I Read Books: Tigana
Almost 20 years ago two tyrant sorcerers came to the Peninsula of the Palm*. Albrecht of Barbadior came from the east with three mercenary armies, seeking treasure and power to one day contend for the throne of Barbadior. Brandin of Ygrath came from the west looking for an inheritance for his beloved younger son.
The son is killed by the inhabitants of Tigana. Brandin takes his revenge by wiping the name of the province from the minds of everyone. Except those born in Tigana-as-was. And then to ensure it will never come back, he settles in the Palm to maintain the spell, and extends his life so that everyone who remembers will die.
Albrecht is cold and hard and plots. Brandin also plots, but his court is filled with poets and artists vying for his favour.
That’s just backdrop; the story is about rebels trying to free the Palm, and stop the spell. Killing Brandin might stop the spell, but inside a year Albrecht will conquer the whole peninsula, destroying all the native magic, making the whole place subject to his tyranny.
There are travels throughout the various weird parts of the Palm (and – just – outside it) showing the network of rebels that have been put together. There’s magic, and family, and love and betrayal and revenge. And there is one final character from inside Brandin’s own court who may hold a key.
Read This: An absolute masterpiece of a high fantasy novel
Don’t Read This: If the messiness of varying mythology, politics, and conspiracy within one culture interacting in a complex way turns you off. Also if you want a unified logical magic system; the magic here specifically operates outside normal law, especially that of the foreign sorcerers.
* There’s a little of Renaissance Italy, and perhaps something of Ancient Greece as well to the Palm.
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