Booklog 29/2022: Guy Gavriel Kay: Tigana

[jacey]

I’ve been meaning to read Guy Gavriel Kay for the best part of twenty-five years and finally got around to reading the one people tell me is one of his finest. This is the story of how a courageous bunch of people plan to overthrow two sorcerer-conquerors and let the land regain its real name, Tigana, which has been wiped out of the minds of almost everyone on the Palm. The tyrants must die, and there ensues some nifty political skullduggery. Alessan, prince of Tigana, escaped death in battle because he was too young, but it’s now twenty years later and he has a plan, carried out with the aid of Baerd, Devin, and a supposedly ‘dead’ duke. The prose is gorgeous, but the pace is measured – at times downright slow. This is a long book. There are also some questionable ethics. Is it okay to do bad things if your intentions are good? It’s largely a tale of memory and identity. I have to admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to, even though I appreciated the skill that went into creating it.