The Darkest Road

by Guy Gavriel Kay

Book Overview

Five men and women from our world face a battle with an evil beyond imagining in the deeply moving conclusion to Guy Gavriel Kay's acclaimed Fionavar Tapestry. As the Unraveller's armies assemble, those resisting him must call upon the most ancient of powers, knowing that if this realm of gods and magic is conquered by evil, the ripples of destruction will be felt across all worlds. But despite the sacrifices made and courage shown, all may be undone...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451458338
• ISBN13: 9780451458339
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

So excellent!

I remember the first time I read this series. It took me four days (it would have taken three, but there was a delay in getting the last two from a friend). I was moved more deeply than any other work in fantasy I had read. I remember staying up until 6 AM (I was in theater at the time) reading them, and weeping my way through the last third of the last book in the series. Without doubt, Kay invokes all that is deep in us as people who have created mythos and myths to carry us. He evokes all that is strong in us, while showing that even the mythic have their weaknesses. While later works of Kay's may be more polished, this is the raw material that he still works from. As with every reading, when I finished my recent re-read I was almost traumatised to leave the world that had been so well crafted. The end leaves all satisfied, but there is a bittersweet flavor to it, since the people he has created are no longer accessable to the reader. This is the series I would want while stranded on a desert island. And I cannot think of anything more to say than that.

A Beautiful Story in a Beautiful Setting

I love the Fionavar Tapestry. In these books Kay has woven a beautiful, complex story. The setting is Fionavar, a gorgeous and enchanted world filled with magic and history--a world which reminds me of Narnia or Middle Earth. The story is filled with strong, compelling characters, both male and female, who sometimes have to make difficult choices. At times the story is sad but Kay's writing is so graceful that I enjoyed even the sad parts.The Longest Road, the last book in the trilogy, was for the me the most emotional and heartbreaking. I cried many times before reaching the end, but Kay's story is never bitter, only bittersweet. And within it there also lies true joy for some characters. The closing chapters of this story are magnificent in scope and feeling, and when I turned the last page I felt satisfied.I would highly recommend The Fionavar Tapestry to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy with powerful magic and attractive settings.

'There will come a tomorrow where you weep for me'

And I almost did...This is my review of the Fionavar Tapestry, and in particular, the strongest and most heartfelt book in the trilogy, The Darkest Road. FT starts with the Summer Tree, where five University of Toronto students (Dave Martyniuk, Paul Schafer, Kim Ford, Kevin Laine, and Jennifer Lowell) are brought into another dimension by the mage Loren Silvercloak for the King of Brennin's 50 year of his reign. The world is Fionavar, a beautiful land of magic and intriguing mysteries. Evil is stirring in Fionavar, however, and the evil Unraveller, Rakoth, finally breaks free from its prison. The world is in danger from the immortal who has been trapped for 1000 years.The ultimate story of sacrifice and love, the Fionavar Tapestry is simply compelling. In the Darkest Road, the son of Rakoth and Jennifer, Darien, has to chose between good and evil and the entire Tapestry (Earth included) is at stake!Very well written, please read FT and all Guy Gavriel Kay's novels!

Spirals within Spirals - Stunning and Transcendant

The Darkest Road is the conclusion to a bittersweet story that touches the heart in ways that long after the reader has savored the final words the "melody lingers on" and on. The entire three book series starting with "The Summer Tree", followed by "The Wandering Fire" tells a story of five friends from Toronto who are gathered together one evening on campus to attend a lecture by an outstanding speaker. Unbeknown to the audience the speaker is actually from another world and is a mage by name of Loren Silvercloak who is accompanied by his magical source Matt, a dwarf king. They have crossed the dimensions of time and are on a quest to find these five friends, several of whom have alternate histories in other lifetimes. They have essential roles in this parallel universe to aid the people of Fionavar who are locked in a struggle against the god Rakoth Maugrim called the Unraveller in a near hopeless battle between the forces of chaos vs order.The story delves into the vilest recesses of evil perpetuated by Rakoth Maugrim who captures and nearly destroys the very beautiful and queenly Jennifer/Guinevere. Amidst this horror is another that consumes her friend Paul who is haunted by guilt over his belief that he caused the death of his lover Rachel in a car accident that transpired on a rainy night in Toronto. Paul establishes a quasi friendship over a game of chess with the king of Fionavar and learns the reasons behind the drought that is destroying the land. In his desolation of guilt and grief he volunteers to be the sacrifice on the Summer Tree in the Godwood in place of the aged king so that rain will come and and halt the devastation of drought caused by Rakoth's malevolence.The sacrifice he makes transmutes Paul from mortal to that of an andain/god-man. He becomes a channel for Mornir the god of thunder. Kim, who is a doctor in Toronto is fated to become the seer of Fionavar and to wield the warstone in defense of the beleagured kingdom.Dave, a truculent law student locked in an angry power struggle with his father and mad at the world in general had become separated from the others during the magical translation from Toronto to Finovar and has wandered into the lands of nomads called the Dalrei. He learns to love these people as he lives among them and becomes both a brother and a warrior helping them defend their herds of eltor from ravening wolves and other evil forces sent by Rakoth Maugrim to destroy the Dalrei. In the process of seemingly insurrmountable odds he finds inner peace and himself as a man. The sweet tempered, good hearted, fun loving, irreverent Kevin is the only one who finds he has no real purpose to serve Finovar until one special night, guided by mystical forces, he travels to the place of a goddess and chooses to sacrifice his life in order to be with her again for in his moment of death, he has discovered that they were beloved of each other in a past lifetime. His sacri

Satisfying conclusion to a moving trilogy.

This series more than any other I have read has moved me to tears; sometimes a bit heavy-handed in emotional manipulation, GG Kay nonetheless has done a masterful job of knitting the stories of the protagonists together. The introduction and use of the Arthurian legend is brilliant.The good guys win, no surprise - but this novel ties up an artful telling of how this comes about.I recommend this series as highly and as often as LOtR, and for many of the same reasons. I have given it away to friends more than any other book or set of books. On a par with Zelazny's "Lord of Light" for sheer enjoyability.