Tigana. Guy Gabriel Kay. 4 stars.
(The unbound variable print, size and font, epub.)

I struggled a little in the first two hundred or so pages because the
plot was ponderously slow and it only improved slowly for the next two
hundred though there was action and there were brilliant sections of
tension and surprise. I was a little cynical after another two hundred
and fifty when the Tying Up of Loose Ends began but was again surprised
with the riselka riddle in the epilogue, concluding that the plot itself
was great even though it is really secondary to Kay's characters and
remarkable, imaginative events in their lives as a result of their
cultural upbringing and history.
Many years ago, I tired of the standard fantasy of a cruelly oppressed
youth becoming powerful and exacting revenge and there are several young
men and woman who, though older, fit this role and, yes, redshirts
suffer in droves. But there are complications as Kay's characters can be
realistically ambiguous with evil characters acting honourably with
compassion or heroes seeking ends regardless of means.
My emotions, mainly sadness after shock, are more easily manipulated by
Kay in the Fionavar trilogy and Tigana than most others.
I also appreciated the author's afterword where he outlined the serious
themes of memory, subjugation, language, identity and history.

(Thanks to Chris Buckley who recommended it noting the emotional
manipulation skills.)