Month 50 of 260 (19.23 percent)
Size of list: 90,624 pages (16.52 percent above start)
Pages read: 25,293 (27.91 percent)
H-list: 7,157/23,922 (29.92 percent)
N-list: 9,777/36,960 (26.45 percent)O-list: 8,359/29,742 (28.11 percent)
Reading: A Crown of Swords
Finished: Tigana
The setting of Tigana is unmistakably fantasy Italy. It's rotated upside-down, it's called the Palm instead of the boot, and it has nothing in common with the real Italy of the 1400s except that it's divided into various principalities. One of those principalities fought against an invader, lost, and was punished. Tigana is about the survivors of that punishment, and their fight for their land. It's an unusual fantasy, in that there's no claim to be fighting for the king, only for the country, and it becomes literally for the identity of the country, since the invading army's leader, a powerful sorcerer, uses his magic to erase the country's name.
For all that, the story is really about the characters, from the band of rebels to the rival sorcerers occupying the Palm. Their personalities are vivid, drawn through dialogue, inner thoughts and choices under pressure. It's hard not to cheer for them, and that helps make the novel compelling. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to reading some more Guy Gavriel Kay.
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