Customer Reviews

Grand Ellipse

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In a Victorianesque world of gaslights and steam engines, where magic is a memory becoming increasingly dim with the passage of years, there exists a woman named Luzelle Devaire. Luzelle seeks to break out of the stunted world that she finds herself thrust into, because of her sex. An escape presents itself when "Mad" Miltzin IX, king of Lower Hetzia, proclaims a round the world race, with the prize of a Lower Hetzian barony and a private audience with the king.

The Vonahrish government offers to finance Luzelle's inclusion in the race, so long as she uses her audience to plead with Miltzin IX to sell them the secret to "sentient fire." With the Grewzian Imperium set to take over the whole world, sentient fire may be just the weapon needed to allow Vonahr to survive. With so much at stake, Luzelle enters the race. But, surrounded by so many other contestants, each determined to win at all costs, what are Luzelle's chances?

What a great book! Paula Volsky succeeds in running several storylines through a world unfamiliar to his reader, and yet succeeds in keeping me on the edge of my seat. This story has everything: 19th century equivalent technology, magic, action and adventure, moral questioning, and romance. The figure of Karsler Stornzof, Overcommander of the Grewzian Army, is a fascinating figure; can he be as honorable and chivalrous as he seems, when he is part of the Greqzian war machine?

So, I must say that I recommend this book wholeheartedly. It is a great book, worth spending your reading hours on. One word of advice, though, the map in the front of most fantasy books is of limited interest, but in this "around the world in 80 days" type story, it is imperative that you keep a marker on it so you can refer to it often!

Combining the entire map of Volsky's world with Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" and a hint of the Imperialism of World War I and the atomic power of World War II, "The Grand Ellipse" is most likely Volsky's best book, second only to "Illusion."

We follow Luzelle Devaire of Vonahr, an independent woman living in the third generation from the revolution of "Illusion." Always an adventurer, she jumps at the chance to join the Grand Ellipse - a race around Volsky's world - on the sufference of her government - who hopes that, should she win, Luzelle might be able to weasel away from the race's sponsor, the King of Lower Hetzia, the secret of the sentient Masterfire, in order to repel the advancing army of the Grewzians who are quickly taking over the land.

Full of Volsky's excellent wit, an interesting romantic tangle, and lavish worldbuilding, The Grand Ellipse is a joy to anyone who has ventured into Volsky's world before, and a great primer for those who have not. Readers who are familiar with other "quest" or "travel" fantasies (see especially High Fantasy authors), will particularly enjoy Volsky's highly realistic "take" on what it means to travel. Rather than littering her pages with idealised, happy-go-lucky travelling companions who are somehow able to walk with little to no discomfort, or better, to ride without saddleburn, Volsky's characters are held-up by weather, hostile natives, and delayed trains. Finally!

Unlike Volsky's previous three books, "The Grand Ellipse" involves relatively little horror or gore, and the one attempted rape scene is intense but in no way gratuitous. Those who have been leery of reading Volsky due to her post-"Illusion" books should certainly invest in her latest offering, while those who enjoyed the previous three books will still find the grand scope of this novel invigorating. Recommended *heartily* for everyone - even if you don't generally read fantasy! There are very few great authors in the market; Volsky is high among them. So why delay?!

Okay, maybe not a year. I remember the first time I saw "Around the World in 80 days." I was quite young and thought it was wonderful. Many years later, I saw the movie again and realized that it was a travelogue with brief incidents in a variety of countries rather than a real story about real peopel. "The Great Ellipse" is alot like that...fun but no real substance. Don't get me wrong...I love fun! But even in a fun book, you've got to like your heroine - and you end up dismissing Luzelle. The story begins well with Luzelle defying her monster father. Unfortunately, Luzelle is a self-proclaimed intellectual and explorer and her thoughts and actions are too air-headed to make this assessment reality. Throughout the entire book, Luzelle's adventurous past comes through for her only once. She is much more likely to act out of pique because someone gave her unwelcome news or sensible advise. She feels she MUST win and proceeds to pull some nasty stunts on the other racers. Our hero, Girays, Luzelle's ex, is clearly far more competent, honest, and likeable than the man Luzelle describes or Luzelle herself. You must, therefore, take Luzelle's character with a large grain of salt which diminishes her stature in the eyes of the reader. Girays makes a more logical focus for the plot but he doesn't appear as much as Luzelle.

The real oddity in the story is a golden god of a man who is racing for the enemy, Karsler Stornzof. Luzelles thinks he's just 'gorgeous' and you wait to find he has feet of clay. Well, he doesn't. He is all the things he's supposed to be: kind, loyal, honorable, brave, smart, talented...he just happens to be representing the local equivalent of Nazi Germany. The story progresses and Karsler becomes more and more torn by his own loyalties as his country destroys, tortures, bullys it's way across his world. It is his character, the only one with any depth, that is the biggest weakness of the book. His tortured soul makes every other character a comic book cutout, which is hard on a plot centered around another character.

So, what is the bottom line on the "Grand Ellipse?" It's "Around the World in 80 Days" with Hamlet in a supporting role.

Paula Volsky is an excellent writer, and all of her books are worth reading. However, after reaching a high point with Illusion, her more recent novels have seemed to grow less nuanced in character development and plot -- using the formula of Illusion (borrowing the basic outline of a historical event like the French Revolution and and spicing it up with all kinds of magical proceedings) without reaching its level of complexity and sophistication.

The Grand Ellipse continues in this pattern, but it avoids some of the faults most obviously on display in The White Tribunal. Taking place in a quasi-pre-World War I or World War II setting, the plot follows the contestants in a race across Volsky's imaginary world, allowing her to modernize the settings of many of her previous novels. This results in a fascinating parade of exotic locations for her characters to tramp through (although sometimes the parallels between her world and actual historical nations seem a little too unimaginatively exact). The stucture of the novel does not allow for any overly complex plot-lines, but the pace is quick and the main character of Luzelle is an engaging companion (after an interminable conversation with her poorly-drawn father that occupies most of Chapter One). After the race is over, the novel quickly loses steam, hurrying through some assasinations and a major war towards its happy ending.

Amid all the ponderous proceedings, it would be nice if Volsky could recapture some of the light-hearted charm evident in some of her earlier, simpler novels like The Luck of Relian Cru. Still, The Grand Ellipse does a good job in creating a marvelous world occupied with characters who respond to their surroundings in richly developed, human fashion.

I will admit, I very rarely read fiction written by women. It is not a sexist comment, just that I find it difficult identifying with female main characters. However, Ms Volsky does a wonderful job of making her protagonist real, flawed, feminine and interesting at the same time. The book is pure fun, written in a descriptive yet simple prose. Moreover, the prose is so well written that one can easily start reading and then notice they have flown through 100 pages.

The book is set in another world where the heroes and villians compete in a race set on a world where the 19th century meets magic, rationalism confronts mysticism. It may be said that this is another "Around the World in 80 Days", but there are grander themes and international conspiracies that range throughout the text, political intrigue and adventure. There is more depth to this book than Around the World.

This is the perfect book for summer reading and you will not be unhappy.

From the inventive imagination of Paula Volsky comes "The Grand Ellipse", a science fiction novel set in a near-Earth in a timeframe equivalent to the early Victorian period, with steamships, railroads, and hot air balloons figuring amongst the modes of travel. Magic, never apparently too prevalent, still exists but is fading in importance. However, a clever mage has discovered Sentient Fire, and many rival countries are striving to possess its secret.

Why should this be? Well, essentially the events of World War II are being played out, with Grewzland (read: Nazi Germany) ruthlessly expanding across the known world. And Sentient Fire is basically the atomic bomb, albeit under the control of a whimsical monarch in the mold of Ludwig II of Bavaria, a ruler who controls the stand-in for neutral Switzerland. Given his country's heritage, he has no intention of getting involved in any conflict, and doesn't want to turn over the Sentient Fire to any combatant. Fortunately for all concerned, this same king is sponsoring a mammoth race, the Grand Ellipse of the title (he was going to call it the Big Oval, but thought better of it), and one of the prizes is a chance to personally meet with him. Hence, a few of the racers are competing for the chance to use the audience to advance their country's plea for the powerful weapon, the only hope of stopping the Grewzians.

Chief amongst the competitors are Luzelle Devaire and Girays v'Alisante, both from Vonahr (a combination of post-Revolutionary France and pre-WWII England), and Karsler Stornzof, an acclaimed officer of the Grewzian army. Luzelle and Girays were formerly engaged, but their relationship foundered in the clash between his high-bred conservatism and her need for independence and adventure. Now, circumstances bring them back together, and Luzelle, the main protagonist, finds herself alternately attracted to her former suitor and to the dashing and noble Karsler.

In the mad dash across exotic locales, the novel is naturally reminiscent of Jules Vernes' "Around The World In Eighty Days". Part of the fun comes from figuring out which fictional country is meant to represent which real-Earth nation. There are counterparts for Russia, India, and the Middle East, along with others. And the resourceful racers have recourse to myriad means of travel, including hang-gliders, rickshaws, bicycles, carriages, and zombie-borne palanquins.

Along with other nice touches, Volsky ably provides characters major and minor with interesting differences in speech patterns and dialects, showing the difficulty of stumbling across a globe riddled with various languages and customs. She also makes certain that Luzelle confronts her fair share of obstacles that are thrown in her way simply on account of her gender, especially in the more repressive countries. Luzelle also encounters again and again the repression of the conquering Grewzian forces, awakening in her a desire to win the race for more than just personal reasons.

On the whole, this is a well-crafted and clever novel with often witty dialogue. However, the last chapters sag rather badly, with an unsatisfying conclusion which renders the tribulations of preceding pages somewhat moot. After all of the previous adventures, this stumble at the end is a bit disconcerting. Nevertheless, "The Grand Ellipse" remains a journey worth undertaking.

Following a devastating revolution Vonahr's government has gone to seed and finds itself reduced to skeletal defenses and unable to meet the threat by an overlord of Grewzland who threatens war, destruction and world dominance.

Bordering Vonahr is a small country Lower Hetz, traditionally neutral and governed by a mad king whose sole focus in life is his fixation upon food, his hormones and diversion. A court alchemist has discovered an arcane tool of mass destruction that could be used to save the world. But the king, Miltzin, is deaf to all entreaties. In his pursuit for pleasure he designs a race called the Grand Ellipse with the prize a baronecty, lands, mansion and wealth.

A beautiful, headstrong, independent young Vonarhrish woman scholar takes up the quest in her desperate need to secure financial resources to continue her research into other cultures and societies. This is an engaging story of her journey through the challenges, and the tribulations that she and other racers encounter.

A tantalizing love triangle develops between the heroine Luzelle and a high ranking officer of the enemy Grewzland. Also in the mix is a former fiance sent by her government to shadow and protect her even though she is unaware of the government's intervention.

The story is quite entertaining, although at times it does drag a bit over the course of the race itself. However, the author's gift for brilliant dialog, sly humor and convoluted machinations of both saboteurs and opponents that are expressed through the vividly drawn characters can deliver a lot of delighted chuckles and keep one"rooting for the girl" along the journey. There are a few loose ends that I would like to have seen resolved or given a clue about by story's end. Yet, overall I found this tale of triumph and travail typical of Paula Volsky's ever fascinatingly skewed world view and an enjoyable way to spend some time on her imaginary mystery tour.

Throughout the history of war fire has been used as an unreliable weapon. It is dangerous and can be used to an advantage, but is nearly impossible to control, thus making it something not used in modern warfare or in large action (ie, lighting fire to an entire army) but if you could control the fire, things would be different.

That's the premise of this book. In the neutral country of Lower Hetz a magician recently developed what he called sentient fire, fire that was capable of thought and responded to its master's commands. Naturally, this fire could be used as a great weapon, or for many other things (construction, clearing forests...) but the King refuses to sell or give the secret away. The people of world are a little miffed about this, particularly the people under the attack from the imperial nation of Grewland (think Germany) who know they have almost no hope of not being conquered by this extremely well equipped military nation.

So one of these nations about to be under attack, Vonahr (think France) comes up with a plan. You see the King of Lower Hetz is also holding a race around the world, and the first prize in this race, this "Grand Ellipse", is a peerage in the country of Lower Hetz and a personal meeting with the King. So Vonahr sends in Luzelle Devaire, a young female adventures who writes and lectures on her world travels, and happens to be in desperate need of money if she wants to retain her beloved independence. She strikes a deal with the ministry of foreign affairs-she'll run the race, which they'll pay for, and at the end, once she's won the race, she'll do anything, really anything, to try and convince the womanizing King of Lower Hetz to part with the secret of sentient fire.

It sounds simple enough for Luzelle but when it turns out that her ex-fiancé is also in the race, along with the young, god like and extremely kind war hero of Grewland (and assorted other weirdoes) and his icy, do anything, really anything, to win uncle, it gets complicated. Add in some magic from every culture on the planet, a little Indian-Jones action and some really cool cultural and landscape descriptions, and the periodic check ins' with the sentient fire where we get to see how it slowly takes over the mind of its master and we have one awesome book. It's different from "Illusion", more action packed, with less emphasis on morals and politics-more of a story novel, but still every bit as good in its own right.

As a side note, while "Illusion" was obviously a fantasy re-write of the French revolution, and this book does have an overt connection to "Around the world in 80 days" I think that really "The Grand Ellipse" this book draws more subtle connections to the creation of the atom bomb. There are other obvious parallels between Grewland and Germany during WW2, so obviously this book has something to do with that period-I'm just not sure how the race fits in. It doesn't really matter, this is a fun book. Recommend for sure.

Five stars.

I have been waiting for this book since the White Tribunal came out. Luzulle, an independant young scholar, embarks on a journey around the world not only to save her country but also to prove herself to those who scoff at her ideals. Paula Volsky creates characters that you grow to love, characters you grow to hate and the whole while telling a story that speaks volumes about society and humanity in general. This is a finely crafted book that returns you to the world Volsky created with Illusion. This is a book to own!

I was dazzled, shocked, transported out of this world...I had almost forgotten that that was what fantasy was supposed to do. In a nutshell, do yourself a grand favor and get this book.

The heroine is Luzelle Devaire, a beautiful young woman who also happens to be a seasoned traveler, an authoress, and lecturer of some note. All of this brings her to the attention of her rather desperate government. The acknowledged superpower of the day is bent on expansion at any cost and Luzelle's homeland appears to be the next target. Luzelle is recruited to enter a race called the Grand Ellipse that is the latest scheme proposed by a neighboring king of a neutral country...a country that holds the key to the greatest discovery of the age...living fire that obeys every command of its master. Luzelle's mission is to win the race, which will bring her to the king's attention, and then woo the infamous skirt-chaser into selling her the secret of Masterfire.

Luzelle is looking forward to the adventure, but it turns out to more than she had expected. As she travels through marvelous lands of beauty, intrigue, and danger, she will face her greatest fears and then some and make some of the hardest decisions of her life, not the least of which is between the two men who have touched her heart, a love from the past and a soldier from an enemy army...

Take the Amazing Race, throw in politics, murder, deceit, desperation, war, danger, and romance and you have the Grand Ellipse. The world building is enough to blow you right out of THIS world. I highly recommend it.