Tigana cover art

Tigana

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Tigana

By: Guy Gavriel Kay
Narrated by: Simon Vance
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £30.99

Buy Now for £30.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Acclaimed author Guy Gavriel Kay has been honored with the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (Ysabel) and the International Goliardos Award for his work in fantasy.

Eight of the nine Palm provinces of the Peninsula have been overcome by warrior sorcerers Brandin and Alberico. But the sorcerers don't know that a small band of survivors is plotting their removal. With tensions mounting, the sorcerers become increasingly at odds as each decides where his own path - and that of the land - should truly lie.

"Brilliant. Rich in intrigue and subtlety. A gracefully plotted story. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)

©1990, 1999 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2009 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Heartfelt Magic Users

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Lions of Al-Rassan cover art
Sailing to Sarantium cover art
Ysabel cover art
A Song for Arbonne cover art
The Summer Tree cover art
The Last Light of the Sun cover art
Under Heaven cover art
The Witness for the Dead cover art
The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story cover art
Jade Shards cover art
The Books of Blood, Volume 1 cover art
The Ninth Rain cover art
The Will of the Many cover art
Empress cover art
The Shadow of What Was Lost cover art
Elantris (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
I read this book years ago and had forgotten how brilliant it is. It's a slow burning story with a wealth of complex characters and many many twists to the tale. Loved the reading which allowed me to completely immerse myself in the tale.

Great depth of plot and characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A masterfully crafted musical lament of loss, revenge and political intrigue filled with intricate imagery and sounds.

Wonderfully musical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I don’t often listen to or read this type of fiction but this was free and I was bored. It took me to a wonderful world where names flowed like poetry and a terrible battle lay ahead.

Beautiful words

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The prose of this book is beautiful. The story compelling. This is not a swashbuckler by any stretch of the imagination but nonetheless it is exciting and nail biting with some great twists and turns.

Different but terrific

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not only is the narration (barring a very few minor mispronunciations) superb, but the story itself is just magic...
If you haven't read Guy Gavriel Kay before now, what are you waiting for?!

Phenomenal

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I don't imagine there's very much I can add to the reams of review on this book, which was one of GGK's first novels, and probably the first 'free-standing' one.
GGK has a comfortably literary style that I mostly enjoyed, but occasionally detracts from the pace. His articulation of character and emotion is excellent, and perfectly detailed making immersion effortless. A slight niggle, and this might be just a reflection on his earlier phase as a writer, is clumsy foreshadowing. For example he'd write that 'many years later, character X would look back on this moment and realise his very future pivoted on X response' Which kind of means, resurrection aside that character makes it through the oncoming conflict then!
Minor niggle aside, this is a great story in a great setting. His style seems to be a fantastic twist on a historically inspired setting: in this case pre -renaissance Italy with it's warring city states. The fantastic element is sorcery, and less so a portentous entity reminiscent of Slavic or even Celtic folklore. The sorcery is used as a clever tool for the core premise: the erasure of a nation in both physical and spiritual sense, as an act of vengeance. It opens up so many ethics and philosophical points, and elevates this book from run of the mill fantasy to a much more interesting proposition.
It's to GGK's credit that he populates this epic with some great characters, albeit touching on stereotypes at times. I found the plot engaging and interesting, holding my attention, and curious how it would resolve. There were some nice twists and some genuine tragedy. A last niggle would be some rather unnecessary sex scenes that didn't really add much to the plot, and felt frankly bizarre (silent loss of virginity in a cupboard whilst spying; odd mature-lady BDSM sequence for the 20y old hero).
Niggles aside, I'm glad I read this and will certainly jump into more GGK, perhaps with his famous Fionvar trilogy next.

Solid stand-alone fantasy epic with deep undertones

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This author produces some of the most beautiful prose I have ever encountered, and the delivery by Simon Vance very much does the book justice.

What I found here was an expertly woven tapestry of interconnecting threads, a uniquely rendered fantasy story whose characters held me in thrall throughout, and which surprised just often enough to keep me gripped but not so often as to lose consistency and my chance to develop understanding.

Absolutely sublime, from start to finish

Both gorgeous and gripping

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Simon Vance did a great job of bringing the characters to life. Story itself entertaining.

Strong story, well narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great narrative and wonderful story to get lost in. Reminder of powerful lessons from everyday life

A beautifully told story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Story felt more like a fulfilling of a prophesy than an actual story (if that makes sense). Things happened too conveniently and there was hardly any character development. Characters also didn't feel important. Like it didn't matter who was doing what. There were interesting themes and both atmosphere and writing were good.

Better than mediocre

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews