A Brightness Long Ago
core novel 2019 The Lions of Al-Rassan / The Sarantine Mosaic
Record
| First published | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.18 (8,777 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 423 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451472991 |
Synopsis
A Brightness Long Ago, a prequel to Children of Earth and Sky set in a world modeled on fifteenth-century Italy, is narrated in retrospect by Guidanio Cerra, now an aging councillor looking back on his youth in the fractured land of Batiara. He recalls how, despite his humble origins, he gained a place at a prestigious school that brought him into contact with nobles and other figures who would shape his life, including Adria Ripoli, a duke's daughter secretly plotting against a ruthless nobleman known as Count Uberto, and Jelena, a healer whose story becomes entwined with his own. As Danio is drawn into the orbit of Adria's dangerous plans, the narrative also follows the wider rivalry between the condottiere leaders Folco Cino d'Acorsi and Teobaldo Monticola di Remigio, whose competing ambitions shape the political and military landscape of Batiara around him.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Lions of Al-Rassan / The Sarantine Mosaic
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
Notes
- A prequel to Children of Earth and Sky, per Wikipedia; same world.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within The Lions of Al-Rassan / The Sarantine Mosaic (standalone work): position 5 of 7: previous Children of Earth and Sky (2016) · next All the Seas of the World (2022)
Sources
← The Lions of Al-Rassan / The Sarantine Mosaic dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.