
Written on the Dark
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $21.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Vance
-
By:
-
Guy Gavriel Kay
About this listen
Both sweeping and intimate, a majestic novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France
Thierry Villar is a well-known—even notorious— tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.
But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.
As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king—and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.
A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind.
©2025 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2025 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Children of Earth and Sky
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request - and possibly to do more - and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman posing as a doctor's wife but sent by Seressa as a spy.
-
-
Deep Echoes of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By Sarah on 05-13-16
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Sailing to Sarantium
- Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Berny Clark
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast.
-
-
Can't give a fair rating
- By Alyssa B. Goss on 10-16-15
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Hungry Gods
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amri was a Rabbit, one of a tribe of survivors scratching out an existence in the blasted landscape of a shattered, poisoned world. The Seagull fight, the Pigeon trade and the Cockroach scavenge, but the Rabbit had one rule: If you want to see tomorrow, you run. But they didn't run fast enough when a weapon fell from the sky and consumed their home, and now Amri is alone, in the company of a fallen god named Guy Vesten. A god who promises revenge against the three gods who turned against him, and who killed her tribe.
-
By Blood, by Salt
- Land of Exile, Book 1
- By: J. L. Odom
- Narrated by: Micah Popp
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Azetla has served the Maurowan Army for thirteen years. There are seven left to pay. A pariah and a debt soldier, he is a commander with no rank, a soldier without citizenship, and wears a sword that it is unlawful for him to either own or use. He has learned to hold his tongue or risk losing everything. When Azetla’s battalion is sent into the desert to catch a Sahr devil—one of the famously brutal inhabitants of the region—his tenuous position is threatened. He discovers that there is far more to this mission than catching a fiend.
-
-
Highly recommend!
- By Gatis on 07-02-25
By: J. L. Odom
-
The Lions of Al-Rassan
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan - poet, diplomat, soldier - until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
-
-
Lots of drama
- By KH on 10-12-12
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Heroic Age Trilogy
- A Mortal Techniques Box Set
- By: Rob J. Hayes
- Narrated by: Kim Bretton
- Length: 44 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ein is on a mission from God...the God of Death. Time is up for the emperor of Ten Kings, and it falls to Ein, an eight-year-old boy, to render the judgement of the reaper. He can't do it alone, but luckily the world is full of travelling heroes. There's only one catch; in order to serve him, they must first die.
-
-
Horrible narration
- By Isaiah Dell on 11-30-22
By: Rob J. Hayes
-
Children of Earth and Sky
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request - and possibly to do more - and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman posing as a doctor's wife but sent by Seressa as a spy.
-
-
Deep Echoes of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By Sarah on 05-13-16
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Sailing to Sarantium
- Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Berny Clark
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast.
-
-
Can't give a fair rating
- By Alyssa B. Goss on 10-16-15
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Hungry Gods
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amri was a Rabbit, one of a tribe of survivors scratching out an existence in the blasted landscape of a shattered, poisoned world. The Seagull fight, the Pigeon trade and the Cockroach scavenge, but the Rabbit had one rule: If you want to see tomorrow, you run. But they didn't run fast enough when a weapon fell from the sky and consumed their home, and now Amri is alone, in the company of a fallen god named Guy Vesten. A god who promises revenge against the three gods who turned against him, and who killed her tribe.
-
By Blood, by Salt
- Land of Exile, Book 1
- By: J. L. Odom
- Narrated by: Micah Popp
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Azetla has served the Maurowan Army for thirteen years. There are seven left to pay. A pariah and a debt soldier, he is a commander with no rank, a soldier without citizenship, and wears a sword that it is unlawful for him to either own or use. He has learned to hold his tongue or risk losing everything. When Azetla’s battalion is sent into the desert to catch a Sahr devil—one of the famously brutal inhabitants of the region—his tenuous position is threatened. He discovers that there is far more to this mission than catching a fiend.
-
-
Highly recommend!
- By Gatis on 07-02-25
By: J. L. Odom
-
The Lions of Al-Rassan
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan - poet, diplomat, soldier - until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
-
-
Lots of drama
- By KH on 10-12-12
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Heroic Age Trilogy
- A Mortal Techniques Box Set
- By: Rob J. Hayes
- Narrated by: Kim Bretton
- Length: 44 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ein is on a mission from God...the God of Death. Time is up for the emperor of Ten Kings, and it falls to Ein, an eight-year-old boy, to render the judgement of the reaper. He can't do it alone, but luckily the world is full of travelling heroes. There's only one catch; in order to serve him, they must first die.
-
-
Horrible narration
- By Isaiah Dell on 11-30-22
By: Rob J. Hayes
-
Last Stop
- The Diamond Knife, Book 1
- By: Django Wexler
- Narrated by: Kevin Kemp
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his older sister, Quedra Sa-Yool, was brought down by her political enemies, ne'er-do-well and pilot extraordinaire Zham followed her into exile. Quedra, a military genius once known as the Diamond Knife, now commands the mercenary airship Last Stop and its motley crew, and Zham leads its tiny air wing—when he's not roistering in bars and dodging moneylenders, that is.
-
-
One of Wexler’s best!
- By David Huff on 05-12-25
By: Django Wexler
-
All the Seas of the World
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a dark night along a lonely stretch of coast a small ship sends two people ashore. Their purpose is assassination. They have been hired by two of the most dangerous men alive to alter the balance of power in the world. If they succeed, the consequences will affect the destinies of empires, and lives both great and small.
-
-
Generally I love Kay’s work
- By Eliza on 08-01-22
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Pale Dreamer
- A Bone Season Novella
- By: Samantha Shannon
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A dreamer is born - the exhilarating prequel to the ground-breaking, extraordinary Bone Season series. In the perilous heart of Scion London, a dangerous and valuable poltergeist is on the loose - and it must be caught before chaos erupts on the streets of the capital. Here, the clairvoyant underworld plays by its own rules, and rival gangs will stop at nothing to win such a magnificent prize. Sixteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working for Jaxon Hall, the most notorious mime-lord in the city. He thinks she is hiding a powerful gift.
-
-
A great novella
- By Sabrina Williams on 05-01-21
By: Samantha Shannon
-
ILLBORN
- The Illborn Saga, Book One
- By: Daniel T. Jackson
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long ago, The Lord Aiduel emerged from the deserts of the Holy Land, possessed with divine powers. He used these to forcibly unite the peoples of Angall, before His ascension to heaven. Over eight hundred years later, in a medieval world which is threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known, and will force each of them to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate which haunts their dreams.
-
-
A MUST READ!!!!
- By Lorrie F. on 07-02-25
-
Discount Armageddon
- InCryptid, Book 1
- By: Seanan McGuire
- Narrated by: Emily Bauer
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right?
-
-
I love this book!
- By a on 11-21-12
By: Seanan McGuire
-
The Raven Tower
- By: Ann Leckie
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes. But the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts.
-
-
A Unique Perspective and an Intriguing Mystery
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-19
By: Ann Leckie
-
Blade of Dream
- By: Daniel Abraham
- Narrated by: Sean Rohani
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Garreth Left is heir to one of Kithamar’s most prominent merchant families. The path of his life was paved long before he was born. Learn the family trade, marry to secure wealthy in-laws, and inherit the business when the time is right. But to Garreth, a life chosen for him is no life at all. In one night, a chance meeting with an enigmatic stranger changes everything. He falls in love with a woman whose name he doesn’t even know, and he will do anything to find her again.
-
-
Awful narrator
- By Dave on 07-23-23
By: Daniel Abraham
-
Jhereg
- Vlad Taltos, Book 1
- By: Steven Brust
- Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vlad Taltos, a mobster and assassin in the magical metropolis of Adrilankha, is given the largest contract of his career, but the job is even more complicated than he expects.
-
-
Known Of For Decades, Audible Opens My Eyes...
- By Michael on 09-23-12
By: Steven Brust
-
Queen Demon
- The Rising World, Book 2
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: Eric Mok
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs' Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there's something he isn't telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt university of Ancartre, which may be dangerously close to finding the Well itself.
By: Martha Wells
-
A Brightness Long Ago
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life. Danio Cerra's intelligence won him entry to a renowned school even though he was only the son of a tailor. He took service at the court of a ruling count - and soon learned why that man was known as the Beast.
-
-
Another Masterpiece from Mr. Kay
- By Craig Cassar on 06-01-19
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Book That Wouldn't Burn
- By: Mark Lawrence
- Narrated by: Jessica Whittaker
- Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The boy has lived his whole life trapped within a book-choked chamber older than empires and larger than cities. The girl has been plucked from the outskirts of civilization to be trained as a librarian, studying the mysteries of the great library at the heart of her kingdom. They were never supposed to meet. But in the library, they did. Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another.
-
-
Keeps the reader guessing
- By Gr on 08-17-23
By: Mark Lawrence
-
A Song for Arbonne
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The lands of Arbonne and Gorhaut are on the verge of an all-consuming conflict. When a devious high priest of Gorhaut seizes the opportunity to wage a holy war against residents of Arbonne, an epic clash between the two cultures ensues.
-
-
Beautiful, moving, full of suspence and adventure
- By Efrat Kotzer Hassid on 07-22-20
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
Critic reviews
"An absolutely astonishing novel . . . by our greatest living writer of the fantastic. . . . Quite simply, a masterpiece."—JM Miro, international bestselling author of Ordinary Monsters
“Kay burnishes his reputation for worldbuilding with this believable, magic-tinged analogue for medieval France, complete with its own Hundred Years’ War and a Joan of Arc stand-in. While Kay’s fictional outcomes tend toward the happier, he plays fair with the suffering of his heroes and humanizes his villains. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be sucked in."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Kay once again delivers a skillful blend of history and fantasy that captures both the beauty and brutality of the past with poetic precision. His sophisticated prose elevates every scene, intertwining fleeting joys and deep sorrows into a narrative that resonates long after the final page... In addition to being a profound meditation on history, identity, and the human condition, this novel stands as a testament to Kay’s unparalleled storytelling.”—Library Journal
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
A Brightness Long Ago
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life. Danio Cerra's intelligence won him entry to a renowned school even though he was only the son of a tailor. He took service at the court of a ruling count - and soon learned why that man was known as the Beast.
-
-
Another Masterpiece from Mr. Kay
- By Craig Cassar on 06-01-19
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Under Heaven
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under Heaven takes listeners to Tang dynasty China, where the son of an honored general has received an unheard of gift: 250 Sardian horses. But this is a prize men would, and will, kill for.
-
-
One of my favorite by my favorite historical fantasy author
- By KBergin on 10-03-20
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Last Light of the Sun
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father’s sins, denied his heritage and home, commits an act of vengeance and desperation that brings him face-to-face with a past he’s been trying to leave behind...In the Anglcyn lands of King Aeldred, the shrewd king, battling inner demons all the while, shores up his defenses with alliances and diplomacy - and with swords and arrows. Meanwhile his exceptional, unpredictable sons and daughters give shape to their own desires when battle comes and darkness falls in the spirit wood...
-
-
Quintessential GGK, but the narrator is a bit weak.
- By Jared Petrick on 08-22-24
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Children of Earth and Sky
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request - and possibly to do more - and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman posing as a doctor's wife but sent by Seressa as a spy.
-
-
Deep Echoes of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By Sarah on 05-13-16
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Sailing to Sarantium
- Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Berny Clark
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast.
-
-
Can't give a fair rating
- By Alyssa B. Goss on 10-16-15
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Ysabel
- A Novel
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ysabel is a contemporary fantasy that centers on the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence, where a 15-year-old boy accompanies his father on a photo shoot. Befriending a whip-smart American girl and confronting a knife-wielding maniac, the boy finds that the ancient site shimmers with mysteries of fantastical design.
-
-
Contemporary fantasy set in France
- By Michael G Kurilla on 06-09-23
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
A Brightness Long Ago
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life. Danio Cerra's intelligence won him entry to a renowned school even though he was only the son of a tailor. He took service at the court of a ruling count - and soon learned why that man was known as the Beast.
-
-
Another Masterpiece from Mr. Kay
- By Craig Cassar on 06-01-19
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Under Heaven
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under Heaven takes listeners to Tang dynasty China, where the son of an honored general has received an unheard of gift: 250 Sardian horses. But this is a prize men would, and will, kill for.
-
-
One of my favorite by my favorite historical fantasy author
- By KBergin on 10-03-20
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Last Light of the Sun
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father’s sins, denied his heritage and home, commits an act of vengeance and desperation that brings him face-to-face with a past he’s been trying to leave behind...In the Anglcyn lands of King Aeldred, the shrewd king, battling inner demons all the while, shores up his defenses with alliances and diplomacy - and with swords and arrows. Meanwhile his exceptional, unpredictable sons and daughters give shape to their own desires when battle comes and darkness falls in the spirit wood...
-
-
Quintessential GGK, but the narrator is a bit weak.
- By Jared Petrick on 08-22-24
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Children of Earth and Sky
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request - and possibly to do more - and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman posing as a doctor's wife but sent by Seressa as a spy.
-
-
Deep Echoes of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By Sarah on 05-13-16
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Sailing to Sarantium
- Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Berny Clark
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast.
-
-
Can't give a fair rating
- By Alyssa B. Goss on 10-16-15
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Ysabel
- A Novel
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ysabel is a contemporary fantasy that centers on the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence, where a 15-year-old boy accompanies his father on a photo shoot. Befriending a whip-smart American girl and confronting a knife-wielding maniac, the boy finds that the ancient site shimmers with mysteries of fantastical design.
-
-
Contemporary fantasy set in France
- By Michael G Kurilla on 06-09-23
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Lions of Al-Rassan
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan - poet, diplomat, soldier - until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
-
-
Lots of drama
- By KH on 10-12-12
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Summer Tree
- Fionavar Tapestry, Book 1
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two-time Aurora Award-winning author Guy Gavriel Kay has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award three times. In the first book of his Fionavar Tapestry series, five college students meet a wizard who takes them to the heart of the first of all worlds - a place called Fionavar. The students soon discover that they have been pre-ordained as part of the pattern called the Fionavar Tapestry - and if they don't fulfill their destinies, the world will suffer devastating consequences.
-
-
My favorite trilogy.
- By NZDreamin on 02-10-21
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
Tigana
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight of the nine Palm provinces of the Peninsula have been overcome by warrior sorcerers Brandin and Alberico. But the sorcerers don't know that a small band of survivors is plotting their removal. With tensions mounting, the sorcerers become increasingly at odds as each decides where his own path - and that of the land - should truly lie.
-
-
A little self-indulgent
- By Diana M. on 05-31-20
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
A Song for Arbonne
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The lands of Arbonne and Gorhaut are on the verge of an all-consuming conflict. When a devious high priest of Gorhaut seizes the opportunity to wage a holy war against residents of Arbonne, an epic clash between the two cultures ensues.
-
-
Beautiful, moving, full of suspence and adventure
- By Efrat Kotzer Hassid on 07-22-20
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
All the Seas of the World
- By: Guy Gavriel Kay
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a dark night along a lonely stretch of coast a small ship sends two people ashore. Their purpose is assassination. They have been hired by two of the most dangerous men alive to alter the balance of power in the world. If they succeed, the consequences will affect the destinies of empires, and lives both great and small.
-
-
Generally I love Kay’s work
- By Eliza on 08-01-22
By: Guy Gavriel Kay
-
The Blackbirds of St. Giles
- By: Lila Cain
- Narrated by: Paterson Joseph
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a terrifying night in 1768, Daniel and his young sister, Pearl, narrowly escape their brutal life of slavery when a Jamaican sugarcane plantation is torched in a violent uprising. In the ashes, Daniel leaves behind the rest of his family—and one powerful love. More than a decade later in New York City, Daniel anticipates sailing with Pearl, now 15, to a new life promised by Britain’s king to former slaves who fought for the Crown in America’s War of Independence.
By: Lila Cain
-
Deathless Beast
- Kallattian Saga, Book 1
- By: Andrew D. Meredith
- Narrated by: Andrew D. Meredith
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Far too many blame their own bad luck on Hanen and Rallia Clouw. When opportunity knocks, they leap to put their past behind them. In the turmoil of a holy order fraught with lies, frustration, and heresy, the paladin Jined Brazstein is called to deeper faith.
-
-
Great stuff!
- By Anonymous User on 06-24-25
-
Now and Forever
- By: Margaret Scutt
- Narrated by: Charlie Coletta
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dorset, 1682. Catherine Carey was once a vivacious beauty with the world at her feet. One tragic accident was all it took to shatter her dreams, her spirit, her everything. Now, she only wants to hide her scarred face from the world. But if she thinks she’s safe at home, she is wrong. Her scheming brother wants to marry her off to a fortune-hunter, and he won’t take no for an answer. Out on a lonely walk, Catherine is attacked and left for dead. Could this be her brother’s doing?
-
-
I can’t decide
- By allison STOOPS on 05-12-23
By: Margaret Scutt
-
Hall of Bones
- The Brotherhood of the Eagle, Book 1
- By: Tim Hardie
- Narrated by: RJ Bayley
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a new enemy comes to power, Rothgar’s ruling family and friends are forced to ally with old rivals. Faced with betrayal from within their own clan, Rothgar’s survival is by no means certain, as an ancient and malevolent magic grows in strength and threatens all he holds dear.
By: Tim Hardie
-
Requiem of the Night
- Shadows and Gods, Book 1
- By: Jay Styles
- Narrated by: Joshua Story, Daryl Mayfield, Katherine Grant-Suttie
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They fear him because they can’t control him. When an ancient vampire tied to a forgotten god performs a forbidden ritual, the world of the undead fractures. Styles’s act of defiance sends shockwaves through the supernatural realm, awakening powers long thought buried and forcing the Vampire Council to confront a threat they can no longer ignore. To some, Styles is a savior—a chance to reclaim their true strength. To others, he is a harbinger of destruction, a force that could unmake everything they’ve built.
-
-
Kept me on my toes! Unique plot!
- By Angela on 07-03-25
By: Jay Styles
-
Forsworn
- The Forsworn Oath, Book 1
- By: David Estes
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 32 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ludo Vica was only eight years old, he lost his twin brother and his eye when a horrific fire turned his village to ash. The last thing he remembers is a dark figure, wreathed in flames, stalking toward his childhood home. His brother, Gado, was still inside. Then came the explosion, the burning pain where his eye should've been, followed by blessed oblivion. The man deemed responsible for it all was Cainan, a dark sorcerer known as the Fire Eater, who was brought to justice and imprisoned in the legendary fortress known as Comman Dur.
-
-
As excellent as David Estes's other books.
- By Vadim on 05-28-25
By: David Estes
-
The Mystery of the Polite Man
- A Lady Darriby-Jones Mystery, Book 1
- By: CM Rawlins
- Narrated by: Sasha Higgins
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1926. Just days before Lord Darriby-Jones is scheduled to enlighten the world at the Annual Limacology Symposium, his secretary unceremoniously bids adieu to her employment. It's now up to Lady Darriby-Jones to find a replacement. In a twist of fate, she stumbles upon a commoner from a neighboring town willing to accept the role, despite the slug-dismantling duties that await him. He's positively thrilled at the chance to rub elbows with true aristocrats, even if his job involves less glamorous endeavors.
-
-
Light listening
- By CassyLynn on 02-01-25
By: CM Rawlins
I've noticed a trend in Kay's recent work towards shorter, action packed novels. I like action, but the plot doesn't feel believable when it's rushed like this -- unlike older, longer works where he captures a brilliant balance of narrative and random chance that makes the story feel real (and all the more gripping for it).
I wonder if the publishers are influencing this decision to sacrifice quality for faster pacing?
I do like what Kay is doing tying all these more recent Renaissance novels together, making them relate tangentially to each other. I enjoy the allusions to themes and characters from his other novels, and seeing how together they form a bigger story. I hope to see more of that -- but I can't help but feel that this story doesn't stand up on its own -- and so the emotional impact is lost.
Even so, I salute Kay for writing beautifully and for the magnitude of his work. I'm deeply impressed and for all that, Written on the Dark was still an enjoyable story to listen to!
not his best work
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
best author and narrator
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good but more of the same
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
a little off his mark
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Vance always stands out! The writing is magnificent!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My GAWD that man RUINS my productivity.
The depth. The writing. The intricacy and simplicity.
SO. WELL. DONE.
It's a really good thing...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully written, beautifully read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
GGK often tells tales that feel like dusk: low light, soft step, deep thought. This book is not quite bright or loud either. This one was pretty dull. I contemplated DNFing at multiple junctures.
Although a lot of GGk’s works lean on voice, not deeds, this book is particularly severe in that much is told to us: what one feels, what one dreams, what they fear but dare not show. Some will call this style rich, full of weight. I tend to crave more scene, more clash, more spark on the page.
Large swathes of page space interrupt the story, dedicated to the author just ruminating like this: “So much uncertainty lies in art, and what endures. Where and when the lightning flash of brilliance will strike. What is valued in a given time, or over time. And what is lost, forgotten.It is the same, writ large, when we consider actual events in our lives: faith, doubt, war, peace. Famine, abundance. Storms at sea, or sweeping across the land, bending or breaking trees. Rain or drought. Winter’s ice. Ice in the heart. Afternoon sunlight for the autumn’s harvest. Health, sickness. Desire. Calamitous misfortune. Friendship. Love.” … all telling. Nothing shown.
More examples of telling rather than showing. The book is full of these.
- “He had once loved, or thought he did. It had not been wise.”
(We are told of love lost, yet we do not see this love play out.)
- “A man may turn from dark, but not shed all its shade.”
(This is not a scene, but a view—told like a truth writ on stone.)
- “They said he was kind. Some said he had killed for coin.”
(What is real? What is false? We don't see, we are told.)
All of this rambling distracts from the story when not told in a direct action voice. When nothing seems to be happening, the story seems to come to a standstill, boredom sets in.
Here are a few other ways Kay keeps show at bay:
“It had been one more mark against the ledger of his cousin. Enough of them, over time, to have been worth a murder, he had finally decided. Accepting an ordered pilgrimage to Rhodias. And after returning to Berga sending letters of ingratiating entreaty to Orane that he be allowed back at court to take his proper place on the royal council.” …so tedious and dull! 😴
Another: “Because he’d declined the also offered, hugely exalted position of high cleric of Orane, including leading the rites in the Great Sanctuary on the island, with a handsome residence adjoining, there was an ongoing issue as to who should be appointed there. Both the king and the High Patriarch in Rhodias had thoughts concerning this appointment. It was a position of power, deeply entangled in politics, not just faith. Which is why there was an issue.” …. 🥱 Yawn!
Another super annoying thing GGK does is introduce an inconsequential character for a few pages only and alternately use their first and last name expecting the reader to keep track of the two. Glaring example: Claquin Guiene someone solely introduced in chapter 14 never to be mentioned again. Calls him Claquin in some paragraphs and addresses as Guiene in others as if this guy is my wife’s brother and I should try to learn his name!
The tale feels like it is shared near a flame, with heads bowed, eyes half shut.😴💤
The book moves in slow steps. There is war, but it’s not sharp or raw. It’s held at a cool length. Deeds are not thrust in our face. Much is shaped by talks and thoughts. This is not high pace. It is not made for rush. It asked for my time, and my mind.
Men and dames in this world hide hurts. They deal in plots, trade, and fate. Each has depth, though many felt faint, as they came and went swiftly. I got the sense that who they are is less key than what they stand for.
Each arc is moved more by thought than clash. We do not see the wound—we are told it was deep.
Kay's words wind like a stream: soft, bright, and deep. He loves a clause with weight. He crafts lines like verse. There is grace here, but I could not warm to its flow. At times, it feels like the tale stops so the words can dance. A dance I had no interest in watching!
GGK book ranking from best to worst (of those I have read):
Sarantine mosaic duology (sailing to sarantium and king of emperors)
A song for Arbonne
Lions of Al Rassan
Under heaven
Tigana
A brightness long ago
Written on the dark
2.5🌟🌟💫 stars!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
not his best effort
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The best I can describe this book is, however, stale.
The prose craft is fine, for sure, though it digs a bit too much into the "What we know... what we don't know..." kinds of cliches at times and keeps side-pushing LGBTQ+ relationships and other modernisms into his fiction. To be clear I have no problems with them in our modern life, but the protagonists and their pals become "modern" in sensibility in a rather lazy way, leaving all the nasty medievalisms to the villains and the occasional side character.
The GGK formula worked a lot better when it's fresh because the story isn't nearly so well known. Senj? The nautical world of the Mediterranean after the Reconquista told partially from the perspective of an expelled Jew? These were fresh. Late Medieval France with some fairly weak love stories and all-too-predictable court intrigue? Stale.
I'd preordered it and was mildly disappointed that it was only 10 hours but honestly this story just doesn't merit more than that.
I don't know whether he has it in him now, but there are so many better eras near this one that could be explored: The Fourth Crusade, the various Sieges of Vienna (already alluded to but not really explored), more in the Middle East, more in Late Antiquity, I dunno, maybe get out of Europe for a while.
If you want good GGK and haven't experienced him before, go visit Sarantium when it was fresh and not circle around the tired near-corpse of the city that keeps getting mention-dropped. Or visit al-Rassan. Or... well there are a lot of choices.
Stale and formulaic
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.