The Stars Compel [Mass Market Paperback]

Michaela Roessner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

Follows the adventures of Catherine de Medici and her personal chef, Tommaso Arista, as they come up with a way to defeat the ambitious schemes of her uncle, Pope Clement, to use her for political power.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Roessner's sequel to her historical fantasy The Stars Dispose brilliantly recreates Renaissance Italy and brightly imagines the love of young Catherine de' Medici for her distant cousin Ippolito in the face of nefarious attempts by her uncle, Pope Clement VII, to marry her to the younger son of the King of France. As her vastly powerful family's sole legitimate heir, Catherine represents the choicest of political/marital plums. Seen through the eyes of Tommaso Arista, her chef-in-training and protagonist of this succulent period piece, Catherine is also a formidable young sorceress, able to envision the multiple futures for which she serves as linchpin, accompanied by her Little Kitchen Goddess, incarnate in the centuries-old tortoiseshell cat, Gattamelata. TommasoAheir through both his parents to a long tradition of Florentine cuisine whose roots are enmeshed with white and black magicAstudies the noble political art of Castiglione's Book of the Courtier, the goldsmith's art under the illustrious Cellini and the sublime in art and life from the ultimate master, Michelangelo, who is his lover. Tommaso becomes Catherine's familiar, a loyal being who catalyzes her supernatural powers as she and her own star-crossed lover struggle against their fate. This rapturous feast for the senses presumes too much knowledge of its predecessor to be successful on its own, but Roessner's handy glossary helps untangle her huge cast of historical and fictional characters. Most satisfying of all of this hearty novel's mingled flavors is the sprezzatura, or easy grace of the loving master, with which Roessner concocts her luscious Italian settings, replete with recipes that even on the page breathe the seductive scents of Tuscany: Bellissima.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Forced to leave her native Florence to reside in Rome under the watchful eye of her kinsman, Pope Clement VII, 11-year-old Catherine de'Medici resolves to use her talents to wrest control of her destiny from those who would use her as a pawn in their political games. Aided by Tommaso, her private chef and personal confidant, Catherine plunges headlong into a maelstrom of intrigue and magic. Roessner's vivid evocation of an alternate Renaissance Italy shaped by the arcane sciences of astrology, necromancy, and sorcery abounds in meticulous period detail without slighting the nuances of personality that give her characters depth. Fans of historical fantasy should enjoy this engrossing sequel to The Stars Dispose. Recommended for most libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812550153
• ISBN-13: 978-0812550153
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,511,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Stars compel is the second course in a feast!, August 20, 2000

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stars Compel (Hardcover)

Set in Renaissance Florence which has recently survived a visit from the Black Death & is now listening for the thunder of marching barbarians, just as Rome had done earlier, we follow Tomasso's & Caterina's rise to prominence within the surviving society. He as her personal chef & she as the Duchessina, niece to the pope & valuable political pawn in the struggle for power within the Holy Roman Empire.

Now they are summoned to the haggard city of Rome to become part of the venomous intrigues as Pope Clement barters her virtue & dowry in exchange for power, promises & poison.

Again, as in The Stars Compel, Michaela Roessner continues her steeped, tightly woven coming-of-age saga of the life & times of a dangerous era.

Tomasso has become a model for the great Sculptor Michaelangelo & is growing into a handsome if scarred man. Caterina is wayward, obdurate, loving & beautiful.

For everyone the iron fist is clenching tighter & tighter, the magic needs to be fierce, the cats valiantly struggle with rats & Tomasso & Caterina must face the human vermin.

If you love historical fantasies with just the right balance of fact & fantasy as to make the read seamless, then this is a book for you. For my full review & eInterview with Michaela Roessner do visit my site [...].

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I gobbled it up, January 2, 2001

By 

V. Tyler (Colorado USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Stars Compel (Mass Market Paperback)

After absolutely loving Michaela Roessner's first book about Tommaso & Caterina de Medici, I was delighted to find the second book. The details of life in Renaissance Florence are incredible, and not only make me feel what it must have been like to live back then, but give me an understanding for the politics of government and daily life for both the leaders and the common people of the time. Ms. Roessner does a great job of weaving in historical fact, details of cuisine and the actual storyline, and in the process, also creating interesting main and subsidiary characters.

The number of characters in the book, while great, reinforced the knowledge that much of the book actually happened (the cast of characters at the end of the book is invaluable).

I hope I'm not the only person who was "compelled" to read more history of the time period after reading these books...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art and magick and food and politics, wow!, April 30, 2000

By 

Laura Haggarty (Northern KY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stars Compel (Hardcover)

I liked this book as much as, if not more than, the previous one (which I do recommend you read before trying this.) In it we follow the fate of Catherine de Medici, seen through the eyes of her chef and friend Tommaso, scion of a famous cooking family from Florence.

There are a number of themes running through this novel, and like a master weaver, Roessner twists and threads them through the weft and warp of Italian politics during the Renaissance. Throughout we can follow strands of pagan magick, bright threads of Italian cooking, the poignant theme of thrwarted lovers, and the brilliance of the world of art through which this novel moves.

The variety of names and characters does get a bit confusing at times, but I did not find it detracted from my enjoyment of the book. An engrossing, entertaining read, don't hesitate!