The Sarantine Mosaic

The Sarantine Mosaic is a historical fantasy duology by Guy Gavriel Kay, comprising Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors. The titles of the novels are an allusion to poet W.B. Yeats.

The story's setting is based on the 6th century Mediterranean world, and the looming conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy that had replaced the Western Roman Empire. Varena, the capital of Batiara, alludes to Ravenna, the Ostrogothic capital, while Sarantium, the capital of Trakesia, is inspired by Byzantium or Constantinople. The novels The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun also take place in that unnamed world, although in different settings. In the series we are also briefly acquainted with the character Ashar ibn Ashar, who is the creator of the Asharite religion seen in The Lions of Al-Rassan. The seeds of change for the great empire based in Sarantium are thus already being sown even at the height of its power and prestige.

Sailing to Sarantium

Sailing to Sarantium, the first novel in the saga, was published in 1998. In this novel, mosaicist Caius Crispus ("Crispin"), is summoned from Varena to the great metropolis of Sarantium to create a mosaic for Emperor Valerius II, (modelled on Byzantine emperor Justinian I). Crispin has lost his family to plague, and has nothing left to him except his mosaic art, for which he is earning attention. The narration follows his travels from the relatively civilized Batiara through the wilder region of Sauradia, where he has an encounter with a creature of supernatural aspect resembling an aurochs, to Sarantium itself and his compelled entrance into the politics of the metropolis, centred on Valerius and his consort, the Empress Alixana (modelled on Justinian's empress, Theodora). While Crispin is a central focus of the book, there are other stories interwoven with his. Overcoming loss (loss of family, loss of the past), rebuilding (life, civilization), journey as change and the importance of art to the individual creator and to civilization itself are themes of the novel. The title and much of the thematic development alludes to the poem Sailing to Byzantium, a work of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats.

Plot==

Emperor Apius of Sarantium dies without any heirs leaving the empire in uncertainty. Flavius Daleina, a rich and influential aristrocrat, plants his men among the common people to falsely shout their support for him as emperor among the different factions. His deception is quickly uncovered at the same time as he is murdered on the streets with Sarantium fire while donning the robes of the Emperor, leaving his eldest son hideously burned, while Petrus of Trakesia and his lover Aliana, who the most prominent dancer of the city, look on. Valerius, uncle to Petrus and Count of the Excubitors (the city's soldiers and guards) is appointed the new Emperor by the popular demand, as his nephew had predicted.

15 years later, Petrus has succeeded his uncle, naming himself Valerius II and making Alixana, formerly Aliana, his empress. Valerius II commissions a great sanctuary for Jad and summons Martinian of Batiara, a renowned mosiacist, to decorate it. The royal request is sent with Pronobius Tilliticus, an Imperial Courier, who delays delivery of the message while pursuing pursuing personal pleasure along the road. Martinian, partially on whim and partially believing himself too old travel, causes Tilliticus to mistake his friend and colleague Caius Crispus ("Crispin") of Rhodias for him, delivering the message in a public fashion. Crispin is reluctant to accept the presitgious summons, having lost the desire to live when his wife and two daughters died of the plague the previous year. Having taken too long receive the summons, the season no longer allows Crispsin to Sail to Sarantium and must take the road. Martinian sends Crispin to talk to his old and well-traveled friend Zoticus for advice on his journey. Zoticus reveals himself to have some supernatural powers and gifts Crispin with a mechanical bird that is alive, Linon, being able to both talk to him aloud and within his mind. He also gives Crispin the name of his daughter and another person in Sarantium who may be able to help him.

The night before he is to leave, Crispin is forcibly abducted and taken to Gisel, the queen of the Antae and ruler over Batiara and Rhodias, who is barely holding onto her throne and life after the recent death of her father. She gives Crispin a secret message to be given only to Emperor Valerius II: an offer of her hand in marriage, which would save her life and give Valerius the western kingdom. The palace guards from that night are killed to protect the secret.

Crispin starts his journey under the assumed identity of Martinian, hiring Vargos as his man servant. The night before the Day of the Dead, during which Zoticus warned him not to travel, Crispin arrives at an inn where a slave girl, Kisia, begs him to save her, having figured out she is to be given as a human sacrifice to the pagan god on the Day of the Dead. Despite devising an ingenious plan that forces the inn keeper to give him ownership of Kisia, the group are still pursued as they leave the inn, deciding it necessary to travel on the Day of the Dead despite all warnings. They are saved by a zubir, a corporeal representation of the pagan god, which then brings them to the forested area where the human sacrifices are performed. Linon realizes the god wants only her, revealing that she was a sacrificed girl to the god long ago but her soul was saved and placed in the bird by Zoticus. She sacrifices herself, releasing her soul from the bird, and allowing the others to leave unharmed.

While admiring an old and impressive mosaic in a sanctuary along the road, the commander Carulluswith his men, sent by Valerius to find Crispin due to extended time it has taken to respond to the Emperor's summons, catches up to Crispin. After an initial rough encounter, resulting in Crispin being knocked unconscious by Carullus and Vargos and Kisia almost being raped and killed, the group slowly become friends as they finally arrive in Sarantium.

Shortly after arriving, Crispin is immediately summoned to the Emperor and the court, a speed of which is unheard in the empire. Risking his life, Crispin reveals his true identity only to find out that the the Emperor and Empress knew his and Martinian's deception from the beginning. Crispin quickly finds favour with them, causing the royal mosiacist to be dismissed and angering his sponsor, Styliane Daleina, the daughter of the murdered Flavius Daleina and new wife of Leontes, the beloved royal Strategos. The Emperor gives Crispin the honour of decorating the newly erected sanctuary, and Empress Alixana publicly invites Crispin for a private audience later that night.

Crispin's private audience with the Empresses is interrupted by the Emperor and the two reveal that they know of Gisel's secret offer of marriage, while Crispin neither confirms or denies the message. It becomes clear that the Emperor will not put aside his beloved though barren wife - an assumed consequence of her former life and as a dancer - but informs both that he had long since summoned the queen to Sarantium, where he plans to use her as an excuse to invade the west and reunite the kingdoms under his rule. The Emperor then brings Crispin to the sanctuary to show him where he is to work, before leaving him under the protection of Carullus to return home.

While returning home, Crispin is attacked by assassins, but survives due to the help of Carullus and the famous and beloved Scortius of the blues, the most beloved charioteer of the city. Crispin returns to his room only to find Styliane Daleina in it who throws herself at him and is amused when he rejects her advances.

The next day, while relaxing in a bath house, Crispin finds himself alone with Leontes, the latter having arranged it to discuss his views on the blasphemy of depicting Jad in human form. Before leaving, Leontes exposes another armed assassin entering the sauna, giving Crispin just enough time to overcome his attacker while looking on and refusing to help.

Crispin makes contact with Zoticus's daugher, Shirin, who is revealed to also have one of her father's birds whose thoughts Crispin is able to also hear for unknown reasons. With the help of Vargos, it is learned that the assassins were hired by Pronobius Tilliticus as revenge for losing his job when Crispin indirectly revealed his inappropriate and disloyal services.

With the help of Zoticus, Gisel is able to escape attempts on her life and journeys to Sarantium. Zoticus, upon learning that the pagan god had not forgotten nor relinquished his right to the souls of the human sacrifices given to him, journeyed to the forested area where Linon had been lain down for the zubir. There he allows the remaining souls in his mechanical birds to be released back to the god and allows himself to become a human sacrifice.

Crispin further entwines himself into court life and finds reason to continue living through his task of decorating the great sanctuary, through which he sees a chance of immortality. The book ends with an unknown female figure entering the sanctuary while Crispin is working, irresistibly drawing him down to greet her.

Lord of Emperors

Lord of Emperors was published in 2000. The story continues from Sailing to Sarantium and tells of what happens to Crispin after his arrival in the city of Sarantium. Crispin has been charged with a project to cover the interior of the dome of a grand new religious building in Sarantium with a mosaic work. The confidant of both Alixana, the empress, and of the exiled Queen Gisel of Crispin's native Batiara (modelled on the Ostrogoth queen, Amalasuntha), Crispin struggles to survive the political machinations of the era and work on his mosaic. The reader is also introduced to Rustem of Kerakek, a physician from Bassania, an eastern empire roughly analogous to Sassanid Persia, who has also journeyed to the city, finding himself entangled in political intrigue. A significant theme of the book is the interplay between the lives of the politically powerful and the interests of the ordinary people, typified by the chariot races at the hippodrome which become an all-consuming passion for the people even as the empire draws closer to war and upheaval.

Plot

Rustem of Kerakek, a physician from Bassania, is bummoned by Shirvan, the King of Kings of Bassania, after being wounded with a poisned arrow. Rustem saves his life and helps reveal it is the prince behind the assassination attempt. Shirvan rewards him with the promise of raising him the priestly caste and making him a court physician. However, he first tells Rustem to go to Sarantium to act as his spy.

In Sarantium, Crispin has further settled into his work of creating the mosaic in the sanctuary. He plans to immortalize his wife and daughters, as well as Linon and an image of the zubir, along with the images of Jad and Bassaria in the work. Carullus has proposed Kisia and their wedding draws together most of the influential people of the city through the help of their friends. Upon arriving, Rustem's servant (who is secretly his guard and protector) is murdered by a aristocrat's son, and through the events of fleeing for his life, he arrives at the wedding as a guest of Crispin. There he approaches the father of his servant's murder and secures himself with a home and protection in the city as compensation. Rustem quickly established himself but is disturbed when he receives an order from the King of Kings to assassinate a woman.

Emperor Valarius II makes it known to a few that he intends to wage war to reclaim Batiara, and Rhodias through it, in the name of Queen Gisel. Crispin, while at the house of Leontes, allows himself to be seduced by Styliane this time, and escapes through the window when Leontes returns. Styliane tells him of the upcoming invasion of his homeland and also warns him not to become attached to his work.

It is revealed that is was Empress Alixana who was the woman who approached Crispin at the end of the first novel. She again approaches Crispsin as he finishes his wife's image in the mosaic and was to begin that of his daughters. She takes on a boat ride under the permise of showing him dolphins which she wishes to put in a mosaic for her private room - a depiction which is considered heretical do their divine association. The boat arrives at an island where Lecanus Daleina, oldest and hideously burned and disfigured son of the assassinated Flavius Daleina, is imprisoned. Alixana impersonates Styliane to try get information from him. Despite being blind, Crispin realizes he is not deceived as he hears the thoughts of yet another mechanical bird talking to Lecanus in his head. After they leave, he confesses what he heard to Alixana who quickly deduces that an assassination attempt is being made on her husband. They return to Lecanus's hut only to find him gone and his guards killed. A guard attempts to assassinate Alixana but is stopped. Alixana tells Crispin to return to the boat with one of her two remaining loyal guards. She returns to Sarantium on a small boat with her remaining guard, disgarding her royal robes, cutting her hair, and changing her appearance. Upon arriving in the docks, she disappears into the crowds, disguised as a whore.

Emperor Valerius II is confronted by all three surviving Daleina children, including Styliane and Lecanus, in his personal passage between palaces, his guards having been bought off. He quickly deduces that they intend to kill him with Sarantium fire as revenge for the death of their father. He banters with them, trying to undermine each of them and their hold on the guards. He almost succeeds in winning over his guards and fleeing before being stabbed in the back by the Leontes's secretary - a man who hated the Emperor and Empress, perceiving them to be impious - who had come through the passage on behalf of Leontes to see what was keeping the Emperor. Lecanus burned the Emperor's bodies along with the guards before allowing himself to be burned, talking the sole blame for the events.

The city errupts in a riot. Leontes is quickly chosen as the new Emperor while Styliane claimed to have arrived too late to stop her brother after learning of his plans. A city-wide search for the Empress is started, with guards going house to house. Rustem, returning home late after treating many riot victims, finds Empress Alixana in his bedroom. She quickly reveals she knew his goal as a spy and asks his help in hiding her while revealing that she knew he had already refused his orders to assassinate Queen Gisel. It is also revealed that it was not Alixana who was barren but Emperor Valerius II who was infertile. Preteding to be a whore caught in the act of pleasuring him when a guard bursts into the room, Rustem helps save her life and allows her to stay the night, finding her gone in the morning. That same night, Gisel summons Crispin and has him help her slip into the palace.

Gisel manages to meet with Leontes, persuading him to see Styliane's role in the whole event and convincing him to take herself as his new wife and a means to obtain the west without a war. Styliane is blinded and imprisoned on the same isle her brother had been on. Her remaining brother is find and executed. Leontes explains to Crispin that all images of Jad are to be destroyed and images of humans and Jad are seen as blasphemy. Crispin is crushed by the news that his mosaic is to be destroyed, seeing it as a death. He decides to finish the images of his daughters before it is destroyed anyway, and also decides to return home.

Crispin says goodbye to all his friends and is summed by the new Empress Gisel before he leaves. She allows him to go visit Styliane before he leaves. Styliane asks Crispin to kill him, realizing life had nothing left for her after achieving her revenge. He refuses but leaves a dagger tha Gisel had, perhaps knowingly, given him as a gift during their meeting. Shirin confronts Crispin before he leaves where she manages to get Crispin to indicate he has feelings for her that that she should perhaps join when when he returned home.

Upon arriving home, Crispin finds Martinian and royal couriers waiting for him. Gisel had greatly rewarded him with wealth, as she had originally promised if he were to successfully deliver her message to Emperor Valerius II. She also gifted him all the rich tools from Sarantium he would need to create a great mosaic promising the work would be protected if he promised to to make an image of Jad.

Crispin spends the next year making an elaborate mosaic in a small abandoned sanctuary, while Martian decorated the adjourning larger and newer sanctuary in an appropriate way, finally having access to the great materials he had always dreamed of throughout his career. Crispin's mosaic depict the newly appointed Emperor Valerius III (formerly Leontes) and Empress Gisel on one side while the former Emperor Valerius II and Empress Alixana are depicted on the other. Between them are depicted all the important figures of court that Crispin had known, including himself.

Just as he finishes the last piece of his mosaic, a woman distracts him, bringing from his work in a mirror of the ending of the first book. Assuming it is Shirin finally come to meet him, he is surprised to see Aliana - no longer Alixana after having disappeared that night. She comments on herself in the mosaic and the two of them realize that they have a reason to continue living again in each other. The novel ends with them talking about having children together.

Reception

Reviewing Lord of Emperors, Charles de Lint praised both volumes, saying "Kay's books ring with authenticity. They are literate and imaginative, and work on many levels. History aficionados will delight in all the small and telling insights Kay brings to the era and its cultures, while other readers will simply delight in the grand sweep of the story, the rich characterization, and Kay's sheer gift with language."

External links

• The Sarantine Mosaic at Guy Gavriel Kay's Authorized Website.