Tigana is on the cusp of being an excellent novel. Kay is adept at mirroring real history in our world on the backdrop of a fantasy realm of his own creation. But there are a few small nagging annoyances that damage Tigana. The first is Kay's insistence on having almost every character become the viewpoint character at some point in the story. I enjoy it when we get to see multiple perspectives. In Tigana, however, it gets in the way of the story when you switch to a character you do not care about in the midst of an important revelation. There are moments when you wish Kay would have concentrated only on a handful of characters and let us see strictly from their perspective. Other than that, Tigana is a worthy read. Kay has created a fully realized world and populated it with fascinating characters. ( )

This is my original favorite novels of Kay's. I enjoy the melancholy and tragic feel of this story, and its somewhat unconventional ending. Though the story and characters took a little while to grow on me during the first reading, during all subsequent re-readings this world, and Tigana itself (for all that its name cannot be spoken) felt very real to me, and is always worth re-visiting. ( )

Sept 7 2009: I first read this book 18 years ago when it was released in paperback. I just reread the book and it was like reading it for the first time. Guy Gavrial Kay is a master at creating stories whose places and characters capture your attention. Every book of his is a rich tapestry. This is the story of a land (Tigana) whose name has been lost to the memories of all those people who were not living in Tigana at the time a sorcerer wielded his magic and took away that name and memories all to wreck vengance for the death of his son. It is the story about Dianora that haunts me the most. She is a woman caught between two loves. One for Tigana and one for the sorcerer who she originally planned to kill but fell in love with instead. This is a must read book for any lover of Fantasy and any lover of Guy Gavrial Kay stories. ( )

A haunting meditation on history and memory, the first of Kay's history-tinged fantasies. Like his later books, this takes place in a fantasy world with two moons, but it otherwise does not seem to map to the setting of the others. Not as accomplished as his later work, but well worth reading. ( )

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ: I have just finished "Tigana" & feel a deep sense of loss. I can't bring myself to read anything else at present. The book developes complex characters & explores their struggles in a world where good & evil are intermingled in ways which don't allow for simplistic judgements.