#21 - The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent

331 pages, Historical Fiction

The Queen's Dollmaker is the story of the life and love of Claudette Laurent, a French woman making her living as a doll maker in England, during the French revolution. The story begins with young Claudette, still living in France, having a chance meeting with young Marie Antoinette, sent to France from Austria to marry the king. Claudette's initial impressions of the young princess shape her opinions of the French royalty in the years to come.

After the initial meeting with the princess, the story flashes forward to Claudette's late teen years. There is a devastating fire in the Paris quarter where she and her family live, and nearly everything in her father's doll shop burns. While the family tries to help their neighbors, Claudette's parents are killed. Penniless and now an orphan, with no friends or family to call upon for aid, Claudette finds herself wandering to the docks. There, she meets a man promising to pay the fare of any French women who want to go to England to become 'maids'. Once they are gainfully employed, they will pay him back. She is naively taken in by this offer, and boards the ship to England.

Aboard the ship, Claudette befriends Beatrice du Georges and her daughter Maguerite. Together, the three barely escape the clutches of the ship master and find themselves employed as maids by an overbearing, social climber of an English matron who both hates and exploits their nationality. Throughout this harsh employment, Claudette and Beatrice save up enough money to finally escape servitude and begin their own business making fashion dolls. Though this endeavor too has a rocky start, Claudette is eventually excels in her sphere; her dolls even catching the eye of the French monarch herself. This seemingly benign career choice leads Claudette down a path of adventure, hardship, betrayal and eventually love and redemption.

The lives of the historical figures in The Queen's Dollmaker - Marie Grosholtz, The Princess de Lamballe, Count Axel Fersen, King Louis XVI, and most notably Queen Marie Antoinette - are blended together with the fictional quite masterfully. Chapters about life at Court and Marie Antoinette's troubled monarchy and marriage mirror Claudette's difficulties. The Queen fails to understand why the people do not love her as she loves them, because she has done nothing differently from any preceding monarchs. The Queen strives to eschew the ornamentation that comes along with her station, and uses a considerable amount of money to create a pastoral life on the grounds of Versailles. This contrast with Claudette's financial struggle for independence makes the French Revolution seem inevitable.

The opulence of the wealthy; the filth, despair and wretchedness of life in a Paris prison during the revolution; the horror of the guillotine; the house arrest and murders of the royal family - all are told faithfully and from the perspectives of the true historical figures of the royalty and the fictional yet still realistic experiences of Claudette.

Not being a huge fan of historical fiction, I purposely chose a story about a period with which I was already familiar. It was very interesting to me to read about the revolution from the royal perspective as well as that of someone more common. Not that I don't understand the desire to break off the bonds of the monarchy's irresponsible leadership and oppression of the French people, but I have always been appalled by the tactics used by the revolutionaries in France. This part of the tale was very emotional for me. The fictional part of the story - Claudette's life and love - was interesting but had too much of the soap opera feel for my taste. All in all, it was an enjoyable book, but it, like most historical fiction, just made me want to read history instead. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

#20 - Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

645 pages, suggestion

Let me just come right out and say that I sort of recommended this book to myself. I saw it on the shelf at the library and, being a fan of Carey's work, decided that I must read this book. There was no way around it - I cleared my schedule and got to reading. Seriously. Now that I come to writing about it, I have to ask myself, how does one sum up a 645 page book in a couple of paragraphs? Particularly one as engaging as Naamah's Kiss. When I googled reviews of Naamah's Kiss, almost every single review used the word 'lush' to describe Carey's prose. I couldn't put it better myself. Carey has masterfully created a rich and intriguing alternate history of our own world. Her prose is stunning, and I laughed and cried in various places throughout this book, just because of the beauty of her words.

Naamah's Kiss is the first book in the third trilogy set in Carey's alternate historical world, with at least part of the action taking place in Terre D'Ange. The first trilogy is the story of Phedre, and begins with Kushiel's Dart, and the second trilogy is the story of Immriel, and begins with Kushiel's Scion. Because I really don't think I can sum this one up succinctly, I have included the summary from the book jacket:

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:
Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn; the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts - the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.

Moirin has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the presence of unfamiliar gods in her life; the bright lady, and the man with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her reclusive mother, it isn't until she comes of age that Moirin learns how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great granddaughter of Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn, and a cousin of the Cruarch of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire.

After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.



Having read the other six books set in this universe, Naamah's Kiss definitely has a different flavor than the Kushiel books. Perhaps it is because Moirin is only half D'Angeline, or perhaps it is because this book deals more with Naamah than stern Kushiel. There is still a fair amount of sex in this book, and (as with the other books I have read by Carey) it follows the D'Angeline precept "Love as thou wilt". One thing I enjoy about Carey's style is that even the sex scenes are beautifully written - cheesy play by play sex scenes of crappy romance novels they are not.

Naamah's Kiss crosses over to many genres - it has elements of romance, high fantasy and alternate history. If it is like her other trilogies, this will also be an epic adventure and love story as well. I highly recommend this author to anyone who is looking for a new fantasy type series to read. And, I think I would start with Naamah's Kiss rather than her complete series. This one is much easier to follow for someone new to the series, and (as discussed above), the sex scenes are...different in the other books. I give this one a 4.5 out of 5.

#19 – The Final Key: Part two of Triad by Catherine Asaro

339, Science Fiction

After I read Schism (see post #18), I just had to read the final book in the duology. I am still not sure why this was a duology rather than a single book - too long, perhaps? There were quite a few loose ends to be tied up in Schism – what would happen to Althor? Would Shannon go home or not? Was Soz going to finish military school? What the heck was going on with Eldri? Who would Kurj pick as his heir? These and many other questions were abuzz in my mind when I started The Final Key. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting – it literally began with the last chapter of Schism. Any answers to my questions were not exactly forthcoming.

Even though I had all these burning questions in my mind, it was much more difficult for me to get into The Final Key than it was for me to get into Schism. Perhaps it was because I wanted my questions answered that I initially wasn’t really so interested in the main focus of the story – The Dyad. It could also have been that this was one of the science-y parts of this science fiction novel. In Asaro’s universe, space travel is possible because highly gifted empaths have some degree of control over where they are going. If they are good enough at military school, the chosen empaths are equipped with nano technology that makes them a sort of cyborg. Well, a mechanically assisted being at any rate. They can communicate with their ‘node’, and their node, in turn, can communicate with their space ships, etc to allow space travel.

The most gifted of empaths, the Ruby Pharaoh (Soz’s aunt) and the military leader, Kurj (Soz’s half brother) use special chairs called Dyad chairs to impose their consciousness into the web of space. While using the Dyad chairs, they can sense everything that is going on – Kurj can direct the military while the Ruby Pharaoh can manage communication and other travel through space. As the Skolian society grows, Kurj and the Ruby Pharaoh are increasingly taxed as they are called upon to hold the fraying threads of the net of space together.

As the Cold War style standoff with the Traders finally becomes open war, events are set in motion that forever change the structure of the Dyad into a Triad – with, it appears from the Final Key, alternates who can help lift the burden off of Kurj and the Ruby Pharaoh. I was gratified that my questions were answered, and there were resolutions to the serious issues left open-ended at the end of Schism. Additionally, the introduction of the Triad has certainly piqued my interest in the series as a whole. While I didn’t enjoy The Final Key as much as Schism, it was still satisfying to read. I would give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

#18 Schism: Part one of Triad by Catherine Asaro

389 pages, Science Fiction

One thing that is true of most Science Fiction and Fantasy books is that they are part of a series. There is just something about both of these genres that lends itself to the lengthy saga. One of the downfalls to reading a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy is that this section at my local library is usually fairly scant. When you do find a book that looks intriguing, it is usually one of the middle books in a much larger series. When I found Schism: Part one of Triad, I thought 'Finally - the start of a series!'. While I was incorrect about this book being the start of a series, I discovered with a little internet checking that it is a good entry point to the Skolian Empire series by Catherine Asaro. So, I commenced with the reading.

Although it is the tenth book in this series, Schism is apparently a 'prequel' if you will, going back to an earlier point and describing what is undoubtedly an important part of the history of the series as a whole. Schism sets up the initial hostility between the Skolian Empire and the Traders, and gives a lot of back story to Eldrinson and his many children, central figures in the Skolian Empire because of their empathic ability.

Schism starts off in the idyllic setting of Lyshriol, which, for all its beauty, seems to be a somewhat backward planet in comparison with the technological advances of the Skolian Empire. The principal characters are the of Eldrinson's older children: Soz – the brilliant warrior princess whose father wants her to stay home and have babies; Althor – the strapping, gorgeous star fighter who is banished from home for his 'unnatural' attraction to other men and Shannon – the delicate, elfin child whose extreme empathic nature makes him leave his family in search of others like himself.

Having initially fought with his children over their desires to broaden their horizons and use all their abilities to join the Skolian military, Eldrinson rethinks his position when Traders come to Lyshriol and he is captured. He endures terrible torture at their hands, and comes to the realization that he was foolish to be so old-fashioned about his children's dreams.

I really enjoyed this story, and I couldn't wait to get the next book from the library. Truly, the end of Schism was so emotional. And it just – ended. The rift between Eldrinson and Soz was healed, but there were so many things left unresolved. I couldn't get my hands on The Final Key quickly enough. I have read several reviews where people assert that this was just 'mining the back story' to sell more books, and a kind of rehash of earlier events. Having never read anything in this series before, I certainly couldn't tell.

Being primarily a fantasy reader, the events on Lyshriol were really enjoyable for me. The constant cutting from Lyshriol through space to the military school where Soz and Althor were students made the book a page turner. Just when I got involved with one part of the story, Asaro would cut to the other part, and I would get involved in that. All in all, this was a great book, and one of the better sci-fi books I've read. In some ways, the un-advanced planet vs. the technological behemoths reminds me of Dune (quite possibly my favorite sci-fi book of all time). I would definitely give this one a 4 out of 5, and I look forward to reading all the books in this series!

#17 The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C Hines

344 pages, Fantasy

Did you ever wonder what happened to your favorite Disney princesses after their happily ever afters? Especially if those princesses were kind of frisky and warrior babe-esque? No? Well, you aren't alone. I have no idea what possessed me to pick this book up at the library, but something about it intrigued me.

The Stepsister Scheme is the story of Princess Danielle's (aka Cinderella) quest to find her kidnapped husband, Prince Armand. The prince and princess had been enjoying their life as newlyweds, Cinderella trying to learn as quickly as possible how to be a 'proper' princess when the unthinkable happens. Cinderella's evil stepsisters have ensorcelled her beloved prince and taken him away to the Kingdom of the Fairies. With the assistance of Snow (Snow White, naturally) and Talia (Sleeping Beauty), special helpers/assassins hired by Armand's mother, Danielle vows to find her husband and rescue him from her stepsisters' evil clutches.

The story is complicated by the fact that, although Danielle loves her husband, love is not enough to conquer all and triumph in this fairy tale world. She has no skills to track him, defend herself or discover the kind of magic that has him bound. In fact, she initially seems to be without any useful skills whatsoever. Here is where her cohorts come in handy.

The reader quickly discovers that the skill and grace with which Talia was fairy-blessed makes her a deadly enemy. She initially takes on the brute force protection of the trio, but Danielle eventually impresses upon Talia her desire to learn to defend herself. Snow's gift is for magic. She primarily uses the infamous magic mirrors for a variety of things, but she knows some spells too. Her general knowledge of magic and fairy tale creatures are useful in many ways as well, and the battle to rescue Armand would be lost without Snow's powerful spell casting ability. Finally, initial uselessness aside, Danielle uses her ability to communicate with many types of creatures to gain their aid throughout her ordeal. She also has a cleverness that the other two don't quite match throughout the story.

This story was brain candy at its finest. It was like someone took the Disney version of a few fairy tales, combined that with the Grimm version and created a strange fan-fic sitcom novel. I can't say that it wasn't entertaining. In fact, it made what would have otherwise been a crappy and dull day fairly interesting. The story did, however, lack any kind of substantial character development, and I wondered if that was perhaps because Hines was using characters already created by someone else. The only exception to this rule was with the character of Talia. In the Grimm version of the tale, Sleeping Beauty is NOT awakened by the kiss of her true love. She is instead wrenched from her unending rest by the birth of twin children, 9 months after the prince (already married, by the way) attempts to rouse her. The sleep and the subsequent awakening have left Talia with many scars, which are touched on in The Stepsister Scheme. Notable about this character is her bravado in the face of, what is to her, sheer terror, and her unorthodox romantic interests.

Like any good fairy tale, The Stepsister Scheme ends with a happily ever after for Danielle, her friends and Prince Armand. This was definitely an entertaining read, but I probably won't read any more books in the Princess series for this project. I would rank this one with 2.5 stars - slightly better than 2 stars, but not quite up to 3.

#16 Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear

430 pages, Fantasy

Blood and Iron is an urban fantasy saga, juxtaposing the nature loving and never aging Fae against the iron and industry of the modern age. There are two camps of Fae - the Daoine Sidhe and the Unseelie Court, the more evil of the two. There is also a human group of Magi, The Prometheus Club, pitted against the Fae and trying to prevent them from gaining a foothold and re-establishing their dominance. All three groups are vying for the support of the newest Merlin, born every 500 years and the embodiment of magic. Gaining the support of the Merlin would turn the tide for the winner of her support.

The Seeker of the Daoine Sidhe, Elaine, was a changeling child, betrayed by her lover (a werewolf) and sold to the Fae. She is bound to service by the Mebd, Queen of the Fae, and her job, in addition to winning the alliance of the Merlin, is to find the other changeling children and bring them home to Faerie. Elaine's mortal mother, Jane, is highly placed in the Prometheus Club. She is driven by rage over her child, taken from her, and has vowed to destroy Faerie. She uses Matthew Magus as pawn in her scheme, for he is also driven by rage against the Fae.

The story finally comes to a head in a mythical battle for survival. A bridge built of blood and iron is forged by the Prometheus Club to cross into Faerie, and Elaine, the Merlin and the Dragon Prince gather all their allies and the Unseelie Court to their aid. Many are lost in the battle on both sides, but there is no clear victor. By the end of the book, the Prometheus Club and the Fae have come to an uneasy truce and will both continue to exist.

To say that I didn't like the book would be an understatement. The plot was convoluted, to say the least. I couldn't understand who the protagonist was supposed to be until I was about halfway through the book. It was more soap opera than story, with too many characters and subplots. What made the book even more disappointing, though, was that I could see so much potential. The prose is absolutely beautiful, and Bear is an extraordinary wordsmith. How sad that there is no meaning or feeling behind her beautiful words! I didn't care about any of the characters in the book, and I was thrilled when I finally got to the last page. Now if only I could get back the three days it took me to read this monstrosity...

I had previously read a science fiction book by Bear, and my feelings were much the same. I originally thought that I didn't like that book because it was sci-fi and not my usual cup of tea. I was apparently wrong. I can honestly say I will never read another book by this author, and I give Blood and Iron 2 stars out of 5. If the prose hadn't been so beautiful, it would definitely rank at 1.

#15 - The Green Rider, by Kristen Britain

471 pages, Fantasy

I decided I needed a good, healthy dose of fantasy to get out of my reading rut and The Green Rider certainly delivered the dose I needed. The Green Rider is set in the realm of Sacoridia, a land steeped in magic but where 'magic' is a dirty word, and magic users are scorned by most society.

Karigan G'ladheon is the brassy, young adult daughter of a wealthy merchant. She has just been in a fight at school with the son of a nobleman, and is going home to explain to her father why she has been expelled. As she worries over what she will tell her father, one of the fabled Green Riders, pierced by two arrows bursts through the woods and onto the road. Karigan goes to help the man who is clearly dying. He tells her that he carries a life or death message for King Zachary, and begs her to accept the responsibility to deliver the message to him. Karigan reluctantly agrees to the behest, the rider makes her swear to never read the message and finally bestows upon her his brooch depicting a golden winged horse. When Karigan grasps the brooch in her hand, she has no idea that by accepting and being accepted by this token, she has awakened in herself the ancient magic of the Green Riders.

With his dying breath, the rider warns Karigan to "Beware the Shadow Man", an ancient agent of evil who has seized the chance to use his forgotten magic to bend the world to his will. In addition to magic, the Shadow Man has tantalized lesser nobles and the passed-over older brother of King Zachary with his gifts of power. He, in addition to the Weapons controlled by the nobles and the wicked would-be king pursue Karigan on her wild flight to deliver her message in time to save her land.

When I read the Aknowledgements page of The Green Rider (yes, I always read them), I was delighted that Kristen Britain thanked, among others, Terry and Jeri Goodkind (see my first entry for more about Terry Goodkind). I took this as a good sign. Britain also thanked a friend for exposing her to The Lord of the Rings books, and I can certainly see their influence in The Green Rider.

Perhaps the mention of Terry Goodkind in the beginning of the book made me have unrealistic expectations of what the story would be like. Goodkind's work has so many different levels, and tends to be quite complex. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy The Green Rider, the story was just much less complicated than I anticipated. Still a thoroughly delightful tale, The Green Rider would be acceptable for a younger audience as well. I would rank this one a 4 out of 5. I already checked out the second book in the series - I can't wait to find out what happens next!