![]() ![]() In Tigana, the structure of high fantasy remains, but the emphasis is directed towards a direct analysis of the human aspects of sexual and religious machination in a dangerous world whose politicians may wield superhuman power. ![]() ![]() Kay’s subversion of the innocent tropes of High Fantasy began in The Fionavar Tapestry with a very non-traditional interpretation of the sexual politics of the Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot triangle, set within what would otherwise have been a conventionally structured fantasy trilogy. Judged by any of the standard genre definitions, Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana is high fantasy, but A Song for Arbonne is not: it is a hybrid, a meta-fantasy bred from the root stock of nineteenth century historical romance, and crossed with late twentieth century cynicism about the politics of art, sexuality, and religion. This article first appeared in The New York Review of Science Fiction, No.77, January 1995. ![]()
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