Published: Feb. 05, 2010
Words: 305966 (approximate)
Language: English

Ebook description

War brings Kei, a gentle healer from an isolated village, into collision with Arman, an embittered, honourable general, a man trapped in a loveless marriage and joylessly wedded to duty. The fate of two nations will rest on these two men–and somehow they must not only learn to overcome their own personal difficulties, but bring peace with honour to their countries. If they fail...many will die.

Adult-content rating:

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Tags

fantasy, mm, gay romance

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Reviews

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Review by: julio genao on Jan. 24, 2012 :
i inhaled this sucker. dithering between beginning on the second volume in the series or stabbing out into something else by the author; safe to say i can't go wrong in either case.

buy. this. book. it's a delight.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: julio genao on Jan. 24, 2012 : (no rating)
i inhaled this sucker. dithering between beginning on the second volume in the series or stabbing out into something else by the author; safe to say i can't go wrong in either case.

buy. this. book. it's a delight.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Michael Joseph on Dec. 02, 2011 :
The best word I can think of to describe Kei’s Gift is "epic" – in the very classical sense of the word. This is a broad tale of the clash of two cultures, set in an alternate world not far removed from Earth’s ancient antiquity. The ‘clash’ is actually an all out war, and against this background our two heroes struggle to find peace, and each other.

On the one side, we have Arman, a general in the Prij army. The Prij seemed to be loosely based on the ancient romans, a militaristic society with a thirst for expansion by conquest, ruled by a capricious young monarch advised by a senate of decrepit old men. The Prij believe they are the only civilized society, and that the peoples they conquer are all barbarians. Arman is an intelligent and honorable man, whose life, especially his evil bitch of a wife, brings him no happiness.

Kei is a gentle healer in a small village in Darshian. He has what the Darshianese call a ‘gift’, the ability to see into people’s souls and know what they’re feeling. People with gifts are rare and highly respected, but the gifts are not always a blessing to the person that has them.

The two men are enemies, on opposite sides of a very unjust war, yet it seems like they are somehow destined to be together. But circumstances, their differences, and their honor, seems to be constantly pulling them apart. At times, it really looks like they will never find happiness.

This is what I would call a very ‘dense’ book, and by that I don’t mean it’s difficult to read. It’s actually quite readable. But unlike many other books of such length, there’s no fluff of unnecessary prose, no lengthy tirades. There are plenty of tirades, against war and stupidity for the most part, but they’re short and to the point. Every word on every page is important and adds to the story. It’s a very rich tale, with sadness, humor, and some real tear-jerking moments near the end.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: tomwild on Oct. 01, 2011 :
Haven't quite finished this book but will highly recommend it. It took me to a completely different world yet a familiar one. Love the characters and have already purchased the sequel . "Falling from the Tree". Excellent story teller.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Amanda Beyerlein on March 24, 2011 :
I loved the world-building and character development in this book. At times, my eyes prickled with unshed tears at the hardships the two main characters faced, as well as the difficulties the entire cast dealt with, but the overall ending made all the angst worth it. Definitely a book that leaves you feeling that you've left friends behind when you finish it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Estara Swanberg on March 08, 2011 :
The Darshian Tales are excellent fantasy (with only a slight touch of the m/m that Ann Somerville is best known for). They explore racism, actions that have consequences even years later, family and community, different forms of government, learning and ignorance, mistakes and how to deal with them, love and growing up - all within a family&friend circle of characters whose focus are two men from very different cultures eventually falling in love and really having to work at making a life for both together.

In this first book there are actually truly evil characters, too (without motivation - Mykis and Senator Medus) - but as her writing gets ever better, all the other bad things that happen naturally evolve out of what has come before and it's an emotionally very satisfying story seeing how the heroes and their friends deal with life and rebuild again and again when circumstances yank security out from under them.

If you've enjoyed reading Sherwood Smith's Inda series, you'll enjoy this book, focusing mostly on Kei's point of view, but with other points-of-view occasionally as needed. The world is logical in itself, with a renaissance fantasy feel and only small but lovely psychic powers included. The focus is on the characters and dialogue, which I very much appreciate.

The book is huge but you never get bored (at medium size font on my Sony PRS505 I have 2000 pages), so I bought the second one right away and read it, too.

Don't buy this for sexxoring, the love is shown, but you get as much in romance books - which I basically see this as - long epic fantasy romance. Think McMaster Bujold Sharing Knife, I think that is even closer than Sherwood Smith.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Duane Colwell on March 05, 2011 :
Wow. Ann is terrific. I haven't even finished this book yet but it is wonderful. I read Ann's book 'Remastering Jerna" and was so empressed that I turned around and read it over again from the beginning. She is an amazing story teller. Highly recommended
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: DarkSunshine on March 01, 2011 :
I read by chance some months ago a book wrote by Ann Somerville and loved it. This one didn’t disappoint me.

The story is excellent, full of suspense, with a profound and touching lovestory. The characters are unique and their strong emotions and inner struggles so well described you can’t help falling in love with the story. Once you began reading it, you won’t be able to put it down, a feeling you get how many times you read it !

I highly recommend this book and the other ones related (Bearing Fruit, Homeground and Staying Power).
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Suong Doan on Sep. 28, 2010 :
This is an amazing book, the author creates a fantasy world that draws you in from the start to finish. Despite it's length I found every single moment in this story enjoyable.

I loved the main characters, Kei and Arman are so well written, you will empathize with them throughout the story.

Definitely a wonderful story to read when you have a good amount of time on you hands, you won't want to put it down!
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: aoiyume on Sep. 05, 2010 :
i found this by chance a number of years ago and i've read it many times since. i find Ann Somerville to be an imaginative storyteller with well-developed characters and lovely plots. No matter how many times i read it, i get a warm feeling.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: stine on May 13, 2010 : (no rating)
Kei`s Gift was my first book from this author and I found it so enchanting, that I will read all her other books as well. The Charakters are very vibrant, you can imagine them before your eyes. The story is full of suspense as well as a tender lovestory, that is very touchy without beeing cheap or sappy. I loved very much the charakter of Kei, his gentle but strong soul and his view of live. If you like fantasy and romance, I recommend this book very much.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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