Ariosto (St. Germain) [Mass Market Paperback]

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's interests range from music--she composes and has studied seven different instruments as well as voice--to history, from horseback riding to needlepoint. Her writing is similarly wide-ranging; under her own name and pseudonyms, she has written everything from westerns to mysteries, from science fiction to nonfiction history.

Yarbro's critically-acclaimed historical horror novels featuring the Count Saint-Germain, including Hotel Transylvania, A Feast in Exile, Communion Blood, and Night Blooming, have a loyal readership. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has always lived in California and currently makes her home in the Berkeley area.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (January 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812558529
• ISBN-13: 978-0812558524
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two Stories Almost in One, November 3, 2008

By 

The Ginger Man - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Ariosto (St. Germain) (Mass Market Paperback)

I found this book through Pringle's list of top 100 fantasy novels. It alternates between two stories. The "reality" sections are about court intrigue in the Florentine palace of the Medici as seen through the eyes of the court poet. The "fantasy" sections are imagined by the poet and contain standard fare in which an Italian nobleman with a flying horse aids another country that is under seige.

Yarbro's prose is more detailed and alive in the history sections. The fantasy portions set up the basis for a confrontation between good and evil that is anti-climatic especially when compared to the usual histrionics one finds at the end of even modest fantasy efforts.

My main problem with the book is that the fantasy section is largely unconnected to the main storyline. I get that it reflects the poet's desire to portray the world in heroic, easily identifiable terms to contrast with the nuanced, shifting values of the Medici court. But beyond that quickly established premise, the fantasy chapters seem so disconnected as to be unnecessary. By the end, the reader feels that Yarbro wanted to write a historical novel and threw the rest in to bring along a larger group of readers.

This is a fair historical novel, a weak fantasy novelette, and an unlikely combination of the two.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a St Germain Book, February 17, 2007

By 

Annath "Shopping Guru" (Fort Erie, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ariosto (St. Germain) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great story, set in an alternate history and absolutely worth a read. But it is not one of the St Germain related books.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a clever alternative, August 18, 2007

By 

M. N. (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ariosto (St. Germain) (Mass Market Paperback)

One should only fathom rewriting history if one writes well, and Yarbro does indeed write well.