth your time.

[cahn]

A lot more happens in the sequel, which is where it parts ways from Byzantium-in-this-world. But I don't know that it's worth reading if you were bored with the first one. Maybe skimming? (I liked it, but I am a sucker for Byzantium.)

[lightreads]

I am too, normally. See also: large swaths of Dorothy Dunnett's work, often my favorite bits. Alas.

[sub_divided]

That's kind of weird, because I remember hearing from somewhere that Guy Gavriel Kay is gay. ^^ His thesis in The Lions of Al-Rassan (which I also couldn't finish due to boredom) is that sophisticated city-states are awesome and invading barbarians suck. Though he's also pretty interested in fanboying Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (the thinly-disguised fictional version), XD.

Someone who made it further into the book than I did commented that the weirdness in that one was how often the two major male characters apologize to the main female character for being "brutish unwashed louts who can never live up to her high standards and be worthy of her attentions".

[lightreads]

There is something very strange about Kay and his endless male-female-male configurations. I'll probably give Lions a shot eventually, or Tigana, which does come recommended.

Don't know about his sexuality, though honestly I don't see how it's terribly relevant. Sexual disinterest doesn't stop, e.g., lesbian slash writers from objectifying/essentializing male bodies.

[avendya]

For what it's worth: Lord of Emperors is one of my favorite books ever. I think Sailing to Sarantium is incredibly dull, and have never reread it. (I read Lord of Emperors first, and then went back. SO DULL OMG.)

But, yes, if you'd like to read more Kay (and, really, if I'd started with Sailing to Sarantium, I probably would have stopped there), I would suggest Lions. Tigana is one of those epic fantasies that I know are problematic in ways and have a lot of cliches, but damned if I don't find it extremely enjoyable.

[stultiloquentia]

I think if you're going to like any of them, you'll like Lions. For one thing, it's the funniest, and for another, it's got his best woman.

Tigana is all vaginas. Hm. Except when it's penises.

[lightreads]

He does like his parts, doesn't he?

Ah well, so do I, in many circumstances.