Overall rating: 4 1/2 stars. 
 Feels like: A Game of Thrones, The Name of the Wind, The Knife of Never Letting Go 
 I have currently set myself a goal of not buying any new books until I read and review every single one that I currently have on my bookshelf. Tigana is the first dusty, unloved thing I pulled down. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book. I had started to read it a few years ago and for some reason I lost interest, put it down and never picked it up again. 
 I don't know what to say - I was crazy. This time, I loved it from the first page. I think Tigana has all the elements of a perfect medieval fantasy novel and Guy Gavriel Kay has executed them virtually flawlessly. 
 I'll start with the synopsis. Two sorcerers from far off lands invade a group of provinces, collectively called The Palm. In the course of the invasion the province of Tigana kills the son and heir of one of the invaders, Brandon of Ygrath. In response Brandon, obliterates Tigana and erases it from the memories of everyone in the Palm. The novel is set 20 years after the invasion and follows the surviving prince of Tigana and his group of followers as they try to liberate the Palm. 
 In the end, the plot line is essentially quite simple. I like that and believe it works for the novel. This is not like Game of Thrones where you have no idea what is happening and every character has their individual plot line and it is basically just chaos the whole way through. I think that style of plot keeps you on the edge of your seat and surprises you often, but this style, more classic fantasy novel, is also great. It really allows you to appreciate the character building and world-building and the simplicity of the plot doesn't take away from the plight of the characters. 
 The characters are the real heroes of the story. They are perfect - in a literary sense - which means that they are actually flawed, and rounded. They are clearly extremely well thought out, each with an individual back-story, which consistently motivates them. They never do anything you wouldn't expect them too. They fail sometimes too. It is so refreshing, coming off the back of me reading quite a few YA Medieval Fantasy which all struggled with creating well-rounded characters and three dimensional supporting characters. The most well crafted characters, in my opinion, are the protagonists, Brandon of Ygrath and Alberico of Barbadior. You can sympathise with them. There are not just black and white, bad guys and good guys. I know from the afterword that that was the intention of Kay and he did it brilliantly. The characters are the reason I have likened it with the Knife of Never Letting Go, which is actually, apparently, a children's book and more Sci-Fi then Fantasy. But Ness also crea 
 tes these amazing, believable, flawed, lovely characters. 
 There are also the other essential elements such as romance, magic, betrayal and the underlying morality in the whole plot. 
 And the writing, oh the writing. It was just so beautiful, so poetic. I found myself in tears at so many paragraphs just form the sheer beauty of it. Look, I'll open the book to random pages and show you: 
 "Will you let me tell you how sorry I am for the folly that has condemned you to this? Will you hear me if I tell you I have been proud of you, in my fashion?" 
 Tomasso let himself weep. The words were the balm for the deepest ache he knew. 
 Devin suddenly felt as if he could not bear it any more. Allessan's quiet acquiescence was a final blow in his own heart. He felt torn open, wounded by the hard truths of the world, by the passing of things. He lowered his head to the windowsill and wept like a child in the presence of something to large for his capacity.