Customer Reviews

Ariosto (St. Germain)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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