Tigana in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jul 01, 2007 Kristen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Full Review: http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2007/...

Tigana is the story of a group of people from the nation of Tigana seeking to rectify the wrongs of the past. During a war between Tigana and Ygrath, the Prince of Tigana, Valentin, killed the son of Brandin of Ygrath, a powerful sorcerer attempting to conquer the entire land of the Five Palms, of which Tigana was a part. In retaliation, Brandin not only slaughtered the people of Tigana fighting against him in the war but cast a powerful spell Full Review: http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2007/...

Tigana is the story of a group of people from the nation of Tigana seeking to rectify the wrongs of the past. During a war between Tigana and Ygrath, the Prince of Tigana, Valentin, killed the son of Brandin of Ygrath, a powerful sorcerer attempting to conquer the entire land of the Five Palms, of which Tigana was a part. In retaliation, Brandin not only slaughtered the people of Tigana fighting against him in the war but cast a powerful spell removing the name of the land so that it could only be remembered and heard by the people who were born there. Once the people born in Tigana were dead, the name of Tigana would be lost forever.

While Valentin's son is uniting the people of Tigana as well as other people who despise Brandin and the sorceror Alberico (who is also trying to conquer as much of the land of the Five Palms as possible), Dianora di Tigana masquerades as Dianora di Certando and allows herself to be captured as one of Brandin's courtesans with the intent of killing him and restoring the name of her homeland. However, she finds her job growing more difficult as she finds herself falling in love with Brandin in spite of what he has done to her people.

Tigana is a tale about the danger of two extremes - the danger of remembering the past so clearly that one remains entrenched in it, unable to forget and move on, and the danger of forgetting about the reality of the past. It's a story of love and being torn when you discover the world is not as black and white as once thought. It is one of those rare stories that shows both sides of the coin and reveals that there are consequences to actions and that one person's triumph is another's tragedy.

The characterization was masterful. At the beginning of the story, Brandin was portrayed as an evil bad guy, but once you saw him through Dianora's eyes, you realize he's only human and one who cares about the people around him so much that it overrules his better judgment at times. It takes some talent to make the reader go from despising a character to loving them, and these gray characters are my favorite kinds.

Some people may find Tigana to be a little too angst-filled and repetitive for their tastes. I freely admit it - I like some angst in my stories, but even I found the repetitiveness of the character's thoughts a little much at times and wanted them to get on with the story. This was the only problem I had with Tigana, however.

Overall, Tigana was a spell-binding story that I still keep going back to even though it's been over a week since I finished it now. ...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Jennifer Provost rated it it was amazing

This book is the rarest of gems - it's lauded as a classic, and for once the reviews are spot on.

A sorcerer-king declared war upon Tigana, and his son was slain in battle. Enraged and grieving for his son, the king erased Tigana from the world. No one who wasn't born in Tigana knew that the land ever existed; they couldn't even understand the name if spoken aloud. Those native to Tigana - renamed Lower Corte - became homeless in the truest sense of the word.

Nineteen years later an odd assorment ...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Andrea rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Usually you can give me a set of likable, oppressed rebels, and you can pretty much automatically sign me up for the revolution. The kinds of heroes who fight for freedom in these stories were always celebrated in my home, in the kinds of media my family was excited about. I liked the characters in Tigana well enough, but some of the actions that they took in their fight for freedom made me question whether I would be that resolved. So I was surprised to survey myself, and then realize that I ha ...more

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Mar 21, 2008 Peter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

This is easily one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Not only was the world alive and fully realized, the characters were complex. The book explored themes of memory and colonialism with a level of nuance that is very rare in a fantasy novel. Kay successfully combines the classic elements of fantasy that make it exciting and fun to read (action, magic, etc...) with a real exploration of issues about culture and the double-edged power of cultural memory. ...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Bianca rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

this book leaves me with a feeling of sadness, a feeling of longing.. of how memories can be a dangerous thing, and how love transcends even to the deepest darkest corner..

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