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birdkeeperklink's review against another edition
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: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia and Racism
dibiz116's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I kind of hated this - it had every classic awful mysoginistic fantasy trope like 70x over plus a really weird plot and GoT style incest for no reason just for good measure. It's just completely unbelievable that everyone magically forgot the name of a city because of a curse, and the people who remember the name sacrifice literally everything and start a war to undo the spell? Like... the city is physically still there. The people are still alive. Sure, kill the tyrant because he's a tyrant but everyone was so much more upset about the name being lost??? Who cares at that point? It made no sense to me and none of the characters acted logically at all. There were a few things I did like -- the magic systemfelt different than any other I had read before, the character study of one of the two evil kings was actually extremely intriguing - Brandin was a complex and a questionably redeemed character by the end, and the twist with the identity of the fool having been Valentin Prince of Tigana all along really caught me off guard. Those details saved this from a DNF and/or a lower rating but it was still not an enjoyable read at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, and Murder
pineapplesurvivor's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
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: Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
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: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
mallorn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Incest, Suicide, Torture, and Colonisation
allfather's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Homophobia
nettyice's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
1.0
Hard to rate this one because it's technically pretty good (clever prose, intricate plot, and strong characters), but it's really everything I hate. It felt more like a sci-fi allegory than fantasy escapism, which generally isn't my preference, so that's my bias here. So if you like historical fiction with a dash of fantasy, convoluted plot, and pessimistic endings, then maybe it's for you. But for me, I haven't had a book make me this angry in a while.
SPOILERS - this is basically a rant. I needed to get it out of my system so I'd stop complaining to my friends about it:
- All of the women in this book! A heavy dose of kink shaming (where the shame is placed on Alienor and not really on Devin), unnecessary incest (what did that add to the plot? Dianora was then 'punished' for it with her tragic love story but Baerd got to find love with Elena? I hope he's the one the rusalka predicts dies), and an unexpected romance for Catriana (she struggles with ~becoming a woman~ because she can't enjoy anything until she proves her devotion to Tigana and then when she does and accepts that she has, then oh, surprise, she has earned the love of the Prince of Tigana? Seems counter to the point Alessan was trying to make. I just found it frustrating that all the women were fundamentally struggling with sex in some way (even Alais only went on the journey because of Devin) while the men were engaging in it just the same, but it wasn't defining them.
- The plot felt increasingly told me me rather than experienced through the characters. There can be a fun Sherlock Holmes element where you realize all these ties are coming together and, oh, that thing actually meant this thing the whole time. That's fun. And we had that at the beginning. It was a good draw into the world through Devin's eyes. But then we just kept doing that for half a year.
- I didn't like that there was no closure at the end, or that what was the closure was actually a lie. I get that dictatorships and struggles for power don't always end happily. But if the whole point was that everyone forgot about Tigana, then why didn't Dianora ever get to remember with anyone else? Because she technically lost (Brandin) in the end? I think that's also a bigger issue I had with it. Dianora ended up being one of the few I liked at the end and she had the worst ending. Yes, this book is supposed to make you think about the nature of power and the fine line of vengeance/justice, but I don't want to read 700 pages where I hate the good guys by the end and the only characters I like die.
SPOILERS - this is basically a rant. I needed to get it out of my system so I'd stop complaining to my friends about it:
- All of the women in this book! A heavy dose of kink shaming (where the shame is placed on Alienor and not really on Devin), unnecessary incest (what did that add to the plot? Dianora was then 'punished' for it with her tragic love story but Baerd got to find love with Elena? I hope he's the one the rusalka predicts dies), and an unexpected romance for Catriana (she struggles with ~becoming a woman~ because she can't enjoy anything until she proves her devotion to Tigana and then when she does and accepts that she has, then oh, surprise, she has earned the love of the Prince of Tigana? Seems counter to the point Alessan was trying to make. I just found it frustrating that all the women were fundamentally struggling with sex in some way (even Alais only went on the journey because of Devin) while the men were engaging in it just the same, but it wasn't defining them.
- The plot felt increasingly told me me rather than experienced through the characters. There can be a fun Sherlock Holmes element where you realize all these ties are coming together and, oh, that thing actually meant this thing the whole time. That's fun. And we had that at the beginning. It was a good draw into the world through Devin's eyes. But then we just kept doing that for half a year.
- I didn't like that there was no closure at the end, or that what was the closure was actually a lie. I get that dictatorships and struggles for power don't always end happily. But if the whole point was that everyone forgot about Tigana, then why didn't Dianora ever get to remember with anyone else? Because she technically lost (Brandin) in the end? I think that's also a bigger issue I had with it. Dianora ended up being one of the few I liked at the end and she had the worst ending. Yes, this book is supposed to make you think about the nature of power and the fine line of vengeance/justice, but I don't want to read 700 pages where I hate the good guys by the end and the only characters I like die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Homophobia and Incest
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