Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, a Review
Not a new book this but definately worth of a review for the archive. Tigana is Guy Gavriel Kay’s fantasy masterpeice. The storyline is simple. The Peninsula of the Palm is invaded by two sorcerors both with large armies to back them up. During the invasion the Prince of the Duchy of Tigana kills one of the sorcerors sons. This sorceror exacts a terrible revenge by using his magic to remove the name Tigana from people’s memory. Some twenty years later, with the peninsual now split in half by the two sorcerors, a small group of people attempt to restore Tigana.
Buy Tigana
The problem with a summary like that is it really gives no indication of how good this book is. The brilliance is not in the plot itself but in the development of the story.
Lets take the world to start with. Kay makes it clear at the start of the book that the world of Tigana and the Peninsula of the Palm is heavily based on Italy. This not only gives the world a pleasantly different flavour to standard fantasy worlds but, due to Kay’s research, imbues it with a level of realism normally lacking.
It doesn’t stop there though, Kay’s characterisation is several notches above what you normally find in a fantasy novel. You may not agree with the points of view of many of the characters but you will find yourself understanding them. People are selfish, foolish and generally human.
There’s another element of realism to this story too. Consequences. The actions the characters take have consequences and they often have to suffer them. Only once in the entire (688 page) book did I feel that Kay had let a character off the hook.
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