Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: young-adult
Series: N/A
Pages: 3302 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: expected February 26, 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5

"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

Eleanor and Park really is quite a cute story at times, though it isn't afraid to try and tackle heavier topics during its exploration of first and real love. However, despite its and the authors best attempts, the romance is the focal point of this short-ish novel about two misfits in the 80s. A book seemingly made for easy reading on a lazy day, Rainbow Rowell's second novel is quiet, charming, if sometimes a bit too sweet, but still a novel that is worth reading. It's cute, occasionally both funny and saccharine. Eleanor and Park is filled to the brim with: 80's nostalgia, sad circumstances, fluff. All in all, I found this to be a fast, realistic read.

Eleanor and Park are two misfits who find each other in an unlikely, though pretty creative way. I have to admit Rowell's use of the meet-cute was new and fresh how she used it here. These two main characters bond over a love of comic books and good music from their time, and it feels normal and authentic. They grow closer and closer fairly quickly, and their attraction is solidly built on more than just pheromones and looks. I did hope that the plot would have more direction than just a love story, and while I didn't get that, I did get a believable love story between two likeable characters. 

I did like this, I had fun reading it and spending time in each narrator's head, but Eleanor and Park wasn't all it could have been. Like I said earlier, there are some heavy topics and issues at play for such a romance-centric novel. Not all of it really works, sadly.  And some subplots feel short-changed and heavy-handed when all is said and done. The problems between each character and their respective parents - Park with his Dad, Eleanor with her mom and her stepdad - really never feel fully realized or resolved by the end of the book. They add complications and complexity to the lives of the two teenagers, but are never really explored for a deeper impact.  It's all too neatly fixed or ignored by the end of the book, and I was disappointed with the quick fix.

Though not a perfect novel, Eleanor and Park is a quick and mostly enjoyable read. It's not as deep or meaningful as it could have been, but what is good about it - Eleanor, Park, their relationship - is good enough to carry the dead weight. Frustrating at times though it may be, this is a good example of teenage romance done well and right - I would read more novels from Rowell, and hope that her execution continues to grow and allow her to explore her deeper plots without shortchanging the fun. If you liked her first, or if you're looking for a sweet love story, this is the one to pick up. Also: that cover is absolutely lovely and fitting. Well done, there.

Book Tour Review and GIVEAWAY for: The Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan

Title: The Forgotten Queen
Author: D.L. Bogdan
Genre: historical fiction
Series: N/A
Pages: 384 (ARC edition)
Published: January 29, 2014
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Rating: 3.75/5

From her earliest days, Margaret Tudor knows she will not have the luxury of choosing a husband. Her duty is to gain alliances for England. Barely out of girlhood, Margaret is married by proxy to James IV and travels to Edinburgh to become Queen of Scotland.

Despite her doubts, Margaret falls under the spell of her adopted home. But while Jamie is an affectionate husband, he is not a faithful one. And nothing can guarantee Margaret’s safety when Jamie leads an army against her own brother, Henry VIII. In the wake of loss she falls prey to an ambitious earl and brings Scotland to the brink of anarchy. Beset by betrayal and secret alliances, Margaret has one aim—to preserve the crown of Scotland for her son, no matter what the cost…

A fresh perspective on the famous and often-written about Tudors is hard to come by, and thus even more noteworthy when it does manage to happen. Such is the case for veteran author D.L. Bodgan's The Forgotten Queen. The voice and narration of King Henry VIII's largely ignored elder sister Margaret provides a fresh and opinionated new view for readers to enjoy. Her large, quarrelsome family on the periphery, Bogdan has the space to create a well-fleshed out version of a woman not often noticed amongst her power-hungry and devious Tudor clan. A woman who sought love and affection more than regal authority, Margaret's missteps and mistakes are usually of her own making, which is eerily echoed in the life story of her great-grandchild Mary, Queen of Scots.

What also helps The Forgotten Queen to stand out amongst its Tudor-beginnings is that it's not really concerned with the English Court during the reign of Margaret's infamous brother. Married to James IV of Scotland, and therefor the Queen of Scots, "Maggie"'s life is centered in the highlands, amongst all the schemes and political maneuverings of England's longtime enemy. The book sets off at a brisk pace - one that it maintains for the duration of the novel. Important events and people are approached with speed, so the book flies by but the jumps in time periods can be weird to read. In one chapter, Maggie is ten, approaching her proxy marriage. The next, she is twelve/thirteen and heading into Scotland to take her rightful place. It's not a big issue for such a solidly-written novel, but occasionally when such leaps ahead occurred, they took me out of the atmosphere and story.

This was an interesting novel, to say the least. Featuring such a lively, flawed real woman as its narrator, Margaret may have been called the forgotten Tudor before, but I doubt I will forget the passion and vitality given her by this author. Bogdan goes to lengths to create a real person, with all their inherent flaws and problems for her protagonist and it makes the read more rewarding than otherwise. She can be wily or frivolous; a wise ruler or one ruled by her heart instead of her head. Even when she is not at her best (and that does happen a lot; see her about her unwillingness to part with her favorite maid, "Douglas", etc.), her inner monologue is always interesting to read about. First-person can be tricky when used in the historical fiction genre, but Bogdan pulls it off well here. Margaret feels apart of the plot at all times, even when events are far-reaching and beyond her personal sphere.

 Entertaining and fast-paced, but no without a few missteps. It's always nice to get a fresh perspective on the Tudor dynasty, and using Princess Margaret for a narrator helps a lot in that regard. Enjoyable, an easy historical read, The Forgotten Queen is a sold effort. I am more than willing tos ee what else this talented author has to say about the Tudor dynasty - as soon as I finished her latest offering, I added the rest of her works to my "to-read" shelf. If, like me, you're an avid Tudorphile, you really cannot go wrong with trying The Forgotten Queen. 

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VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, January 21 Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past  
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Tuesday, January 22  
Review at Peppermint, Ph.D. Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, January 23  
Review at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews  
Interview & Giveaway at My Reading Room
 
Thursday, January 24  
Review at Unabridged Chick  
Review at My Reading Room

Friday, January 25  
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Libraria

Monday, January 28
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages  
Review & Giveaway at The Broke and the Bookish

Tuesday, January 29  
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book
 Review at Review From Here

Wednesday, January 30  
Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews  
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Thursday, January 31  

Review at The True Book Addict

Friday, February 1  
Review & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court Interview & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Review: The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier

Title: The Floating Islands
Author: Rachel Neumeier
Genre: fantasy, young-adult
Series: N/A
Pages: 388 (paperback edition)
Published: February 2011
Source: purchased
Rating: 4/5

When Trei loses his family in a tragic disaster, he must search out distant relatives in a new land. The Floating Islands are unlike anything Trei has ever seen: stunning, majestic, and graced with kajurai, men who soar the skies with wings.

Trei is instantly sky-mad, and desperate to be a kajurai himself.  The only one who fully understands his passion is Araenè, his newfound cousin.  Prickly, sarcastic, and gifted, Araenè has a secret of her own . . . a dream a girl cannot attain.

Trei and Araenè quickly become conspirators as they pursue their individual paths.  But neither suspects that their lives will be deeply entwined, and that the fate of the Floating Islands will lie in their hands. . . .

Filled with rich language, and told in alternating voices, The Floating Islands is an all-encompassing young adult fantasy read

Jessie's List of Reasons Why *You* Should Read The Floating Islands:

~ magic!
(Of the two novels by this author that I have read so far, she takes pains to create unique, if somewhat similar, systems of magic for her fantasy worlds.)

~ magic dragons - some of wind and some of fire!
(And both kinds are key to the plot of the story AND the backstory of both the main characters Trei and Araenè. Their respective connections to my favorite mythical beast added to the story.)

~ girls masquerading as boys for the freedom that gender provides
(Araenè is one of the prickliest and grouchiest protagonists I've come across in some time. However the restrictions on her life, due to gender and her society's repression of woman makes it understandable and her sympathetic in her flaws.)

~ dragon-given ability for people to fly with man-made wigs
(They're called kajuraihi - and this one aspect of unique worldbuilding and magic does a lot set this YA fantasy apart. The techniques and history of the society aren't as explained as they could have been - but the mystery of how the sky-mad do what they do works for them.)

~an intriguing setting unlike others I've ever read
(I've read fantasy novels about islands, about avaricious empires, about complex societies and castes, but none that combined all of those in a story about floating islands fighting against a land-bound empire. I love when authors do something new in their genre, and that is exactly the case here.)

~ complex, interesting characters
(And I'm not just talking about Trei and Araenè, either. The novice master, Cerfei, Genrai, Trei's family, etc.; All are reasonably fleshed out - both good and bad aspects. It's a vast improvement over the Karah Mary Sue nature of Neumeier's House of Shadows main characters.)

~ a creative plot
(involving warring cultures, themes of loss and home, battles of steam technology versus nature, etc. Captivating and just plain fun from start to finish.)

The Floating Islands had a lot going for it. Compulsively readable, intensely unique, and well-written, it's going to easily stand out for fans of fantasy. Fans of Neumeier's previous novels will enjoy it and new fans will find it a promising entrance into the vivid imagination of a prolific and talented author.

Review: The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

Title: The Wizard of Dark Streey
Author: Shawn Thomas Odyssey
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Series: Oona Crate #1
Pages: 348 (hardcover edition)
Published: July 2011
Source: purchased
Rating: 5/5

Oona Crate was born to be the Wizard’s apprentice, but she has another destiny in mind.

Despite possessing the rare gift of natural magic, Oona wants to be a detective. Eager for a case to prove herself, she wants to show her uncle—the Wizard of Dark Street—that logic is as powerful as magic. But when someone attacks the Wizard, Oona must delve even deeper into the world of magic to discover who wanted her uncle dead.

Full of magic, odd characters, evil henchmen, and a street where nothing is normal, The Wizard of Dark Street will have you guessing until the very end.

Reviewed by Danielle.

When I was in the 9-12 age range, some of my favorite books were mysteries, particularly the kind where no one got hurt and I got to play along at home. Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, "Alfred Hitchcock", (though I could never guess those twists. The diamond was in the python, who was in the acrobats' baton?!) I think Oona Crate and The Wizard of Dark Street would have made little-me very happy and will certainly become a mainstay in my house as my nieces enter their middle-grade years.

Dark Street is an entire city condensed into one very long road. At one end, an iron gate that opens into our world. At the other, a glass gate that opens into the world of the fae. But that gate doesn't open any more. Cut off from the magical world of Faerie for so long, Dark Street, and New York beyond, have very little magic to tap into, except for the Wizard. The Wizard lives in Pendulum House and is responsible for the street's magical needs. There must always be a Wizard on Dark Street, even if he's a rather mediocre one like Uncle Alexander. Fortunately, Oona is the most promising Wizard apprentice in some time. She has Natural Magic, unlike her uncle's Learned variety. Unfortunately, she has no interest in being a Wizard, after a tragedy several years before book start.

First, Oona is fantastic. She's logical, resourceful, and brave. When she's thrust into the heart of a mystery, her immediate reaction isn't to fall to pieces, but to find a way to make it right. After being a Wizard didn't work out, she realizes what she really wants is to be a detective like her dad. She handles the career switch pretty maturely for a 12 year old and sets off to solve two seemingly unrelated mysteries. She's joined by a motley assortment of side characters who I wish had gotten more screen time. There's a talking animal sidekick, a wise servant, a prissy rich girl, a mysterious love interest, a timid witch, and the one who's not from around here. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to flesh them out, what with them all being murder suspects, and that did show towards the end of the book when I realized that after 345 pages, I wasn't rock solid on any of the apprentice candidates names.

The mystery is appropriately twisty, but not unfairly so. You may be able to guess the culprit relatively quickly, but the manner in which whodunit kept me guessing all book long. In the vein of old Nancy Drew stories, every single detail is vitally important and not a piece of candy can be overlooked in the conclusion. Including candy. And overturned stones. And cinnamon.

The Wizard of Dark Street is a bright, smart Middle-Grade fantasy with a great protagonist and a world I'm eager to revisit. If I could give it a grade, (oh look, I can!) I'd say A and a gold star.

Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Title: Also Known As
Author: Robin Benway
Genre: young-adult, mystery
Series: N/A
Pages: 320 (ARC edition)
Published: expected February 26 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Reviewed by Danielle.

Margaret [Redacted], AKA Maggie Silver, AKA Peggy, Maisie, Molly, Margie, or Meg. Suspect has a long history of espionage, dating back thirteen years. She is believed to be a member of the Collective, working as the safecracker on a team of two or three other intelligence agents. These team members are believed to be her immediate family. Suspect should not be considered armed or dangerous, but is believed to be exceptionally emotionally volatile.

Maggie learned to pick locks when she was three. Being born to a hacker and...what is her dad’s speciality? (Actually, the first chapter makes her parents seem AWESOME. Orphans who met during the fall of communism in Moscow and became spies together? Spin-off, please.) Anyway, being born to two spies means she was never destined for a normal childhood. Maggie is cracking bad guys’ safes in Luxembourg and Bosnia before her baby teeth fall out. Her family and the Collective are good spies, only gathering information and stolen good to take down baddies. They fly around on private jets, collecting evidence of human trafficking rings and art forgery, living in the shadows, but now a newspaper has information on the group and is threatening to name names.

Maggie is assigned her first solo mission. Enter private school, befriend Jesse Oliver, son of the newspaper magnate, and use him to gain access to Papa Oliver’s files. This turns out to be far harder than expected, because (shock!) high school really, really blows. Maggie befriends the drunken former mean-girl Roux as her ONLY teenage acquaintance, severely limiting her social standing and causing her to have to bail on missions to drag her alcoholic ass home. Fortunately, she does manage to end up in Jesse’s presence. Unfortunately she happens to be shouting into a cell phone at the time that she’s really a good spy, really! Congratulations Maggie, you've blown decades of covers in two seconds because you can’t use code words or wait until you get home to complain to your mom that she’s being totes unfair.

Luckily, Jesse is dumb as a box of rocks and accepts the lie that she was talking to Roux about their Halloween party. That she tries to convince Roux to throw as her alibi. And Roux says no. And that’s not weird to Jesse, because he’s throwing a Halloween party himself and now the girls get to go! Before they leave, Maggie’s assigned her family friend and forger, Angelo, as her tail. She throws a complete shit-fit because grown-ups don’t need back-up, mooooooom!

Now seems like a good point to stop and say all of the “spies” in this book are just terrible. Maggie, despite having 13 years experience, is whiny, petulant, unsubtle, and entirely too trusting of her new friend and boyfriend. Her parents, who would have 22 years of experience and just spent months establishing and infiltrating an Icelandic human trafficking ring, lose their minds that the job isn't done in one day. They nag incessantly, refuse to trust Maggie for a single second, and blame her for their bad intel. Again, Maggie's no saint, but enforcing a curfew on a working spy and almost blowing her cover because you just HAD to go to parent-teacher conferences? I was starting to wonder if they were trying to sabotage her mission.

Angelo is the only one who does anything remotely spy-y for the whole book, and is also the only one who seems to remember Maggie is a trained agent, which of course means he's fooled by fake intel and disappears before the climax. Despite training, Maggie's spy work never moves beyond Harriet the. That works when taking a MasterLock tm off a fence to impress a boy, but to go into the big baddy's hideout with a diamond tipped drill but no lock picks? Sydney Bristow she is not.

In the end, Also Known As isn't much of a spy novel. It's a fish-out-of-water story with a tepid romance, funny sidekick, and a mystery that barely starts until the third act, just in time for Maggie to find her unique voice, rebel to show her parents she's trustworthy, and get the boy. It's an average representation of high school with some completely ludicrous details, fine to good side characters, and wit. That it doesn't take itself too seriously is Also Known As's greatest strength. Still, it's more Goldmember than Goldfinger. 

Review: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Title: Going Vintage
Author: Lindsey Leavitt
Genre: young-adult, contemporary
Series: N/A
Pages: 330 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: expected March 26, 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5

Sixteen-year-old Mallory loves her boyfriend, Jeremy. Or at least likes him more than she's ever liked any other boy. She's suree feels the same way. Until she happens upon his online Authentic Life game and discovers he's cheating on her ...online. Mallory's life is falling apart and technology is the cause. And then she finds a list, written by her grandma when she was Mallory's age. All her grandma had to worry about was sewing dresses and planning dinner parties. Things were so much simpler in the 1960s. And there's nothing on the list that Mallory couldn't do herself. Maybe it's time for Mallory to go vintage and find the answers to her modern-day problems.

I hate to damn a book with faint praise, but the only thing that came to my mind upon finishing this novel was: blandly inoffensive? Simple, forgettable, if sometimes charming? There are characters that are sometimes funny, sometimes flat, but they never really approach what I think of as three-dimensional? Underdeveloped and stiff initially, there's a lot of room for growth in that department. They came, they did their thing to various repercussions, but none really interested me worth investing in? A lot of what happened came off as predictable, or just silly, but Going Vintage wasn't bad - it was just sort of there. I liked it enough to continue through to the end, but not enough that I would recommend for a friends or another reader to buy. Borrow? Sure. But to spend that hard-earned cash on a novel that is harmless and so reminiscent of many other YA contemporaries? Not so much.

One day and done, and I doubt I'll think back on or even remember this in a month. Going Vintage has its moments - of cuteness, or exasperation, but it's hardly a stand-out effort. Basically, this was 340 pages of fluff. I didn't have to think too hard, pay that much attention, care at all. There is nothing I can point at and say was wrong with it, but neither is there anything I can point out as right or amazing about it. Inoffensive. Yeah, I'm going to have to go with that for my overall impression. The main character isn't too stupid to live, the romance is not the worst I've read - even this month - but I'm hard pressed to find anything about it that was wholly unique. The 'going vintage' aspect might work, but it didn't really pull me into the story all that much, either. 

I have so little to say about this, that I can't really go on much more. It was minimally engaging, mildly interesting, and all-too-often predictable. This failed to really make a lasting impression, the way really good contemporary YA should, like with anything Melina Marchetta writes. Jellicoe Road left me wrecked emotionally. It took me days to get over that book and start another. With Going Vintage, for me, it was much more of a nonevent when it was all said and done. Cover closed, a few minutes of thought and it was onto the next book. Going Vintage is inoffensive, it's not horrible, but it had opportunities and potential that were just missed. Lindsey Leavitt has some talent as an author, but it wasn't used to her best efforts here, and that is lamentable.

Review: Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

Title: Shadow on the Crown
Author: Patricia Bracewell
Genre: historical fiction
Series: Untitled #1 
Pages: 436 (ARC edition)
Published: expected February 7 2013
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 4/5

In 1002, fifteen­-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.

Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life.

Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.

More and more I find I am drawn to historical fiction novels that are based on real events, as is the case with Bracewell's first novel. Shadows on the Crown is set during a largely ignored period; an era of special violence and turbulence in England. The struggles of the all characters, mainly protagonist and one of the narrators, Emma of Normandy, are rooted in historical fact. While the author is admittedly not afraid to play fast and loose with some facts, names, dates, Emma's story is fascinating and also based on a biography this strong Queen herself commissioned late in 1017. Filled with action, forbidden love, Swedish vikings and a mad king, Shadows on the Crown is a sure fit for historical fiction fans looking for an unconventional time and strong, determined female characters.

Covering only three years (1002 - 1005 AD) of the long life of this important, if largely forgotten by modern-day authors, Queen of England, this is a fast-paced, quick read despite the dauting 400+ page length. The third person POV can create a bit of distance from the various narrators  - Emma, her husband Aethelred (often called, incorrectly, the 'Unready'), Aethelred's son Aethelstan, and minor antagonist Elgvia (Aelgifu) of Northhampton - but each character coalesces into an easily identifiable voice and tone early on. This is the first of a forthcoming, currently unnamed series, and the brisk pace and POV jumps do prevent the readers from a solid grasp on the players for a fair bit of the novel. However, it is early days yet, both in Emma's vastly interesting life and in this author's trilogy, so I do think some improvement will come in that aspect. It's also worth noting that there are so many Ae- names that the extensive character list at the very beginning of the book comes quite in handy for the first 200 pages.

There's a lot of conflict at the heart of the novel, and in Emma's precarious existence in the English court. Conflict between Aethelred and his new Norman wife, some of which, quite honestly, was hard for me to read; conflict between England and the Swedish King Swein Forkbeard; and more conflict between Aethelred's first family and his new one over the inheritance. Primarily little more than a hostage to the good behavior of her brother the Duke of Normandy, Emma strives for security, safety and love in a den of suspicious vipers. The antagonists of the novel are multiple and vary in size and threat - from the vixen from the North with her eyes on the King of England and Emma's place, to the King himself, and last but not least, Swein Forkbeard's Viking incursions, there's plenty of action and deceit to go around.

I honestly could have done without the forbidden, star-crossed lovers route that engages two of the characters. For the most part, it bored me while frustrating me; it is wholly unnecessary. Another subplot created for suspense and tension by the author, it didn't ring as true as the rest of the novel, nor fit with the motivations of either character involved. I don't want to spoil anything for future readers, but I felt both were better off without a romantic entanglement of that sort. For me, caught up in fare more interesting struggles of the characters, it overall added nothing of worth to the novel. That conflict in addition to the distance nature of the narration are the only things that kept this from being a higher-rated novel.

I liked this. It was evenly good throughout, though I wish I had more of a grasp on the characters themselves. However, this is the first in a trilogy so they, and the author, will have ample time and pages to grow. The author's note is a captivating read for many reasons, I urge readers not to skip it; it definitely adds more color to an already entertaining novel. Shadows on the Crown is a strong attempt for Bracewell to fill in the missing years from Emma's commissioned biography, and happily, she does so easily and believably. The best historical fiction novels are the ones that make you intensely curious about the time, places, and people portrayed and this is such a one.

 A liberal view of history, a strong sense of time and character, and a brisk pace all add up to make Patricia Bracewell's first novel an encouraging one. I eagerly await the forthcoming sequels, and will have to sate my new interest in thsi time and people with Wikipedia other sources until they're published. Don't miss this exciting, involving and fresh novel from a talented new author.