Tigana

Rating:
Summary: GGK's 'Not Quite' is better than most authors' 'Best'.
Review: This was almost a superb book. Almost.

I almost felt sufficient sympathy for the main characters, but most of them were inadequately fleshed out.

I almost understood the grief for lost Tigana. At one point I was murmuring 'Tigana' because _I_ could say it (this is the kind of irrational thing a good fantasy book has you doing), but that feeling wasn't sustained.

Certain points of the plot almost succeeded. Particularly I point to the romances and the death-that-isn't of a main character. In places I can see what he was aiming for, but it falls short. Sometimes I don't see the point or meaning of an event at all.

I get an appreciation of the histories and cultures and landscapes of the provinces of the Palm that is almost sufficient.

I can't contrive any more almosts. Another peeve is the unnecessary and intrusive use of the present tense in places. I have nothing against the present tense, but it wasn't acheiving anything. Despite all of this, Tigana gets four stars because it is a very good book, just not quite what it could have been.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and complex.
Review: Guy Gavriel Kay is the type of author I want to be when I grow up. The complexity of plot and richness of detail in Tigana simply fill me with awe. A master is at work here. Read this book. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Good Adventure Story
Review: It's good, very easy to read, satisfying and predictable, well written. Maybe about 100 pages too long! I liked the book but can't understand all the hype about it. It's not like the author invented the wheel or anything!

Rating:
Summary: Did Kay Change for the Critics?
Review: For me, all of Kay's work after "The Fionavar Tapestry" (trilogy) has been an *intense disappointment*. I've heard that some critics charged him with the "heinous crime" of being a Tolkien wannabe... perhaps in response to that criticism, he felt compelled to change his style? Sadly, in doing so, he seems to have lost the incredible beauty and eloquence of expression which characterized the "Tapestry" series. I am extremely disappointed with _Tigana_, as well as with Kay's subsequent works.

Rating:
Summary: Almost a great book.
Review: My mom gave me this book to read, and when I started reading it I thought it was pretty good. The problem came up when I got about 2/3 of the way through. It seems as though Kay had a great idea and started spending lots of time on it, and then hit a deadline and abruptly gave up on getting a good story finished and instead focused on getting it out the door. There is so much that he could have done with this, and it ended up being very disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: There is no better single volume fantasy
Review: Guy Kay's Tigana is a moving, haunting work of prose that continues to resonate with you long after you finish the novel. The premise and goal -- freedom fighters seeking the rebirth of their nation -- is far different from the typical sword-and-sorcery fantasy motif; as are the portraits of the heroes and villains -- they are not stark black-and-white images but all have varying shades of grey. The language Kay uses and the settings evoke an emotional attachment to the action in the book. The book receives four stars only because of disturbing sexual encounters between two of the main characters.

Rating:
Summary: Badly written
Review: After reading the other reviews I am apparently very much in the minority, but I found this book to be not well written at all. I only got through the first 100 or so pages and then gave up. The book is full of tortured prose which lectures us for paragraph after paragraph about the protagonists' feelings, reactions, memories, etc. The author also has an annoying habit: when the plot calls for a character to say something clever, he or she comes out with something fairly lame, but the other characters are dumbstruck with admiration. After this happened for the tenth time I finally stopped reading in frustration. Reading this makes me long for Ursula K. LeGuin, whose understated prose *shows* you what the characters are thinking and feeling rather than *telling* you.

Rating:
Summary: .........breathtaking.......
Review: It isn't often that a book, or an author for that matter, can come along and actually move me on an emotional level. Guy Gavriel Kay and Tigana both did this. If you like stories that can do that, try George R. R. Martin, Fyodor Doystevski, and a few other ones. Kay is a master of prose, and his stories lure the reader in and hit them with a moving scene unlike most other stories out there. Tigana being the first story I read by him, I hadn't expected a lot from it. The sad thing with fantasy is that it's hard for me, as a reader, to get into the plot and believe that the character is actually suffering. Very few authors can make a story both moving and enjoyable. Mr. Kay has done both. At the moment I'm reading A Song for Arbonne, and I hope, as I'm sure it is, that it is as good a story as Tigana. I strongly recommend for everyone of you to pick this one up today.

Rating:
Summary: Don't like the protagonists - unsympathetic
Review: I think this novel started out pretty well. It was well written, had a promising story-line and somewhat acceptable lead characters.

But as the story progressed I became aware of how little I cared about Alessan - "the Prince" - and some members of his party (primarily Catriana, and to some extent, Devin). The nationalistic views this party expressed is just something I can't sympathize with. Their willingness to "restore the name of their magnificent country" no matter what the cost is completely unacceptable to me.

Towards the end of the book I found myself rooting for Brandin instead. I know he was a tyrant - but he also was a very compassionate man. Who else would be so torn up by the death of their son as to do what Brandin did? And also, when Brandin forsook his tyrant ways, I considered him to be the rightful King of the Palm. There were no longer any reasons as to why not, except for the nationalistic excuse - which I think is lame.

I actually began to despise the Prince and hope for his quick demise. Obviously the author intended that we'd all sympathize with Brandin - but surely not so much that we (well, I, at least) would begin to hope for him to win.

Rating:
Summary: Tigana, let my memory of you be like a blade in my soul!
Review: A woman from Newfoundland introduced me to this book, and to this day, I am indebted to her.

Tigana, as a book, appeals greatly to my sense of pathos - passion for life, passion for love, sympathy for those faced with a dilemma, and appreciation for the beautiful in even the simplest, mundane, and ugly things in the world around us. If you are a passionate person, then by all means, read this book.

Tigana ranks alongside The Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy by Elizabeth Moon, the first Pern trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, the dark and foreboding The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica by John Calvin Batchelor, and the much-touted The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Guy Gavriel Kay is a master writer gifted with the power to evoke emotions. I am not ashamed to say that I have cried each time I have read Tigana.

One last thing... Some say the ending is a disappointment. I think it is perfect! Life goes on, there is no end! Tigana's ending is a beginning - placing our surviving protagonists on the cusp of a new journey.