I want readers turning pages until three o'clock in the morning. I want the themes of books to stick around for a reader. I'm always trying to find a way to balance characters and theme.” – Guy Gavriel Kay
Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay,
born in November 1954, has had a knack for creating what is commonly known as
“page turner” books, writing historical fantasy fiction with a flair that has
distinguished his writing over several decades. He cut his teeth on fantasy
writing by traveling to Oxford to assist Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R.
Tolkien, editing J.R.R.’s unpublished work The
Silmarillion. With that experience
as inspiration he began his own career with the 1984 book The Summer Tree.
Many of his novels are set in
fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such
as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I, or Spain during the time of
El Cid. 
He has authored a dozen
best-selling novels, now translated into some 25 languages, most recently
focused on Middle Ages China, although his settings and lead characters have
come from almost every era.
He has authored a dozen
best-selling novels, now translated into some 25 languages, most recently
focused on Middle Ages China, although his settings and lead characters have
come from almost every era.
Not afraid to mix eras and genres,
he has won multiple awards, including The World Fantasy Award for the book Ysabel, set in modern day France but
bringing his teenage lead into direct contact with characters from both the
distant past and another “parallel” world to ours. “I have always argued,” he said, “(that) in a
good novel, interesting things happen to interesting people, no
matter who they are or where they are from.”
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