Tigana: Anniversary Edition

4.5 | 2,249 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 06-16-2024

About this item

A masterful epic of magic, politics, war, and the power of love and hate—from the renowned author of The Fionavar Tapestry and Children of Earth and Sky.

Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered land struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the black sorcery of a cruel despotic king that even the name of their once-beautiful homeland cannot be spoken or remembered...

But years after the devastation, a handful of courageous men and women embark upon a dangerous crusade to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the dark world the brilliance of a long-lost name...Tigana.

Against the magnificently rendered background of a world both sensuous and barbaric, this sweeping epic of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision, changing forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction.

David Nance

A master of beautiful prose

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2023

This was my first Guy Gavriel Kay experience.

Epic plot. Beautiful prose. Deep characters.

There are very clear allusions to Renaissance era Italy with magic, unique cultures, and religions. The story felt grand and important even in a world where the characters aren't sure what's on the other side of the map.

There are multiple POVs to follow, mostly sticking with a core group, but occasionally we get some insight from minor or background characters. He performs shifts in perspective with clear situational shifts. Very cleverly executed in these.

In the middle and late half of the story, there are some new elements introduced that might confuse some readers. If you're the type that needs to be fully in control of what you read and understand, that might leave you frustrated. By the time I got to that point, I trusted GGK to bring it around, which he sure did.

Even after nearly 700 pages, I wanted more. The ending was well-resolved, but I got greedy. It was hard to let these characters and this world go at the end.

K Reviews

Historical Fantasy in Not-Quite Renaissance Italy - Soft Magic

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2021

This is an awfully well-known book by a well-established author, so I don't think we need to belabor this one too much.

I will say I'm shocked I'm giving it a 4 star review. I definitely went into this read thinking it would be 5 stars. It's often regarded as Kay's best work and he's an author I already enjoy and admire. I have read quite a lot of Guy Gavriel Kay's work in the past and usually enjoy the books immensely. Kay is known for his lyrical writing, high quality and well-researched historical fiction (which I love), and characters that impact you. Usually Kay's books manage to bring me to tears at some point in the narrative, but this one really didn't. I didn't get that emotional hit - usually a bittersweet one in Kay's books that I was expecting.

Tigana is certainly well-written and well-researched, but for me it fell down a little bit on the character side of things. The plot could also be a bit meandering in places and it's a lengthy book (somewhere north of 650 pages in the e-book version I read).

There's a large-ish cast of "main" characters who are mostly traveling together or sometimes split in two groups and then one other POV character who is solo (Dionora) who I really enjoyed much more.

Twisty politics in not-exactly Renaissance Italy with a dose of magic. The main plotline follows our various characters as they work to engineer a way to free their homeland from the rule of a conqueror without simply inviting in another conquering army instead.

As with most of Kay's books, the magic is there but not a main focus. I'd actually say the magic got a little more page time than in most of the other Kay books I've read, but it still was rather undefined as to how it could be used and for what. Definitely a soft-magic system with few rules explained.

Valerii

Occupation and the hunger for freedom

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024

As it always seems to happen, the book I put off reading for a long time becomes my highlight of the year
The story, the idea and the characters really resonated with me. As a Ukrainian, I grew up listening to stories of occupation and our continuous fight for freedom, and now it’s happening again: my country is being invaded by people who want to erase our history, who claim we don’t have one to begin with.
Even if you do not find it relatable, I still recommend to read this book. The author does a superb job of embodying all the contrary feelings and morals that arise in a conflict; how there good people may hurt others in their striving towards a virtuous goal; how bad people can be tender and caring and worthy of love despite the things they continue to do; how lack of unity leaves people vulnerable to larger threats
I can go on and on, laud the wonderful personification of each character, but I think it could only be appreciated through reading the book

Alex Tate

The best book I've ever read

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016

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.

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