Just Finished Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

[kauldron26]

some books... simply just cant be reviewed... some books, u simply just have to beg people to read them. please read this novel. i feel like someone opened an umbrella in my chest... thats how much i have fallen in love with Guy Gavriel Kay.

Guy Gavriel Kay, Kate Elliot and Robin Hobb once again prove that GRRM is arguably the most vastly overrated author of all time.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Whoa...where did that come from? Did you need to insult GRRM in a post about this book?

I have always wanted to try Guy Gavriel Kay since so many people have said good things about his books. You have reminded me I need to look for his books next time I'm in my used bookshop.

What was it you loved so much about this book?

 

[Clansman]

Tigana is my all-time favourite stand-alone fantasy novel. It is so purely good that I agree it just cannot be reviewed. It must be experienced.

This is a story that really carries you away. It is beautiful, redemptive, tragic. It is definitely a book that changes a person.

It is set in an Itallian-like peninsula called The Hand, which contains a number of small duchies or principalities, similar to Italy of the 18th century. There are two warring lords who each control about half of the peninsula, both of whom are sorcerers. One of the sorcerers, in revenge for the death of his son in a battle with the Prince of Tigana, cursed Tigana so horribly that its name is literally erased from the world, except for the residents alive at the time. No one else can even retain the name if they hear it.

The story is about the exiled son of the Prince of Tigana, and the conflict over the control of The Hand by the Sorcerers.

This is a book that really takes you into a different place.

I put Kay in the same class as GRRM, but they do very different things. Kay makes me feel better. Kauldron, you should try Janny Wurts. She would be a great addition to your list.

 

[kauldron26]

Whoa...where did that come from? Did you need to insult GRRM in a post about this book?

I have always wanted to try Guy Gavriel Kay since so many people have said good things about his books. You have reminded me I need to look for his books next time I'm in my used bookshop.

What was it you loved so much about this book?

it wasnt meant to be an insult, i love ASOIAF as much as the next guy, but it seems like the fanboys have put GRRM (the weakness of AFFC not withstanding) on this pedestal. yet other authors have already done the gritty political genre before him in 1996. I feel that certain people (fanboys) continue to laud him and this in turn over shadow so many great authors whose work are as great as or even greater than him. Hobb came out the same year as GRRM with a dark, gritty, political story about a ******* and his wolf (which she has finished), frank herbert's Dune is based on court intrigue, Guy Gavriel Kay's novels are dark and raw and came out well before ASOIAF, Kate Elliot's crown of stars series is epic on so many different levels encompassing not just countries, but galaxies and realms. I feel like nowadays, the hype surrounding GRRM is far superior to his actual work. its either u think ASOIAF is the greatest thing ever or u dont drink the coolade.

 

[Pyan]

Hard luck, kauldron - you realise that this means you'll never have the pleasure of reading it for the first time ever again.....

 

[kauldron26]

yea man tigana was just that good.... however i can already anticipate a reread some time in the future...

 

[Clansman]

I like ASOIF. I really do. It is not the best thing ever, though. It is really, really good adult fantasy, but it can be horribly depressing. Everyone I ever like in it gets killed off, except Jon Snow (so far. Since I like him, the poor lad's probably doomed).

Kauldron, with the things you mentioned, I really urge you again to read Janny Wurts. She did a one-shot novel called To Ride Hell's Chasm that gives you a good idea of her style. It is an intense, fun read, with intrigue and mystery. If you like her style, and like a LOT of depth, then read her epic series (8 novels and counting, to be finished at 11) The Wars of Light and Shadow. It is easily my favourite epic series right now.
As I already know you are a fan of Kay, I am fairly certain you will like Wurts. Very different in a lot of ways, but very much of the same kind of quality. You would probably also like Carol Berg, and JV Jones latest series is a worth a close look.

 

[Clansman]

I missed Kauldron's last post. I have read Tigana at least five times, and am due for another read. It actually gets better the next time. You pick up on more of the subtleties.

 

[The Procrastinator]

Oooo, Tigana - I read that years and years ago, and loved it, and you guys have just reminded me that I've lost my copy of it! (I lose things all over the place, books, pieces of paper with important things written down on them, pieces of my head...)

Must buy new or used copy and reread.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I agree, Tigana is great. Another one on my all-time favourite top-20 SFF list. It was the first GGK I read, but I've gone on to collect the rest (except for the latest one - that's on my list to buy).

 

[Riselka]

I loved Tigana too. As you may deduce by the log-in I chose for this site.

All things considered, isn't it about time that Guy Gavriel Kay got his own bullet in the "Authors" section of the site?

 

[Pyan]

Individual Author Forums are based on the number of threads about him/her and his/her books (normally about 5), and whether or not it's judged that interest will be sustained in that author.

Count up the threads, write a bit about why they should get an individual forum, and post the result in Feedback...then cross your fingers!

 

[Werthead]

Guy Gavriel Kay is an excellent author and is certainly one of the 'giants' of modern fantasy, easily standing in the same tier of quality alongside GRRM, Bakker, Gaiman and Mieville. Tigana is good, but IMO The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne are better. The Last Light of the Sun is also very good but The Fionavar Tapestry and The Sarantine Mosaic are not as accomplished. Kay's one-volume stories are much better. Haven't read Ysabel, a semi-sequel to Fionavar, yet.

Robin Hobb is near GRRM's quality of writing and occasionally comes up with a character nearly as good (Kennit, for example), but her pacing is utterly atrocious and her worldbuilding skills are non-existent. Kate Elliott? She's good and uses some of the same tools as GRRM, but her characters are nowhere near the quality of GRRM's and her writing is often clunky. I also think that the GRRM-being-overrated thing generally comes from the fact that he's never written any real stinkers. The quality of his non-ASoIaF work (which everyone usually forgets in these debates) is also exceptionally high, particularly Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag and the Wild Cards series, not to mention his many vital short stories.

Getting back to the point, Kay is an exceptionally good author and his work is often passed over as he doesn't have any kind of giant ongoing giga-series (although all his books take place in the same multiverse).

 

[rol7805]

I have to contribute my ditto on this thread. Tigana is one of the best stand alone fantasy novels I have ever read. Kay gets you fully invested in the setting and characters. What's most impressive is he gets you to care so much about as simple a thing as the name of a nation being forgotten. You are right there with the protagonists striving to fight back. Something in his pacing and characterization coupled with the plot simply pulls you inexorably along.

 

[Carmine Boy]

Tigana is my second favorite standalone fantasy novel. First is The Lions of Al-Rassan. GGk can encapsulate in one novel what other writers attempt to in a plethora of books.

 

[Rothgar]

Sounds like I'm going to have to pick up these titles.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I am currently reading this book, and I'm about halfway through. So far its pretty good, but at this point I think I enjoyed The Last Light of the Sun better. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time over the past couple months to read, so I only get to read a bit at a time, but I do still have half the book to go! Perhaps the best parts are yet to come...

 

[thesoothsayer]

Have to admit that I've never read Kay before but I've just placed Tigana on my wishlist.

 

[Shingetsu]

I just bought Tigana last weekend. It's been on my list for a long time. It's good to know people think highly of it. Not sure when I'll start it though, got allot of books on my shelf to get through.

 

[GOLLUM]

Tigana is a classic and I've got most of Kay's work. Certainly a significant contributor to SFF.