Customer Reviews

The Burning Times: A Novel of Medieval France

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I read this book because the subject matter really intrigued me - 14th century France, the Inquisition, The Goddess versus Christianity. The book tells the story of Marie Sybille, a poor immigrant's daughter, whose destination it is to become a reincarnatin of The Goddess, and of Luc de la Rose, the son of a nobel man, who is destined to become the lover of the Goddess, and both together will have to save their ancient people from the Enemy. (what the ancient people is exactly is never explained, unfortunately) There are interesting facts (and fictions) about life in the 14th century, about the church and the Inquisition, but mostly not told with convincing detail, the scene doesn't really spring to life before your eyes. What is even less convincing are the accounts of the Goddess cult which remain too vague and fantasy-like to really inspire the reader. The twist of the plot towards the end makes interesting reading but if the author had taken care to make her characters more human and less black&white it could have been even more interesting. But when the good guys are always beautiful, tall, noble and trust-inspiring and the bad guys ugly, fat, mean-looking or otherwise dislikable, it becomes easy to guess what will happen next. In my opinion this could have become a really good book if the author had spent some more time and effort researching the background and making the book a bit more substantial. A story like that lives from the details, not from the plot. If the subject matter interests you I would recommend to read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer-Bradley, which is far better told than this book.

The Burning Times is a pretty odd little book. The main character Abbess Marie Franchise, whose secular name is Sybille, is about to be put on trial for heresy and attacking the Pope (something that's never explained in the book.) At the start of the book she is offered the chance to confess to two Dominican monks, one of whom, Michael, subscribes to the popular peasant belief that Sybille is a saint with healing powers. None of this, of course Michael knows, will affect the inevitable guilty outcome of her trial and subsequent being burned alive.

From the start Sybille refuses to admit any guilt, but says she will confess, to Michael only. The other monk, father Charles, doesn't want his young scribe to do this because he feels the temptations of the young and comely Sybille will be too much. But he is stricken ill and Michael goes to take Sybille's confession.

And that's what most of the rest of this book is: Sybille confession to Michael the monk. Because it's told as a narrative instead of the normal third person omniscient voice of novels a lot is left out that could have been included, so parts of this book feel sparse. But over all, the author pulls it off.

I do have to say that all refrences to magic and paganisum in this book made it feel like a fantasy novel. I know some authors who can pull of real pagen themes in historical fiction and not have it be sci-fi ish, but this isn't one of them.

I found the ending of the book to be very strange and not at all believable, but it did intrigue me and I may read it again to see it comes off as more plausible.

Whether this book is framed as “fiction” or “historical fiction” became important to me. I am not referring to the magic; Kalogridis assumes a world in which magic is real, and as readers we have to accept that. If you aren’t willing to suspend disbelief, you simply should not read this book (or any other book with a fantasy or science fiction element).

What I am referring to is the characterization of the Catholic Church. The idea of magic-practitioners masquerading their devotion under the guise of the Church is intriguing, and finds its real-life embodiment in syncretistic religions such as Santeria and Voodoo. However, details of the operations of the Church, and how religious officials of the time would have thought & acted, just don’t jive with the historical record. Maybe it is just me, but being somewhat familiar with the period & the Church, I found a lot of what they did in the book hard to swallow. Maybe this wouldn’t have been such a problem if the bookstore hadn’t sold me the book as “historical fiction”.

The narrative is characterized by frequent interruptions & temporal shifts. I would say you need to be prepared to read this book over a short period of time... otherwise it would seem easy enough to get confused. That being said, I don’t think this is really a defect in the narrative—in fact, it is essential to it. In my opinion the narrative was only really deficient in that the climax was too wimpy, and the resolution too brief. Without revealing too much, we’re supposed to get a sense of impending doom—but events earlier in the book clearly establish that we shouldn’t really feel a sense of doom over what we’re expecting. This relieves much of the dramatic tension, depriving the climax of its bite.

That being said, this isn’t a bad book. The concept is intriguing, the writing is good, and the background & setting are very good. But for the weak climax, I would have given it 4 stars.

I picked this novel up after I finished The Borgia Bride. I LOVED the Borgia Bride and I enjoyed I, Mona Lisa. I thought this book would be of a similar genre, but about medieval France instead of Rennaissance Italy. I was also interested in the inquisition period and the Babylonian Captivity (Avignon papacy). I had read comments that the book was a bit strange, but I was not prepared for how strange it was. I was prepared to suspend belief - after all, I enjoy the magical realism genre and I loved House of the Spirits and 100 Years of Solitude - but unlike the former novels, The Burning Times' plot makes absolutely no sense. It is confusing and plain silly/stupid. I found myself skimming large passages and when it was finished I felt relief that I wouldn't have to sit through any more of this book.

I gave this book two stars rather than one star because I thought that the first 100 pages or so were promising. The middle was mediocre, but not bad enough for my to abandon the book. The last 100 pages were absolutely idiotic, however. I finished the book because I had invested so much time into it, but I would not recommend this book to anyone. If I had read it before The Borgia Bride or I, Mona Lisa, I can guarantee you that I would never have read any other books by Jeanne Kalogridis.

As a historical fiction fan, I thought this book was right up my alley. However, Kalogridis' writing leaves much to be desired. She must have written with a thesaurus by her side because she unnecessarily replaces adjectives with the largest words she can find. The over-use of words like "ere" and "naught," combined with the overabundacne of pronouns like "Evil" and "Race" bog down the narrative.

The magic instilled by the Goddess of the story seems inconsistent and the heroes are too full of doubt. The only character that felt strong was Sybille's grandmother. The most enjoyable part of the narrative was when Sybille was young and under her grandmother's care. As the book progressed, the events became too urgent and felt scattered. There are so many historical side notes that could have been left out: the war with England, the involvement of the pope, midwifery... It would have been a much better book if it was shorter and more straightforward.

I was hoping to read a historical novel on the inquisition, but it is just a vague and overambitious attempt to embrace too many subjects (battles, pestilences, monastic life, paganism, inquisition, magic etc.). The flow of the narration is continuosly interrupted by dreams and flash-backs and the "final surprise" can be guessed almost at the beginning of the book for you know from the start the real nature of certain characters. The idea was good, but this book is definitely a missed opportunity. The author seems only too eager to imitate the more mature and complex narrative by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

In 1357 France, the Inquisition agents of Cardinal Chretien arrest Franciscan Abbess Marie Francois. They charge her with heresy for practicing pagan rituals and magic, and for communicating with the devil. They plan to burn Marie at the stakes so she can serve as an example to those who stray from the right path of worshipping God.

The reluctant Dominican scribe, Michel, who prefers to save souls, rather than dispatch people to the next life, is chosen to obtain Marie's confession. However, Michel feels Marie is pure, good, and holy instead of an evil witch. He decides to prove her innocent of the charges even after she admits her grandmother taught her the pagan ways. Forced to flee Marie whose birth name is Sybille joins the "Race" and seeks out her lover Luc de la Rose for the good of her "people".

THE BURNING TIMES is at its best when it stays with fourteenth century realities like the Black Plague, the French Inquisition, the burning of witches at the stakes, and the pagan religions. When the plot veers into fantasyland, it loses speed as a different type of tale emerges. Likewise, key characters are impacted especially the heroine. As Marie she is an incredible individual struggling against a rising tide, but as Sybille she seems mythological as if she truly is Diana the Huntress. Known for her vampire tales, Jeanne Kalogridis has written an intriguing historical fiction that will attract readers, but the talented author took too big of a bite with this story line(s).

Harriet Klausner

This book seems to be a rough draft of what could have been a fabulous story. Although purporting itself to be a historical novel, it has none of the richness or detail that would necessarily tie itself to this period of time. It could very well have taken place within a fantasy world, and might have actually fared much better if it wasn't tied to a specific point in history. The setting is lacking, as the history of the times is presented more as appended lists of unnecessary details rather than an as the foundation from which the action necessarily and organically flows. The characterization is very weak, and there is no real chance for the reader to learn to hate the enemy nor love the heroes, or to actually care which side wins. The plot is actually very good, but presented in such a way that the reader feels to be nothing more than a passive observer of events rather than an active participant in them. However, there are some good ideas presented within, and on the whole the book remains plausible and logically consistent. I would recommend this story in the sense that it is a perfect object lesson in "undeveloped potential"; that is, this is what your OUTLINE should be, not your final story, a lesson which unfortunately MOST of today's published authors have never learned. Had the author let her manuscript sit for a few months and then re-visited it, rather than send it to the publisher right away, she undoubtedly could have rewritten it to create a much more engaging, and perhaps even meaningful, story. The potential is there to explore the themes of love, fear, good, evil, destiny, and a host of others, but these ideas are developed into nothing more than high sounding words. As it is, she gets 2 stars. One for the plot, and one for the seeds of greatness that were sown but were never allowed to grow.

I don't recommend this novel. The basis for the plotline is very intriguing and the reason I bought the novel; however, the author ruined a good opportunity. The story is the confession of a witch who has disguised herself as a nun to avoid prosecution. She gives her confession to a monk who sympathizes with her. And if the author would have stayed on this path I think the novel would have been a success.

Unfortunately for the reader, the author tries to make the story go in too many directions. She makes the story into fairy tale / romance novel where the heroine transforms into a goddess's avatar which must find her true love in order to save the Race. Having this novel presented as a historical fiction is a complete ruse. The use of the Knights Templar is a very poor choice that torpedoes a sinking ship. And again the backdrop of the Hundred Years' War adds nothing to the story. The story would have been better served avoiding all historical references possible.

The theme of love and compassion versus fear isn't very compelling either; it even leads to numerous events which left me annoyed and ready to quit reading. The longer the story goes the more ridiculous it gets. The ending was transparent and is left open with the "good" characters walking off into the sunset to continue the fight against evil. I sure hope there is not a sequel.

I didn't have trouble following the book as other reviewers have mentioned. It was a pretty easy read that flowed quickly. I'm sure some readers may enjoy the novel as an easygoing fairy tale, but don't expect to find anything else here.

Abbess Marie Franchise, or Sybille before entering the nunnery is many things to many people. To some she's a saint, to the Catholic church, she's a threat, and because of that, they have accused her of being a witch. To others she's a pagan goddess.

The story revolves around the Abbess's confession to a priest who during the confession realizes that he is inextricably linked to Sybille. To tell how would be to ruin the story.

There seems to be much discussion about what "type" of novel this is. In my opinion it's historical fiction with a healthy dose of either pagan or gothic thrown in. I would not call it fantasy. To me fantasy needs elves, dwarves, or some fantastical creatures like Tolkein's hobbits.

But enough background and analysis aside; it's a thoroughly entertaining book. Through the confession and flashbacks we're given Sybille's life from that as a child, her initiation into the pagan rituals that become her life, her becoming a nun, and her eventual trial and aftermath.

I would not recommend this book to someone who is a fundamentally religious person that might take offense at the idea that there just might be another alternative to Christianity. I would not recommend this book to someone who cannot suspend their belief in the "real" world. But if you like historical fiction and have an open and fanciful mind, you'll probably enjoy this book.

My star ratings:

One star - couldn't finish the book

Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author

Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually.

Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author.

Five stars - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author.