Tigana: Anniversary Edition

I read sci-fi and fantasy novels almost exclusively, and this is one of the best stand-alone fantasy novels I've read in a long time. It is a unique story set in a world where magic and gods exist but politics and tradition still play a large role in shaping events. The tale is told from the viewpoints of multiple characters, though it mostly follows the thoughts and actions of the ensemble of rebels trying to overthrow the sorcerers that have conquered their land. Mr. Kay does a great job of creating a lot of depth to these characters, every one of them beset with complicated feelings, usually involving their past, their goal, or their role in their cause. Our heroes cannot defeat the sorcerers head-on, so their only hope to win is through cunning and planning, and those plans don't always turn out as expected. The books ends with some revelations both realized and unrealized, and the reader is left knowing some important things that the characters do not know and apparently will never know, which I thought was an unusual choice. On top of all of that, the word-craft used by Mr. Kay is remarkable. It has a unique feel and cadence to it that makes it read like a work of literature. I would recommend this book even to friends who aren't all that into fantasy stories.

Tigana is an excellent fantasy story involving a quest to regain a lost kingdom. And oh how it was lost! Though at times the curse seems inconsistent, I truly understood how terrible the results could be. The main character realizes what he's lost, but I'm not sure why it hits him so emotionally when he was just a baby when the curse was cast. Despite these little blips, the plot is excellent, the characters grab your attention, and the story pulls at your heartstrings. A few other blips, however, kept this from being an excellent novel. The other reviews allude to forms of sexism. Indeed, its hard to imagine that Kay was not being purposefully sexist in writing this novel. Though he has some strong female leads, they cannot seem to avoid lapsing into female cliches on love and loss. Even worse than that however, is the portrayal of the men as the shapers of history, while the females merely react to it. Not only this, but the main unknown country in the South is consistently mentioned as run by women, and consequently is a backward, hostile, and brutal country. The only way to save it, of course, is with a King. Though I could make excuses all day to explain away these issues (it wasn't mentioned THAT much, it was necessary to the plot, etc.), nevertheless the issues were still there and they dampened my overall enjoyment of a fantastic story. Also, incest. That is all. I encourage this as a great fantasy read. I found it displayed as the foremost fantasy novel on the web, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is one of those stories that help define how you feel about the real world as well as the world of fantasy. It makes you feel for the characters, and you are constantly pondering on how they handle the crises of their world (it's very convenient, but enjoyable still). So far however this does represent a greater than average work, and gets four stars from me.

Absolutely one of the best novels I’ve ever read. I recently reread “Under Heaven” by Guy Gavriel Kay, I read it slowly, drinking up every word, every scene and I cried so many times which I don’t think has ever happened to me before. I need to read more of Kay’s works and so this was the second novel and I will likely read it again within the year, couldn’t put it down. Richly written, characters so well developed, mixes of wizardry and magic, sorcery and power, but in an adult realm. I look forward to more works by this Canadian author.

This is the best book I've ever read. Period. I don't say that lightly, and I know that many lovers of classic literature and contemporary literary fiction will automatically categorize me as as a genre peasant who can't recognize good literature because I think a fantasy novel is better than The Great Gatsby and As I Lay Dying. Truth be told, I've even struggled with my view. Some part of my brain says, "Surely this can't be the best book you've ever read. It's a fantasy novel! It can't be better than than all the classics that have been studied for a hundred years. It can't be better than the novels with dozens of companion books and scholarly analyses." But this IS the best book I've ever read. No book has affected me more. No book has combined plot, character, world building, and theme so perfectly. No book has had more powerful scenes. After I finished Tigana, I paced around my house for an hour, replaying the ending over and over in my head. It has become the bar by which I judge all other novels. It has redefined my view of what makes a book truly great. It is a novel I think of more than any other. It is a truly phenomenal story of love, friendship, and rebellion. It speaks to the innocence and naivety of youth, to the power of identity and how people respond when their identity is stripped away. This is not your average fantasy novel. It does not rely on massive battles or cool monsters. It is dense and intelligent, with keen, incisive insights on the very nature of humanity. It asks deep questions like 'Can idealism survive into adulthood?' and 'Is revenge and reparation--even if morally justifiable-- more important than love and happiness?' If you just want to read fast-paced fantasy that romanticizes violence and offers n0thing below the surface, this novel is not for you. But if you want your fantasy to be nuanced and multi-layered, where the author is saying something meaningful, you owe it to yourself to read this novel.

I finished this book for the first time this morning, and the first thing I wonder is why it took me so long to read this book, and secondly why Guy Gavriel Kay is not better-known and better-read author. My favorite books before reading th...is were also his, The Fionavar Tapestry, and this book may have displaced them at the top. Kay's writing is beautiful and magnificent, it draws you in and doesn't let you go. Through this book I was heartbroken, crying, excited, happy, empathetic.. - this book takes the reader through a genuine full spectrum of emotions. I was never bored. This is a rare, genuine, stand-alone epic fantasy - Magic, Memory, Treason, Love, Honor, Freedom, Identity, and Bittersweet Justice. An extremely simplistic description of the plot is that it is the story of a magical county fighting for it's identity, freedom and survival. This book truly encompasses "epic". Kay "brightly weaves" intricate landscapes, characters, interwoven plot pieces and just a simply and truly amazing story that left me pondering very deep subjects. However applicable this fantasy may be in real world context of history and memory exploration, it is a simply amazing fantasy that can be enjoyed by many. I read another review that I will quote here, "If Guy Gavriel Kay wrote it, you need to read it". This book definitely needs to be toward the top of the list. Simply amazing.

Tigana is one of the most conflicted reading experiences I've had in a long time. On one hand, I can absolutely see why this novel is considered a fantasy classic. The worldbuilding is rich, the history of the Palm is fascinating, and the central premise of a nation erased not only from maps but from memory is genuinely compelling. The themes of identity, loss, memory, and resistance linger long after the final page. On the other hand, the writing style nearly ruined the book for me. Guy Gavriel Kay's prose is undeniably beautiful, but for my tastes it often crosses the line from evocative to excessive. Descriptions are lavish, sentences frequently stretch on for multiple lines, and exposition is abundant. I often found myself working to identify the important information buried beneath layers of detail. What should have been dramatic or emotional scenes sometimes felt slowed by the sheer density of the prose. As the novel progressed, I found myself skimming portions of the descriptions simply to return to the story itself. The book contains an excellent tale, but I couldn't shake the feeling that a significantly tighter version would have been far more effective. The large cast did not help matters. Keeping track of everyone was occasionally difficult, and I frequently found myself referring back to the map. In fact, I wished the map had appeared throughout the book rather than only at the beginning. There were also several content choices that did not work for me, including graphic violence, torture, incest, and a couple of surprisingly explicit sex scenes that felt unnecessary to the story being told. What ultimately leaves me conflicted is that the story itself is genuinely strong. The lore is excellent, the central conflict is compelling, and many of the emotional beats land exactly as intended. Even the ending, which I found deeply unsatisfying, stayed with me for days afterward as I tried to understand why Kay chose to resolve the story in that particular way. In the end, I admire Tigana more than I enjoyed it. I can appreciate its influence, ambition, and craftsmanship, but the slow pace, dense prose, extensive exposition, and difficult subject matter prevented me from fully connecting with it. A fantasy classic, certainly. Just not one that worked for me.

Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana is the best-written fantasy I’ve read in a while. It wasn’t just the prose that got me (although Kay’s phrasing is often gorgeous). I loved the setup: instead of having one villain threatening to take over the known world, Kay has two, both sorcerers. And they’ve already divided up the Palm, a hand-shaped peninsula based on the boot of early Renaissance Italy. The resulting balance is precarious. “Today only the power of one keeps the magic of the other from being wielded as it was when they conquered us,” a resident of the Palm notes near the beginning. “If we take them then we must take them both—or make them bring down each other.” Better still, Kay made me want to root for one of the sorcerers. While his rival is a bit of a cliché, doing evil for evil’s sake, the more-powerful of the two is a man of passion, a sympathetic character who does evil in the name of love. His most heinous act is one of fatherly revenge: after the Palm’s foremost province kills his son, the sorcerer uses his magic to erase the province’s name and history from everyone but its survivors. Alessan, the last prince of that province (and the speaker of the quote above), is as close as the story comes to a protagonist. But he never gets a chapter from his point of view. Instead, we see him through the eyes of a rotating cast of supporters, almost all of them likable. The worldbuilding is diverse too. Kay excels in creating a sense of deep, varied history for the Palm’s provinces and its neighbors. The story starts slowly, however. As I said, I came to love Kay’s prose, with its sentences that are occasionally as intricate as the plot. But the complexity was a barrier to entry until I got used to his style. (Which, to be fair, isn’t unusual for me. I remember balking at the opening pages of Colleen McCullough’s First Man in Rome. Then I adapted, and before I knew it, it was 4:00 in the morning.) I also think Kay could have cut the prologue and the first chapter—neither proved essential. And I felt Alessan’s final plan was overly reliant on assumptions and undisclosed knowledge about the book’s magic system; the conclusion wasn’t wholly satisfying. Yet while I was onboard, the journey was exquisite. Tigana is a fantasy to get lost in. Well-worth the time.

From time to time I go back through Goodreads and list books I know I've read in the past -- usually I'll just rate them with stars based on my memory. I'd listed Tigana in this way, and when a 25th anniversary edition was announced on Kindle, I bought it, thinking it was worth rereading. But as soon as I began the first page, I realized I had not read it before! It was nearly impossible to put down after that. Unlike many of Kay's books set in the universe where there are two moons, blue and white, it was not evident (to me at least) what the parallel countries in our own world were. (I note that some reviewers thought it was Renaissance Italy....) The lands being fought over in Tigana seem more like the Balkans to me than anywhere else, but this may be wrong. In any case, several small provinces/states are being ruled primarily by two opposing great powers -- one seems a lot like the Roman Empire, the other -- I'm not sure.Tigana is the story of a rebellion and of an assortment of very different men and women who lead the rebellion. It is a thrilling and satisfying tale, and I recommend it highly (as I do all Kay's books).

Tigana ist eines jener eher unbekannten Bücher, welches sich ewig auf „Sollte man mal gelesen haben“ Listen von Kritikern hält. Dies ist einerseits vollkommen gerechtfertigt, anderseits sehr schade, denn Tigana ist eines der besten Bücher auf dem sehr spezifischen Markt von historischen Romanen mit fantastischen Einschlag. Tigana ist dabei ein politisches Buch, voll von Themen wie Patriotismus, Erinnerung, Sühne und Schuld. Es ist ein Buch über eine kleine Anzahl von Menschen auf der Suche nach ihrer verlorenen Heimat, ihren Wurzeln, ihrer Seele.... Ein Buch über innere Größe und innere Zerrissenheit. Ein Buch über die Macht von Symbole und den Drang nach Freiheit. Und es ist ein Buch über eine tragische und unendliche Liebe, die alle Unterschiede und selbst den Tod überwindet. Im Wesentlichen ist daher Tigana vor allem eines: Vollkommen Mainstream untauglich und absolut wunderbar! Die Geschichte ist eine Ode an alte Werte, Freiheitsdrang und Gemeinschaft fernab der Moderne. An das Gute im Menschen, verdeckt durch äußere Zwänge und die Mühsal des täglichen Schicksals. Dazu kommt Kays wundervoll eleganter Schreibstil, eine herrliche mediterrane Stimmung und ein Geschichtsverlauf mit einigen bösen Überraschungen. Tiganas große Stärke ist dabei auch die größte Schwäche. Die Geschichte ist innerhalb eines Bandes abgeschlossen und es bleibt der Wunsch nach mehr... Aber das ist ja auch das Ziel einer guten Geschichte, einer klassischen Geschichte, schnickschnacklos, mit viel Flair und Eigenleben. Kurz gesagt: Tigana ist (mehr als) ein Geheimtipp.

Though the Fionavar Tapesty won me as a fan, this was the first of Kay's books that won my heart and I reread it every few years to bring all the characters back to life.

Superb worldbuilding, memorable characters and a rich, sad and thoughtful plot. Also very well-written, imaginative and intelligent. Highly recommended read.

I read. A lot. So much so that when I was younger and couldn't afford to support my habit I turned to rereading my top 20 books of all time once every year. After the first read Tigana earned it's place and for years I've return to the shattered land and tragic tale trapped within it's pages once per year even though I can afford any book I please these days. This firmly established Kay as one of my favorite authors. And even if some of his work hasn't met this bar it's understandable... he could spend the rest of his life trying to top this masterpiece while even his "lesser" work beats the pants of 90% of the other stuff on the shelves. The book wove a complex and intertwined multi-part plotline at a time when such a thing was fairly rare. Seemingly disconnected at the start all plotlines come together and are resolved at the end in ways that are, at best melancholy to the tragic but regardless they are all treated with respect. It was clear there was no rush to end the story. It is as long as it needs to be and not much more. Even today the complex and three dimensional treatment of the characters and their relationships are of the highest caliber. The subtle treatment of magic foreshadowed the modern fantasy movement in which spells and witchcraft are far less prevalent or even non-existent (ala Game of Thrones or Robin Hobb's Assassin series). At first I thought basing the society and culture primarily on Italian history was just a hook, but it became apparent through later books Kay was clearly passionate about the eras and cultures he selected as backdrops. I can't recommend this book highly enough and most of the people I've recommended this book to come back to me to say how glad they were I introduced them to this author and this book specifically. My only quibble is with Amazon, Kindle, and Publishers. I wish there was more consistency about how his stories were available. Some are US only, others Canada only, others UK only.

Di una belleza devastante. Il fantasy alle sua massime altezze.