And I wonder if that's one of the reasons I don't really like it. I love the way Kay takes our real world - history or otherwise - and twists it. (The other reason I don't like Tigana is that I think the revenge theme is pushed too far and none of the characters are people I sympathise with.)
I'm exactly the opposite. The better I know the historical context and the people that Kay is basing his story on, the less intriguing I find it. That is partially due to the fact that I AM very intrigued by the actual history and am rather familiar with the details.
That is the beauty of books. It allows for people to react to them in many different ways, and for the same or different reasons.

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay: the November/December Book Club
18/11/2010 09:33:45 AM
- 1670 Views
Prologue and Part One - the pieces are moved into place.
18/11/2010 09:37:08 AM
- 819 Views
I've read this before, more than once, but I can remember very little of what happens.
18/11/2010 12:58:44 PM
- 975 Views
Re: I've read this before, more than once, but I can remember very little of what happens.
20/12/2010 07:31:10 PM
- 835 Views
Part Two: Exile *NM*
18/11/2010 09:38:21 AM
- 457 Views
I still like it.
22/12/2010 09:27:09 AM
- 1012 Views
Part Three
18/11/2010 09:40:26 AM
- 825 Views
Still no major objections
25/12/2010 04:07:43 PM
- 868 Views
Overall thoughts: did you like the book?
18/11/2010 09:41:54 AM
- 849 Views
The characters: Jehane, Ammar, Rodrigo
18/11/2010 09:45:51 AM
- 821 Views
A superficial point:
18/11/2010 08:33:58 PM
- 899 Views
Yes. Phèdre no Delaunay de Montrêve (as opposed to Racine's Phèdre).
18/11/2010 08:37:49 PM
- 735 Views
The technicalities: writing style, plotting, etc.
18/11/2010 09:48:48 AM
- 812 Views
He really does love his drama. (spoilers for late in the book)
18/11/2010 09:02:13 PM
- 922 Views
Re: He really does love his drama. (spoilers for late in the book)
21/11/2010 06:13:32 PM
- 804 Views
Re: He really does love his drama. (spoilers for late in the book)
29/12/2010 03:40:31 PM
- 822 Views
Re: He really does love his drama. (spoilers for late in the book)
29/12/2010 03:39:07 PM
- 907 Views
Because I was amusing myself with this during the read: on meanings of names and places
18/11/2010 03:38:39 PM
- 1309 Views
I wish I had the time and brainpower to do that when reading books.
18/11/2010 07:48:30 PM
- 822 Views
Actually, I'm not sure if it really enhanced the reading experience.
18/11/2010 08:11:29 PM
- 787 Views
Hm.
18/11/2010 08:15:32 PM
- 987 Views
Supposedly it's based on Italy? But yeah, maybe that's only superficial.
18/11/2010 08:25:54 PM
- 943 Views
Ha...
18/11/2010 08:27:28 PM
- 753 Views
A note on your Tigana comment..
18/11/2010 08:24:24 PM
- 855 Views
I did not catch all of those. Certainly not the arabic name-references.
29/12/2010 11:53:46 PM
- 974 Views
Us and Them: how can we do this to each other?
21/11/2010 06:07:46 PM
- 831 Views