And when an author can elicit that complex an emotional response without making me feel manipulated, my hat comes off. Whenever I read TiganaI am at once in love and conflicted, consumed with near equal parts hope and despair.

My sympathies were exercised on behalf of both and so, though it is a beautiful read, it is also a painful one as both sides cannot win and it is hard to love or hate either unreservedly. The story bounces back and forth between the Palm and Brandin's home island of Chiara, with the result that the reader is given an unexpectedly intimate view of both the rebels and the tyrant.

They're the kind of characters you just know are going to break your heart and you might as well be all in because you can also tell they're so worth it. I loved the depth this thread gave the rest of the novel, but it helped that I fell almost immediately in love with the cast of characters as well. The thread of cultural memory, how far a people can be pushed before they relinquish it, and what you might be willing to sacrifice to regain it. Truly this was my favorite aspect of the novel. But as we follow Devin and his friends it also becomes clear that not everyone is who they seem to be and that there is a slow but persistent rebellion growing, the likes of which the world has never seen.

The people of the Palm now live under the shadow of Brandin and his rival conqueror Alberico, both of whom are intent on destroying the other. From that time forward, no one but the people born there could remember or even speak its name. His eldest son died in the battle and, in his grief and rage, Brandin not only destroyed the province but utterly wiped away the merest memory of its existence. Brandin did indeed win the battle of the prologue, but he paid a high price. As we follow this group of itinerant musicians, it becomes clear that the world has changed significantly. Devin d'Asoli, a gifted singer, and his tempestuous female counterpart Catriana d'Astibar are bickering as usual, while the piper Alessan and drummer Eghano tune their instruments and ready for the performance of their lives. The story then jumps forward a number of years to a troupe of musicians preparing to perform at the funeral of the Duke of Astibar. Sure that he faces certain death, it is a brief, hushed scene, full of poignance and honor. The prince of one of the provinces is about to go forth on the morrow to meet the sorceror-king Brandin of Ygrath. Like Italy of old, the Palm is divided up into nine city-states, or provinces, each with its own distinct flavor and character, yet each bound together through the music and art that runs through the veins of the inhabitants. The story takes place in the Peninsula of the Palm-a world based on medieval Italy.

Tigana book review