As the "payoff" book in the series, this was excellent, and certainly justified the first book (which was not fantastic by itself). Kay's only real mistake with this series is that he goes a bit overboard on the Deep And Meaningful Writing. However, it feels as though trying hard to make a statement (or many) in a novel is certainly worth the risk that some of it doesn't come off. A solid 4.5-5 stars, and a series I'd be happy to recommend to other fans of Guy Gavriel Kay (still read the Lions of Al-Rassan first if you've never read any of his works).

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The sequel to Sailing to Sarantium, and final book in the Sarantine Mosaic, and I loved it! Kay’s books seem to simultaneously have not much happen, while so much does happen. And so far all have a melancholy, realism to the ending. Just lovely. ( )

Lord of Emperors - Kay
4 stars

“People see different things, remember different things, though all might be looking in the same direction.”

So many people and so many different perspectives in this final book of Kay’s Sarantine Mosaic. The first book begins with the death of an Emperor, an assassination, and the crowning of a new emperor.
This book ends with another assassination, several executions, and the crowning of a different emperor. There’s a spider web of political machinations against the vibrant and dangerous city of Sarantium.

“Crispin looked up at the statue rising before him. A man on a horse, a martial sword, image of power and majesty, a dominant figure. But it was the women, he thought, who had shaped the story here, not the men with their armies and blades.”

I’ve always enjoyed the female characters in Kay’s books. Despite the historical settings of his fantasies, he gives women prominent roles and positions of influence, if not power. This book was no exception. There were three women vying for power in this book. Clearly, it could not end well for two out of three of those women. That much was predictable, but I found at least one of the outcomes far from believable. Kay also gives each of these characters a strong sexual appeal (and appetite) while making it clear that each of them knows how to use that attraction as a weapon. As a plot device, and with the addition of several minor female characters, it became tediously repetitious.

I also found the chariot racing to be tedious, although the people of Sarantium obviously do not. I sympathized with the Emperor Valerius who regarded the races as an annoying interruption to the work of the day. I suspect that the author loved the races as much as the citizens. The suspense of the culminating race was so richly described. It was riveting entertainment for the masses while the true epoch changing event was taking place quietly off stage. Kay is a master of metaphor.

Of course, the overriding metaphor is the mosaics. The mosaics are emblems of impermanence. Kay refers to the deterioration of this art form in his later books. Having read the other books first, I know that most of the artwork mentioned in this book doesn’t survive the ages. But, poor Cais Crispus knows his masterpiece will be destroyed even before it is completed. I wanted to cry for him.

The religious landscape of this book is complicated. The old pagan beliefs are retreating. There are factions and schisms within the ruling Jadite beliefs. A new prophet is about to emerge from the desert. Kay may have built a fantasy world with a fantasy map, but it is well grounded in the history of our real world. As he foreshadowed the destruction of the mosaics in the Dome of Sarantium, I kept thinking of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. ( )

one of my favourite duologies I've ever read. ( )

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