… beguiling alternative Renaissance saga …

This is a beguiling historical yarn set around the Mediterranean during an alternative Renaissance.  The novel follows multiple characters: a female archer, a young portrait painter, a dismissed daughter, a merchant’s younger son,  who meet and part, weaving their way through the political, religious and commercial themes of their time.

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This is a slow yet rewarding read with some genuinely interesting characters and themes that linger for days after I finished. It’s my first GGK and now I do understand the passionate commitment his fans have for his work.  This is not so much fantasy as a well-constructed alternative history.  He has a remarkable way of recreating a credible texture and depth to background events whilst stitching the personal lives of his characters into the broader geopolitical narrative.

It is also graced by a particularly fine cover design by Ben Summers, though he is not credited on my UK hardback sleeve.

Children of Earth and Sky was published by Hodder & Stoughton in May 2016.