Guy Gavriel Kay: Tigana

Tigana. Tigana. Mere mention of the name stirs something deep within the soul. Once a proud nation steeped in honor and ancient history, now even the memory has been banished by the vengeance of a powerful sorcerer. The nation lives on only in the memory of those few survivors who once had called it home. There are none but those fading few to recall the legends, the heroes, the glory.

I can only imagine the horror of that circumstance. If the proud, majestic nation in which I live were ripped from the collective memory of the world, would I rail against the gods? Would I weep at fate’s cruel whim? No, I think not. I would climb the highest hill, fall to my knees, raise my fists to the sky and cry, “Who fucking cares!”

Seriously. Now that may have something to do with the fact that I am jaded, heartless fellow who believes in precisely nothing, but this plot seemed paper thin to me. “Nobody remembers our home! Waaaa!” Get over it. Its saving grace is the fact that, while at times it had me rolling my eyes, Kay remains a very talented author. To some extent, he pulled it off.

What didn’t suck: As mentioned, this is a very well written novel. Kay has a flair for evoking empathy with his characters, whoever they may be. I also enjoyed the fact that he forewent the normal choices for the lead characters. Not those fated for greatness, but rather those who help them achieve it. It makes for an interesting perspective.

The romantic aspects were, for once, the highlight of the story for me. For the most part the relationships were believable and interesting, and aside from one qualm I’ll mention in the next section, I found myself enjoying all the sappy stuff. Even (or maybe particularly) when it got a little freaky.

My favorite character in the book was, ironically, the principal bad guy. He seemed like a genuinely better person than pretty much anyone else in the story. I can’t think of another novel where I was cheering for the bad guy, in particular at the end.

Also, kudos to Kay for *not* making this a series. He could have done it, I’m sure…stretched it out and padded his pockets a bit more. It could have easily been chopped up, filled in a bit, and released as a trilogy. But he chose to simply tell the story and have done, and I applaud him for it.

What sucked: I hated Dianora. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I every time the perspective switched to her I found myself annoyed. I suppose, compared to the action surrounded the other main characters, she was simply boring. Kay would go into pages of flowery exposition on her backstory, and I’m sure it was all beautifully written, but I admit…I skipped it. Get to something interesting!

As I alluded to oh so subtly in the intro, I felt the plot called for a certain suspension of belief. They messed with a super powerful wizard, killed his son, and he got angry. It seems to me they got pretty much what they deserved.

As far as romance goes, the relevant couples paired off a little too smoothly for me to believe it. We had this budding romance between two people roughly the same age through most of the book and then suddenly, without explanation, neither really cares about the other and actually loves this other person who happens to feel the same way. No surprise, no hurt feelings. Just a little too convenient. It bugged me.

Final Thoughts: Despite all my complaining, I still enjoyed the book. Kay pulls it together and manages to make something worth reading.

Rating: Doesn’t Suck