Customer Reviews

Masques

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Okay, so, yes, I realize the original edition of "Masques" was flawed. The the writing was uneven, the transitions choppy, the larger events that drive the story were barely touched on, and there were some truly corney elements (not the least of which is the title--I guess they can't fix everything). Also, the cover was embarrassingly reminiscent of an 80s hairband album.

But I loved it. It was funny, it was romantic, it was melodramatic, it poked fun at itself. The single-minded focus on the relationship between the two main characters was perhaps both the greatest weakness and the greatest charm of what I'll now refer to as MasquesBeta.

Almost twice as long, the new Masques raises the stakes, fills in the gaps, eases the transitions, evens out the language, and clarifies the motivations of the side characters. What was stated as fact is now illustrated and described. What as implied is now made explicit. The result is a stronger book--but one that lacks the particular tumbling enthusiasm and unselfconscious obsessiveness of the original.

What hasn't changed are the characters. Aralorn has always stood out in my mind as the most memorable of Brigg's trademark tough-but-vulnerable female leads. Aralorn is a storyteller, a humorist, and a lover of information. She is independent, happy-go-lucky and self contained--although the traumatic events of the novel threaten to change that. The male lead, Wolf, meanwhile, remains the king of pathos, with a wry sarcastic bent. It's easy to see in these two characters and in the story itself, the influences of generic popular fantasy on a young author, but the germs of the characteristics, fantasies and themes that populate all Brigg's later work are equally apparent.

Too conclude, it good, it's different, it's worth checking out, and I'm excited (like way excited) for the sequel. But I still love the real Masques best.

Aralorn is a shapeshifter - and a spy. However, she would be in deep trouble if it weren't for her friend Wolf. Having rescued Wolf years earlier, she only knew him as a wolf, until she happens upon a subversive plot on an assignment and finds him to be a powerful sorcerer and shapeshifter. Drawn into a plan to save the royalty of her country as well as the people from a powerful sorcerer, Aralorn and Wolf have to work together and trust each other - something that doesn't come easily to either one. This is a Great Story! I love Briggs' books.

Every great author has to begin somewhere -- and with Patricia Briggs, it started with "Masques." Briggs' first novel is pretty obviously a first novel, since she hadn't yet gotten a solid grip on her pacing and her characterization, but there are flickers of brilliance in her shapeshifting heroine and vivid writing.

Aralorn is a shapeshifting spy who gets sent on some various dangerous missions with her friend Wolf, even to spy on the lethal Geoffrey ae'Magi (who uses magic to make people adore him... kind of like a politician). When the crown prince Myr is accused of murdering one of his guards, she knows that the ae'Magi has somehow framed Myr -- and she and Wolf quickly join a small, ragtag rebellion that Myr is forming.

But Aralorn soon discovers that Wolf has some horrendous secrets in his past, some of which involve the ae'Magi and his bloody magic. With zombielike Uriah and a dragon waiting outside Myr's caves -- and the ae'Magi intent on capturing some of their party -- Aralorn and Wolf must find a way to defeat the magician before he gains control of the whole country.

When reading "Masques," it's pretty obvious that this was a very early Briggs work -- the narrative is rather choppy, the worldbuilding is fuzzy (what are these countries again?), and everything bounces from crisis to crisis at a breakneck pace. It's definitely not a bad novel, but it has all the earmarks of an early work, written before the author's rough edges had been rubbed off.

But there are hints of Briggs' future brilliance in the story -- her prose is vivid and colorful ("led by a small, grey fox with ageless, sea-green eyes"), and it has moments of dry humor ("Nothing's going to get us but ghosts and vampires and other nice things that feed on stupid people who ride in the woods after dark"). And she evokes some feelings of pure horror, such as when Aralorn sees an old buddy turned into one of the Uriah.

And the storyline slows down and becomes smoother in the book's second half, as Briggs works out various storylines (the ae'Magi's master plan) and weaves together the various subplots.

There's also a nice romantic subplot for Aralorn and Wolf, both of whom are oddities -- she's a young shapeshifting spy with a lot of guts and kindness, and he's a cynical, scarred magician with some nasty ties to the ae'Magi. There are also some nice supporting characters such as the magic-immune Myr, the dignified dragon, and a spattering of others.

"Masques" is a pretty immature piece of work, compared to Patricia Briggs' later fantasy books. But it's still an entertaining, action-packed little novel with a likable heroine.

Masques is traditional fantasy - with romance, mages, shapeshifters, empaths, slaves, displaced kings, magical weapons, dragons, etc. Masques doesn't break new ground in the fantasy genre, but the characters are so vivid that you're willing to overlook it.

Masques was Patricia Briggs' first published novel, which was painfully clear from reading it. However, despite the flaws, Masques still remains one of my favorite novels. What Masques lacked in sophistication, it made up for in emotion. You can feel the love Briggs had for the characters, and Briggs' humor shines through. Masques remained one of my favorite Briggs novels.

Not surprisely, Masques quickly went out of print. Due to Briggs' subsequent success, Briggs had the opportunity to republish Masques, and rewrite it.

This new and improved version of Masques is now 306 pages instead of 199 pages. Masques has a new cover art, which I think is more representative of the story - Aralorn and Wolf. The reissued Masques is still the same story -- it just flows a lot better. For instance, the original Masques would shift points of view within the same scene without transitions; there are now clear breaks so the reader doesn't get confused. The writing now uses appropriate adverbs, and the awkward sentences now make sense. And the new additional explanations do provide more context and adds to the story without taking anything away.

Patricia Briggs writes books filled with characters you can't help but like. They have a sense of humor about themselves, aren't omnipotent, care about others, and have fears and flaws that enable us to relate to them. Masques is her first book and I've read on her Web site that a sequel is planned, possibly sometime in 2006. The world of Masques is interesting and original and her characters Alalorn, the shapechanging female lead who has a gentle sense of humor even during times of intense stress, and Wolf, the enigmatic and powerful male lead, are wonderful characters you want to learn more about.

Patricia Briggs is a top notch story teller and this was no exception, especially for a first novel. Briggs did clean up the manuscript a bit, in particular to allow for the sequel now available, but it's still the same story as written years ago. The main character, Aralorn, is a self-reliant heroine who happens to be spying on the most powerful mage in the world. An excellent sword and sorcery story with action, mytery and interesting characters.

The audio book is very well done. Even though I do not usually care for single readers (I find novels with casts easier to get into), this worked for me because it is told from Aralorn's point of view. She speaks clearly and pulls the reader in to the tale. Overall, a worthwhile purchase, especially for those who want an audio edition.

After reading Steal the Dragon, I searched everywhere for Masques. This was a slightly different book, with the same flavor of fantasy and adventure. As it says on the front cover, Aralorn is a "shapeshifter, sworsdmistress, and spy" which makes for an exciting read! The inclusion of several interesting men seems to be a trademark for Patricia Briggs, and this book is no exception. Overall, 2 thumbs up!

I can't say enough good things about this book. A close friend loaned it to me in the 8th grade and I can still remember reading it secretly under the desk in English class.

Though Ms. Brigg's later novels exhibit more technical excellence (and less corny plots), this one remains my personal favorite: the compelling, endearing characters, humor, witty dialogue, and (of course) the romance make MASQUES the kind of story you can return to again and again. In addition to the main story line, the central character, Aralorn, is a story teller, and the novel is sprinkled with the legends and fairytales she enjoys.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys any of the following:

a)Patric C. Wrede novels
b)Fantasy novels (minus the stupidity)
c)Fairy tales
d)Rather sweet (if dark) romances

This was the second Briggs book I read way back when and made me a serious fan. My only complaint about this book was that it should have been longer --- which has now been addressed by the re-written version which kept the original elements and added to it. Excellent.

Basic plot summary: Aralorn is a shapechanger who wears many faces. As a spy and assassin, her current assignment is to spy on the hugely powerful, high-ranking, urbane, and beloved high mage. Of course, the man behind this facade is pure evil but it is nearly impossible to convince others. Her one ally is Wolf who, of course, is not really a wolf at all and knows all about the high mage. In his human form, he wears a dramatic mask denoting the emotion of anger and, despite the fact that she had never seen his true face, after having helped each other so many times before she trusts him with her life. Together they work to bring about the downfall of the high mage.

While rather dark at times (torture and human sacrifices among other evil things), the romance between Aralorn and Wolf gives this rather grim story so much heart. With all the lies and hiding truths and real selves, faith and trust is a precious commodity, however, they have each other. For the most part, it is not overtly romantic but naturally portrayed throughout the story in the way they are always there for each other when one or the other needs saving, comfort, or just a sanity-check.

Highly recommended.

I'm updating my review to include masques-beta (as another reviewer called it). For non-Briggs fans, let me explain:

Masques was Patricia Brigg's first published book published approximately 15 years ago. It went out of print and not many copies are left (at one point the book was selling for $1,000). After 15 years, Patricia was allowed to not only re-release Masques, but re-edit it.

The differences:
The underlying story is the same. All the scenes from Masques-alpha are present in Masques-beta. A prologue was added to Masques-beta that wasn't present in Masques-alpha: the story of how Aralorn and Wolf first met (I loved that!). Patricia didn't make any huge overhauls, but did elimiate the POV-jumping, smoothed out transitions, changed some "telling" to "showing," and generally corrected all the "beginner" mistakes from masques-alpha. Masques-beta is longer, but it's still a small book. Somehow, Masques-beta seemed darker, and I'm not sure I liked that. I know there are dark characters and events, but Aralorn always seemed to easily spring back from anything. I'm worried she isn't going to be as spunky and playful in the sequal. I really don't want Aralorn to become dark and emotionally tortured.

I'm torn. I'm a loyal fan of Masques-alpha, but I do like Masques-beta. I almost wish Patricia had made more changes, rather than less.

My original review of Masques-alpha:
I bought this book back when it was first released from a second-hand bookstore for about $1. I just recently got around to reading it again and I was shocked to look on Amazon and see what it's going for now! Even so, I like the book enough that I think I'll keep my copy.

I understand that this was the author's first book. The book is very short, and even the author admits on her website that it suffers from errors commonly made by new authors (nothing really stood out too much to me other than the occassional mid-scene jump in perspective). I think the book would have been better had it been longer. The book talks about Wolf's backstory, and it sounded like a very interesting one (which I'll avoid so as not to give away spoilers). I would love to see the author write a prequel focusing on Wolf.

If you are a big fan of Ms. Briggs and like collecting her work, it might be worth the money, just so you can have the complete Briggs collection. Otherwise I'd suggest trying to find someone to loan it to you.