Tigana is set in a land called the Peninsula of the Palm and begins during the conquest of two wizards, Brandin (the king) of Ygrath and Alberico (a warlord) from the empire of Barbadior. The Peninsula of the Palm is a divided land with nine provinces that have a long history of squabbling with each other and so the land is not united and cannot withstand the onslaught from Brandin in the west and Alberico in the east. For those who are not familiar with Kay’s works, he often uses a historical nation and period for that nation as a parallel for his worlds. The parallel here is medieval Italy. I do not know much about Italian history and found that it didn’t matter when it came to the story. I understood the scope of the land and people as he described them fine. The last holdout against Brandin is the province known as Tigana. We later find out that Brandin’s beloved son is killed while fighting Tigana and as a result Brandin uses his magic to completely crush Tigana and then erases from the memory of all living the name and history of Tigana except for those that are from there and other wizards. The name when said makes no sense to anybody not from there and (if I remember correctly) nobody not from there can even say the word. Brandin renames Tigana as Lower Corte after the province to their north (and their historical arch rivals).

Jump ahead and we begin to meet the characters who will play a role in the rest of the plot. After encountering each other through various places and situations they become a group of rebels who plot to overthrow both tyrants and reclaim their homeland of Tigana. The book contains multiple characters and viewpoints and much of the book is spent investigating each character’s feelings about Tigana and how they identify with the land of their birth as well as how they cope with having lost that identity. There are also questions the book raises about morality as the rebels also perform questionable acts such as murder in their efforts to reclaim what was once theirs. For example, one character, Dianora, who has spent years placing herself in an elaborate ruse into the harem of Brandin to kill him in revenge for the loss of Tigana finds herself falling in love with him. Later in the book, she must decide whether to do it or not (I won’t tell you what happens!) There are other characters as well, whom I won’t name so as to not give away plot surprises, which must face their own ghosts from the past and self-doubts.

To summarize my feelings about the book, I found it to be entertaining and worth the read (or listen as I listened to the audiobook). It isn’t without its issues though. For example, I didn’t really hate or love the rebels. They weren’t lovable characters, yet I could identify with their struggles and victories; still I felt rather neutral towards them even by the end of the book. I liked Dianora’s character and storyline, yet I’m not really sure she made the right decision. And Brandin, well, I was surprised at what a sympathetic character he turned out to be and I’m not really sure I was entirely pleased with the book ending. But maybe that is the point Kay is trying to make, that the characters aren’t lovable or even heroic, and that their cause is just as morally gray as their conquerors’ motivations. I also felt the book was slow at several points but Kay seemed to bring action in right at the right moments when I began to feel myself getting a little winded with those spots. The book is not non-stop action but also not boring; it is character centered rather than action centered.

Word About the Narrator:

Since I did listen to the audio version I would be amiss if I didn’t say something about the narration. The book is narrated by Englishman Simon Vance. I thought he was terrific, his range of character voices was excellent (something that can be an issue with some narrators) and his English accent brought to life what I felt was the maturity with which Kay writes. It was the perfect match in my mind of narrator and text. I am looking forward to hearing more audiobooks with Simon Vance reading.