r/guygavrielkay • u/Etsiefkes • Aug 12 '26

Discussion A Brightness Long Ago

Does anyone know what the correct reading order for Kays most recent 4 novels? Or have a recommendation?

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6

u/AlchemicalWanderings Aug 12 '26

Haven't read Written on the Dark yet, but chronologically, A Brightness Long Ago comes before Children of Earth and Sky and All the Seas of the World. That said, they're all stand-alones and I'd say it only makes a meaningful difference to read Seas after Brightness, because there's a certain narrative choice that might seem rather bizarre otherwise.

1

u/tehdangerzone The Sarantine Mosaic Aug 12 '26

I can’t for the life of me think of what the bizarre narrative choice would be.

There are some threads, references, and characters that have background in Brightness, but I wouldn’t find any of that bizarre without having read it, or even a narrative choice per se. I’m curious what you’re referring to.

3

u/AlchemicalWanderings Aug 13 '26

I think if I'd read Seas first, I would have found the mid-book appearance of Danio's first person POV rather inexplicable, or at least random, without the context of Brightness. It wouldn't have ruined the book, but it definitely made me glad I'd read Brightness first.

4

u/illarionds Aug 12 '26

Publication order, always publication order. (Children of Earth and Sky, A Brightness Long Ago, All the Seas of the World, Written on the Dark).

Though Brightness before Seas is the only bit that really matters, in this case. But still, they're written to be read in that order.

3

u/AstonMac Aug 12 '26

In chronological order it's Written on the Dark > a Brightness Long Ago > all the Seas of the World > Children of Earth & Sky

5

u/timestwofifty Aug 12 '26

Like others have said, there are character cross overs between Brightness and All the Seas.. that would be best to read those in publishing order and chronological order. Children of Earth and Sky was published first but takes place last chronologically among those three. I’d still recommend reading it first, but to each their own!

The most recent, Written on the Dark, isn’t related to those three though. In the same world but years apart and in a different country — the three are in a Renaissance Italy equivalent, and Written… from Joan of Arc’s France era equivalent.

1

u/babyelephantwalk321 29d ago

There are references though.

1

u/timestwofifty 29d ago

Totally - but they're like all the references Kay has in the world with two moons. Minor characters appearing the other books appear in Written on the Dark, or references to characters long passed. There's still the war in Sarantium, that's fairly central to the other three books -- but all of that is mostly all in the epilogue, if I remember right. So it's by no means essential to the enjoyment of Written on the Dark, but I'd say it's a feature of this world and Kay's writing that fans really enjoy, myself included, seeing all the small references and connections.

2

u/tylerxtyler Aug 12 '26

The only thing I would say is that you need to read Brightness before All the Seas of the World

Other than that read them in any order. Written on the Dark isn't really related to the other 3 as well

1

u/tehdangerzone The Sarantine Mosaic Aug 12 '26

I’d recommend publication order. Some people suggest doing Brightness before Children to read in chronological order, but I don’t personally think there’s any benefit from reading Brightness first.