All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay

(Hodder & Stoughton, 2022)

Reviewed by Anne F. Wilson

This is one of Kay’s alternate history novels. The author is replicating the Mediterranean civilizations after the fall of Byzantium. I’m not actually sure why the title refers to all the seas of the world as we are stuck firmly in the Mediterranean (or Middle Sea).

Some cultures and cities are easily recognisable, Asharias is Istanbul (Constantinople as was), Esperana is Spain, Seressa is Venice. Major events in the recent past include the sack of Asharias and the expulsion of the Kindath (broadly equivalent to Jews) and the Asharites (≈Moors) from Esperana.

Continue reading…

Review from BSFA Review 19 - Download your copy here.