[PDC]

Recently finished Tigana (for the first time), and I must say that I was disappointed. I liked certain aspects of it, but I did not like the ending at all. Was Alessan really any better than Brandin? Weren't they both just seeking vengance? I thought the identity of Rhun was too telegraphed to be a surprise and the whole end with him too contrived. Just a nice tidy ending. I liked the character if Dianora, but not her ending. Not to mention that I felt the book could have used a substantial editing, maybe by about 200 pages or so. And people say Tolkien was long-winded!

Am I wrong?

[JBI]

The whole purpose of the "who is the bad guy" was to make Brandin seem "gray" rather than black. Personally that was one aspect which I found to really make the story. As for the ending, generally if you read Kay's work (from what I have found) he likes to leave his endings like that. Perhaps you are confused about What the Resilka (sp?) did or thought that was a bit much. Personally I thought that was rather clever, since it lets the reader make his own sort of ending.

As for the Dionora aspect, I found that part to be absolutly brilliant. You may not have liked the ending, but that is your opinion. Generally if you agree with what Kay is trying to show, than you most likely will like his work more.

Don't let this book keep you off of Kay's other work. Go straight ahead and purchase A Song for Arbonne.

[Radone]

Of course you're not wrong. That's your opinion. I would disagree with you, though as I happen to love Tigana and wouldn't change anything. That's just my opinion also, though.

[Anomander1]

Hi there,

I thought the other way actually. I actually liked the ending a lot. The length was also fine for me, even though I usually like fast moving novels. I think because the writing style of Tigana was a pleasure to read.

Usually I am critical and would think up a Tigana negative - but for this novel I can't :). Maybe give him another chance if you can, or maybe hes just not for you :cool:

[Evil Agent]

Here's a bookclub thread on TIGANA (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5374)...

But otherwise, yes I found the book a little long winded.. for me, it was the Dianora scenes. And there were other flaws as well... but overall I enjoyed it. It was much better than the previous Kay I had read (The Fionavar Tapestry, which had some good elements, but overall didn't really succeed, IMO). What I enjoyed about Tigana was that it felt like something I had never really read before. It was original, to me at least.

Personally I loved A Song for Arbonne the most of all the Kay I've read (which surprised me, because this book doesn't seem to get as much credit), and I'd say The Lions of al-Rassan was pretty much tied with Tigana (although Lions and Tigana are often considered his best).

[saintjon]

A Song for Arbonne was the one I was going to read next, funny shift from the days of yore when it seemed like people who thought Arbonne was his best were the minority.

I loved Tigana, cover to cover. If I had one complaint it's that it wasn't long enough.