A review by celiapowell
Tigana: Anniversary Edition by Guy Gavriel Kay

3.0

I adored this book when I first read it, in my early twenties - I still enjoy it on re-reading, but am not sure whether that's on its own merits, or due to my past fondness. Past fondness is at least part of it, I think. Tigana is just so overly dramatic - everyone is so honourable and determined and tragic, so much tragedy. "Oh Tigana," vows one of our main characters, speaking of his lost homeland, "Let my memory of you be a blade in my soul." Later on, he tells a woman she is the harbour of his soul's journey. Tigana is full of these overblown sentiments, which part of me "awww"s at, and another part of me goes, "Oh, come on. Blade in your soul? Really?" This is probably exacerbated by listening to it as an audio book and having a narrator say these things passionately into your ear.

However, due to Kay's characters or nostalgia or whatever reason, I still enjoyed hearing this story again - maybe I do have an overly dramatic romantic side.