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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Sisi: Empress on Her Own: A Novel in Books

Feb 15, 2019

First of all, I'd definitely recommend reading The Accidental Empress, part one of Empress Elisabeth's life. I found it to be the better book of the two, although Sisi: Empress on Her Own is far from bad.

I commend the author in all the research she did as I think she did an astounding job bringing Sisi to life, showing both her strengths and weaknesses. Most everything was brought to life in a way that was easy to visualize. However, in this book I found there to be more telling than showing as far as politics go, which could be a tad boring, plus I felt there were redundancies here and there. I didn't notice any major anachronism other than one phrase that jolted me out of the book that I dearly hope is not in the final edition (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see"; targeet="_blank">"Long time no see."</a> if interested). The author provides a thorough section where she notes what was taken from history, leaving me to conclude what must be fiction. I found the fictional parts to be either likely or at least not implausible, excepting a couple incidents in Rudolf's (Sisi's son) youth that felt odd. I won't even touch on Sisi as a person, she's too complex and confounding to decribe in few words, but I felt that Pataki did the best she could at humanizing her while remaining true to her historical record.

Sisi (and the aforementioned The Accidental Empress) are a worthwhile addition to the genre that show a royal family not much touched upon in historical ficiton.

Kudos

Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters

J. Randy Taraborrelli

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

A dazzling biography of three of the most glamorous women of the 20th Century: Jacqueline Bouvier...

biography

A Doctor on the Western Front: The Diary of Henry Owens 1914-1918

Henry Owens and John Hutton

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Henry Owens Great War diary provides a vivid and complete narrative, seen from the perspective of an...

Aled Jones - My Story

Aled Jones

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Book

Aled Jones was a choirboy with a remarkable voice, whose prodigious talent propelled him to...

Ross (3284 KP) rated The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn in Books

Mar 12, 2021

Fantastic fantasy heist follow-up

I received an advance copy of this book from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
The second Ardor Benn book is another epic tale of the ruse artist taking on the royal family. The first book saw Ard's efforts depose the current king and save the dragon race (and hence the world). Sadly, the replacement royalty is no better and the Great Chain is now scattered into different, warring islands. Ard finds himself embroiled in a plot to unearth the conspiracy that the new king's dead nephew, and the rightful heir, is not actually dead.
There is also an interesting new subplot where we see a university professor tasked with discovering new Grit types (the world's magic system, whereby different materials once digested and fired by a dragon produce different magical results). This angle, like the industrial/medical revolution is surprisingly thrilling, with additional intrigue as the results become the interests of some unsavoury characters.
Ard and Raek are once again superb and quickly put together a plot to infiltrate a secret criminal underworld and discover the whereabouts of the true king. The secrecy and plotting, and use of the world's magic makes for some excellent exciting passages.
There are the usual twists and turns along the way, as the security measures in place in the secret society make it hard for Ard to progress too quickly.
As with the first book, the true nature of this strange world is unveiled a little more over the course of the book in spectacular fashion.
A wonderful fun read.