Lord of Emperors

Book Two of the Sarantine Mosaic

By: Guy Gavriel Kay

Narrated by: Berny Clark

Crispin the mosaicist wants to concentrate on his art. Rustem of Kerakek, a physician, is also on his own journey of self-discovery. But no man may withdraw from society that easily, and both men soon find themselves drawn into the deadly webs of Sarantium.

Lord of Emperors is the sequel to Sailing to Sarantium.

©2000 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

One of my all time favorites! So epic!

Hard to say much without spoiling. Aside from a little overly sexualized characters, this has to be one of my favorite books.

As usual, Magnificent Kay.

Second part of a magnificent story, and a great examination of human loss and achievements.
Berny Clark does a very good job, although I admit to preferring Simon Vance as per other titles from this author. If you read or listen to one of Guy Gavriel Kay's superb offerings, you will end up with all of them sooner than you think. (And eagerly awaiting new publications)

absolutely engrossed

I love Kay's work, these 2 books were some of his finest and Berny Clark did a wonderful job of narrating. I will listen to this one again for sure

So very worth reaching the plateau

Having come straight from the novel previous to this one, I’ll admit to growing a little weary and restless at times during (roughly) the first half of this second book. Once everything this novel was moving towards hit its stride, however, I never wanted to stop listening. It’s kind of painful to come to terms with saying goodbye to these characters. Some extraordinary storytelling by Kay and—another—epic achievement by Clark.

save this wonderful book from this narrator

loved it but it's like ge never read or before. status or with no inflection, bi emotion. souls have read it first and gotten to know the characters so that he could put some real feeling into this rendition it was very tough for me to stick with it but the stories I know from guy are always wonderful

The Byzantium trilogy is magnificent.

All three books set in this part of the world [The Lions of Al Rassan, set 400 years earlier; Sailing to Byzantium; & Lord of Emperors] show Guy Gavriel Kay at his height.

The last two books, which can be read alone, are filled with iridescent characters, danger, intrigue, religious mysteries, adventure, astounding beauty, and moments of unspeakable evil.

Their central character, Caspius Crispis, a mosaicist who is much more than the “artisan” he calls himself, carries us through the lowest and the highest of the great city, Syrantium, home to half a million from multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds and the Emperor and Empress, who have called for him, a foreigner, to design and apply an inspired mosaic to the largest temple dome in medieval Spain. His half year there, he spends among the both the court and the street, learning more than he should know. Especially the women.

This author, my favorite historical fantasy artist, forces us to inhabit the lives of his central multi-faceted characters so deeply that we sometimes fear the beginning of a new chapter. The prose is both beautiful and terrifying—one of the Kay’s gifts. This is no genre writer. He should be elevated to the heights of mainstream fiction. If you have never read his work, the two last volumes of this “trilogy” are a good beginning.

Love this author and performance!!!

The first book in this series was a little slow and tedious. Not too much though. I still liked it. This second book made up for the first ones set up. I loved it. The performance was awesome. I am so amazed at the ability to individualize the various characters to this degree. Well done!!! And the story was able to take you to a different place and time SO well. Outstanding!!!

Be patient, this is worth it!

When I started book number one I didn't know if I could remember all the names. I also felt like the pacing was slow because there was a lot of background to established. I am so glad that I stayed with it because the story that unfolds is worth the time. the author is very good at reminding you of the identities of characters that you haven't visited in a few chapters. It's a sweeping epic that is largely the tale of three kingdoms, with elements of magic lending a mysterious touch, but something about the writing feels more literary. I think I could compare it to historical fiction from a world just one step toward magic from ours. There is grandeur in the scale what it is trying to convey. As an artist I enjoyed very much his description of what it is like to work on mosaic. I feel a creative kinship with one of the main characters, Crispin, who ties the heart of the story together. We follow him loosely, switching characters, but it is he who interweaves through many intrigues and dramatic situations. This book was wonderful!

frustratingly good

Any additional comments?

The book was excellent but i the characters and plot lines i was most interested in were left hanging. My favorite character was killed off at the end of the last book and i almost did not come back. . . I am glad i did, , new characters were deep and pulled me in, , i did keep waiting for more development on the birds. Souls of sacrificed girls were trapped in animated mechanical birds. I thought this was going to be a major part of the second book but instead the author focused on chariot racing and political infighting. At the end of the book there were several pages that tied up loose ends, , i would rather have another book :)

Overall a very good book but still frustrating

Excellent

Simply fantastic. I'd thought the narrator was too slow at the start, but later came to think he fits the series perfectly in my opinion. I have never read a book by Guy before, but I greatly enjoyed the prose, character development, wit, and overall plot. I would highly recommend these 2 books. I generally read much faster/more physically dramatic fantasy novels, so this was unique and wonderful to me that a novel with a basis around a mosaic could be so enthralling. I will be reading or listening to more books from this author.