Book Review: Tigana
Apr. 11th, 2006 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluedaisyigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Now, I like the surprise twist ending as much as anyone. I also like
genre endings. What I don't like is being picked up and dropped
repeatedly like the on-again, off again romance of an abusive lover.
Kay builds up expectations, again and again, with fantastic
characters, beautiful prose, an intricate world and interesting
conflicts but every time you get really into the story he ruins it for
you.
The prologue was great---good world-painting, interesting characters---and then they were dropped.
The musical group was fun to watch interact---and then Devin finds out that he was secretly from a province he'd never previously he\
ard of and everything else is irrelevant. He starts acting like a total twit, and doesn't stop until we drop his party for a chapter\
while we meet Dianora.
Dianora repeatedly is *almost* a strong female character, but repeatedly backs out of her conviction,
even after going on for several pages about how doomed she is to live our a tragedy.
She's almost redeemed---at least she'd have had her brother, and Tigana, which should have made her less whiny---and she walks into \
the sea WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED!
HOW CAN YOU END THE BOOK WITHOUT REVEALING THE SECRET?!?
He does, at least, show the characters to be very real---at least the
ones he focuses on. Even the ones who drive me mad are reminiscent of
real people who drive me that mad. I *know* people who take up a new
cause with the same naievete and utter obsession as Devin, pitying
themselves for having been unable to take it up sooner. I know women
as stupid as Dianora---angsting about their predicament rather than
choosing one path and sticking to it. I also know people as haunted
and driven as Baerd and Catriana... something to prove, indeed. The
Barbadian could have been cool, but ended up kind of flat, since the
PCs were focused on Brandin. Brandin could have been cool, but we see
too little of him, and only really through Dianora.
It's such a beautiful world, and such interesting characters---it's too bad the story is so awful.
Books in 2006: 10.5
Now, I like the surprise twist ending as much as anyone. I also like
genre endings. What I don't like is being picked up and dropped
repeatedly like the on-again, off again romance of an abusive lover.
Kay builds up expectations, again and again, with fantastic
characters, beautiful prose, an intricate world and interesting
conflicts but every time you get really into the story he ruins it for
you.
The prologue was great---good world-painting, interesting characters---and then they were dropped.
The musical group was fun to watch interact---and then Devin finds out that he was secretly from a province he'd never previously he\
ard of and everything else is irrelevant. He starts acting like a total twit, and doesn't stop until we drop his party for a chapter\
while we meet Dianora.
Dianora repeatedly is *almost* a strong female character, but repeatedly backs out of her conviction,
even after going on for several pages about how doomed she is to live our a tragedy.
She's almost redeemed---at least she'd have had her brother, and Tigana, which should have made her less whiny---and she walks into \
the sea WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED!
HOW CAN YOU END THE BOOK WITHOUT REVEALING THE SECRET?!?
He does, at least, show the characters to be very real---at least the
ones he focuses on. Even the ones who drive me mad are reminiscent of
real people who drive me that mad. I *know* people who take up a new
cause with the same naievete and utter obsession as Devin, pitying
themselves for having been unable to take it up sooner. I know women
as stupid as Dianora---angsting about their predicament rather than
choosing one path and sticking to it. I also know people as haunted
and driven as Baerd and Catriana... something to prove, indeed. The
Barbadian could have been cool, but ended up kind of flat, since the
PCs were focused on Brandin. Brandin could have been cool, but we see
too little of him, and only really through Dianora.
It's such a beautiful world, and such interesting characters---it's too bad the story is so awful.
Books in 2006: 10.5
