Monday, August 12, 2019

TIGANA- 2019 AUGUST BOOK SELECTION


I was given this book many years ago by my daughter. She had read it, loved it and recommended it to me. I kept it and intended to read it many times but because it’s quite a hefty tome, I put it off. Finally, because I was already reading a novel for my book club, I decided to try it on Audible. Aside from initially trying to keep up with the multiple characters and their names (this resolved quickly), it was wholly satisfying.  I loved this book as well. It is an epic fantasy, full of magic, a new world, a war for freedom, survival and hope. It also explores more than one unusual love story.

It has everything, but the thing that stood out for me was not only the beautiful writing but the characterizations. Each character is unique and multi-faceted. Each character takes a significant journey and each surprises.

Guy Gavriel Kay tells us at the end of the novel what inspired him. He says it was primarily memory; that without memory, without nostalgia for what “used to be,” men could live peacefully and without pain. I could not help but draw comparisons to the struggle of the American Revolution. Both were about a country struggling against tyranny. The difference was one sought to recapture what it used to be, the other was fighting to reach for what it could be. The novel reminds us of the power of good, integrity and the unbreakable human spirit.

Recommend.



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