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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting heroine and world, disappointing ending. (SPOILERS BELOW), April 9, 2001
Edited to add: *** SPOILER WARNING ***
OK, I admit it. I wanted the herione to fall in love at then end of the book. There. Something just rankles about our girl Hail Rosamer being so clueless and indifferent to the hero, after all they've been through! But stilll...it was a good, original story and you can't say that about a lot of fantasy these days! Hail Rosamer is an artist apprentice and either Stevermer is an artist herself or she's done her research, because the littlest details of Hail's training are fascinating. Hail goes to the big city to learn art, she meets a jealous rival and encounters interesting people. Then one day she runs afoul of her rival and runs away, only to stumble onto a seeming living legend. From there we have necromancing sorceresses, Arthurian and Fisher King-like heroes and a work of Art above it all. Although this is set in the same world as "A College of Magics" (which I would rate higher and enjoyed even more) there is little similarity other than one character with a same last name and some references to the juxtaposition of the fantasy world Stevermer has created and our own.
Stevermer is a good and fastastically creative writer--I just wish I had her ear next time to tell her how to end the story! :)
This book is suitable for high school age and up.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If only the King came Home more often!, October 31, 2000
Caroline Stevermer is one of those authors who writes (it seems) a book a decade, but oh what a book, when it finally appears! _When the King Comes Home_ is a true treasure -- realistic fantasy that doesn't shy away from showing all of the trials and tribulations that we often forget when indulging in a fantasy. The narrator is a young girl, apprenticed to an artist in the capital city of her (imaginary) country, who ends up being witness and participant in the changes that come when the Good King Julian of legend (he lived several hundred years ago, and died while at war, in Europe) reappears. There is a subtle Arthurian twist to the tale, which makes the characterization of the King's Seraph and his Queen, who also are brought back by necromantic means, richer and deeper. This is a book which rewards reading and re-reading. Another classic by Stevermer.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, but not really memorable, February 6, 2001
Caroline Stevermer has a new book out, _When the King Comes Home_. It's apparently set in the same world as her fine earlier book _A College of Magics_. It's been a while since I read the earlier book, and I confess I didn't notice any close links: I'm pretty sure both books can be read independently. This new one is a decent book, though not terribly memorable. The world it's set in is very much like roughly 16th Century Europe. It's set in an imaginary country in Europe, and the other fantasy element is that magic works, though magic isn't wildly prevalent. Mostly, the feel of the setting is like our world. The narrator, Hail Rosamer, is a young apprentice to a successful artist. She lives in the capital city of their "country", which is ruled by an old, dying, King, and a capable "Prince-Bishop". But people remember the days of Good King Julian, 2 centuries before, with great affection. It is said "When the King Comes Home", any number of miracles might happen. Wilful Hail becomes obsessed with an artist of King Julian's time, Gil Maspero, who among other things made a special medal for the King. Against her mistress' wishes, Hail makes a copy of this medal, and by happenstance ends up one day encountering a man who looks just like the old King. Soon it is clear that sorcery is afoot: an evil witch in league with the rebellious lord of one of the provinces is trying to recall King Julian's soul to a new body and bind the King to her will. Hail ends up imprisoned for a time, then trying to help track down the witch, then trying to help free the King from her spell. I liked it, it was fun to read, but in a way I felt that not quite enough happened. It's quiet, and it ends in an honest but rather muffled fashion: Stevermer worked hard to avoid an ending with any sort of heroic cliche. That's a good thing, on the one hand, but perhaps it detracts from the book, too. Or perhaps while avoiding cliche (good) the book also avoids replacing the standard cliches with something really special. Lest I seem too negative, though, I repeat that it's a fun, engaging, read. Hail is a neat character, wholly an artist, headstrong, interesting, unobservant of anything she doesn't care about, like the obviously besotted soldier who keeps encountering her. The other characters are well drawn, too, and largely good people too.
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