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birdkeeperklink's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, Torture, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Violence, Colonisation, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, and Homophobia
Minor: Pedophilia and Racism
novelideea's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: War, Blood, and Slavery
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Why I Read It:
I borrowed Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay from my library because I loved A Song for Arbonne.
Review:
Guy Gavriel Kay is an amazing storyteller, and Tigana exemplifies his abilities. Despite the book’s grand scope and numerous point-of-view chapters, the central thread of the story remains strong. The characters are so complex and well-written that at times Kay made me root for the villain and denounce the heroes. Their actions serve as fascinating explorations into trauma and grief’s role in morality. His world feels real and textured, but he does not indulge in any unnecessary paragraphs describing aspects of the world just for the sake of it. Kay also has a strong grasp of how politics—both at the macro and micro level— are shaped by the environment, the actions of individual rulers, chance, and the actions of common people.
My favorite part of Tigana is the ending. It is rare that I find a book with an ending as perfect as this one. He somehow manages to produce a satisfying, dramatic, well-earned ending (with a twist!) that perfectly balances between triumph and believability, conclusion and open-endedness.
My only complaints about this book lie in minor details. There is a wholly gratuitous (non-consensual) sex scene that probably should not have made the final cut, mostly because it feels like a horny indulgence on the part of the author rather than a scene in service of the story. Additionally, the choice to have the only character of color actually be a white person in disguise gave me pause. These sorts of problems did not really detract from my enjoyment of the story, but I could see why someone else might take issue with them.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like Tigana if:
· You like epic fantasy books
· You appreciate a well-told story with complex characters, strong worldbuilding, and a masterfully crafted plot
You might not like Tigana if:
· You don’t like reading books with multiple point-of-views
· You struggle to keep track of multiple characters and storylines
· You prefer morally “clean” protagonists
· You’re not in the mood for a dark story
A Similar Book:
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Similarities between these books include:
· Fantasy setting
· Political scheming and intrigue
· Morally gray characters
· Multiple point-of-views
· Dark and twisted elements
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Incest, Blood, Bullying, Death, Grief, Rape, Child death, Colonisation, War, Genocide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Torture, Alcohol, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Classism, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, and Infidelity
kalmia31's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, War, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Cancer, Body horror, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
catsy2022's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Rating: B-
No one mentioned the incest!
Tigana is a country left in ruins, conquered by a sorcerer after they kill his son, he strips its name and culture from history after dominating and shattering the nation. Almost 20 years later, the survivors of the massacre come together under the banner of Alessan di Tigana, the younger son of the late prince Valentin, to liberate Tigana from the sorcerer and bring its name back from oblivion.
What follows is an almost 700-page book detailing the machinations of the characters as they come together to take down both of the sorcerers. Unfortunately, I felt like there was an overwhelming lack of action in this book. There was a whole lot of dialogue, development and some decent world-building, but as soon as something wild is going to happen, it's quickly dispatched with largely offscreen. I really struggled to see the scope of this book as "epic" given that there were no major battles until the final part of the book.
The book is divided into sections with each section showing a new map as the characters get closer to their goals. The maps were pretty well-drawn and detailed. I liked seeing the world and how it changed, which conqueror conquered which part of the map. My favourite characters to follow were Alessan and Dianora. I liked Dianora the best, honestly, her story was so rich and engaging - and incredibly tragic given the circumstances of her life. I loved the ending of her story arc, it was especially tragic. Her interactions with Brandin made good reading, he was such a deep character, I may have liked the story if it was entirely from his perspective. He literally destroyed an entire country because they killed one of his children - and he still had other children left - he just loved his son much more than them!
Unfortunately, there was just a lot of walking, talking and sad reflecting on the destruction of their nation - over the death of thousands of people, the erasure of their culture was more tragic - and it had been decades since it happened! I was also a bit bothered by the amount of meaningless sex in the book. One female character has sex with a male character just to keep him quiet while they hide in a cupboard. I appreciated that the women did have agency and chose to have sex but it sometimes felt like it came out of nowhere, or that it was just a necessary thing to happen in the part of the story.
As for the final conclusion of the book, the big final battle was very underwhelming. I was let down by this. In the end the book was really just decent, not a favourite of mine.
No one mentioned the incest!
Tigana is a country left in ruins, conquered by a sorcerer after they kill his son, he strips its name and culture from history after dominating and shattering the nation. Almost 20 years later, the survivors of the massacre come together under the banner of Alessan di Tigana, the younger son of the late prince Valentin, to liberate Tigana from the sorcerer and bring its name back from oblivion.
What follows is an almost 700-page book detailing the machinations of the characters as they come together to take down both of the sorcerers. Unfortunately, I felt like there was an overwhelming lack of action in this book. There was a whole lot of dialogue, development and some decent world-building, but as soon as something wild is going to happen, it's quickly dispatched with largely offscreen. I really struggled to see the scope of this book as "epic" given that there were no major battles until the final part of the book.
The book is divided into sections with each section showing a new map as the characters get closer to their goals. The maps were pretty well-drawn and detailed. I liked seeing the world and how it changed, which conqueror conquered which part of the map. My favourite characters to follow were Alessan and Dianora. I liked Dianora the best, honestly, her story was so rich and engaging - and incredibly tragic given the circumstances of her life. I loved the ending of her story arc, it was especially tragic. Her interactions with Brandin made good reading, he was such a deep character, I may have liked the story if it was entirely from his perspective. He literally destroyed an entire country because they killed one of his children - and he still had other children left - he just loved his son much more than them!
Unfortunately, there was just a lot of walking, talking and sad reflecting on the destruction of their nation - over the death of thousands of people, the erasure of their culture was more tragic - and it had been decades since it happened! I was also a bit bothered by the amount of meaningless sex in the book. One female character has sex with a male character just to keep him quiet while they hide in a cupboard. I appreciated that the women did have agency and chose to have sex but it sometimes felt like it came out of nowhere, or that it was just a necessary thing to happen in the part of the story.
As for the final conclusion of the book, the big final battle was very underwhelming. I was let down by this. In the end the book was really just decent, not a favourite of mine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Incest, Murder, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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