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ant55's review against another edition
Just couldn’t get into the writing style. Renaissance Italy inspired setting is cool though. And character writing seemed solid.
isabellas_book_row's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
zoer03's review against another edition
5.0
Oh wow..... I am in awe and almost adoration of this author. This book isn’t just about magic wizards and a fantasy epic it’s more than that it delves into how a country or a culture can become whitewashed even from its own people and how is it it right to overthrow something which can look to be tyrannical but is more complex than that. It is a book that has many basis in history medieval renaissance Italy and what happened during the soviet era. This book isn’t just an escape to another world it also subtly asks you questions about and draws you bk to the real world. Marvellous
rickwren's review against another edition
1.0
It was written well enough - the commas were in the right places, the paragraphs looked right from a distance and the weight of the volume was adequate to let you know you were holding a real live book.
I almost never review a book I couldn't finish, but here I am, going at for the sake of other Fantasy readers. There's nothing here that couldn't have been produced by a fantasy book-writing machine. It's the same general land, the same kind of magic, the same level of technology, the same the same the same. The names aren't even creative, they could've been swiped from a Dungeons and Dragons game session at any nerd home in America.
I got so bored, I'd realize that I'd gone a dozen pages and retained exactly zero of the plot, dialogue, or action. I also realized that I just didn't care. Halfway through, I shut it and went to the next book.
I almost never review a book I couldn't finish, but here I am, going at for the sake of other Fantasy readers. There's nothing here that couldn't have been produced by a fantasy book-writing machine. It's the same general land, the same kind of magic, the same level of technology, the same the same the same. The names aren't even creative, they could've been swiped from a Dungeons and Dragons game session at any nerd home in America.
I got so bored, I'd realize that I'd gone a dozen pages and retained exactly zero of the plot, dialogue, or action. I also realized that I just didn't care. Halfway through, I shut it and went to the next book.
itsnour's review against another edition
5.0
A total masterpiece! The story is bittersweet, the writing is smooth, and the villain is so memorable and easy to sympathize with. I low-key wish it was a series, but even as a standalone, it packed such a punch. I'm emotionally drained, in the best way possible. Definitely going on my list of all-time favorites!
I also really appreciate how the author left certain things open and vague, making the book thought-provoking. The epilogue will definitely haunt me.
I also really appreciate how the author left certain things open and vague, making the book thought-provoking. The epilogue will definitely haunt me.
leann_bolesch's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I've been struggling to figure out why I really didn't care about this book, and I have a few theories.
First, I don't like the way the author handles emotion. In general, I don't like when an author tries to explicitly spell out to me that something is weighty, rather than let the mood of the scene convey that on its own. Also, I just fundamentally disagreed sometimes when the author told me to my face that something serious or significant happened. More than once, I was told something serious or weighty passed between people or was felt in a moment (often rather than being shown it) and subsequent scenes made me think: "Ah. Nothing has actually changed as a result of that last scene."
This issue, I feel I should mention, covers a lot of the character development as well. The book likes to say "Something had changed in so and so since whatever happened" without any major changes to their behavior that I could notice. A lot of these developments also felt conveniently fast and off-page, which might be a consequence of the author trying to give so many characters development arcs and set up three different romances in a single stand-alone book. The romances, it's worth noting, get the same lack of development. I didn't even realize one was supposed to have been set up until the couple got together.
Second, while I normally love books with multiple POVs showing things afoot in various different factions of some larger conflict, this book didn't switch POVs enough. Especially not early on. Enough time is spent with one POV to be deeply focused on their story, only to shift gears to a radically different situation and stay there so long that the original POV is almost totally forgotten. At which point we shift back. The passing of time within the book to accommodate the POVs was also surreal. Nothing noteworthy apparently happens to Dianora until half a year or so after Devin gets involved in the plot, so we time skip several months forward for her lengthy POV section, then jump back months upon returning to Devin and spend most of his next POV section trying to catch back up to the time period we meet Dianora in.
Third, there were just too many characters that I never figured out the purpose of, aside from to make it feel like there were more people involved in the whole affair. I suppose that's all good and fine, except that some of those characters were common POV focal points.
Between certain characters feeling pointless, going too long without seeing characters who nonetheless took up large chunks of the book, and just not being sold on the emotions, I was unable to connect with or care about the characters, which is too bad. The plot, while a little slower than I'd usually like, was the sort of thing I'd normally love to read about.
(Also sometimes the book just switches between past and present tense and maybe I'm just dense, but I never figured out how it decided when to use which one, and it drove me nuts.)
First, I don't like the way the author handles emotion. In general, I don't like when an author tries to explicitly spell out to me that something is weighty, rather than let the mood of the scene convey that on its own. Also, I just fundamentally disagreed sometimes when the author told me to my face that something serious or significant happened. More than once, I was told something serious or weighty passed between people or was felt in a moment (often rather than being shown it) and subsequent scenes made me think: "Ah. Nothing has actually changed as a result of that last scene."
This issue, I feel I should mention, covers a lot of the character development as well. The book likes to say "Something had changed in so and so since whatever happened" without any major changes to their behavior that I could notice. A lot of these developments also felt conveniently fast and off-page, which might be a consequence of the author trying to give so many characters development arcs and set up three different romances in a single stand-alone book. The romances, it's worth noting, get the same lack of development. I didn't even realize one was supposed to have been set up until the couple got together.
Second, while I normally love books with multiple POVs showing things afoot in various different factions of some larger conflict, this book didn't switch POVs enough. Especially not early on. Enough time is spent with one POV to be deeply focused on their story, only to shift gears to a radically different situation and stay there so long that the original POV is almost totally forgotten. At which point we shift back. The passing of time within the book to accommodate the POVs was also surreal. Nothing noteworthy apparently happens to Dianora until half a year or so after Devin gets involved in the plot, so we time skip several months forward for her lengthy POV section, then jump back months upon returning to Devin and spend most of his next POV section trying to catch back up to the time period we meet Dianora in.
Third, there were just too many characters that I never figured out the purpose of, aside from to make it feel like there were more people involved in the whole affair. I suppose that's all good and fine, except that some of those characters were common POV focal points.
Between certain characters feeling pointless, going too long without seeing characters who nonetheless took up large chunks of the book, and just not being sold on the emotions, I was unable to connect with or care about the characters, which is too bad. The plot, while a little slower than I'd usually like, was the sort of thing I'd normally love to read about.
(Also sometimes the book just switches between past and present tense and maybe I'm just dense, but I never figured out how it decided when to use which one, and it drove me nuts.)
hilmi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a wonderful book. One of the best standalone fantasy stories I've ever read and I'm voracious.
Wonderfully written. So poetic; I underlined many sentences. Also I great meditation on the mechanics and nature of occupation, revolution, and revenge. How it's all so pyrrhic, so sad, so futile in the end. I think I'll meditate on this book for months. The characters, how they went about their decisions, how torn they were so much of the time is all well-depicted. I wish the characters were better built though; they are mostly defined by their situations as well as their reactions to such.
Given all the wonders of the book, I had a few gripes so let me vent. The characters are so central to the book but their development needed to be further addressed. Sex and sexuality have a weird tone to them and the female characters are exposed to it almost as a tool throughout the book - didn't like that, though the afterword somewhat helped explain why this was the case. One of the POV characters also basically ends up having sex with most main females in their wake - for... The advancement of his character and/or t plot!? The Night Walkers come out of nowhere and make little sense. If you know, you know.
Wonderfully written. So poetic; I underlined many sentences. Also I great meditation on the mechanics and nature of occupation, revolution, and revenge. How it's all so pyrrhic, so sad, so futile in the end. I think I'll meditate on this book for months. The characters, how they went about their decisions, how torn they were so much of the time is all well-depicted. I wish the characters were better built though; they are mostly defined by their situations as well as their reactions to such.
Given all the wonders of the book, I had a few gripes so let me vent. The characters are so central to the book but their development needed to be further addressed. Sex and sexuality have a weird tone to them and the female characters are exposed to it almost as a tool throughout the book - didn't like that, though the afterword somewhat helped explain why this was the case. One of the POV characters also basically ends up having sex with most main females in their wake - for... The advancement of his character and/or t plot!? The Night Walkers come out of nowhere and make little sense. If you know, you know.
broetnak's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
clay13nash's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rharriskay's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.5
Tigana is a beautiful book.
There is a lot to love in Tigana, and I understand why so many see it as Guy Gavriel Kay’s magnum opus. From its world to its characters to its themes, this novel is so rich with so much to take away from it.
The story of a group of individuals trying to restore the memory of the country they lost, Tigana frames the generational trauma of war in a way I’ve never seen done before, and one particular passage early on, about the need to reclaim that lost memory, truly made me cry in a wholly unexpected way.
Add on to that fascinating and rich characters that feel so very human, a long-running strength of Kay’s, and a rich, magical world with a history and people I wish I could see more of, and this novel truly becomes a classic.
For those sensitive to such things, I do need to point out that there is an unexpected subplot involving seemingly uncritically called outincest and this is a case where I’d actually recommend people read the anniversary edition of the book, which includes an afterward by the author explaining some of the themes of the work and how various elements, like the aforementioned one, tie in in a way that makes me understand it and see what they were going for.
The only downsides against this book, preventing it from being a 5 star for me, is it’s pacing around the middle, particularly involving Dianora, which is great but can drag a bit compared to the other characters.
But a fascinating world and such a strong ending really makes this an easy recommend for any fans of literary fantasy
There is a lot to love in Tigana, and I understand why so many see it as Guy Gavriel Kay’s magnum opus. From its world to its characters to its themes, this novel is so rich with so much to take away from it.
The story of a group of individuals trying to restore the memory of the country they lost, Tigana frames the generational trauma of war in a way I’ve never seen done before, and one particular passage early on, about the need to reclaim that lost memory, truly made me cry in a wholly unexpected way.
Add on to that fascinating and rich characters that feel so very human, a long-running strength of Kay’s, and a rich, magical world with a history and people I wish I could see more of, and this novel truly becomes a classic.
For those sensitive to such things, I do need to point out that there is an unexpected subplot involving seemingly uncritically called out
The only downsides against this book, preventing it from being a 5 star for me, is it’s pacing around the middle, particularly involving Dianora, which is great but can drag a bit compared to the other characters.
But a fascinating world and such a strong ending really makes this an easy recommend for any fans of literary fantasy