Customer Reviews

The Grand Tour

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sequel Syndrome is a terrible thing. First you write a brilliant, hilarious first book and it's a hit. But then...... THEN, you have to do it again.

Well, Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer have written a witty and amusing reprise of _Sorcery and Cecilia_ (aka _The Enchanted Chocolate Pot_), but in my opinion it's not quite up to the caliber of the first book.

One reason for this is that the plot isn't as dramatic. Yes, it's an intriguing riddle -- what ARE the insidious Mr. Strangle and the young man he's supposedly tutoring up to? And yes, we're _told_ (but never shown) that all of Europe is in danger. But our least favorite people from the first book get tidily killed off, there's a lot more about the tedium of coach travel over bad roads than about magic, and nearly everybody they meet is either nice or rather ineffectual.

The heroines (and heroes) also have a lot less work to do. The danger is less dangerous, troubles happen only one at a time, no one is working at cross-purposes, and there don't seem to be any sub-plots (more's the pity). Even the puzzle isn't that hard to put together if you know anything about medieval European kings. Only two people get kidnapped, and only toward the end of the book, and nothing really happens to them -- again, we're _told_ they are to be sacrificed, but they never even get close, and rescue (of course) comes in time.

Actually, the ending is about the most dramatic scene in the book, and while the rantings and revelations are pretty good, it's soon over. Fortunately or unfortunately, there are also some loose ends left untied, so we might be in for another sequel.

I also had a few minor quibbles -- it's been a long time since I read the first one, and I have this vague feeling that both heroines have somehow forgotten some of the things about magic that they learned in the first book. And a sickle made of pure gold is certainly romantic (especially if you are trying to be an Ancient Druid) but I have my doubts about whether you could actually cut much of anything with it, let alone use it as a murder weapon.

Also, whoever designed the cover art (and I know it wasn't the authors) should be forced at parasol-point to read several long and highly educational histories of costume until they get a clue. The clothes the heroines are wearing look _nothing_ like Regency clothing, but rather more like someone's vague notion of what teenage girls ought to have looked like in the 1950s. Sheesh, there are enough Regency novels out there that even publishers (who actually DO choose the covers) ought to know what Regency clothes look like.

It's a fun read, pure fluff and no educational value, funny, acerbic, and a little sweet. I read it twice the first week it came and will undoubtedly want to read it again -- and it's inspired me to go back and re-read the first one. (The sequel wouldn't have been as much fun if I hadn't known what happens in the first book.)

But I've seen both authors do _so_ much better writing independently. Patricia Wrede's _Mairelon the Magician_ and _Magician's Ward_, which are both set in the same universe as this one, are much more complex and interesting. The final confrontation scene in _Mairelon_ winds up with about fifteen people either trying to hold one another at gunpoint, fainting, trying to make off with the treasure, or threatening to elope, and just when you think it's as bad as it can get, _another_ person shows up and complicates things further. I've read it a dozen times and it still makes me laugh out loud. The pacing is perfect.

Caroline Stevermer, also, can do much better -- she's a much slower and more meditative writer, but her imaginative inventions are dazzling, her people are fascinating, and her latest, _A Scholar of Magics_, is every bit as far-flung, eminently logical, and imaginatively mystical as her first book, _A College of Magics_.

I liked _The Grand Tour_ and it's always fun to see what happens to old friends next. But I don't think _Grand Tour_ is going to get as many re-readings as the other books I've mentioned. Let's hope two excellent authors can make the synergy work better if they do this again.

These really are delighful characters, and the plot is of a weight suitable to a Regency romance. The primary difference between this book and its predecessor is that, in this outing, I preferred the "Kate" sections to those by Cecilia. "Sorcery and Cecilia" had a much more even tone. I believe this may be due to the different literary devices -- no letters, as the two women are traveling together, often in uncomfortably cramped circumstances.Kate gets to use a diary format, but Cecy's is from her depostition concerning the plot they uncover and foil. Since Cecy is communicating with strangers in official positions, we hear very little about her adjustment to the married state or her inner thoughts about her own role. Kate, however, is talking to herself. We get to see her marriage from the inside. We also get to find out what the results were from all those "tests" she was given at the end of the first book. Very satisfying -- and that's all I'm going to say about it.

The uneven tone is the only significant flaw in this book. I agree that a single villain, well-known to the characters, is more interesting than a relative stranger plotting at a distance. However, the really fascinating idea behind the spell the plotters have put together more than makes up for it. The book treats it lightly -- no Dan Brown hysterics -- but it has a lot more to it than appears on the surface. The characters are a lot of fun, and I particularly like getting to know more about the maids that Kate & Cecy hire.

Writing a book together has to be a lot of work. I would enjoy seeing this series continue with one couple "featured" in each novel, receiving occasional letters/messages/spells from the other. That way, Kate & Cecy (and their marriages) would get equal time -- but not at the SAME time!

Personally, Sorcery and Cecelia is one of my favorite books. So, I was obviously thrilled when Ms. Wrede and Ms. Stervemer announced they were writing a sequel. I wasn't disappointed.

While this book isn't quite as memorable as Sorcery and Cecelia, I still loved it. The way the plot moves is different than its predecessor, but it made it seem better to me. Cecy's entries are part of an official document she must write, while Kate's entries are from her personal journal; these two styles tie together very well.

I like the "mystery" type style that goes through the book. I thought it was a great story line, and I really enjoyed it. This book is so much fun to read because it does have a good story line but it also stays fairly true to the time period.

I think that everyone will at least like, if not love, this book. It's also a great book to reread along with Sorcery and Cecelia.

The Grand Tour is halfway decent, the half that is decent (in my opinion) being the half written by Patricia C. Wrede. The tone of the book, particularly as it progressed and in the passages by Caroline Stevermer, was rather melancholy and morose, lacking the jovial adventuresomeness of Sorcery and Cecelia. Furthermore, the feel of the story was quite uneven, with Ms. Wrede's passages being reminiscient of her Mairelon the Magician books, and Ms. Stevermer's portions resembling A College of Magics. It was evident that each author had her own story that she had wished to tell, but rather than collaborating as in their first book, they each rather tried to continue their own storylines without regard to the others, making for an awkward read.

The characters were more fully realized; however, each author had her own characterizations for each of them, contributing to the uneven feel of the book. Kate's passages were intolerably long, and the book in general was dragged out. Despite its length, the characters still only made it to France and Italy, hardly the Grand Tour the title implies.

I think most fans of Sorcery and Cecelia will be dissappointed by this sequel, but I recommend it anyway. There
are a few memorable moments that I won't spoil, and the whole beginning of the book was really quite good. Those readers who liked A College of Magics would find the whole thing enthralling, I'm sure, as the bulk of it was by Ms. Stevermer and was reminsicent of her other work. The ending was dissappointing and overly sentimental. It left little room for a third sequel; judging from the trouble the authors seem to have had collaborating, I suspect that this was deliberate.

I must say I LOVED Sorcery and Cecelia. It is one of my favorite books which is why I wasn't expecting the sequel to be as good. It wasn't. Oh, it was still a good fantasy novel, but the plot seemed to drag and was a bit confusing in some parts. Cecy, who was so much fun in the previous book, is overshadowed by Kate. Kate seems to have all the entries in the book and all the good parts. Cecy only gets her share towards the end of the nearly 500 page novel. The plot was still good and exciting near the end, but it did seem about 100 pages too long. Still, if you are dedicated Kate and Cecy fan, read it since it is the sequel, but definitely don't start with this book. It is fun, but not anywhere near as good as the first.

While THE GRAND TOUR is not nearly as brilliant as the first written account of the adventures of Kate and Cecy, it is a good read. I advise you not to buy it in hardcover though.

There was definitely something lacking in GRAND TOUR. The plot, which is a mystery of sorts, was a little disappointing. One of the things that made SORCERY AND CECILIA so wonderful for me is that there was no big bad out to harm or rule the world. That is not so in this book.

All of Europe is in mortal danger. And Kate, Cecy, Thomas, and James must save it from a terrible fate that they know almost nothing about.

Kate did very little until the end. Other than make it very clear that she and Thomas are deeply in love, that is. Cute, but lacking in plot. Cecy did all the investigation, but her romance suffered a lot. Not that there was much romance there to begin with.

Kate discovers her talents lie in clumsiness and lying (much to her distaste), Cecy blows up a desk, and there is a goat involved in the evil plot to make a young boy the Emperor of all Europe in order to satisfy some madwoman's hunger for power.

Yes, I think that about sums it up. Enjoy!

Having enjoyed myself immensely with Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's first joint novel venture, Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, I knew that reading their next co-written novel, The Grand Tour.

Starting off with the recently wed Kate and Thomas, along with Cecy and James -- and not to mention the formidable Lady Sylvia -- they are embarking on a Grand Tour of Europe. After all, Europe is now safe now that Napoleon has been defeated at Waterloo, and what woman could resist the allure of Paris and the shopping to be found therein? But our foursome have barely reached Calais before they're pitched headlong into a new set of adventures, when the Lady in Blue gives one of them a mysterious package and flees into the night.

What they find is a greater threat than anything that Napoleon and his armies could raise and they are sent on a quest to stop a plot to create an Emperor of Europe who could use magic to make the nations of the world obey him.

Unlike Sorcery and Cecelia, this one takes the form of a deposition and a journal, each kept by Cecelia and Kate. Sadly, it doesn't work as well as the previous novel, without the immediacy and intimacy that the letters gave. Instead, while the plot is certainly interesting and full of guesswork, I was left with a blah feeling throughout the book. While some parts of the book had plenty of whimsy -- messages being passed through knitted scarves was a terrific touch -- and the knowledge and feel of the Regency period in England and the Continent was well-handled, there were a few problems with the story itself.

One sad point was that two of the villains from the previous novel, Sir Hilary and Mr. Strangle, appear briefly, and then just as quickly, turn up dead and murdered in rather skimpy ways. I know this is a form of tidying up loose ends, but it felt rather contrived in the story, and I think that more of it could have been made by the authors. Even the intriguing new character in this drama, Theodore Daventer, isn't that well fleshed out, and besides his adoring puppy love for Cecy, we really don't get to learn much about him, and how he fell into the clutches of a band of sorcerous kingmakers.

However, it's a quick read, not much more than several hours, and aimed for the young adult market. Those who like magick that sounds like it would actually work -- and where a mistake can mean a horrendous accident -- will enjoy it, and the blend of history and fantasy is very entertaining. Some new minor characters come into the mix besides young Daventer, including a cameo appearance by the Duke of Wellington himself, and the two ladies maids that the heroines acquire in Paris.

Those who have read the previous novel will like this one for the information on what happens after, and if the reader has any knowledge of the classic derring-do novels of Baroness Orczy and Alexander Dumas will have fun picking out the references. Still, I can't honestly give this one more than three stars, and a maybe recommendation for the obvious flaws.

After reading Sorcery and Cecelia, a delight and a treasure of a story, the Grand Tour was a disappointment. No longer a correspondence between Kate and Cecelia, the story is instead told through Kate's "commonplace book" and a "deposition of events" given by Cecelia.
Though the plot was moderately amusing, the characterization stalled. Cecy and James particularly suffer. I was left wondering if Wrede, who wrote Cecy's view point, was working on another project at the time and composed a "deposition" as opposed to a diary so as not to have to give it too much thought. Stevermer does a bit better by Kate - her relationship with Thomas is explored a bit. It's even nicely romantic at times. Kate's character is also fleshed out - unfortunately, she seems completely different from the spunky heroine who told off her Aunt Charlotte at the end of S. and C. Here she comes off as rather timid and insecure. Though not bad, per se, I was unprepared for the about-face. And also inexplicably lacking were the wonderful, humorous dialogues and descriptions that made me laugh out loud while reading Sorcery and Cecelia. Why? Why? They talked, but it was rarely clever...
Anyhow, the moral of this review is read Sorcery and Cecelia. It is wonderful, charming and fun! Then read Dealing with Dragons by Wrede, or a College of Magics by Stevermer. Then reread Socery and Cecelia. If you are still bored or just can't say goodbye to Kate and Cecelia, I guess you might as well check the Grand Tour out of your library. There are certainly worse books out there. It's just that one has come to expect more from these two authors! On second thought, read this book first, and you might have some fun. Then go read the others letdown-free.

This is the another book set in a Regency period in which magic is part of everyday life, and magicians are everywhere. Cousins Kate and Cecy (the heroines of 'Sorcery and Cecelia) are now married and are on their honeymoon with their husbands James and Thomas. As they travel across Europe, mysterious things begin to happen. There are several murders, and various magical objects go missing. Kate, Cecy, and their husbands have to try and find out what is going on and how to stop it. This is a lively story with good characters and plenty of humour and excitement, but there are rather too many sentimental scenes between the married couples, which are a bit of a bore. On the whole, I agree with the previous reviewers who say this is not as much fun as the earlier book, but it is still an entertaining read.

While Wrede and Stevermer have a decent plot going on, this lacks just about everything that made Sorcery and Cecelia wonderful. The plot doesn't come together nearly so nicely in this book, and the end feels as though even the authors were getting tired of stringing it along. The book has some nice historical aspects, but is far too drawn out. The characters are starting to become annoying, and differences in the authors writing styles start causing the pieces to clash. They even left a few things unexplained. I look forward to adding Sorcery and Cecelia to my collection, but if you wish to read The Grand Tour, try checking it out in the library first.