Beyond Reality discussion

Please check in here if you are reading or planning to read All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay. First impressions?

No spoilers here, please!

I have a question, is it necessary to read A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky before reading this one? It's not a series I know, but it is the same world. Wondering if I should start with the others or if I can jump right in to this one?

I hope to start this tonight.

Dawn wrote: "I have a question, is it necessary to read A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky before reading this one? It's not a series I know, but it is the same world. Wondering if I should sta..."

I’ve read A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky and, to me, they were entirely separate stories other than the shared world and history. However, I have read elsewhere that some characters carry over into this book. I don’t remember many details from either of those earlier books, and I will not be rereading them. And, of course, these 3 books take place in the same “world” as The Sarantine Mosaic and The Lions of Al-Rassan.

So I didn’t really answer your question. The 2 books you mentioned are both excellent, and if you are planning to read them at some point anyway, you may as well read them before diving into this one.

I just started. I've been a Guy Gavriel Kay fan since high school, and have all his books autographed! (He always comes to my local bookstore for signings and I've met him 6 times!) I'm a few books behind; I've read up to Under Heaven.

So I have not read Children of Earth and Sky or A Brightness Long Ago. And a lot of reviews of All the Seas of the World say that you have to. BUT! Guy himself said at the signing for this book that they are each meant to stand alone. He even said that he thinks it would be interesting for people to read them in different orders and get introduced to characters at different points in their stories. So because of that, I am breaking my usual rule of reading things in order, and starting with this one!

Dawn wrote: "I have a question, is it necessary to read A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky before reading this one? It's not a series I know, but it is the same world. Wondering if I should sta..."

There's a different answer to your question, Dawn!

Thanks for that. I might just start with this one then so I can join in the conversation. :)

I read this when it came out - I am a huge Kay fan and have ready everything he’s written except his book of poetry. It stands alone, but there are threads that connect to the other books mentioned and also, to a lesser extent, the Sarantine Mosaic duology.
All are worth reading!

Just going to jump in here and say how lovely this book is! I am about half done—the plot is getting even more intricate and the characters are fascinating! Thanks to everyone who voted for this to be BotM!

I've finished part 1 (this book will probably take me the month to read), and I'm really enjoying it so far! Last year I read Under Heaven and it took me like 6 months (though I read the last half in a couple days at the end of the year lol), so I was a little nervous about reading another one of his big books so soon. I loved Under Heaven but it was the kind of book that just takes me forever to read. But I've had no trouble at all getting immersed in All the Seas of the World! I find myself always wanting to read it instead of the various shorter books I always have available.