Customer Reviews

Leopard in Exile (Carolus Rex, Book 2)

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

 

 

Is it a bad sign that I just finished this book the night before last, and now I'm hard-pressed to remember much of the plot?

This book's predecessor, _Shadow of Albion_, was fun in a light sort of way, with the promise of sequels that would delve deeper into the faery magic at which it hints. I should have gotten my first clue about _Leopard in Exile_ when I looked at the cover art. Thomas Canty's drawings are lovely as always, but this illustration looks like it's supposed to be a rough preliminary sketch, compared to the sublime cover of _Albion_. Even the typefaces are clunkier. But I tried not to judge the book by its cover.

Inside, though, I found little of interest. I had hoped that the characters, who were kind of cardboard in _Albion_, would get fleshed out now that we're getting to know them better. Nope, still cardboard. It's even worse in this one because people are going around moping about how much they love their husband/wife and yet the relationship has not been developed in the story. Why do they love each other? Because the authors say so, I guess. And to add more frustration, the authors seem to be under the impression that a good plot can be obtained simply by continually landing the characters in danger. (It reminds me of a 70s bodice-ripper I read years ago, in which the heroine got raped, then shipwrecked on a tropical island, THEN kidnapped by pirates, THEN trapped in an opium den... You get the idea.) Dropping the characters into one problem after another works pretty well if we KNOW the characters and CARE what happens to them, but since they're still 2-D, the constant action keeps us from learning any more about them. It's just crisis after crisis after crisis, and seldom a conversation. Not to mention, the magic doesn't get explained! Sarah went to the New World to fulfill a promise to the Fair Folk, but then they were absent for the first nine-tenths of the book, then showed up just long enough to give Sarah some vague aid against the villain, then disappeared again, without any explanation.

I don't know if I'll read the third Carolus Rex book. I know both Norton and Edghill are capable of better books than this. Let's hope they remember that.

Duchess Sarah crossed the dimensional barrier from our world (nineteenth century England) to another realm. Though similarities abound such as Napoleon wanting to rule the globe, major differences exist as the Stuarts still rule and magic is an acceptable force. While Britain honors the Ancient Ones and tries to keep the war on the mundane plane, the megalomaniac French emperor employs the Marquis de Sade to use his arcane talents to insure his success.

De Sade journeys to Nouvelle Orleans to ostensibly serve as the French governor of the territory. However, he actually seeks the Holy Grail to insure Napoleon cannot lose on the battlefield regardless of the odds and for diabolical reasons of his own. Counterforces try to prevent this travesty of the ancient relic from being misused. The Dauphin is missing and an angel visits his wife Meriel to say he is fine and she must obtain the Holy Grail before de Sade finds and gives it to his master Satan. Sarah travels to aid her friend Meriel. Sarah's husband, an aristocratic spymaster, follows her with his plan to assassinate de Sade and begin a revolt in Nouvelle Orleans. The action and adventure has just begun.

Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill have cleverly created a series that cleverly combines intrigue, adventure, magic, and political machinations into a fabulous epic fantasy. The key to this alternate history novel is that the New World seems real even with the influx of paranormal events. The romance between Sarah and her Duke helps the audience understand the characters as both have hardships to overcome in their relationship. LEOPARD IN EXILE is storytelling at its best.

Harriet Klausner

This sequel to The Shadow of Albion (Carolus Rex, Book 1), as I had hoped it would, begins to somewhat flesh out the world where the Stuarts kept the British throne. We learn (to my surprise) that the Tudors (from whom the Stuarts descend) used "dark forces" to sweep the Plantagenets aside, that the French are prone to enslaving and exploiting the native peoples (in our reality, as any historian knows, they had excellent relations with most of the tribes, and it was the Spanish who were heavily into enslavement and tyranny), and that magic seems to be the prerogative of the nobility. We find out how a Canadian tribe (the Cree) happened to have a presence in the wilderness outside Baltimore, and meet the Mandan, who even in our own Universe were something of an enigma (here they speak a debased Latin, practise a blurred copy of the High Mass, and guard a treasure that includes the Holy Grail). Contemporary Americans like Jefferson, Burr, and Andrew Jackson are briefly introduced, and Charles Corday--"Gambit," the French agent who attempted an assassination at a Mooncoign masquerade party in the first book--is reintroduced and becomes a full-blown and pivotal character. Jean Lafitte, the gentleman pirate-slaver of the Louisiana coast, is here too, along with all the major characters from "Albion": Rupert, Earl of Wessex, and his lady, the former Sarah Cunningham, who was plucked magically from our Universe to take the place of her counterpart, the Marchioness of Roxbury; Louis, the Lost Dauphin, and his bride Meriel; Illya Kosciusko, Wessex's charming Polish partner-in-espionage. And the source of Sarah's dreams of "the Beast" is revealed as we learn the true depths of depravity to which the Marquis deSade is willing to sink.

Much of the story occurs in New Albion (the 13 Colonies of our world) and Nouvelle-Orleans (our New Orleans), to which first Sarah (frantically summoned by Meriel after Louis goes missing) and then Rupert travel. The storyline owes something to "The Last of the Mohicans," with characters at cross-purposes, captures and escapes, and the looming threat of torture and sacrifice. True, some of deSade's scenes are not for the tender of stomach, but then anyone who's heard of him knows not to expect a "nice man." Also true, the authors seem a bit confused about their characters' ages: in "Albion" it was established, or at least strongly suggested, that Rupert and Sarah were 32 and 23; now, two years later, it's suggested that *Rupert* is 23! (Proofreader asleep at the switch?) But there's more magic here than in the first book, suggesting that they intend to amplify still further on that aspect of their world when (as I presume they plan to do) they set their noble pair against the "atheist" Napoleon, who is now deprived of his most puissant sorcerer-supporter. The question that arises next is, Have they done enough to keep their world from turning into a copy of ours? And can they, and the Grand Alliance (now including Denmark, since England's Prince Jamie has finally wed its Princess Stephanie), roll Napoleon back from his hoped-for conquest of the world?

I've been a fan of Andre Norton for 30 years, so I'll read any tale she cares to tell. However, in this book, her collaborator has managed to drag things down to the level of a mediocre read-once-only and pass along regency romance. Whoever allowed the inclusion of those stupid little footnotes (I agree with another reviewer-they have to be Ms Edgehill's) made a really BAD decision on this. They frequently define words I can figure out quite well from context-if I can't, I know what a dictionary is. One footnote to a scene set in New Orleans directs us to a website for jambalaya recipes. Who got paid for that lovely bit of advertising and how much? I feel like they were aimed at really dumb little kids. But even Andre's YA readers are smarter than THAT. Read the library copy before buying on this one.

While you need not read the first in this trilogy (?) to understand Lepoard in Exile you cannot get the delight of having found a fun trilogy that turns spectacular without reading The Shadow of Albion first. Contrary to many a trilogy before it, this second book not only lives up to but surpasses its predecessor. Suspend your disbelief and enter into an alternative universe where the Revolutionary War never happened and the Marguess de Sade becomes governor of what would have been the Louisianna purchase but remains in the control of France and Napoleon. Follow the adventures of spunky women and determined men as they criss cross North America not only searching for one another but a secure peace for Albion and England as well. And the footnotes are hilarious!

I love this book. One because its like a regencey type novel as well as good fighting. i love this book two because there is no sexual content. I gave this book a four because it was soppose to be a trilogy but because andre norton paced away so the series won't be finished. But on the whole its worth a read.

I have had a softcover copy of A LEOPARD IN EXILE for three or four years at least, and I can burst my fellow reviewer's balloon by saying definitively that there are no footnotes in this book, at least in the edition in my possession. I have read this copy of the book many a time and could find no footnotes, so I must assume he is lying. It is a very well-written and thoroughly researched sequel to the original novel, THE SHADOW OF ALBION, which admittedly is much better and which I prefer. I am now waiting eagerly for the third book in the CAROLUS MAGNUS Trilogy which, now that Ms. Norton has died - God rest her sould - will have to be completed by Ms. Edghill alone.

I wasn't really intending to review this book, but I kept writing one as I read it, so:

Negatives:
1. The footnotes were QUITE condescending. Fortunately they were dropped after the first chapter in the paperback version, or this book would have quickly become wall-thumping material.

2. The characters are painfully flat. Wessex is a character out of a cut-rate Regency romance; I would have accepted him that way if the book WAS a Regency romance, but this is Andre Norton. Many of the characters have only one or two major traits and grow boring quickly (read: Robie, the Sahoya, etc.).

3. The plot was clunkly and terrible. Also the opening scene of d'Charenton was disgusting beyond need. I really don't feel it was necessary to peg him as "evil," most people have heard of the Marquis de Sade. (Or if we haven't I'm sure Edghill would be happy to tell us about him).

The postitive:
1. If you skim through certain bits of the novel, the pacing is quite fast. I mostly found myself wishing that the book was over and that they would not write another, but I find that my wishes will not be granted--they intend to write a third.

I honestly meant to give this book three stars, but now that I think over it, it is a two star book. I really hope the third doesn't actually get put out. I COULD have read a cheap Regency and been just as satisfied with the result, maybe even more so because the clunky plot devices would be thankfully absent. There are much better books that combine the topics of the Regency and magic, and any reader would do well to pick up one of these instead.

I really liked the first volume of this joint project by Norton and Edghill. The combo of a Regency Romance and an alternate world was delightful. This effort, however, is rather leaden, poorly planned and jerky. There are fewer 'real history' cameos (outside of DeSade and Lafitte who are major characters.) The likelihood of a Duchess running off to the new world, no husband, no retinue...and no recognition when she gets there is a major stretch. The whole grail "quest" is silly, particularly Merel's survival in the wilderness! The Duke's angst is getting overdone - particularly his fear of assasination by his own people. A Duke?...really, now. I hope the series returns to Europe and to court intrigue and magic.

It usually takes a lot for me to give up on a book. The second volume in this series did not live up to it's predecessor or even reach half its potential. Following the first book, I was excited to see how Sarah and Wessex would reconcile their differences and live together as husband and wife. Unfortunately, none of that ever materialized. The footnotes were ludicrous, the direction of the story even more, and the writing dismal.