This Rough Magic (Heirs of Alexandria) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mercedes Lackey (Author), Eric Flint (Author), Dave Freer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Heirs of Alexandria | Publication Date: May 24, 2005

Venice had been thrown into chaos by the scheming of Chernobog, who came within a hair of seizing absolute power, but was thwarted by the guardian Lion-spirit, who awoke to protect his city from the power-mad demon. But the power of the Lion does not extend beyond Venice, and Chernobog has a new ally in the King of Hungary, who has laid siege to the island of Corfu as the first step in his plan to seize control of the Adriatic from Venice. Trapped on the island is the small band of heroes who awoke the Lion and blocked Chernobog's power grab before. They are far from the Lion's power to help them, but as Manfred and Erik lead a guerrilla movement to fight the Hungarian invaders, Maria discovers that the ancient magical powers of the island are coming to life again, stirred by the siege. If she can make an alliance with them, she may be able to repel the invaders-but not without paying a bitter personal price. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lusciously set in alternative-history 16th-century Venice, Corfu and sinister points northeast, this huge sequel to the authors' equally massive and magnetic Shadow of the Lion will appeal to adolescents of all ages. In this world, broken off from ours in A.D. 349 (when St. Hypatia saved the Alexandrian Library), Christian magic battles blackest sorcery, with a wild card-the old, old Mother Goddess still worshipped in Corfu's mountain caves-eventually entering the fray. On the human front, young Benito Valdosta, a roistering rascal and irresistible scamp, derring-dos into modern-man maturity, even snatching Maria, his early love, from the arms of Death himself. The convincing characters range from stalwart Vinland Vikings and conniving courtiers to sex-crazed jealous wives and a fatally shape-shifting shaman, not to mention sadistic King Emeric of Hungary and Emeric's lethal great-great-aunt Elizabeth, Countess Bartholdy, who's bathed into eternal youth by gallons of virgins' blood. All express themselves in stripped-down modern American idiom and whirl through breathless action, making for hours of old-fashioned reading fun. Who needs depth, when Lackey, Flint and Freer, as mixmasters of nearly every heard-of myth, hurtle through as compelling a romp as this?
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The continuation of the alternate-history fantasy begun in The Shadow of the Lion (2001) is just as vast and absorbing. The Valdosta brothers are now ensconced in the Venetian nobility, but young Benito is not adjusting well. He is exiled to the island of Corfu, where his beloved Maria has gone with her elderly husband and new baby. Meanwhile, the demon Chernobog, who is possessing the grand duke of Lithuania, has allied with the witch-king Emeric of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire to descend on Corfu, a notable site of ancient magic. The ensuing siege of Corfu takes up two-thirds of the book, and it is almost impossible to put it down while the tension remains high. Benito redeems himself, material and magical treachery nearly overthrows the islanders' resistance, characters who have become real to readers suffer and die (some of them richly deserving it), and Lackey and associates' areas of expertise, including naval history and classical mythology, are smoothly blended. Too long to be read in one sitting, but with few other "faults." Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 944 pages
• Publisher: Baen (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743499093
• ISBN-13: 978-0743499095
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Lackey, Mercedes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why this is NOT a big fat fantasy...why you should read it!, December 22, 2003

By 

Walt Boyes "Walt Boyes" (Aurora IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Rough Magic (Lackey, Mercedes) (Hardcover)

First, it really doesn't read like the sequel it is...it can be read standalone quite well. Second, it reads like a terrifically well realized alternate history, rather than another of the ubiquitous elves-dwarves-and-orcs fantasies we are inundated with. Third, it actually has some closure at the end, so it isn't like certain other fantasy series which are apparently never going to go anywhere, and never end either.

Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer are a perfectly matched writing trio...and a tripod is the strongest seat. They seamlessly craft this rich, colorful, and highly complex story, filled with historical in-jokes (Eneko Lopez and his friends are the original seven members of the Jesuit order) and even a few Baen Barfly in-jokes ("It was enough to give Erik the mutters.")

Even the little, passing-through characters are very vividly realized, and are real people, not spearcarriers. Spiro, the Corfiote fisherman, for example, and his buddy, Taki the fisher captain, are human beings caught in the flash of the story's eye.

I'm halfway through my third read of this book, and it is holding my attention so well that I have been sneaking off to read another couple of pages all day long.

This is what alternate worlds fantasy should be. Kim Stanley Robinson, Harry Turtledove, and other practitioners, please take note. This is the reigning champion of the field.

Walt Boyes

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Rough Magic is fantastic, December 15, 2003

By 

Tania Shipman (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Rough Magic (Lackey, Mercedes) (Hardcover)

Lackey, Flint and Freer continue the fantastic weaving of characters that they started in Shadow of the Lion. The authors bring back most of our favourite characters, add in very interesting new characters, weave a plot that is gripping from beginning to end, have evil characters that are really evil and the authors make you cry yet leave you wanting the next book the minute you finish.

I cannot say it enough. Buy this book. You will find yourself reading it again and again just to enjoy the rich tapestry that Lackey, Flint and Freer have created.

This Rough Magic is an alternate-history where the great library in Alexandria was not destroyed. History as we know it branched from there. Magic and Christianity exist together, with black magic a very real danger to both body and soul.

Incorporating, mixing and mashing well known myths the story grips you to the very end. You find yourself still reading it at 3 am in the morning with a 7 am start knowing you just have to finish the book - who needs to sleep - you can snooze at work.

The main setting is the Island of Corfu where the Mother Goddess still rules and affects the magics of both good and evil. There are demons, nonhumans (both good and bad), good friends and family, all of whom become very real.

We see how much friends care about each, the enormous affect love has on people and what they will go through for their loved ones. We watch Benito Valdosta grow from a young lout of a noble to a mature young man, shouldering responsibilites that he would have avoided before. We see Maria grow from an kernal into a mighty tree (read the book - you'll see what I mean). Eric has to choose between love and duty, then has Manfred save him that horrible choice out of his friendship for Eric. Lackey, Flint and Freer write a scene where you believe you can see what's happening, then hit you with a ninety degree turn that you just didn't see coming.

We watch as King Emeric shows what a monster he is however he pales beside both his great aunt, Elizabeth Batholdy and Jagellion/Chernobog as they continue to work their great evil.

There are fascinating minor characters scattered and interwoven throughout the book and you find yourself looking for them again and again.

As you read, the characters become real people. Buy it, you'll enjoy it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding adventure romp, July 20, 2004

By 

Barb Caffrey "writer-for-hire" (In a Midwest State (of mind), USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Rough Magic (Lackey, Mercedes) (Hardcover)

"This Rough Magic" is an excellent sequel to "Shadow of the Lion;" it is a seamless collaboration between three fine authors, Dave Freer, Eric Flint and Mercedes Lackey, and uses their best points of great characterization and fast-moving plotlines to good advantage.

The best thing about "This Rough Magic" is that there's no lost time; instead, it picks up where "Shadow" left off. Benito Valdosta (the mischievous brother in "Shadow"), who keeps finding new ways to get himself in trouble, was jilted by his love, Maria, who married another at the end of the last book. Consequently, the first thing he does in this book is engage in some rather public coitus to try to forget her (or at least have a good time in the process) and manages to get banished from Venice, unfortunately being sent to where Maria and her new husband have landed -- the island of Corfu.

There, the cruel Emeric of Hungary (egged on by his great-great-aunt, Elizabeth Bartholdy, who's even worse than Emeric) has plans to take over the island; he wants to take over Corfu as a military staging point, and expends many men and much effort into that purpose. And he nearly succeeds in doing so.

But Corfu itself resists him; the island is magical, and that slows Emeric's advance down long enough for word to be sent to Venice. Benito, of course, is the only messenger who has the street smarts and the upper class credentials to be believed, so despite his banishment, he goes anyway.

And after Benito returns, the sparks really start to fly, because y'see, Emeric didn't reckon on Benito, Maria and their friends . . . .

How Benito, Maria and the others thwart Emeric, along the way figuring out the mystery of Corfu and finding a way for Benito and Maria to reunite, is way too much fun for me to spoil.

Just go buy the book already, will you?

Five stars. Highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

P.S. I hope there's another sequel planned; this world is way too rich and meaty to leave after only two books.