By making the familiar ever so slightly strange, GGK breathes new life into historical fantasy. Beautifully faceted, jewel-like scenes carry us beyond the doublets and daggers to create an emotionally charged, high-stakes world of love and hate, threat and reward.

The greatest living author of epic fantasy

The finest in his field

Believably and with great vividness, Kay recreates the past not as it was, but as it might have, perhaps should have, been

A Brightness Long Ago is a masterpiece; perhaps the finest work of one of the world’s greatest living storytellers

No matter what the era, the themes, the characters, or the plot, a Guy Gavriel Kay novel is always a marvel of narrative construction

The single best reason I can think of for reading a Guy Gavriel Kay book is the supreme elegance and grace of his writing. … A Brightness Long Ago is yet another gorgeous, moving novel from a master craftsman

Guy Gavriel Kay has a wonderful talent. He tells stories in an invented world that is so rich in historical echoes that I found myself smiling with pleasure as I heard the echoes, while engrossed in the story. Warmly recommended

Another brilliant novel from a literary giant

Guy Gavriel Kay … may now hold the best claim to being the greatest living writer of fantasy fiction… Kay’s novels take real historical events and then weave a fantastical new shape out of them, creating a rich tapestry of characters, events and emotions that is never less than affecting, and, at his best, can be deeply moving. A Brightness Long Ago (*****) is another superb novel from an author who may be fantasy’s most reliably excellent, thoughtful, atmospheric and humane writer, and one whose powers remain notably undimmed. It’s a book about lives, how people live them and the events that shape them, and how everything is connected

Guy Gavriel Kay writes magical books … He takes a plot and cast of characters, ones that would be interesting enough even in the hands of lesser authors, and turns them into something extraordinary through his lyrical and profoundly thoughtful storytelling, his insights into human character and motivations, and his musings on life and its meaning

A surefire hit for historical fiction and fantasy readers, A Brightness Long Ago further cements Kay’s reputation as a wise and beguiling storyteller.

It’s the Italian renaissance brilliantly shot through with fantasy. Finely faceted scenes dazzle as strong, wilful characters create a high-stakes world of love and hate, threat and reward

I love all Guy’s novels, but this one is something really special: gorgeous and wise and incredibly generous of spirit