By a strong quirk of fate, Caius Crispus (Crispin), a mosaicist of the first order, has been called to sail to Sarantium. He has been ordered by no less then the Emperor Valerius II himself, and so Crispin has no choice but to go. This journey to the center of the civilized world allows Crispin to come in contact with a life that he never thought he'd encounter, and he will be forever changed.

I love Guy Gavriel Kay. I discovered his Fionavar Tapestry in high school and have been hooked ever since. No, not hooked -- enamored is the more appropriate word. There is no other author whose prose is so lyrical and detailed in quite the same way. Kay's prose flies as if it was poetry, his attention to detail is consistently superb and his characters are lovingly crafted and fleshed out. No character is too insignificant or central for Kay; they each receive the same loving touch and intricate characterization.

Perhaps the central theme of this novel is the way fate interacts with individual lives -- chance meetings and strange unlikely occurrences define the plot and how it will progress. More so than any other factor, it is fate and happenstance that make decisions. Kay carefully explores how the small choices we make and the missed meetings of our lives can fundamentally change the paths we take and the futures to which they may lead. Each action is important, each moment has significance, and yet Kay never loses the flow of his prose or the reader's interest. The byzantine twists and turns of his plot are intriguing and unique.

Byzantine is indeed the appropriate word to describe this book, since it is based on the Byzantine Empire, whose political plots and diplomatic strategies sparked the use of its name to describe anything so twisted and convoluted as to be completely incomprehensible. Kay has taken one point in actual history -- the rise to power of the Emperor Justinian -- and has warped it, turned it, and made it into something unique and wholly his own. It's a pity that most writers of historical fiction do not write with such love and style, nor do writers of alternate history normally make it this interesting. This is Kay's most ambitious project yet, and he soars above any obstacles, conquering both a time period and a new style of writing.

I cannot endorse Sailing to Sarantium enough. Go out, find it, read it, devour it, love it. I am so pleased that this is only the first in a continuing series, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second volume.

-- Megan Linton

Sailing to Sarantium, published by HarperPrism, is currently available in paperback.

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