Devoted [Hardcover]

Alice Borchardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

Bound by a shared determination to save their people from Viking conquerors, Elin, a mistress of the forbidden powers, and Owen, a warrior-bishop, discover a burning love for each other. Reprint. K.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Do not pity Alice Borchardt. Her sister, Anne Rice, may be immensely better known, but Borchardt, the older sister, is Rice's equal in presenting lush otherworlds balanced with historical detail. Indeed, Rice, in an introduction to Devoted, cites Borchardt as an inspiration for her own fiction and an early collaborator in imaginative excess. Like the Brontës before them, the sisters' childhood was spent sharing a dream world peopled with heroes, heroines, pirates, and aliens.

As a first work, Devoted may presage the author's potential. It reads as though she were shaking the tree of her imagination to see what will drop. One story can hardly contain all the fruitful ideas that fall. Set in the year 900, the story centers on a medieval stronghold beset by invading Vikings, corrupt feudal landlords, and a traitor within. Owen, Bishop of Chantalon, is a Christian; Elin, beaten, raped, and forced into slavery by the Vikings, is of the Forest People, pagans with magical skills. Through their union, Borchardt explores the conflict between paganism and early Christianity and the flagrant inequalities between men and women, the nobility and the lesser born, and people with different beliefs. These large themes make the story overlong, sometimes threatening to take it over. But the monumental, blood-soaked clashes between the Saxons and the Vikings; the descriptions of household artifacts, weaponry, and fashion in the Middle Ages; and, of course, the heart of the tale: the love that is hammered into being like a coat of woven mail between Owen and Elin, make this first novel a worthwhile read. --Brenda Pittsley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Gut-roiling battle scenes are the strength of this first novel set in ninth-century France, but they come too late and too infrequently to inspire most readers to forgive the overwrought prose that surrounds them. Owen, Bishop of Chantalon, risks his life to save Elin, a forest girl of sorceresslike powers who has escaped the Viking camp where she was enslaved. Undying love develops between the two?instantly, with no setbacks and little tension?and is expressed often and graphically. Viking raiders are terrorizing the region; their menace is exacerbated by Count Anton and his bastard son Gerlos, who collect tributes from the people for the Vikings but keep part of the confiscated riches for themselves. Betrayed by his friend Reynald, Owen is captured by the "Northmen" but quickly saved by his Saxon henchman Enar and a band of Elin's "forest people." Later, Elin's mystical powers curse Reynald to his death and bring on a storm to defeat the northern invaders. Borchardt effectively conjures life in a far-flung era, but more action and less romance might have made this tale of an odd alliance between early Christians and European pagans a fresher read.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 467 pages
• Publisher: E P Dutton (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525940391
• ISBN-13: 978-0525940395
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,329,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone Heard of the Hieros Gamos?, November 21, 2000

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Devoted (Topaz historical romances) (Paperback)

Ms. Borchardt does a wonderful job in this book of drawing together Pagan and Christian sources. She reaches into Celtic lore, 9th century chistian belief, shamanic ritual and Germanic myth to create a world where religion and forces of nature are in flux. Part of this is the sacred marriage between the male and female principles (hieros gamos). The various sexual acts in this story illustrate the uses of sex from the sacred to the profane. That's not to say they aren't fun-- because they are. But they are an integral and interesting part of the story.

It's not necessary that the reader know a lot about 9th century France, shamanism or pagan myth, but it doesn't hurt.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL PREMISE, PROMISING PLOT, BUT FELL SHORT, August 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Devoted (Topaz historical romances) (Paperback)

I loved the way I felt as I opened up this book and began to read. The promise of a thumping good read in historical fiction-- my favorite. But as I read on, the story is continuously, unexpectedly , interrupted by odd segments of gratuitous sex that read as if they were inserted to satisfy the romance genre. While I loved the premise of the heroine and hero, their characters did not captivate me. The character development somehow did not have me giving a darn about these people. I'd turn the page and end up somewhere lost in a sudden change of scene. My personal review of three stars was given due to the wonderful historical detail and plot, not to the writing itself. But I would read something of hers again...there's something that smells of promise here. This book just wasn't as fulfilling as I had hoped. Perhaps my expectations were too high. But a good read overall, and as I mentioned earlier, excellent historical detail!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful historical tale, July 1, 2001

By 

G. Sawaged - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Devoted (Topaz historical romances) (Paperback)

I was totally enthralled and engrossed in this novel. The characters are wonderful and the attention to detail and character developement is first rate. I particularly love the humourous touches and more than once I found myself laughing out loud. There really is something for everyone in this novel....lots of violence and bloodshed, lots of romance including sexy scenes, lots of humour and great historical detail. Highly recommended, and i have just started reading the sequel and it promises to be just as good.