The Lions of Al-Rassan

I can't really remember where I first read about this book; it must have been a good review to prompt me to read it, however, as I was totally unfamiliar with the author, Guy Gavriel Kay. But what a really splendid novel! Although ostensibly set in a non-earthly world that has two moons (a blue and a white one) the history, place names, and geography strongly resemble those of the Iberian peninsula. This book was delightfully serendipitous in that it connected to two other recent reads, Mistress of the Art of Death and Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert. One of the main characters of this book, as in Mistress, is a woman physician, Jehane bet Ishak. Aside from the challenges offered by being a woman in a profession and culture dominated by men, life is made more difficult because of her faith. She is a member of the Kindath or wandering tribe; it wouldn't be too far a stretch to imagine substituting the word Jews, based on the persecution they have experienced from the other religions, the Asharites who worship the god behind the stars (read Muslims), and the Jaddites who believe the sun is god (read Christians). Early on she is befriended by and then comes to love men of these other faiths, Ammar ibn Khairan, an Asharite poet, warrior, diplomat and assassin, and Rodrigo Belmonte, captain of a Jaddite army, devoted husband and father. Like the real-life Ms. Bell, Jehane operates in a man's world, contributing unique skills and knowledge that come from a compassionate and consuming intellect. The desert born Asharites are also reflected in the dealings Ms. Bell had with the tribes of the Middle East. The body of the story takes place in less then a year; we are drawn inexorably into peoples' lives, shifting ever faster as a war of reconquest is crafted and then set in motion. A year later, decisions reached on the eve of war now reach their inevitable conclusion; but we must read the epilogue twenty years further on to really know what happened. This was one of those books that was hard to put down and that will definitely push me to seek out other works by Canadian author Kay. Kay's own sources for the historic, literary and character aspects of this book are found here.