April Book Study - Tigana

[Fenika]

Hello, and welcome to the F/SF Book Study. This thread is for discussion of Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.

***Spoilers*** will be streaking naked through this thread unpredictably. You have been warned.

If anyone wants to see the previous book studies:

2008:
Ender's Game (August)
Lies of Locke Lamora (September)
A Deepness in the Sky (October)
A Fire in the Deep (November)
Storm Front (December)

2009:
I Am Legend (January)
The Onion Girl (February)
Lord of Light (March)
Small Gods (April)
Beggars in Spain (May)
The Once and Future King (June)
Foundation (July)
The Graveyard Book (August)
Neuromancer (September)
The Last Wish (October)
The Knife of Never Letting Go (November)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (December)

2010:
Battle Royale (January)
Jhereg (February)
Cyberabad Days (March)

Thank you to Broken Fingers for starting the book study!

[GreenRoom]

I'm a hundred and forty pages in. It's a start, at any rate

[Fenika]

You'll get there Green

So, to get things started: Despite my love of this book, and the fact that I couldn't put it down at night even though this was my third read through, I think the pacing was a bit off. The opening was interesting, but Kay has a way of lingering on details at the start that could turn away some readers. Otoh, there's a sense of mystery that has you realizing all is not what it seems. But then we get to long sections with Dianora and I want to know what the other characters are doing darn it. I think her back story could have been trimmed a bit too. Around the middle, I have no complaints about the pacing, and then the end is just a flash and it all comes together and Bam, it's over.

The characters were all strong and all but Dianora had the perfect weaving in of backstory (not that Dianora's backstory was bad, just too much at once and too much period). The tension between them was just right.

The end wasn't bunnies and rainbows, which was rather appropriate for the book, but at the very end the mood was uplifting as the characters looked toward the future (and then spotted a Riselka, oops).

On that note, what an odd use of a Slavic legend. I think he made that up?? (His version of the 'rusalka')

Lastly, in the 10th anniversary edition, the afterword is pretty interesting. Kay notes that he wanted to start Tigana with a lie. For those of you who don't have your book handy, the first line is about Sandre's death. Well played.

[ELMontague]

I've only read Part 1 - A Blade for the Soul - so far, but I think he's done a good job of introducing elements early in the story that will be used throughout the book. Although, I've started Diaonara and he's doing a mighty big dump, which I don't like.

[mdin]

This is one of those books that seems to divide a lot of readers. Some people hate his flowery, descriptive style. Some people tend to get bogged down in Kay's overly-thick beginnings. In Tigana especially, it's difficult to get your bearings at the start. However....

I said it many years ago when I read it for the first time, and I'll say it again today. This is the book that made me want to be a writer, and when I'm feeling especially down, I pick up again, and it renews my passion for the art of writing. It is my favorite book of all time. I am 36 years old, and I read about 1 book a week, sometimes more, and I have since I was 10 years old. I have yet to find a single book that fulfilled me in the way this book did.

If you did enjoy this book, I highly recommend A Song for Arbonne next.

If you mention Guy Kay in your blog, you emails you and thanks you. At least he did for me with Ysabel.

[ELMontague]

I'm still plugging away at this, but I'm done yet. That's actually pretty slow for me, so it's not got me cooking.

[Mark W.]

I really enjoyed this book. The Dianora sections are difficult at times, but I really liked the emotion evoked by the end of her story. My only qualms surrounded a part of the final battle. I don't want to spoil it for others who my have not read it, so I will leave it there.

[Fenika]

Originally Posted by mdin

This is one of those books that seems to divide a lot of readers. Some people hate his flowery, descriptive style. Some people tend to get bogged down in Kay's overly-thick beginnings. In Tigana especially, it's difficult to get your bearings at the start. However....

I said it many years ago when I read it for the first time, and I'll say it again today. This is the book that made me want to be a writer, and when I'm feeling especially down, I pick up again, and it renews my passion for the art of writing. It is my favorite book of all time. I am 36 years old, and I read about 1 book a week, sometimes more, and I have since I was 10 years old. I have yet to find a single book that fulfilled me in the way this book did.
<snip>

I agree with this. When I was a younger reader, I didn't mind the flowery so much, though sometimes I'm sure it did stand out. Now I can comment on pacing, slowness to get pulled in (but only in some ways. He does give you a sense of 'wait until you see what unfolds' which makes the reader want to know what's what. Am I repeating my first post? Prolly.) and other factors that turn off certain readers.

Kay is the one author who I can't get enough of. Speaking of, it is time to call my bookstore and request my own copy of Under Heaven, which comes out in (squee!) Two Days.

Originally Posted by ELMontague

I'm still plugging away at this, but I'm done yet. That's actually pretty slow for me, so it's not got me cooking.

That's a shame. Have you managed to finish or have you dropped the book? I'm curious what you think of the ending compared to the rest of the book.

Originally Posted by Mark W.

I really enjoyed this book. The Dianora sections are difficult at times, but I really liked the emotion evoked by the end of her story. My only qualms surrounded a part of the final battle. I don't want to spoil it for others who my have not read it, so I will leave it there.

By this point, anyone reading this far down is risking massive spoilers. So you can 1) post it anyways. Or 2) Post it with *UBERSPOILER* and then change the font to white so readers have to highlight it to read it.

[ELMontague]

I finished last night, but I'll be honest, I'm used to reading a book a week, not a book in three weeks. His writing just did not pull me along. I was quite comfortable setting the book down and picking it up later, even mid-scene.

<<<SPOILERS>>>>

The story is very well constructed, so are the characters, and the resolution was satisfying. That means it was just a style thing for me. Kay knows how to tell a story. I particularly like it that all the elements of the story were introduced early in the book and slowly revealed. I hate it when an author springs something on you late that feels like it's out of left field. He didn't do any of that, the Night Walkers were close, but I gave him a pass. Everything else worked wonderfully. I was a little squicked by the incest, but I could forgive both characters. I wanted something happy for Dianora in the end, but her ending was better. I wish Scelto had told Prince Valentin it was his father. He robbed both Princes of a proper burial and a satisfying end to the occupation, though I was not upset that Baerd never knew Dianora killed herself.

[Mark W.]

Ok my <<Spoilerific Post>>
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I didn't believe that Baerd and the other guy could hold off the entire King's Guard on that hill. Yeah they were good, but two guys against a dozen of the guy's best and no major injuries? I didn't buy it.

[ELMontague]

It was more than that.

[ELMontague]

The royal guard was 49, "... That is always the number of the King's Guard in Ygrath." (pg. 635) and from page 627-8, "They had sixty men: Ducas's band, Rovigo's brave handful of mariners, and those carefully chosen men who had made their solitary way north to Senzio..." QFT (Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay, ISBN 978-0-4151-45776-9)

So, 60 men beat 49 trained soldiers, excluding three wizards and four distant Carzolinni.

[Fenika]

The Night Walkers were a bit of an odd element. Kay does that a fair bit- weaves in a side plot suddenly. At least in this instance it was important to the end, but I think it could have been hashed out a bit more (without adding too much length, lol).

I personally am glad Scelto didn't tell. For one, his motive of not causing more pain was good and spot on. Who could deal with the fact that their father was alive and tortured for so long, only to find them lying there dead. Which is nearly as bad as finding out your sister just walked away to die before you could stop her. Or maybe just as bad. I don't know.

I think Prince Valentin will end up with a proper funeral in honor of killing Brandin.

[Fenika]

Originally Posted by ELMontague

The royal guard was 49, "... That is always the number of the King's Guard in Ygrath." (pg. 635) and from page 627-8, "They had sixty men: Ducas's band, Rovigo's brave handful of mariners, and those carefully chosen men who had made their solitary way north to Senzio..." QFT (Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay, ISBN 978-0-4151-45776-9)

So, 60 men beat 49 trained soldiers, excluding three wizards and four distant Carzolinni.

Not to argue, but they had terrain and some very well trained bandits with an ex-captain who were used to dealing with well trained foreign soldiers. They also had use of archers. I think the end of the battle, when things got up close and personal, could have been clearer- even a few lines b/c in reality things do get crazy and you are worried about your own skin, but as a reader I went from buildup to 'wait, what? Okay, it's over, but what? Are there more in the shadows?'

How's that for a run on?

They also had the advantage of this is Epic Fantasy and they are the Good Guys I was willing to suspend disbelief there, though I did wonder a little if it should have gone worse for them. Otoh, I'm a romantic and there's enough tragedy in that ending without killing off more main characters. Baerd's friend dying was (imo) sadly a cheap death b/c we never get to deal with the impact it had. But very true to the book at least.