Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

I read Tigana several years ago and fell in love with it. It is good worldmaking and the themes are well thought out. Suprisingly fresh story lines and characters. The world and characters are believable and the book is hard to put down. I loved the interwoven story of the characters and the darker side of tragedy that was present throughout. A very good read.

I read Tigana a year ago or so and I can warmly recommend it if you don't mind descriptive authors.
Guy G. Kay creates beautiful worlds of intrigue and romance that are brought wonderfully to life through his descriptions and intense characters. However, as I flipped through it again, I noticed times where he was trying so hard to show the reader the sadness embedded the memories (a major theme being memory)that he got repetitive and sentimental. He does the same thing occasionally in the Fionavar Tapestry.

Kay IS a romantic writer, who uses tragedy as much as he uses magic. Personally, I liked the Fionavar tapestry better - there was something truly epic about it - but Tigana is thrilling as well. I particularly liked how he set it in a Renaissance Italy culture, which made it a story unto itself and not just a recycling of Fionavar.

A wonderful literary accomplishment. Dark, compulsive, moving and inspiring. This is a read for someone who wants more than the usual run of the mill magic, dragons, all-consuming evil and predictability.

The writing is superlative and the story wholly original. Without a doubt one of the finest writers that I have read and a book that I will read again with a message to cherish.