Customer Reviews

Sleight of Hand

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Laura Adam's fourth novel, Sleight of Hand is her best work to date and one of the best fantasy stories I've read in awhile. Inspired by the liturgy composed by the medieval Abbess Hildegard von Bingen for the legend of St Ursula and the 11,000 virgins, Sleight of Hand weaves together three incarnations of Ursula's story as they blend across some 16 centuries.

Autumn Bradley and Ursula Colombine, two women who've never met and live half a world apart in the contemporary time, find themselves dreaming of a life in the region "under the constellation of Ursula" after the fall of Rome. During that unsettled time of barbarian raiders while Christianity struggled to reinstate order via its concepts of sin and patriarchy was conquering, co-opting, and converting the peoples of the region, Autumn and Ursula met and fell in love. It was a star-crossed meeting as Ursula, adopted daughter to the lord of Lower Northumberland, was on her way to wed an unknown Jut Lord to seal an alliance between the men.

The story of both pairs of Autumn and Ursula unfolds as the contemporary women struggle to understand what happened in their dream memories and how it impacts their lives. Adam's story of reincarnations includes several other characters from that early medieval cycle coming together in the present as well. Sleight of Hand is the first book of Adams' "Tunnel of Light" Trilogy and ends with an incredible sense of irony as the current Autumn and Ursula finally meet prompting more questions than answers. Your only regret in reading this book will be realizing that, like the rest of us, you'll be waiting for the next installments. (I particularly look forward to finally meeting the contemporary Hilea/Hildegard character.)

Adams is a pen name for Karin Kallmaker who is well known for her consistently charming, contemporarily interesting, and non-formula romance novels. Her works under Adams tend to explore mythic archetypes with lavender tinged reinterpretations of legends and folklore. Read more about Adams and Kallmaker at her home page ...

This isn't a scary book in the least, but the emotions and powers at work raised the hair on the back of my neck at times! This was a fascinating read with fresh characters beyond Xena, Gabrielle, or Elves and the other common types in fantasy novels or series. Women,lesbians all, and profoundly human most of the time. There were a couple of stomach-punching plot twists all in all just a thought providing and intriguing and entertaining novel. Like everyone else, it seems, I want book two and I want it now!

This is the best book Karin Kallmaker has written yet. In this romantic adventure mystery, Kallmaker weaves numerous plot threads, across gaps in centuries and geography, with a grace that transcends her usual brilliant storytelling. Her characters leap full blown from the pages, into your heart and mind. There is simply no way to describe the plot in the abbreviated manner necessary for this review without making a jumble of a cohesive, tightly-knit and dynamic tale. READ THE BOOK. Like me, you'll be watching the promised sequel.

Someone once commented that you don't have to be a house to be haunted. You're not likely to meet a more haunted character in lesbian fiction than Autumn Bradley. When you first meet her, Autumn is struggling through life with little memory of her past. She makes ends meet as a magician in a small venue in Las Vegas. Her talent for "sleight of hand" also helps her beat the casinos at their own game. Autumn feels a profound, irredeemable loss - but doesn't understand why. She begins having vivid dreams that hint of a past life with echoes in the present. In particular, she dreams of freedom, love and challenge, realizing her own humanity in the process. Kallmaker skillfully blends past and present with a compelling love story and interesting forays into psychology and myth. Well done.

A really great story makes me long for the characters to have truly existed, for them to have done the things in the story. It's been a while since a book made me feel that way, but I never stop hoping. Sleight of Hand delivered all that, making it one of the best fantasy books I've read in years. I found myself thinking back on the story in the days since I finished it, puzzling over the clues the author has dropped about where the series will go from here. Will there be a reckoning for Autumn's seduction at the hands of Rueda? It happened before Autumn remembered Ursula, reminding me of Arthur's legend with Morgana. Ursula seems like Guinevere, caught between the love of two women--how will the author solve this age-old knot? The Arthurian comparisons end there, but this story is just as mythic in its own way. What a find! I'm almost sorry I read it because it'll be so long until the next installment.

I didn't expect this. I think that Karin Kallmaker is a fine romance writer, and I really enjoyed her Laura Adams books as well. They're all well-written and great entertainment.

I did not expect this book--it totally blew me away. First, the plot. I read a lot of Mercede Lackey and other sword and sorcery type books, but the storyline in this book is nothing like that and yet it is truly a fantasy book. I can't even begin to describe its mysterious and mystical overtones intertwined in a very human story of a modern day woman who doesn't know who she is, only who she isn't. Second, the length. This is a LONG book, quite a surprise from a small press as another reviewer said. And since first books of trilogies tend to be the shortest, my appetite is truly whetted.

Last, the writing. In her romances Kallmaker always has a great turn of phrase and moving prose, especially around emotions. But I didn't know she could do write like this -- vivid and tragic moments, true pathos, and the kind of love that changes history. I was taken with the moments when she told us what did not happen instead of what did.

I don't want to raise anyone's expectations so high that the book can't possibly please, but this novel is a stunner. Wow.

Being a big fan of fantasy and science fiction books -- especially ones with lesbian characters -- I stumbled across this one by accident. I was intrigued by the hints of mediaevalism in the story so I searched out the author's web site and discovered that the author conceived the entire trilogy based on phrases from a favorite composer of mine, Hildegard of Bingen. After that I had to have it.

What an incredible book. The story is ambitious for a small press novel and full of women that I ached for in their tragedies and applauded in their moments of triumph. I don't think I've ever met a character like Autumn Bradley before. Longing for a reunion with Ursula for 1500 years, she has forgotten what drives her until she dies ... and is returned to life. Faith in Ursula is what drives this fascinating group of women, some of whom I barely knew before the end of the book, making me hungry for the next one!

I wasn't surprised to learn that the writer also pens lesbian romances, because it's a deep and abiding love that ties all these women together. Kallmaker/Adams delivered wrenching and tragic moments that make a great fantasy story work. But the stolen hours love touched me deeply. 5 stars is not enough.

It's mythic, it's poignant, it's tragic, it's magical. Those are the elements I love in Mercedes Lackey's work. Sleight of Hand is better, because it's also passionately, unreservedly, openly about lesbians. No teasing, no subtext. The writing is first rate -- lyrical and timeless in the parts placed in the distant past, contemporary and fitting for those parts in the present time. This is a great book, and engrossing. I want book 2, and I want it now!

I was sure this book would get a Lammy nomination and I can't believe it didn't. It's the best piece of lesbian-written lesbian-centered fantasy I've read in years. The story is flawless, the writing exceptional and greatly moving. ...

I warn you not to buy this book becuase the story has yet to be completed. Very frustrating.
I actually bought this book back in the middle of 2001. I couldn't wait for the next book. I loved it. Finally the 2nd book comes out in 2002 and I loved that one too. The problem is that it leaves you hanging. Where is the 3rd and final book in the trilogy? I wrote the author a few years back and she said it was coming.
I say you should wait for book 3 to come out and then buy them all.