Sailing to Sarantium
- 415
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Sailing to Sarantium” is a beautifully written historical fantasy set in a vivid, richly imagined version of Byzantium. Guy Gavriel Kay follows Crispin, a grieving master mosaicist called to the golden imperial city with a queen’s secret mission and an alchemist’s talisman. Readers praise the setting and the prose; some find the opening slow and the pacing uneven, and the story continues in “Lord of Emperors”.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Guy Gavriel Kay, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author of The Fionavar Tapestry, brings his unique storytelling imagination to an alternate Byzantine world… Sarantium is the golden city: holy to the faithful, exalted by the poets, jewel of the world and heart of an empire. Caius Crispus, known as Crispin, is a master mosaicist, creating beautiful art with colored stones and glass. Still grieving the loss of his family, he lives only for his craft—until an imperial summons draws him east to the fabled city. Bearing with him a Queen’s secret mission and seductive promise, and a talisman from an alchemist, Crispin crosses a land of pagan ritual and mortal danger, confronting legends and dark magic. Once in Sarantium, with its taverns and gilded sanctuaries, chariot races and palaces, intrigues and violence, Crispin must find his own source of power in order to survive. He finds it, unexpectedly, high on the scaffolding of his own greatest creation.
Reading order · Sarantine Universe
Full order & progress →- Sailing to SarantiumThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - The Last Light of the SunThe Last Light of the Sun–Not ranked yet
- The Lions of Al-RassanThe Lions of Al-Rassan–Not ranked yet
- Children of Earth and Sky
8.08.0 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.2 across 86 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 37% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 86 | 100% |
Frequently asked
How long is Sailing to Sarantium?
It has 415 pages — shorter than 73% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 8.0, the closest to this book.
