Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

I know I already wrote a little blurb about this novel in my Guy Gavriel Kay author review, but I just re-read it so I want to post a proper review.

Brief: 

Like all of Kay's works Ysabel is difficult to categorize. It is something of an Urban Fantasy, but it is also very deeply rooted in History. Genre categories and labels don't seem to fit his books, in general, to be honest, they just don't adequately capture the essence of his books.

Whatever you choose to label it, Ysabel starts off with a teenage boy, Ned Marriner, who is spending six weeks in France because his famous photographer father is working there. He gets to miss the last few weeks of school and he is aware that he should be happy, but he isn't really pleased with his situation. He wanders into the Church that his father is photographing and stumbles across a strange man and some mysterious statues. The plot that unfolds is an uncovering of Ned's own family history and his connection to the history of the area. It's action-packed and has the usual interesting hints and scenes of magic.

As one may expect the writing is amazing and the plot flows effortlessly, making this book a page-turner. Because of the modern setting of this one and the fact that it takes place mostly in a teenager's head the prose isn't quite as lyrical as in some of Kay's other works - it would sound really odd and out of place if he used his usual style with this book - but he does manage to pay homage to this lyrical style a couple of times in the book, in a way that made me smile. Kay also brings in some of his characters from the Fionavar Tapestry, and even though I didn't like that series I found myself enjoying their scenes and happy with their inclusion in this tale.

I would highly recommend this book to any reader, especially readers of fantasy.

World-Building Rating: 

It should probably go without saying for something written by GGK, but this book receives a rating of Awesome on the world-building scale. The author manages to bring to life several worlds in this single volume:  the world of the main character in this story (a small piece of our modern world) as well as the strange world of magic that he finds himself thrown into and the world of ancient France.