REVIEW: Guy Gavriel Kay's "Tigana"

My friend Rod introduced me to the work of Guy Gavriel Kay, who he called his favourite author. The book he lent (gave?) me was Tigana. I am more of a hard sci-fi fan than a fantasy guy, although like Rod I appreciate both forms of "speculative fiction." However it's my opinion that compelling books are compelling books, regardless of the genre. For example, I rattled off the names of four or five of my favourite speculative fiction authors that Rod had not tried: Peter F. Hamilton (Night's Dawn trilogy), Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials trilogy), Dan Simmons (Ilium, Olympos, Hyperion, etc) and John Varley (Red Thunder, Red Lightning). He had already read Christopher Paolini's Eragon and Eldest, the latter which I was currently reading at the time and was very familar with the oeuvre of Raymond Feist. Two of these authors are considered juvenile fiction (Pullman and Paolini) and three are more fantasy than hard-core sci-fi (Pullman, Paolini and Feist). Simmons is pretty hard to classify, actually but I'd say he's closer to sci-fi than fantasy in general but Ilium is replete with Greek gods and goddesses and the Trojam War of Homer's Iliad being re-enacted on Mars. In the future. After there only a million humans left on Earth who have forgotten how to read and are completely dependent upon dangerous looking robotic servants for all their survival needs and whose lives mysteriously end after exactly 100 years.

Anyway, on to Tigana! The novel has a beautifully crafted setting: The Palm, which is a land of multiple provinces in a state of intense political tension finely balanced between two powerful magicians and dictators. The reader's point of view is provided by Devin d'Asoli, a teenaged singer who discovers some shocking information about himself and who finds himself swept up in the most important historical events of his time. The significance of the title of the novel is the name of a country whose name and history has been stripped from the hearts and minds of The Palm. Only people who were born in Tigana can say or hear the word; everyone else has been bewitched by the evil wizard named Brandin. The Palm is also a land rich with religious and cultural traditions which Guy Gavriel Kay weaves into his telling of a compelling, suspenseful story.

GRADE: A