Customer Reviews

Eldorado

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

...you should know one small fact. This copy is ABRIDGED!

Whoever did it did not see fit to inform readers of this but the fact remains. Three whole chapters were cut from this edition.

I totally agree that this book is really great but I also like to know that I am reading the whole book.

Try to find an older edition, read it and see what I mean. It will make much more sense

In many ways this book is even better than the first novel in the series. It is better written and the characters are more fleshed out than in any "pimpernel" book that came before or after it. The beautiful relationship between Percy and Marguerite is at the heart of the story, which also heavily involves Armand Saint-Just, who is in trouble again. The depth of the league's love and devotion to Percy is also brought to the fore front as Percy is captured and tortured by Chauvelin and his goons. If you love Percy, get your kleenex ready before you begin the book, because some truly terrible methods of persuasion are used against our hero. There are some absolutely wonderful scenes between Percy and Marguerite as she visits him in the jail in a pretty sad state physically. The Baroness waxed on and on in the earlier chapters about how much the leaguers loved Percy, so when he's stuck in the Conciegerie being tormented, you just want to holler "WHERE'S THE FREAKIN'LEAGUE! GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"

When Armand St. Just falls in love, he must choose between his loyalty to the Scarlet Pimpernel and his passion for the woman of his dreams. The question is, how far will he go to protect her? Armand tells Percy, "You do not know what it is to love." And Percy agrees with him!

By far, Eldorado is one of the Baroness' best works. However, the text has been heavily edited. There are sentences, paragraphs, and whole chapters that have been edited out.

Still, the book is well worth the wait. The scene where Chauvelin teaches Percy how to spell the name "C-h-a-u-v-e-l-i-n" is priceless! Even edited, I'd rank it five stars!

This is perhaps the best Pimpernel tale I have read yet. Sir Percy Blakeney and his noble league of gentlemen attempt the rescue of "the most important life in France" in their battle against the Terror of the French republic. This time they are joined by Armand St Just, Marguerite's brother; but he compromises their scheme by unexpected love for an actress, disobeying orders in order to save her life. With disastrous consequences for his band, Sir Percy ends up stepping in to save them both.

As usual, Chauvelin is after revenge on his arch-enemy, the Scarlet Pimpernel. But will he at last succeed? or will another Boulogne-type catastrophe ensue?

A very good story indeed, with the usual flowing narrative from Orczy. The characters are interesting (Sir Percy in fine form) and the plots are compelling. But the most attractive aspect of this novel, as with all the Pimpernel stories, is the romance and sheer swashbuckling adventure.

This is definatley one of the best in the Scarlet Pimpernel series, if not THE best of those I've read thus far (seeing that most of the books are out of print). The story greatly depends on the power of love, from friendship love to romantic love. For Armand St. Just, the brother-in-law of the incredulous Sir Percy Blakeney, love gets him into trouble and causes him to doubt his role in the league of the Pimpernel. For Blakeney, loves inspires him to keep up the fight, even when he is betrayed, captured, and tortured. And poor Magurite is left to try her best to love and assist her husband in whatever way she can. Chauvelin sinks to an ultimate low to take his revenge on our hero, and you REALLY start to wonder how Percy's gonna get himself out of this one!

Eldorado was one of the best Pimpernel books . It starts of slowly with Armand and a couple of new characters then Percy gets heavily envolved followed by Marguerite, Ffoukles, and of course Chauvelin.The end is really exciting and as usual very masterly done. The intrigue in this book rests on the person who Sir Percy is trying to rescue. (No it's not Marguerite)

So far I have read "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "The Elusive Pimpernel" and I had just finished "El Dorado." This last book wounded me emotionally so much I'm still hurting.

I had watched Jane Seymoure's version(1982) of the movie before so I had an idea of the plot. I knew Armand would be the cause of our hero's troubles but I didn't know it was going to be such a near death experience... The price Percy had to pay for Armand's folly was just too much.

SPOILER ALERT!!!
I was spell-bound by Percy's attitude through-out... he was a visionary but he was realistic enough to accept that 'mayhaps'... Chauvelin would win tis time. So he told Sir Andrews before going back to Paris: <<If after having waited for me... you neither see nor hear anything from me... tell Marguerite that in giving my life for her brother I gave it for her!>>

But then, I was horrified when I understood the depth of Armand's folly. In the movie, he was just impulsively stupid. The book reveals a much darker truth... so terrible that Percy had to try hard to conceal it from Margarite. He forgave Armand for Margarite's sake, but if she knew... she would hate her brother for life, and that Percy had to keep from happening (since if he died, Margarite would have no one left but Armand).

And the comment the impulsive brother-in-law threw at Percy: "You do not know what love is!" This comment hit Percy so hard that he not only agrees with Armand but he mentions it several times after: "We both agreed that I do not know what love is." That's what he says, but his actions speak otherwise.

As for Armand, his way of loving is too selfish, impulsive and inmature. I wonder who was the one who really "didn't know..."

Determined to save the young Prince Louis, heir to the throne of France, Percy and the league embark upon their most dangerous adventure yet. Everything goes well until Armand, struck by Cupid's arrow, disobeys orders to try and help his ladylove, landing Percy right in Chauvlin's hands. Will he escape from the darkest cells of the Conciergre? Will he be able to save the Dauphin? Wait and see!

This is my favorite of all the Pimpernel books. With its numerous plot twists and suprise ending, this is one of my favorite books altogether. Not to mention it has some great scenes between Percy and Marguerite as Percy is being tortured (yes! Tortured!) in prison. I sobbed miserably during that part. Of course, you'll proably end up hating Armand for the rest of your life, but that's a small price to pay for such a marvelous story!

If you enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel, it's worth the effort to try to dig up a copy of the sequel.

Percy and the League try to smuggle the Dauphin out of France, which is complicated when Armand becomes disobedient after falling in love. I won't ruin what happens to Percy (if you look at other reviews they say), but it puts the Scarlet Pimpernel through a pretty bad ordeal.

This one is faster paced than The Scarlet Pimpernel, but it's still a little slow in the beginning. Once you hit the second part, though, it really speeds up. The scenes between Marguerite and Percy are great. I can't recommend this book enough. I read it in about three days (which would have been two if I wasn't falling asleep after staying up until 2 in the morning to try to finish it!)

However, getting hold of a copy is much harder than the original. Bucaneer Books does have a hard-cover copy in print, but parts of it are abridged. I would recommend either trying to find a used copy, getting a copy from the library, or importing a copy from the UK (I belive that edition is unabridged, although I'm not positive). But this book is worth the hassle it might take to get it.

I've read about half of the Scarlet Pimpernel books, and this one is definitely my favorite thus far. I won't rehash the plot as others said it well here. Briefly, SP must save the Dauphin from the clutches of Robespierre and Chauvelin. Armand has to choose between his honor and his heart, and he chooses, forcing SP to clean up the mess, at great physical cost to himself. There was interesting character development for Armand, and I also liked the scenes with Sir Tony, who is my favorite of the peripheral characters. If you've seen the SP production with Anthony Andrew and Jane Seymour, part of the plot is taken from this book. Try it out! It's a romping good adventure, and not as lackluster or meandering as some of her other titles.