Guy Gavriel Kay is the international bestselling author of fifteen previous novels, including the Fionavar Tapestry series, Tigana, The Last Light of the Sun, Under Heaven, River of Stars, Children of Earth and Sky, A Brightness Long Ago, and All the Seas of the World. He has been awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his work in the literature of the fantastic and won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008. In 2014 he was named to the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages.

"An absolutely astonishing novel . . . by our greatest living writer of the fantastic. . . . Quite simply, a masterpiece."--JM Miro, international bestselling author of Ordinary Monsters

"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."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Kay once again delivers a skillful blend of history and fantasy that captures both the beauty and brutality of the past with poetic precision. His sophisticated prose elevates every scene, intertwining fleeting joys and deep sorrows into a narrative that resonates long after the final page... In addition to being a profound meditation on history, identity, and the human condition, this novel stands as a testament to Kay's unparalleled storytelling."--Library Journal

"The brilliance of Written on the Dark is its capacity to be many things at once. It's a great story, or series of stories, moving from murder mystery to court drama to war epic to tale of love and loss and beyond, like a song changing keys."--The Globe and Mail (CA)

"There are more than a few flashes of brilliance in Written on the Dark, as well as some profoundly moving insights and some of Kay's most memorable characters."--Locus

Praise for the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay

"[Read] anything by Guy Gavriel Kay....His strengths are strong characters and fantastic set pieces."--The New Yorker

"History and fantasy rarely come together as gracefully or readably as they do in the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay."--The Washington Post Book World

"Kay is a genius. I've read him all my life and am always inspired by his work."--#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson

"Guy Gavriel Kay has a wonderful talent. He tells stories in an invented world that is so rich in historical echoes that I found myself smiling with pleasure as I heard the echoes, while engrossed in the story. Warmly recommended."--Edward Rutherfurd

"Kay is peerless in plucking elements from history and using them to weave a wholly fantastical tale that feels like a translation of some freshly unearthed scroll from a time we have yet to discover."--The Miami Herald

Publisher: Ace Books

Pub date: 2026-04-28

Length: 320 pages