Written on the Dark
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4.4 • 27 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of 2025
Both sweeping and intimate, a majestic novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France
Thierry Villar is a well-known—even notorious— tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.
But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.
As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king—and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.
A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The pen proves mightier than the sword in this masterful historical fantasy from Kay (All the Seas of the World), who draws from the life of French poet François Villon (c. 1431–1463) in crafting his wily hero, poet and thief Thierry Villar. Plunged into royal politics when his simple heist of gold coins is interrupted by the assassination of a duke, Villar finds that both his literary skill and his skullduggery are better known than he suspected. With the King of Ferrieres mentally incapacitated, his majesty's uncles attempt to smooth over the killing, much to the queen's outrage. Villar is drawn into the mystery by the investigating provost, Robbin de Vaux, who inveigles him to use his writing to bring the guilty to justice. This service forces Villar to flee the city for the country to avoid retribution and find new inspiration for his verses. Kay burnishes his reputation for worldbuilding with this believable, magic-tinged analogue for medieval France, complete with its own Hundred Years' War and a Joan of Arc stand-in. While Kay's fictional outcomes tend toward the happier, he plays fair with the suffering of his heroes and humanizes his villains. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be sucked in.
Customer Reviews
Another stirring hit
This book is a return to a familiar land with characters both big and small. Interesting the main character is a poet since I always considered Kay’s books to be poetry in itself.