Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: When the King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermer ISBN: 0-8125-8981-5 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.08 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Enchanting heroine and world, disappointing ending.
Comment: OK, I admit it. I wanted the herione to fall in love at then end of the book. There. Something just rankles about our girl Hail Rosamer being so clueless and indifferent to the hero, after all they've been through! But stilll...it was a good, original story and you can't say that about a lot of fantasy these days! Hail Rosamer is an artist apprentice and either Stevermer is an artist herself or she's done her research, because the littlest details of Hail's training are fascinating. Hail goes to the big city to learn art, she meets a jealous rival and encounters interesting people. Then one day she runs afoul of her rival and runs away, only to stumble onto a seeming living legend. From there we have necromancing sorceresses, Arthurian and Fisher King-like heroes and a work of Art above it all. Although this is set in the same world as "A College of Magics" (which I would rate higher and enjoyed even more) there is little similarity other than one character with a same last name and some references to the juxtaposition of the fantasy world Stevermer has created and our own.
Stevermer is a good and fastastically creative writer--I just wish I had her ear next time to tell her how to end the story! :)
This book is suitable for high school age and up.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Very Good Book for a Rainy Day
Comment: I've been a Caroline Stevemer fan since 1993 when I found one of her early books. When the King Comes Home is delightful. The mix of magic and art, her post-Renaissance pre-Reformation alternate Europe with the city state as supreme governing structure and the ateliers as the height of artistic education reminded me of Firenze, Italy. Being married to an artist, although not one myself, she caught well the creative process and how creating changes the creator as well as the object created. Delightfully written, spare and elegant, with a nice blend of characters and an unexpected ending - all elements conspire to make a wonderful read. Highly recommended; Hail Rosamer is one of those people you wish you had living near by.
Rating: 2
Summary: Stopped reading 58/236 pages through
Comment: I started reading this book expecting an adventure but getting to about page 60 and having to put a 236-page book down is pretty sad. The plot just doesn't move. If this was a biography it would actually be quite interesting, but taken as a fantasy novel? At first I thought maybe she was just trying to get more into Hail's character, but I found that I really did not know that much about Hail. I knew her fellow apprentices better. I put this book down on page 58. I have only ever not finished two books in my entire life; they were Homecoming by Cynthia Voit (sp?), and The One Armed Queen by Jane Yolen. I don't recommend either. It pains me greatly to not finish a book. The whole idea of the book would have been wonderful were the plot interesting in the first 20 pages, and it was in a way, but maybe only because I like to draw and she was becoming and apprentice to an artist. If you prefer biographies and are looking into going into fantasy books I could recommend this book, but that is considering that I really don't like biographies.
Sorry for rambling.
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
