Summer King, Winter Fool

by Lisa Goldstein

Book Overview

A brilliant fantasy of a quest for love and a throne, by one of our best writers (Orson Scott Card). Goldstein transports us into a world of gods and kings and poet-sages, where the god of summer has fallen in love and has therefore chosen not to recede and permit the changing of the seasons.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312856326
• ISBN13: 9780312856328
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful details of a new world

Goldstein has created a beautiful novel about a world wonderfully different than ours, but which still reminds us of our own. This is a kingdom whose power structure is full of courtly intrigue, ambition, and trivialities. The main religion of this land is the worship of the two gods who rule summer and winter. Each god rules for six months and then is challenged by the other who climbs up the ladder to claim his rule in heaven while the other descends to exile on earth. The society worships the ascended god and themselves strive to ascend the ladder in whatever way they can. The story one finds here is of one man who comes to realize the absurdity of the court's ambitions and games, but who, at the same time, discovers that he is the one legal heir to the throne. The story of how he discovers himself and who his true friends are, and then how he comes to power are the main focus of the book. What is so special about the book are the details the author has developed in order to create this world. Besides a full description of the religious system, one reads of the history of social societies, festival traditions, and the mores behind acting in that country. My favorite detail was that each courtier has a personal poet to entertain them and address court politics in verse form. Some poets are truly poet-mages who, through poetry, can do great magic.In reading this novel, one becomes engrossed in a strange world. The description is so involved that one feels as if the world is real. I very much enjoyed my read of this book, for although it is different that Goldstein's other novels, it is still very good. It reminded me of a few of Patricia McKillip's works, so if you like her stuff I would recommend you reading this.