
Tigana
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Guy Gavriel Kay
Acclaimed author Guy Gavriel Kay has been honored with the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (Ysabel) and the International Goliardos Award for his work in fantasy.
Eight of the nine Palm provinces of the Peninsula have been overcome by warrior sorcerers Brandin and Alberico. But the sorcerers don't know that a small band of survivors is plotting their removal. With tensions mounting, the sorcerers become increasingly at odds as each decides where his own path - and that of the land - should truly lie.
"Brilliant. Rich in intrigue and subtlety. A gracefully plotted story. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)
©1990, 1999 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2009 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















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absolutely beautiful
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Second, the narration was great, and I had no issues regarding it.
Now onto the review of the book itself. Tigana is mentioned among the greatest fantasy novels of all time on numerous lists and you can't take two steps into fantasy novel recommendations without seeing it there, so I figured maybe the hype was real and decided to see for myself. This was my first novel by Guy Gavriel Kay, and while I liked it enough to finish the story, I am hesitant to purchase another novel by him.
Let's get some minor things out of the way.
The prose is flowery but I liked it. It was very beautiful at many points and the author definitely has a way with describing emotions in a vivid manner so that you can almost imagine what it would be like to feel that way.
The story is definitely slower than I was used to. There were also what felt like some what felt like random time skips that threw me off a little bit.
The premise of the story: an invading sorcerer-king is using his magic to erase the memory of an entire nation from the history of the world as revenge for killing his son, is incredibly unique and I think an amazing place to start a story from.
Now onto the key problems. The character motivations are incredibly unbelievable, no matter how vividly described their emotions, and many of the character arcs feels bizarre and outright silly as a result.
*Some spoilers for character motivations below*
The story plays heavily into the idea of patriotism and love for one's homeland. Now if you are someone who really, really loves your country, then maybe this will work for you. But as for me, I find this absurd, frothing at the mouth patriotism to be silly. It's simply laughable that someone like Devin, who literally never once even lived in Tigana or had any memory of it what so ever, feels this intense deep connection to it because his parents were from there. It's not ,like they raised him teaching him about his lost homeland. They specifically hid it from him, and yet when he learns about it, suddenly he just *knows* he has to drop his entire life as an amazing professional singer and instead become a guerilla warrior dedicated to restoring Tigana, a place he never lived and has no memories of.
Even characters with more of a connection to Tigana, like Catriana, are still pretty silly to me. Her entire character is centered around the fact that she felt ashamed ever since she was a child that her father made the choice to flee Tigana with his wife and young children instead of dying for his country, which ultimately turned out to be the right move, given that the army was subsequently obliterated and country devastated by Brandin.
Lastly, the romance subplots felt out of nowhere. Every major character got what felt like an obligatory romantic partner. I have no problem with romance. For example, I thought Dianora and Brandin's enemies-to-lovers thing was interesting and I wanted to know what Dianora would decide to do. However, even if we're told early on that X has an interest in Y, that doesn't mean that 1 hour before the end of the story they can just suddenly fall in love and I'll accept that it makes perfect sense.
Great prose, great premise, but too self-indulgent
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Nearly perfect
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The themes and 'philosophy ' were intriguing but I found the book need a bit more action. There are some good characters debating the relevance of power, forgotten nations, and history's but I didn't really connect with the characters. They had their moments, but the omniscient narrative pulled me away too much.
interesting premise, but too much exposition
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good
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All that to praise the writer’s craft, I should also say the story is surprisingly good as well. There are so many characters to meet. They are part of one great story, and yet they have a sense of individuality that draws us in and makes us hopeful for them. Beautiful characters that express feelings that are raw and often conflicting.
The narration is very well done. The reader creates voices and accents that differentiate not just the characters but even the regions from which they come.
I’m not quite done with this one yet, but I have read enough to know that it is now one of my all time favorites.
THIS is Word P*rn
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At long last...
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Fantastic story but too dense to enjoy
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I finished this book in two days it was so captivating!
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Literary and Fantastic in All the Best Ways
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