Over the holidays there was news that Guy Gavriel Kay’s acclaimed ‘The Fionavar Tapestry’ trilogy is set to be adapted into a television series.

As a long time fan of Kay’s writing, I am delighted. Which is a bit unusual for me as I’m not always keen to see literary work head to either the small or the big screen. In this case however anything to shine a light on this Canadian author’s magnificent body of work, by my account, can only be a good thing.

Knowing that ‘The Summer Tree‘, the first book of the Tapestry, will soon be brought off the page by the fine folks at Temple Street Productions, I wanted to revisit Fionavar myself. I can’t recall exactly when I first read ‘The Summer Tree’ but it was most likely about 15 years ago and after I was introduced to Kay’s novels by a friend when he challenged me to explore the fantasy genre as I’d never paid it much mind. I read a number of Kay’s other books first (to this day The Sarantium Mosaic are two of my most treasured reads) so when I finally found my way round to the Tapestry, the series that established him as renown historical fantasy author, the trilogy had already celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In reading the first book of the series again during the holiday break I was happy to find that just as I remembered, Kay’s Fionavar is a robust magical world built with sparse exposition atypical of the fantasy genre. As his five travelers from Toronto discover the first of all worlds in its time of crisis, his writing emphasizes character, the human condition, and how both our personal histories and society’s are a fount of knowledge when looking to understand our past, our present, and our future in uncertain times.

This go round, as I read the book I particularly appreciated how Kay excels in giving each of his characters a distinct voice and style. In this, his writing embodies a sophistication and nuance that makes the reader not only care about how the plot moves forward but about the characters living the experiences that keep the pages turning, almost with a power all their own.

Even with the adaption in its nascent stages, I’m excited — and oddly relieved — it is being handled by Canadians and by people who understand Kay and his work. As I continue on with the remaining two books in the trilogy knowing the TV show is being dreamed up out there in the world, I’m thoroughly enjoying reacquainting myself with with Fionavar and her champions.