Gloria: The Merlin and The Saint: From the Joan of Arc Tapestries (Hardcover)

by Ann Chamberlin (Author)
Key Phrases: king stag, milk brother, handsome duke, Madame Anne, Gilles de Rais, Les Tourelles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Chamberlin, moving from DAW for this third installment of the Joan of Arc Tapestries, again mixes above-average medievalism and convoluted narrative. She picks up Joan's historical career from her first appearance at the dauphin's raggle-taggle court through his coronation at Rheims as a fulfillment of Merlin's prophecy. Much of the story along the way is taken up by Joan's lifting the siege of Orleans by charismatically securing the loyalty of able lieutenants and by outright magic. The latter is provided by Father Jann, Merlin's heir in witchcraft, and Gilles de Rais (aka Bluebeard), a talented bon vivant who believes that Joan (or La Pucelle) is his destined true love. The battle sequences are formidable both in vividness and detail, as are the magic sequences. It takes some suspension of disbelief to accept Chamberlin's kinder, gentler Gilles de Rais (who has come down to us as a pedophile, mass murderer and Satanist), but the story is otherwise credible and absorbing if sometimes slow. At the end, the stage is set for La Pucelle's destined fate, and readers who have come this far will probably want to see it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Chamberlin resumes the Joan of Arc Tapestries, begun in The Merlin of St. Gilles' Well (1999) and continued in The Merlin of the Oak Wood (2001), with La Pucelle now at center stage as a heavenly, or perhaps diabolical, gender-bending vision-figure who straddles the line between witchcraft and mystic Christianity. In Chamberlin's interpretation, Jehanne was a follower of the Old Religion and a member of a coven that also included her beloved dauphin, Charles. Aided by the magician Yann, who is barely disguised as a priest, and protected by the obsessive love of the noble Gilles, the Maid throws herself into battle after battle. With witches dancing spells nearby, she advances to evict the occupying English and free besieged Orleans, then surges overland to Charles' coronation at Rheims. Well told and full of magic and romance, this volume clearly sets up its sequel, in which the Maid will die. But will she perish willingly, a substitute sacrifice for Charles? The ending of this volume leaves all possibilities open. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: High Country Publishers (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932158618
• ISBN-13: 978-1932158618
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #428,296 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Gloria, December 5, 2006

By	Jessica Lynn Chubet (North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found this book to be very interesting. I did not read the first two books in the trilogy but had no trouble following this book. I think it was an interesting story, combining fiction with a historical character. The way Chamberlin describes La Pucelle througout the book keeps you wanting to read more of the story.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic historical fictional fantasy, September 3, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1428 Christian time, Augustinian monk Jean Pasquerel, a follower of the Old Religion of Merlin, knows that the young peasant Jehanne of Lorraine is the mythical La Pucelle. This chosen one will break the Templar Knight curse that cripples France. Meanwhile Jehanne persuades her loyal follower Lord Gilles de Rais, who sees her as his soul mate and salvation from a life of abuse and sin, to help her crown Charles the Dauphin as King of France.

Jehanne obtains loyal military help and with Gilles at her side leads a force to try to lift the siege at Orleans, a needed step on the way to placing the Dauphin on the throne. She leads her men into battle while Jann provides the witchcraft. Still Gilles has doubts not about the skills of Jehanne or Jann, but that the Dauphin will prove not strong enough to complete the final magical step that requires a sacrifice of major magnitude, which can only be the monarch himself or some equivalent, of which he knows of none other.

Adding Merlinian sorcery into a vivid accurate historical portrayal of troubled fifteenth century France, Ann Chamberlin provides a fantastic historical fictional fantasy. Jehanne is wonderful as she matures from her youthful naiveté (see THE MERLIN OF ST. GILLES' WELL and THE MERLIN OF THE OAK WOOD) yet contains that charismatic exuberance that brings her loyal followers. Gilles has mellowed mostly because of his one true love. Fans of the series will devour the third tale while looking forward to the continuing saga of Joan of Arc meets Camelot in France.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars --A fantasy combination of Christianity and witchcraft, April 15, 2006

By	Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

GLORIA: The Merlin and The Saint is not what I expected. The book's cover attracted me when I viewed it on the new books rack at my local library and I thought that it was a new biography. The cover portrays Joan of Arc on her majestic horse and surrounded by adoring people. I was not aware that this is the third book in a series called the Joan of Arc Tapestries. If I had done a little more research, I would have found that I was not getting a biography, but instead a story of medieval fantasy.

I did read the book and found it to be interesting as pure fiction. I have no idea how accurate the battle sequences are, but I feel that this story does a disservice to a great historic figure. The fantasy aspects were something that I love in the LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy, but found disconcerting and too offbeat with this particular subject.

This author should stick to her fiction without adding real people to her stories. I now plan to read a true biography of St. Joan in order to get a more historic and honest view of the woman. I don't recommend this book for students of history and will admit that it left me with an unsavory feeling.