Tigana in Beyond Reality

Nov 23, 2011 mark monday rated it it was amazing

Shelves: z-guy-gavriel-kay, alpha-team, fantasy-modern

oh Tigana! 20 years ago, the warring lands of the peninsula known as The Palm were invaded and conquered by two opposing Tyrants, and split into two. during this time of war and magic, one land was punished, transformed, forgotten.

20 years later, a band of men and women fight to reclaim that land, its history, their memories. oh Tigana!

SPOILERS FOLLOW

memories of a distant life can be a strange and beautiful and sorrowful thing. i can remember places, scenes, people in the land where i was born, ...more

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Apr 28, 2009 Jensownzoo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, 2009-reads

Oooh I liked this one! It is my first read by this author and am looking forward to reading many more. I thought he did a masterful job of developing characters and interweaving different parts of the story. I read this book in one giant gulp--very nearly seeing the wrong side of the dawn--because it was so good!

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Nov 30, 2011 Adrienne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, post-book-withdrawl, owned, sword-and-laser, characters-that-feel-real, music

This book was slow to get going, but after Chapter 5 I was hooked.

I liked the prologue quite a bit, so I was thrown for a bit of a loop when the first chapter is 20 years later in some random tavern with some random nameless people (at that point!) talking about history I didn't know. Then we're introduced to Devin, who is a much more grounded character -- and someone I was happy to read about. After some flip-flopping viewpoints and some confusion, everything becomes clear in Chapter 5 -- so gi This book was slow to get going, but after Chapter 5 I was hooked.

I liked the prologue quite a bit, so I was thrown for a bit of a loop when the first chapter is 20 years later in some random tavern with some random nameless people (at that point!) talking about history I didn't know. Then we're introduced to Devin, who is a much more grounded character -- and someone I was happy to read about. After some flip-flopping viewpoints and some confusion, everything becomes clear in Chapter 5 -- so give it at least 'til then. The language was more florid than I normally like, but it actually complemented the Italian Renaissance setting of this world so well that I found myself re-reading passages just because of how they were written.

My favorite thing about this book was the characters' depth. There was really only one character to truly dislike. The others, no matter which side they were on, all ended up being sympathetic at certain points. A number of characters, who were for the most part good people, would find themselves in situations with no good solution, and after choosing their action would have to deal with the effects of the decision they'd just made. My favorite!

That is not to say that the book was flawless. I found the sudden switch from Devin to Dianora quite disconcerting, even though I ended up liking her point of view quite a bit by the end of the section. I am not sure if I would have preferred the two viewpoints to be more interspersed, with less of a sudden change, or to be kept as they were, which allowed you to cozy up with the character for a while. I was also unhappy with the end, especially concerning Catriana -- (view spoiler) However, either these complaints were minor compared to my enjoyment of the rest of the book, or I ended up getting over them.

Here is one of those lines that I re-read a few times, because it fit so well in the scene:

"He thought about the years, all the lost years that had tumbled and spun and drifted like leaves or snow between these two, then and now."

I know exactly what those lost years tumbling like leaves feels like. ...more

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Jan 05, 2010 Deedee rated it it was ok

Shelves: world-fantasy-award-nominee, fantasy, mythopoeic-award-nominees, scifi-and-fantasy-book-club, beyond-reality-fantasy, aurora-awards-winners, aurora-awards-nominees, fantasy-book-club, scifi-and-fantasy-club-read, rws-group-reads-read

One thing that drove me crazy while reading this book was the author's overuse of the word: SHAPE. I found a program online and used it to count the occurrences:
shape: 62 occurrences
shaped: 20 occurrences
shaping: 14 occurrences

Making 96 occurrences of the conjugated "shape" in one novel. Grrrr.
...more

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Jun 05, 2009 Zen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, the-alternate-reality

This book was well established but lost something to it as the author tried to grapple with some very complex issues concerning national identity and pride. Some sections of were a wonderful read while others made me want more. A valiant effort but, for me, it fell short.

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