Tigana

Rating:
Summary: Erasing a Word
Review: Tigana is based on a rather unique concept/spell: only the people of the conquered land can remember, say, or hear the original name of the land. Everyone else can't hear it, and can only refer to it by its new name of Lower Corte. And why should such a spell be cast? To wipe out the history, the very memory of this land forever, as its army had the temerity to kill the son of Brandin, sorcerer, warlord, and tyrant. The only problem with this spell is that Brandin has to remain in the conquered territories until all those who can still remember Tigana have died.

For a political and economic climate, Kay has chosen as a model the feuding duchies of Italy in the middle ages, with competing warlord Alberico ruling four of the territories of the peninsula, Brandin over another four, and one territory still nominally independent and the object of much maneuvering. The final major player is Allesan, prince-in-hiding of Tigana, who is carefully fomenting unrest in the territories as part of a long-term plan to depose both Brandin and Alberico and unite the peninsula. This model works well, as it gives a richness and verisimilitude to the political plotting that is absent in almost all other fantasies which usually concentrate on only one or two competing political entities.

The cast of characters is equally rich, almost too much so, as there are some characters given a fair amount of development space but in the end do not really contribute to advancing the plot or other character's development, leaving me wondering just why the character was there at all. But of those characters that are relevant, Kay draws some fine portraits, most of which are very engaging, or allow for appropriate villainous boos.

But there is one character that I had a large problem with, that of Brandin himself. While described as a tyrant, a man who would impose such a harsh penalty on Tigana and impose a life of exile on himself to carry out the spell, his actual portrayed character is of an intelligent, educated, very loving man, a capable and fair administrator, who uses his ability for sorcery with care, who keeps his ambitions reasonable and under control. This dichotomy strained my belief in him and in the entire underlying scenario the novel is based on.

Kay's prose tends towards the florid, and he occasionally lets his words run away from him, leading to over-description of some items in near-purple prose. He also included several scenes, sometimes nearly whole chapters, that were pretty much unnecessary, did little to advance the plot, and slowed down the pace of the book. Given both of these problems, I think the book could have used some judicious editorial pruning.

A fine, original fantasy idea, an excellent setting and appropriately complicated plot, but stretched out with too many words and with a basic problem in character.

Rating:
Summary: Alright, it's superb!
Review: In the Peninsula of the Palm, a land clasped between two tyrannic invaders, the sorcerers Brandin of Ygrath and Alberico of Barbadior, a small group of people struggle for the freedom of their land. And for that of its forgotten name, Tigana, which has been under a spell for over twenty years, since the day Prince Valentin of Tigana slew Brandin's son in battle.

Devin is a 19-year-old singer in Menico's travelling troupe. After performing at Sandre, the Duke of Astibar's funeral, he discreetely follows his companion the beautiful Catriana across the rooms of the palace. Hiding in a closet, they are about to witness a secret meeting: Sander's son is preparing a coup to overthrow Brandin. Devin's curiosity will soon have him caught up in these events.

Dianora is a young woman from Tigana. Taken as "tribute" to Brandin's harem in his colony on the island of Chiara, she becomes his favourite mistress so she can assassinate him and save her land from the enless vengeful slaughter. Instead, she'll slowly fall in love with the man.

Having read Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry and not liked it much, I would never have read Tigana but for the unanimous praise I came across. And how wrong I would have been, what great reading pleasure I would have missed! For Tigana is a superbly written epic novel, with complex, not-one-dimensional, and finally extremely human characters. I would only reproach the few explicit sex scenes, which I found rather unpoetic. But without hesitation I'll now join my voice to the praise.

Rating:
Summary: Why does a book so bad have to be so long?
Review: Over-dramatic, self-indulging, and downright boring.

I am writing this review for all of those who are about to make the mistake of reading this book. I already have.

I absolutely hated the characters. Why? Mainly because everything is a matter of life and death. Everyone is ever so eager to sacrifice their lives, fight to the death, and swear life-changing oaths. Its typical bad fantasy.

Kay does have the power of vivid description. Unfortunatly that has gone to his head as his novle is several hundred pages too long. A lot of the sideplots in the story end up being irrelevant or uninteresting. I finished the book only because I was too stubborn to quit after investing so much time in reading it.

Please, there are much better fantasy novels out there. This one is not worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining. . .
Review: This was the first Guy Gavriel Kay book that I ever read. I guess I can say that it was what I expected from reading reviews of his work and from other references I've seen to it. I was not expecting a life-changing event, but a good read, and that's what I got. I sometimes found the intrigue of the plot a bit confusing, but not so much that it was incomprehensible. The characters were interesting, and being of Italian descent, I enjoyed the setting. It was a pleasant enough way to while away several hours and I will read more of it.

Rating:
Summary: Moving
Review: I'm by no means a big reader, so this review probably is much less helpful than some others by people who probably don't watch TV. I'm a college student and I can't even remember the last time I read for pleasure. I picked up this book years ago because I liked the cover! I was looking for a quiet way to entertain myself on a night last summer, and pulled this book out. I read extremely slow, I'm lucky if I complete a chapter in one "sitting". Getting into the book and trying to keep a hold of everything that was going on and all the characters involved was a lengthy and difficult process, but once I did I was hooked. The plot was clever, intricate, and comes together brilliantly in the climax. I was frightened at the ability of this fictional text to actually bring out emotion. The lack of magic compared to other fantasy novels actually makes it more interesting: magic seems to be scarce and reserved for few, but awefully powerful when it surfaces; rather than some commonplace trade. I'm very impressed with Kay's ability to switch between perspectives; at the start it seems like he's switching all the time, I never knew which characters he was going to stick with for the long haul. I waited many chapters for the significance of the prologue to surface, and was impressed when it did. I will warn that some parts are boring, especially the first time you are brought to the perspective of Dianora, but I bore with it and it turned out to be the best novel I've read, which isn't saying much, so let's just say I'm contemplating which other book of Kay's I am to buy!

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: The most boring and tedious book ever. It was a long and hard struggle against the repetitious descriptions, the shalowness and the stupidity of the main characters and the unimagenetive world in wich the live. A hard struggle - because i refused to admit defeat and i was tring very desperately to find SOMETHING good there and to justify some of the fantastic reviews i've seen here, ( not to mention money ) but to no avail. The battle has ended for me somewhere along the middle of the book, and i threw it away not caring how it ended, as long as My misery was at an end.
I don't know who told this guy he could call himself a fantasy author, for there is no fantasy in this book. the scene of this monotonious plot is a country that takes after renaissance Italy , With all the inner wars that goes on between the dukes, with a ridiculous attempt by the author to create real politial and social meaning to whatever goes on in there, but if real politics was ever this tireing the graveyards would have been filled with politicians who were bored to death.
Also you will find there some sorry excuses for main characters, and a lame idea of what magicians should be. There Are'nt many ideas here, so the author makes up for it by repeating the ones he had about a billion times.
Did i say tedioues already?

Avoid it like a plague.
Don't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
Sprinkle some holly water on it, maybe it will turn to smoke and vanish.
It is EVIL...

Rating:
Summary: Kay as a sadist.
Review: Sunrise, Sunset...the central song of Fiddler on the Roof, extolling the bittersweetness at the heart of existence. Joy and Pain, Dreams and Remembrances, Hopes and Actualities. This is the greatness of Kay, that he can capture this essence, this feeling in his stories. He breaks your heart, without reserve or remorse, but gives you a bit of a balm so you dont succumb to despair. This is the element I have come to love in Kay's stories. He makes you emote, makes you FEEL and feel it deeply, namely, sadness, dissatisfaction, dispirit, but most of all passion. He shows us that our most intense and passionate feelings, what makes us feel alive , comes from the joy of camraderie, of love, of friendship, as much as from loss, premature separation, or death. This in the end, is what makes Kay worth reading....

However, as a storyteller, there are a few flaws. I came to discover Kay via the Mosacist Series of books, which I felt were more tightly written. Yet, I find the same flaws were present in both novels, but moreso in Tigana. Dont get me wrong, this is a very good book, I enjoyed it, and I will not criticize it simply b/c its not run of the mill 'fantasy' i.e. cardboard characters, magic swords, princesses, dragons etc etc. I have discovered I like historical fiction, and find politics in fantasy as engaging as spells and witches. However, there were a few plot elements I found hard to swallow. First off, while I felt for the Tiganese, I cant say I realy really identified with their plight. I understood it, and my basic sense of justice wanted to see them prevail in the end, but I felt that the author didnt give me enough build up to really be with Tigana in heart when the 'secret' was revealed in the woods to Devin. Secondly, for my taste there was way too much Deus Ex Machina involved. Glaring examples being Catriana's leap, and Baird's inexplained caul, and one could make a case for Savadin's death at the Sanctuary and surely Alessan's run in with the brigans en route to the Sanctuary in Lower Corte...it all felt too 'neat'. To me, those elements of suspense would have been better served( and brought more to heart) if their intended or implied conclusions were carried out. And I agree with one other reviewer who said that some characters were introduced then it turned out they didtn have much of a real purpose at all in the story (Alienor comes to mind....he spent alot of time there just to have her house serve as a call station). My final gripe is that, I feel that Kay is a wonderful characterizer. His strenght is showing his character's thoughts ,feelings, emotions and also character interaction. However, when he goes into 'descriptive mode' it becomes tedious. I do not feel he has the insight to do this succesfully. There were stretches in the Mosaic series and Tigana that I literally skimmed through so as to resume the narrative. His best revelations come through character interaction and exposition imo, and not narrator reflection. so, while I feel he is technically a skilled writer in many ways, I do feel he has his flaws, which I fear are inherent to his personal style. But, as I said, its the passion, the feeling, the emotion and , I will say now, the intelligence that keeps me coming back to his writings. ... these books are good to read while waiting for the Next GRR Martin book, whom I feel is still the undisputed king of historical-political-fantasy novels. But, Kay is still worth the read, very much so.

Rating:
Summary: Can you say 'Tigana' ?
Review: The best one volume adult fantasy novel since Tolkien. I'm not sure if I give it only four stars because it ain't Shakespeare or simply out of deference to JRR.

In any case, the characters are unforgetable and Kay blends tragedy, poetry, passion and fantasy in a way that he has never been able to do before or match since.

As usual, his style is lyrical, his plot fast paced and gripping.

688 pages long and, as the saying goes, I was sorry when it ended.

(Speaking of passion, while Tigana would rate an R, allow me to take the opportunity as long as I'm out here in Fantasyland to plug the best trilogy in the genre since JRR, namely George R.R. Martin's 'Song of Fire and Ice' books---er...X rated but unsurpassable.)

Anyway back to Tigana!

Suffice it to say I envy anyone reading this book for the first time.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stunning
Review: Kay is absolutely one of the grand masters of fantasy fiction of our time .Powerful,"profound" characters,amazing plot,excellent world,vivid narrative.I could almost hear the "Lament for Adaon" and the tregean pipes.I could almost see the towers of Avalle..read this..absolutely read this

Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: Guy Gavriel Kay has made it into my book as one of the most depressing authors I've ever read. There's no book of his that I've made it through without crying. Multiple times, usually. Not that this is a bad thing: on the contrary, most of my own writing is tragic, and Kay is one of my favorite authors after Tolkien.

Tigana is yet another rich, fantastical world that Kay has managed to create. It is a land that has lost its name because it killed the son of the man who was invading it, who then laid a curse on the land that none but the people born in Tigana would remember its name or even be able to hear it when said. This is the story of how years of hope and pain have brought a band of people together to join their Prince and to reclaim their land and their pride. It truly is a beautiful story, and it left me weeping very much at the end. Guy Gavriel Kay does not disappoint.