3.5 stars. Some beautiful, as I thought they would be from his novels; some inscrutably personal.

Northumbria

... and I saw horsemen:
indentations in the sky
above the heathered hills,
running away to Scotland
five hundred years ago.
The hills are then, easily.
The morning sun seems to want
those riders as much as I,
appearing in bright felicity
to shine on other times,
other worlds. ( )

After being bowled over by the lyricism of Guy Gavriel Kay's prose in his flawless fantasy novel Tigana, I picked up a collection of his poetry hoping to find something similar. Happily, I did. Kay's poetry reminded me of two of my favourite poets: Pablo Neruda (indeed, Kay even quotes him at the start of 'The Guardians') and Leonard Cohen. Beyond This Dark House is precisely the sort of poetry I like: neither too florid nor too functional, but striking that rare balance between accessibility and impenetrability which is the mark of all great poetry.

Favourites include: 'Other Women, and You', 'On the Balcony', 'Following', 'The Last Woman I Loved', 'A Narrow Escape', 'Being Orpheus', 'This Truth', 'Lunch at the Gallery', 'Annotation', the titular 'Beyond This Dark House' and 'A Few Leaves'. ( )

I'm out of the habit of reading poetry and therefore probably didn't spend enough time on each poem in the book - but then my definition of spending enough time for most poems extends to a two-hour exam paper on them, what with having studied literature in two languages for two year.

I found some of the poems difficult to read because they felt just a tiny bit too personal and revealing, and that took me out of my comfort zone (not a bad thing). There were plenty I liked and a couple that I really, really liked.

Um. Not 100% sure how Bechdel applies to poetry. ( )

Summary: Guy Gavriel Kay, a noted Canadian fantasy writer, assembles his poetry into a single collection.

Review: Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favourite fantasy writers. In his novels I can already see his love of language and the simplicity and meaning behind his words. So when I saw that he had a book of poetry out, I knew I wanted to read it.

The language that he extends to his novels create a ephemeral, beautiful collection, which reminds me of nothing so much as the liminality between autumn and winter. Some of the poems seem to be speaking through Kay’s persona while others still explore characters in mythology. They all of them have quiet pauses and blank space that the words edge around carefully. This is the sort of modern poetry I like best: the poetry of sound and silence.

(But really, I don't know how to talk about poetry at all. I analyze it often enough for my university English courses, but to pick apart metaphor and theme is different from asking whether or not I enjoyed it and why).

Conclusion: A strong collection with Kay’s trademark style. ( )

Summary: A collection of poetry by an author primarily known for his fantasy novels. The poems are more contemporary, although they do draw from mythology and legend, as well as Kay's travels, loves, and life. I think the one word to best summarize the tone of the book as a whole would be "nostalgic", although individual poems run the gamut from love-struck to bitter, from bleak to humorous.

Review: Well, if there's one thing staring at my computer screen for the last half hour has proved to me, it's that I don't know how to review poetry. Heck, I barely know how to read poetry without a high school English class backing me up. Nevertheless, here goes nothing...

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite fantasy authors. He's not just a writer, he's a wordsmith, and his ability to stir deep emotion with one perfectly turned phrase is part of why I love his novels so much. So, I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise that his poetry shows the same careful craft and power of imagery and emotion.

I will admit that I was not crazy about the format. This is absolutely a subjective thing, but free verse poetry is just not my favorite, and free verse is all that's to be found here. However, looking past that, the poems themselves were beautiful and lyrical, not the same as Kay's prose but clearly springing from the same brain. Some I loved, some made me wistful and some made me smile, and some were totally opaque to me, even on repeated readings. I kept looking for interconnecting threads to bind each of the sections (there are five) together, and I think I can see them... but darkly. Overall, this was a departure for me, but an interesting one, and it might actually have convinced me to keep reading poetry, so that's all to the good. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Readers who come to this because they like Guy Gavriel Kay's fantasy and are looking for more of the same are going to be disappointed. Readers who come because they love the lyricism of Kay's writing, and his facility with turning the perfect phrase, or because they're interested in contemporary poetry will enjoy it much more. ( )