Tigana

"In the autumn season of the wine, word went forth from among the cypresses and olives and the laden vines of his country estate that Sandre, Duke of Astibar, once ruler of that city and its province, had drawn the last bitter breath of his exile and age and died."

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, is a beautifully written example of high fantasy. It tells the story of the people of the Palm, nine provinces located on a peninsula and surrounded by greater powers. Eight of the provinces have by conquered by two separate tyrants Brandin, King of Ygrath hold sway in the west, and Alberico of Barbadior rules in the East.

The driving point of the story is the fate of the province of Tigana, and its remaining survivors, for it was the Prince of Tigana who had slain the son of the Tyrant Brandin. In revenge the King of Ygrath not only scourged the land itself but cast a sorcery over the rest of the palm wiping the very memory of Tigana of anyone not born there. This is why Alessan the Heir of Tigana has gathered his company together. To take down the Tyrants and restore freedom to the people of the Palm.

Kay is a true wordsmith. His prose is beautiful and moving. His world building is not very deep, but where most high fantasy seems to have evolved into epic multi volume series, the economy here is welcome. The characters are interesting, and deep, even the antagonists receive enough attention so they are more than just a mysterious dark lord. If the story falls short anywhere its in plotting. It is a fairly standard story line, a group of heroes struggling against an oppressor. Perhaps I've become a bit cynical, but by and large there seem to be a lot of times where the heroes make it out of impossible situations nearly unscathed due to fortunate coincidences or twists of fate. Despite this the ending is rather bittersweet, Kay doesn't totally cop out with an entirely happy finish to the story.

Tigana was a good read. I liked it quite a bit. When starting a new book with unfamiliar characters, it tends to take me a while to find my footing, and feel out who is who. I reached this point about 100 pages in, and from there everything rolled by very smoothly. Its a very traditional story, and the ending left me very satisfied. This is probably a must read for fans of high fantasy.

8 out of 10

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