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Tigana

Guy Gavriel Kay
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In the romantic Tolkienesque tradition, a high-flying adventure story complete with captivating characters, subtle magic, complex villains and multi-faceted heroes and heroines.This personality development evolves as the story unfolds and as the various names become familiar, a sense develops of really knowing them like friends, relatives, or enemies.

Intertwining through the events surrounding the main characters, the subtle changes of an evil wizard, Brandin, provide an interesting depth. It's the story of how differences dissolve as in Chinese history the military conquerors become culturally conquered.

The plot remains somewhat predictable but has enough edge of struggle and enough contrary-to-desire occurrence to maintain sufficient believability. Several surprising twists and unexpected events add a dimension beyond the fairy-tale level.

Huge literary leap beyond Kay's previous books, The Fionavar Tapestry. Still not philosophically deep but his story-telling skills have appreciably grown. Like his previous books, this seems oriented towards college-age people and the issues of transition into the adult world.

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Internet Top 100Short StoriesNovellas, Novelettes