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Night's Masque #1
The Alchemist of Souls
When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers’ wake, bringing Native American goods--and a skrayling ambassador--to London. But what do these seemingly magical beings really want in Elizabeth I’s capital?Mal Catlyn, a down-at-heel swordsman, is seconded to the ambassador's bodyguard, but assassination attempts are the least of his problems. What he learns about the skraylings and their unholy powers could cost England her new ally--and Mal his soul.File Fantasy [ Midsummer Magic | Skraylings | Double Trouble | Comedy of Terrors ]e-book 978-0-85766-215-6
528 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 27, 2012
68 people are currently reading
4274 people want to read
About the author
Anne Lyle
9 books154 followersAnne Lyle grew up a longbow-shot from Sherwood Forest, and has been obsessed by history, folklore, and swashbuckling heroes ever since. Apart from her first love, fantasy, she also enjoys historical fiction and mysteries, so it was inevitable that her own books would combine all three. They also feature LGBTQ characters, strong language, slow burn romance and rogues with a heart of gold—or at least tarnished silver.
She does most of her writing in a small home office crammed with books, fountain pens, abandoned cups of tea, tarot decks, candles and all the electronic impedimenta of the modern fantasy author. Her hobbies include watercolour painting, gardening, and trying to teach her cats to communicate using talking buttons. She's rather glad she didn't live hundreds of years ago, as she would probably have been burned as a witch by now!
She does most of her writing in a small home office crammed with books, fountain pens, abandoned cups of tea, tarot decks, candles and all the electronic impedimenta of the modern fantasy author. Her hobbies include watercolour painting, gardening, and trying to teach her cats to communicate using talking buttons. She's rather glad she didn't live hundreds of years ago, as she would probably have been burned as a witch by now!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 262 reviews
September 6, 2016
Now this is how you write a novel!
I love fiction set in Tudor and Elizabethan England. It seems an era particularly rich in epic, empire-spanning events and internal religious and royal conflict. If an author can make historical figures come alive and explore the emotions and motivations that might have been involved in these intrigues, the resultant novel can be an intense, interesting invocation of history. This era is also a rich source of inspiration for historical fantasy, and sometimes even alternative history. What if Henry VIII hadn’t killed Anne Boleyn? What if he had lived to take a seventh wife? Or what if, as Anne Lyle posits here, Elizabeth I did not remind the virgin queen, but instead married Robert Dudley and bore him princes? And what if, upon expanding into the New World, European explorers encountered more than just the indigenous human inhabitants? They found the Skraylings, non-human beings steeped in mysterious traditions and magic.
The Alchemist of Souls falls into the category I like to call, “What a Great Read.” It’s not a book that is going to keep me up at night pondering its themes and subtext. But it’s far more than just a competent or compelling narrative. Rather, Anne Lyle has achieved something in between the two, and that’s definitely cause for celebration. I enjoyed the few hours I spent with Maliverny Catlyn and Coby Hendricks, and Lyle’s alternative Elizabethan England is a fascinating setting without becoming overbearing or over-the-top.
Mal Catlyn has seen better days. Down his luck, in debt, suddenly he becomes appointed the bodyguard to a Skrayling ambassador. There are deeper reasons for this, which we learn later, but the upshot is that Mal is caught between several masters. He is working for Walsingham, who of course is trying to control everything. He is working for Leland, the Queen’s man in this matter, and theoretically Mal’s direct superior. But mostly he becomes loyal to Kiiren, the young Skrayling ambassador whom he is assigned to protect. Mal overcomes his initial prejudice and distrust of the Skraylings and comes to consider Kiiren a kind of friend—that is, until a close encounter with Skrayling magic and the abduction of his insane brother threatens Mal’s relationship with Kiiren, as well as Mal’s life.
The other half of the book follows Coby, short for Jacob, an adolescent member of an acting troupe. Except she’s a boy (which isn’t a spoiler, because we learn it when we first meet her). As the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, Coby works on the costumes for the troupe. She finds it easier to live as a boy rather than endure the attention that would fall upon her as a parent-less girl. The threat of discovery looms over Coby at every corner, but Lyle never makes it melodramatic. Rather, she plays upon the ambiguous attitudes towards sexuality and sexual orientation among the Elizabethan classes. Coby falls hard for Mal after he teaches her how to fight in return for lessons from her on Skrayling tradetalk. He notices the attraction, but of course he sees it through the lens of Coby’s apparent masculine gender performance and lets Coby down gently. Later in the book, another man who has relations with men assumes it is Coby’s attraction to Mal that makes her so anxious to find and rescue him from the clutches of an adversary.
This kind of play on mistaken identity or misinterpreted relationships and sexuality is nice to see, particularly in a book set in the time of Shakespeare, who was such a master of it. I won’t pretend to any kind of expertise in this area, so rather than saying that Lyle’s portrayal of sexuality and gender lends the book authenticity, I’ll say that it at least demonstrates a keen awareness that ideas about gender in Elizabethan England were very different from ideas about gender now. So many writers of historical fiction nail the events, dates, names, even clothing, but their men act like 20th- or 21st-century men, and their women act like 20th- or 21st-century women. Lyle’s characters have the prejudices and pre-conceptions of 16th-century Europeans, something that becomes all the more obvious when they deal with the Skraylings.
The principal conflict in The Alchemist of Souls concerns one of the many secrets the Skraylings have yet to reveal to humans: they reincarnate. I won’t go into more detail so I don’t have to attach a spoiler warning. Suffice it to say that Mal and his twin brother play an important role in a gambit between Kiiren and another important Skrayling. In the balance lies not only Mal’s life but the alliance between the Skraylings and England against the staunchly-Catholic French and Spain. Lyle includes both personal and very big-picture stakes in the conflict.
Indeed, in general I am impressed not just with the story but with how tightly written this book is. It’s easy to turn historical fiction into sprawling epics, with descriptions and careful flashbacks and long-winded explanations of genealogies and precedents. Lyle manages to establish a lot with very little in the way of exposition. We quickly learn that Mal is the son of a diplomat who married an heiress from the French court. This gives him a half-French, secret Catholic heritage he has to hide, lest it bring him under suspicion. (Lyle drops a few more hints throughout the book that Mal will eventually renew his connection to France in the service of Walsingham’s spy corps, but I assume that will be another book.) Similarly, we learn about Coby’s background and former life in the Netherlands in about a single conversation between her and Mal. No lengthy flashbacks here, and only a few disjointed dream sequences!
I’m not quite as sold on the way Lyle portrays the magical and supernatural in The Alchemist of Souls. Magic doesn’t play an overt role until the last part of the book, and then there’s quite a bit of it, and it can be a little confusing to try to work out what’s going on, especially during the climax. In the end, all becomes clear once the dust settles. But this is an exception to the otherwise skillful use of action and suspense that makes this book so satisfying to read.
This is definitely a refreshing take on Elizabethan England, and one that I will be happy to follow as a series. The addition of the Skraylings into the political and religious fray between England and the Continent can only deepen the amount of carnage and intrigue that will be forthcoming. I can’t wait to see what Mal gets up to next. But far from serving merely to set up any sequels, The Alchemist of Souls is a fine novel that stands alone. It’s entertaining and action-oriented, but with a keen sense of history, neat new supernatural allies and enemies, and worthy characters to cheer (or boo).
My reviews of the Night’s Masque series:
The Merchant of Dreams →
I love fiction set in Tudor and Elizabethan England. It seems an era particularly rich in epic, empire-spanning events and internal religious and royal conflict. If an author can make historical figures come alive and explore the emotions and motivations that might have been involved in these intrigues, the resultant novel can be an intense, interesting invocation of history. This era is also a rich source of inspiration for historical fantasy, and sometimes even alternative history. What if Henry VIII hadn’t killed Anne Boleyn? What if he had lived to take a seventh wife? Or what if, as Anne Lyle posits here, Elizabeth I did not remind the virgin queen, but instead married Robert Dudley and bore him princes? And what if, upon expanding into the New World, European explorers encountered more than just the indigenous human inhabitants? They found the Skraylings, non-human beings steeped in mysterious traditions and magic.
The Alchemist of Souls falls into the category I like to call, “What a Great Read.” It’s not a book that is going to keep me up at night pondering its themes and subtext. But it’s far more than just a competent or compelling narrative. Rather, Anne Lyle has achieved something in between the two, and that’s definitely cause for celebration. I enjoyed the few hours I spent with Maliverny Catlyn and Coby Hendricks, and Lyle’s alternative Elizabethan England is a fascinating setting without becoming overbearing or over-the-top.
Mal Catlyn has seen better days. Down his luck, in debt, suddenly he becomes appointed the bodyguard to a Skrayling ambassador. There are deeper reasons for this, which we learn later, but the upshot is that Mal is caught between several masters. He is working for Walsingham, who of course is trying to control everything. He is working for Leland, the Queen’s man in this matter, and theoretically Mal’s direct superior. But mostly he becomes loyal to Kiiren, the young Skrayling ambassador whom he is assigned to protect. Mal overcomes his initial prejudice and distrust of the Skraylings and comes to consider Kiiren a kind of friend—that is, until a close encounter with Skrayling magic and the abduction of his insane brother threatens Mal’s relationship with Kiiren, as well as Mal’s life.
The other half of the book follows Coby, short for Jacob, an adolescent member of an acting troupe. Except she’s a boy (which isn’t a spoiler, because we learn it when we first meet her). As the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, Coby works on the costumes for the troupe. She finds it easier to live as a boy rather than endure the attention that would fall upon her as a parent-less girl. The threat of discovery looms over Coby at every corner, but Lyle never makes it melodramatic. Rather, she plays upon the ambiguous attitudes towards sexuality and sexual orientation among the Elizabethan classes. Coby falls hard for Mal after he teaches her how to fight in return for lessons from her on Skrayling tradetalk. He notices the attraction, but of course he sees it through the lens of Coby’s apparent masculine gender performance and lets Coby down gently. Later in the book, another man who has relations with men assumes it is Coby’s attraction to Mal that makes her so anxious to find and rescue him from the clutches of an adversary.
This kind of play on mistaken identity or misinterpreted relationships and sexuality is nice to see, particularly in a book set in the time of Shakespeare, who was such a master of it. I won’t pretend to any kind of expertise in this area, so rather than saying that Lyle’s portrayal of sexuality and gender lends the book authenticity, I’ll say that it at least demonstrates a keen awareness that ideas about gender in Elizabethan England were very different from ideas about gender now. So many writers of historical fiction nail the events, dates, names, even clothing, but their men act like 20th- or 21st-century men, and their women act like 20th- or 21st-century women. Lyle’s characters have the prejudices and pre-conceptions of 16th-century Europeans, something that becomes all the more obvious when they deal with the Skraylings.
The principal conflict in The Alchemist of Souls concerns one of the many secrets the Skraylings have yet to reveal to humans: they reincarnate. I won’t go into more detail so I don’t have to attach a spoiler warning. Suffice it to say that Mal and his twin brother play an important role in a gambit between Kiiren and another important Skrayling. In the balance lies not only Mal’s life but the alliance between the Skraylings and England against the staunchly-Catholic French and Spain. Lyle includes both personal and very big-picture stakes in the conflict.
Indeed, in general I am impressed not just with the story but with how tightly written this book is. It’s easy to turn historical fiction into sprawling epics, with descriptions and careful flashbacks and long-winded explanations of genealogies and precedents. Lyle manages to establish a lot with very little in the way of exposition. We quickly learn that Mal is the son of a diplomat who married an heiress from the French court. This gives him a half-French, secret Catholic heritage he has to hide, lest it bring him under suspicion. (Lyle drops a few more hints throughout the book that Mal will eventually renew his connection to France in the service of Walsingham’s spy corps, but I assume that will be another book.) Similarly, we learn about Coby’s background and former life in the Netherlands in about a single conversation between her and Mal. No lengthy flashbacks here, and only a few disjointed dream sequences!
I’m not quite as sold on the way Lyle portrays the magical and supernatural in The Alchemist of Souls. Magic doesn’t play an overt role until the last part of the book, and then there’s quite a bit of it, and it can be a little confusing to try to work out what’s going on, especially during the climax. In the end, all becomes clear once the dust settles. But this is an exception to the otherwise skillful use of action and suspense that makes this book so satisfying to read.
This is definitely a refreshing take on Elizabethan England, and one that I will be happy to follow as a series. The addition of the Skraylings into the political and religious fray between England and the Continent can only deepen the amount of carnage and intrigue that will be forthcoming. I can’t wait to see what Mal gets up to next. But far from serving merely to set up any sequels, The Alchemist of Souls is a fine novel that stands alone. It’s entertaining and action-oriented, but with a keen sense of history, neat new supernatural allies and enemies, and worthy characters to cheer (or boo).
My reviews of the Night’s Masque series:
The Merchant of Dreams →
February 23, 2013
This is another review that I've put off writing because I'm still feeling rather ranty about it.
My problems with this book don't really lie with the story, but with the vocabulary.
I have issues with the word whilst. It's fine in dialogue as long as it's used sparingly, but I can't stand when it's used as a descriptive.
This book used the word whilst SIXTY TIMES (and more than once it was used TWICE IN THE SAME SENTENCE). Yes, I went back and counted after I had finished. I tried to read the second in the series, but ended up abandoning it after noticing that the whilsts were just as prevalent as in the first book.
I'm never going to be able to read my own review again because overuse of that stupid word will make me cringe.
Oh, and when you pick a name for a location? PICK ONE AND STICK WITH IT. There's a hospital which gets a lot of page time, but it's constantly referred to as both Bedlam and Bethlem. I still don't know which was correct, since each name was used an equal number of times. Annoying.
[edited to add: I've been informed that Bethlem Hospital is commonly referred to as Bedlam, however I stand by my statement that this came out of nowhere for those readers that are not familiar with minutiae of Victorian England. It would have been simple enough for any of the characters to take two seconds to explain to the Skrayling ambassador that the hospital has a colloquial name as well as a proper name and that they're used interchangeably, which would have explained it to the readers as well.]
Not even the mysterious other beings could save this book for me.
My problems with this book don't really lie with the story, but with the vocabulary.
I have issues with the word whilst. It's fine in dialogue as long as it's used sparingly, but I can't stand when it's used as a descriptive.
This book used the word whilst SIXTY TIMES (and more than once it was used TWICE IN THE SAME SENTENCE). Yes, I went back and counted after I had finished. I tried to read the second in the series, but ended up abandoning it after noticing that the whilsts were just as prevalent as in the first book.
I'm never going to be able to read my own review again because overuse of that stupid word will make me cringe.
Oh, and when you pick a name for a location? PICK ONE AND STICK WITH IT. There's a hospital which gets a lot of page time, but it's constantly referred to as both Bedlam and Bethlem. I still don't know which was correct, since each name was used an equal number of times. Annoying.
[edited to add: I've been informed that Bethlem Hospital is commonly referred to as Bedlam, however I stand by my statement that this came out of nowhere for those readers that are not familiar with minutiae of Victorian England. It would have been simple enough for any of the characters to take two seconds to explain to the Skrayling ambassador that the hospital has a colloquial name as well as a proper name and that they're used interchangeably, which would have explained it to the readers as well.]
Not even the mysterious other beings could save this book for me.
August 25, 2014
This was an easygoing and enjoyable read. It was an alternate history/fantasy novel set in Elizabethan London. The world building was quite good. Anne Lyle manages to keep the feel of Tudor England while seamlessly mixing in the fantasy elements of the Skraylings and their magic.
This story follows down on his luck swordsman for hire Mal Catlyn as he is hired as bodyguard to the newly arrived Skrayling ambassador. The plot was rife with intrigue and mystery, and even had a hint of romance.
Mal was a likable lead character and was supported ably by interesting secondary characters like Jacob, Ned, Gabe, Sandy, and the Scrayling Kiiren.
The story was very engaging, but did suffer from a slightly anticlimactic ending. One the whole though this was a fun read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: The was narrated by the fantastic Michael Page. He is one of the very best narrators for a reason as he proved here again.
This story follows down on his luck swordsman for hire Mal Catlyn as he is hired as bodyguard to the newly arrived Skrayling ambassador. The plot was rife with intrigue and mystery, and even had a hint of romance.
Mal was a likable lead character and was supported ably by interesting secondary characters like Jacob, Ned, Gabe, Sandy, and the Scrayling Kiiren.
The story was very engaging, but did suffer from a slightly anticlimactic ending. One the whole though this was a fun read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: The was narrated by the fantastic Michael Page. He is one of the very best narrators for a reason as he proved here again.
May 10, 2012
The cover got me. It really did. And two stars is a perhaps a slightly unfair rating. The idea is good. I like the world; it's an interesting what if. The problem is that the relationships between the characters is so, so flat. There is suppose to be a romance, and I just don't buy that the two characters are even in lust.
And I'm sorry, while Coby is an interesting character, she is also a very contrived character. She's seventeen so we won't feel icky, but she hasn't had her monthly yet?
Yet, Lyle really does bring the players to life and Tudor England, Tudor London is very real in this book. World building is great, but some of the characters don't work on various levels. And honestly, if the romance isn't believable don't even put it in.
Still, I'll give the second vol a chance when it comes out.
And I'm sorry, while Coby is an interesting character, she is also a very contrived character. She's seventeen so we won't feel icky, but she hasn't had her monthly yet?
Yet, Lyle really does bring the players to life and Tudor England, Tudor London is very real in this book. World building is great, but some of the characters don't work on various levels. And honestly, if the romance isn't believable don't even put it in.
Still, I'll give the second vol a chance when it comes out.
May 28, 2012
This is a combination fantasy and alternate history. The setting is Elizabethan England, but in addition to American Indians, the New World is the residence of a humanoid species called skraylings, the name doubtless inspired by the Norse sagas. Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth in the author's world is widowed and has two sons.
Aside from the alternate history, fantasy plays an important but not dominant role in the story. There are no wizards slinging fireballs around, but a couple magical events are essential to the plot.
The novel is well written. The characterization is good and revealed through action rather than description. The main character is a young gentleman of good family but not of the nobility. He is educated but has no estate or fortune and has made his living as a soldier and guard. A strong secondary character, who has her own storyline weaving around the main storyline, is a girl in her late teens. She has been left on her own and is pretending to be a boy in order to work as a tailor and costumer--called a tireman in the novel--for a company of actors.
The plot has a couple of twists and a lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff. It moves along, however, at a stately pace. The narrative tension mostly is supplied by the espionage and the reader's fear for the sympathetic characters. In other words, this is not an action novel and shouldn't be read by someone in the mood for an action novel. That said, the storyline does keep moving forward, and I was entertained.
Aside from the alternate history, fantasy plays an important but not dominant role in the story. There are no wizards slinging fireballs around, but a couple magical events are essential to the plot.
The novel is well written. The characterization is good and revealed through action rather than description. The main character is a young gentleman of good family but not of the nobility. He is educated but has no estate or fortune and has made his living as a soldier and guard. A strong secondary character, who has her own storyline weaving around the main storyline, is a girl in her late teens. She has been left on her own and is pretending to be a boy in order to work as a tailor and costumer--called a tireman in the novel--for a company of actors.
The plot has a couple of twists and a lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff. It moves along, however, at a stately pace. The narrative tension mostly is supplied by the espionage and the reader's fear for the sympathetic characters. In other words, this is not an action novel and shouldn't be read by someone in the mood for an action novel. That said, the storyline does keep moving forward, and I was entertained.
September 13, 2012
Another miss for me. This time I gave it more than 100 pages, though, so I feel it got a fair shake.
The premise looks great- an alternate history set during the reign of Elizabeth I, with "skraylings" here from the New World instead of our Native Americans. Maybe a bit of magic, too?
The setting was fine. I felt that the author inserted details a bit clumsily in order to give an authentic period flavor. At one point our hero is accosted by two anonymous lordlings (why? just to give vague threats- nothing came of this encounter, not information, tension, or characterization) and one holds a silver pomander ball to his nose, scented with cloves, to avoid the stench of the street. That's nice, but it felt like something awkwardly inserted into the scene as opposed to a natural gesture. I didn't really care at all about the theater troupe- does every book set in this time period have to have a theater troupe? I know, I know, Shakespeare. Kit Marlow (who is also name-dropped). So the world never really felt organic or immersive to me- I was too conscious that I was reading a book and that the author was trying to set atmosphere. I would have loved to know more about the Skraylings, but other than one brief scene, they haven't even spoken to anyone in over 100 pages. Maybe this gets better, I don't know.
The characters were pretty forgettable. I'm not sure what characteristics our hero had other than "downtrodden hero". I really did not like Coby. She's a girl dressed up as a boy in a theater troupe (shades of Shakespeare in Love, but she's not an actor, she's the one who takes care of the costumes). Coby was incredibly insecure and prudish for someone who's discarded traditional gender roles. And did there really have to be romance between these two characters? I know that Coby is the only female in the book who has a recurring role, but I didn't want to see the plot go that way.
There was this weird wash of disapproval about homosexuality all through the book. There were several gay characters, but they seemed vaguely ashamed of their sexuality and to believe that being straight was the "right" way to be. Our hero's best friend is gay, and pines after our hero (of course) but explains to his ex-boyfriend that our hero's "not that way", in a way that implied shame to me. I don't think this is an accurate reflection of the views on homosexuality at the time- gender roles were quite defined, but sexual preference was seen as much more fluid and much less of a big deal. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It was like the author wanted to show she was progressive by including gay characters, but then wasn't really comfortable writing them. The whole book seemed coy about sex, though. Coby experienced arousal for the first time looking at our hero (of course) and was totally bewildered and shamed by it. Maybe this is also a reason I got impatient with the book.
In 100 pages, the plot in summary: our hero must guard a Skrayling ambassador. Lots of different people want him to give them information about the Skraylings. Coby must spy on our hero. Really, that's pretty much all that's happened among the atmosphere and setting. I'm not getting a sense of cunning spymasters or of complex intrigue or danger, which would hook me further. More just a lot of people in scenes, talking.
So I think I'm done with this and will look further for the book that will hold my interest. Many people may like this book just fine- it just wasn't for me.
The premise looks great- an alternate history set during the reign of Elizabeth I, with "skraylings" here from the New World instead of our Native Americans. Maybe a bit of magic, too?
The setting was fine. I felt that the author inserted details a bit clumsily in order to give an authentic period flavor. At one point our hero is accosted by two anonymous lordlings (why? just to give vague threats- nothing came of this encounter, not information, tension, or characterization) and one holds a silver pomander ball to his nose, scented with cloves, to avoid the stench of the street. That's nice, but it felt like something awkwardly inserted into the scene as opposed to a natural gesture. I didn't really care at all about the theater troupe- does every book set in this time period have to have a theater troupe? I know, I know, Shakespeare. Kit Marlow (who is also name-dropped). So the world never really felt organic or immersive to me- I was too conscious that I was reading a book and that the author was trying to set atmosphere. I would have loved to know more about the Skraylings, but other than one brief scene, they haven't even spoken to anyone in over 100 pages. Maybe this gets better, I don't know.
The characters were pretty forgettable. I'm not sure what characteristics our hero had other than "downtrodden hero". I really did not like Coby. She's a girl dressed up as a boy in a theater troupe (shades of Shakespeare in Love, but she's not an actor, she's the one who takes care of the costumes). Coby was incredibly insecure and prudish for someone who's discarded traditional gender roles. And did there really have to be romance between these two characters? I know that Coby is the only female in the book who has a recurring role, but I didn't want to see the plot go that way.
There was this weird wash of disapproval about homosexuality all through the book. There were several gay characters, but they seemed vaguely ashamed of their sexuality and to believe that being straight was the "right" way to be. Our hero's best friend is gay, and pines after our hero (of course) but explains to his ex-boyfriend that our hero's "not that way", in a way that implied shame to me. I don't think this is an accurate reflection of the views on homosexuality at the time- gender roles were quite defined, but sexual preference was seen as much more fluid and much less of a big deal. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It was like the author wanted to show she was progressive by including gay characters, but then wasn't really comfortable writing them. The whole book seemed coy about sex, though. Coby experienced arousal for the first time looking at our hero (of course) and was totally bewildered and shamed by it. Maybe this is also a reason I got impatient with the book.
In 100 pages, the plot in summary: our hero must guard a Skrayling ambassador. Lots of different people want him to give them information about the Skraylings. Coby must spy on our hero. Really, that's pretty much all that's happened among the atmosphere and setting. I'm not getting a sense of cunning spymasters or of complex intrigue or danger, which would hook me further. More just a lot of people in scenes, talking.
So I think I'm done with this and will look further for the book that will hold my interest. Many people may like this book just fine- it just wasn't for me.
October 17, 2012
This is a tough one. I've had, and I won't bore you with the details, the week from Hell, and it's only Wednesday. Reading like a person possessed has been the only thing that's kept me in one piece, so I've torn through this in record time. Maybe I ran through it too fast, or maybe just my messed up head in general hasn't done it justice, but I really didn't feel this lived up to expectations.
The Alchemist of souls is built on a fantastic concept, I love the idea of the Skraylings, but for me the Elizabethan setting just didn't feel right. It's a language thing more than anything I think, the characters chatter away as normal and every now and then it felt like Lyle panicked and chucked in a 'forsooth' here and a 'sirrah' there and thought, "There, that ought to do it - Tudor times! Ta-Da!". Obviously it's alternate history mixed with Fantasy...and yes....of course....authors can do what they like with their worlds. But to me it felt 'off' right from the start in this respect. Lob in a heavy dose of Shakespeare in love, and a few highlights from your old school history textbook, and you've got the majority of the novel. The enjoyable originality of the Skraylings for me was sadly cancelled out by the tiredness of the Girl-Disguised-As-Boy-Falls-In-Love-With-Male-Protagonist plot.
Really this was a case of huge initial excitement dissolving slowly into mediocrity, if I'm being completely honest. And there's not much point writing this if I'm not. There are some fun elements, but it's a bit like throwing a quick coat of paint on an old wall, and hoping no one will notice the cracks.
Fun concept, lovely shiny cover art, but sadly not for me I don't think. I made it through to the end, and I've appreciated the distraction, but can't see myself going any further into the series.
http://fantasticallyepic.blogspot.co....
The Alchemist of souls is built on a fantastic concept, I love the idea of the Skraylings, but for me the Elizabethan setting just didn't feel right. It's a language thing more than anything I think, the characters chatter away as normal and every now and then it felt like Lyle panicked and chucked in a 'forsooth' here and a 'sirrah' there and thought, "There, that ought to do it - Tudor times! Ta-Da!". Obviously it's alternate history mixed with Fantasy...and yes....of course....authors can do what they like with their worlds. But to me it felt 'off' right from the start in this respect. Lob in a heavy dose of Shakespeare in love, and a few highlights from your old school history textbook, and you've got the majority of the novel. The enjoyable originality of the Skraylings for me was sadly cancelled out by the tiredness of the Girl-Disguised-As-Boy-Falls-In-Love-With-Male-Protagonist plot.
Really this was a case of huge initial excitement dissolving slowly into mediocrity, if I'm being completely honest. And there's not much point writing this if I'm not. There are some fun elements, but it's a bit like throwing a quick coat of paint on an old wall, and hoping no one will notice the cracks.
Fun concept, lovely shiny cover art, but sadly not for me I don't think. I made it through to the end, and I've appreciated the distraction, but can't see myself going any further into the series.
http://fantasticallyepic.blogspot.co....
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December 4, 2012I just cannot rate this book - not because I didn't enjoy it (I did) but because I just can't slot it into my usual genres. It was trying to be too much of whichever genre it felt like being at whichever moment.
It began as an Historical Mystery (being generous here), then whoops, Elizabeth is a widow with two sons! OK - Alternative Historical Mystery. Hero (Mal), a down at heel mercenary picking up jobs whenever, who has a friend (or not) in Ned, a possible ne'er-do-well, who happens to 'have feelings' for Mal. Coby, a girl dressing as a boy, working as a tireman with a theatre troupe, meets Mal (and subsequently falls in love), through Ned, whose lover Gabriel acts with the same troupe.
So OK - Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance. Getting confused? Yup, me too.
Mal gets conscripted by Walsingham (you know, Elizabeth's spy master) into becoming the Skrayling Ambassador's bodyguard. Dammit, here comes the Fantasy bit - Skraylings are from the New Country (newly discovered Americas??) but are nothing like 'humans' (oh, are they American Indians?) 'cos they have tattoos and funny skin, and 'oval' not 'round' eyes and speak in a funny language - OH YES, they also have very LONG incisors (or canines?) Paranormal or what??
Trying for a 3rd time:
Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance with Fantasy/Paranormal Characters.
The story progresses (slowly sometimes, too taken overmuch with detailed descriptions of open-sided theatres or decrepit boarding houses or scummy, rat-infested taverns) but progress it does - with far TOO MANY people. There is so much going on: theatre/acting politics/secrecy; Skrayling politics/trade negotiations; (Elizabethan) court intrigues/politics/jealousies; oh, and somehow Mal gets these dreams/blackouts where 'something' happens but he's too frightened/scared/cowardly to find out (doesn't do much good for our supposed hero, eh what??)
And that gives my 4th attempt at a description:
Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance with Fantasy/Paranormal Characters with a bit of Magick thrown into the Pot/Plot.
It trundles along, being neither one thing or the other; a bit of magick happens; a bit of intrigue goes awry; a couple of peeps get killed (nice ghoulish descriptions of sword and dagger thrust-work); our four main characters survive to live/love/fight another day; and the last couple of chapters leave it wide-wide open for a sequel or two (or ten if the PNR is developed)......
I did like it; I did finish it; I cannot for the life of me fathom what the author was trying to achieve - it WOULD have worked as one particular genre or another - I'm just bemused by it all. :)
It began as an Historical Mystery (being generous here), then whoops, Elizabeth is a widow with two sons! OK - Alternative Historical Mystery. Hero (Mal), a down at heel mercenary picking up jobs whenever, who has a friend (or not) in Ned, a possible ne'er-do-well, who happens to 'have feelings' for Mal. Coby, a girl dressing as a boy, working as a tireman with a theatre troupe, meets Mal (and subsequently falls in love), through Ned, whose lover Gabriel acts with the same troupe.
So OK - Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance. Getting confused? Yup, me too.
Mal gets conscripted by Walsingham (you know, Elizabeth's spy master) into becoming the Skrayling Ambassador's bodyguard. Dammit, here comes the Fantasy bit - Skraylings are from the New Country (newly discovered Americas??) but are nothing like 'humans' (oh, are they American Indians?) 'cos they have tattoos and funny skin, and 'oval' not 'round' eyes and speak in a funny language - OH YES, they also have very LONG incisors (or canines?) Paranormal or what??
Trying for a 3rd time:
Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance with Fantasy/Paranormal Characters.
The story progresses (slowly sometimes, too taken overmuch with detailed descriptions of open-sided theatres or decrepit boarding houses or scummy, rat-infested taverns) but progress it does - with far TOO MANY people. There is so much going on: theatre/acting politics/secrecy; Skrayling politics/trade negotiations; (Elizabethan) court intrigues/politics/jealousies; oh, and somehow Mal gets these dreams/blackouts where 'something' happens but he's too frightened/scared/cowardly to find out (doesn't do much good for our supposed hero, eh what??)
And that gives my 4th attempt at a description:
Alternative Historical Mystery with Male/Male and Male/Female(in whatever guise) Romance with Fantasy/Paranormal Characters with a bit of Magick thrown into the Pot/Plot.
It trundles along, being neither one thing or the other; a bit of magick happens; a bit of intrigue goes awry; a couple of peeps get killed (nice ghoulish descriptions of sword and dagger thrust-work); our four main characters survive to live/love/fight another day; and the last couple of chapters leave it wide-wide open for a sequel or two (or ten if the PNR is developed)......
I did like it; I did finish it; I cannot for the life of me fathom what the author was trying to achieve - it WOULD have worked as one particular genre or another - I'm just bemused by it all. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2014
I had high expectations for this book and I wasn't disappointed. This alternate history set in Tudor England with the small addition of fanged and tattooed New Worlders, who I suspect were inspired by the Aztec, has been a very interesting account of the lives and adventures of a rapier master turned bodyguard and spy and a girl masked as a boy in a true Shakespearean fashion.
I found the story very entertaining and engaging. The characters were true to life and quite interesting. I loved the fact that the theatre was one of the main arenas of the action. It was good to see some politics and intrigue, too. And the Virgin Queen having married and producing offspring was a nice touch. There was even a tiny bit of romance, which is the only thing I could have had more of.
The writing was competent and engaging and although the story came to a satisfying closure, I'm looking forward to continuing with the next book in the series very soon.
Rating: 4.5 stars
I found the story very entertaining and engaging. The characters were true to life and quite interesting. I loved the fact that the theatre was one of the main arenas of the action. It was good to see some politics and intrigue, too. And the Virgin Queen having married and producing offspring was a nice touch. There was even a tiny bit of romance, which is the only thing I could have had more of.
The writing was competent and engaging and although the story came to a satisfying closure, I'm looking forward to continuing with the next book in the series very soon.
Rating: 4.5 stars
February 2, 2016
This is a great alternate history fantasy, set in Elizabethan England. Viking explorers discovered a magical race in the New World, and they impact England in all sorts of interesting ways in this story. One of the main characters is a young woman who dresses as a man in order to stay independent and continue to work with a theater company. There are several prominent gay and bisexual characters, all handled very well. There are some excellent twists to the story that build suspense very well, and the characters are all very engaging. I'm looking forward to diving into the next book.
September 11, 2017
A very solid novel, anchored in real-world history. The relationship between England, France and Spain felt credible ; I'm not an expert in history but it seemed good to me. The "fantasy" aspects blended very well into the real ones.
I liked the inclusion of homosexuality, the way it is viewed in society by different characters, and the fact that several characters were seen as having successful relationships with people of the same sex. Not a "bury your gays" book, yay !
It was a bit confused at some points ; it was hard to keep track of who was who, who was allied with who, what they wanted, what they had done... which is the reason of the star I took off. That, and the end romance which felt a bit "out of nowhere" on one side.
I think I'll read the next one !
I liked the inclusion of homosexuality, the way it is viewed in society by different characters, and the fact that several characters were seen as having successful relationships with people of the same sex. Not a "bury your gays" book, yay !
It was a bit confused at some points ; it was hard to keep track of who was who, who was allied with who, what they wanted, what they had done... which is the reason of the star I took off. That, and the end romance which felt a bit "out of nowhere" on one side.
I think I'll read the next one !
October 15, 2014
Basic plot: Mal Catlyn is a down-on-his-luck swordsman who falls into the job of a lifetime, guarding the Skrayling ambassador to England. Lots of shenanigans.
AUGH. So much potential... So much wanting to like... So MUCH wasted time... SO many overdue fees at the library (A whole 75 cents!)... GAH.
Ok, so to begin at the beginning: POTENTIAL. We have an alternate history of Elizabethan England featuring a queen who actually married Robert Dudley and had kids. So much potential. Shakespeare is running around (SQUEE!). Marlowe has only recently been murdered, and he was most certainly a spy (yay for Renaissance conspiracy theory!). Soooooo much potential.
So how does that much awesome rate only 2 stars?
The story was all over the place. First we're here, then we're there, now we're following this character, now that one, why did we switch? No godsdamned clue. Why are we in the theatre? Just so we can toss in more teasing references to Kit and Will, who NEVER SHOW UP. If I had balls, they'd be so blue right now. Why do the skraylings love theatre? No idea.
WHAT ARE SKRAYLINGS, ANYWAY??? The book never explains. Seriously. We get some anatomy, like sharp rows of teeth, and no one sees females outside of their cities, but that's it. They are vaguely referred to as "aliens" but that's never explained further, either.
The characters are ok, some are interesting, but not terribly developed. There's only 1 female character running around, dressed as a boy, natch, so she can move about unimpeded in sexist society. Ugh. She is also one of the most insipid females ever written. Seriously. How she ever passed for a male is beyond me. Then there's the suddenly-in-love (FOR NO REASON) with the main character, but they can't have a relationship because he thinks she's a boy (EVEN THOUGH THERE IS A HAPPILY GAY COUPLE WITH NO ISSUES IN THE BOOK), why can't they have a relationship, and he likes her (FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THAT HE DISCOVERED SHE'S FEMALE), so she's not a boy, but why can they still not have a relationship? The reasons are shaky at best. Idiots.
It started relatively well, but then it got weird and I had to force myself to finish it. Damn my stubbornness sometimes.
Apparently this is a series. I will not be reading the rest. Good night. I need to find a way to stop frothing at the mouth.
AUGH. So much potential... So much wanting to like... So MUCH wasted time... SO many overdue fees at the library (A whole 75 cents!)... GAH.
Ok, so to begin at the beginning: POTENTIAL. We have an alternate history of Elizabethan England featuring a queen who actually married Robert Dudley and had kids. So much potential. Shakespeare is running around (SQUEE!). Marlowe has only recently been murdered, and he was most certainly a spy (yay for Renaissance conspiracy theory!). Soooooo much potential.
So how does that much awesome rate only 2 stars?
The story was all over the place. First we're here, then we're there, now we're following this character, now that one, why did we switch? No godsdamned clue. Why are we in the theatre? Just so we can toss in more teasing references to Kit and Will, who NEVER SHOW UP. If I had balls, they'd be so blue right now. Why do the skraylings love theatre? No idea.
WHAT ARE SKRAYLINGS, ANYWAY??? The book never explains. Seriously. We get some anatomy, like sharp rows of teeth, and no one sees females outside of their cities, but that's it. They are vaguely referred to as "aliens" but that's never explained further, either.
The characters are ok, some are interesting, but not terribly developed. There's only 1 female character running around, dressed as a boy, natch, so she can move about unimpeded in sexist society. Ugh. She is also one of the most insipid females ever written. Seriously. How she ever passed for a male is beyond me. Then there's the suddenly-in-love (FOR NO REASON) with the main character, but they can't have a relationship because he thinks she's a boy (EVEN THOUGH THERE IS A HAPPILY GAY COUPLE WITH NO ISSUES IN THE BOOK), why can't they have a relationship, and he likes her (FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THAT HE DISCOVERED SHE'S FEMALE), so she's not a boy, but why can they still not have a relationship? The reasons are shaky at best. Idiots.
It started relatively well, but then it got weird and I had to force myself to finish it. Damn my stubbornness sometimes.
Apparently this is a series. I will not be reading the rest. Good night. I need to find a way to stop frothing at the mouth.
July 3, 2017
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Shadowhawk reviews The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle, a debut historical fantasy novel published by Angry Robot Books.
“This is the year of debuts and The Alchemist of Souls takes you along for the wildest ride as you explore Elizabethan England through the eyes of a reluctant hero.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields
My interest in Alchemist of Souls was first sparked when I came across a comment describing the novel as a ‘terrific mashup of George R. R. Martin meets Shakespeare’. I may have paraphrased that comment somewhat but coming from Anne Lyle’s editor, that is quite high-praise indeed. Now, I’ve dabbled with both Martin and Shakespeare in my reading and I’ve liked what I’ve read so my curiosity was peeked on reading that comment. So I immediately went to the Angry Robot Army site to see if my eARC for the novel was up yet.
It most definitely was and I promptly downloaded it and then transferred it to my eReader.
Alchemist of Souls is definitely one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. Or just one of the best novels ever. For someone rather inexperienced in the historical timeline that the novel is set in and very much inexperienced with the culture of England as well, Anne Lyle has done a great job of bringing that era to life for me. References to the state of England at the time, some of the popular figures of the era, the politics, etc are all weaved in throughout the novel to make for an experience that is very vivid for the reader.
One of the things I look for in any novel or short story or novella or audio drama or what have you is how the characters are presented. Sometimes this is a very conscious process and sometimes not so it makes for quite the varied reading experience. Alchemist of Souls is a novel where I was quite consciously judging the characters every step of the way. Were they cliches? Did the author try something interesting with them or were they just run-of-the-mill? How did the characters react to the events around them. Did they let opportunities pass them by or did they take charge like I expected them to?
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Shadowhawk reviews The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle, a debut historical fantasy novel published by Angry Robot Books.
“This is the year of debuts and The Alchemist of Souls takes you along for the wildest ride as you explore Elizabethan England through the eyes of a reluctant hero.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields
My interest in Alchemist of Souls was first sparked when I came across a comment describing the novel as a ‘terrific mashup of George R. R. Martin meets Shakespeare’. I may have paraphrased that comment somewhat but coming from Anne Lyle’s editor, that is quite high-praise indeed. Now, I’ve dabbled with both Martin and Shakespeare in my reading and I’ve liked what I’ve read so my curiosity was peeked on reading that comment. So I immediately went to the Angry Robot Army site to see if my eARC for the novel was up yet.
It most definitely was and I promptly downloaded it and then transferred it to my eReader.
Alchemist of Souls is definitely one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. Or just one of the best novels ever. For someone rather inexperienced in the historical timeline that the novel is set in and very much inexperienced with the culture of England as well, Anne Lyle has done a great job of bringing that era to life for me. References to the state of England at the time, some of the popular figures of the era, the politics, etc are all weaved in throughout the novel to make for an experience that is very vivid for the reader.
One of the things I look for in any novel or short story or novella or audio drama or what have you is how the characters are presented. Sometimes this is a very conscious process and sometimes not so it makes for quite the varied reading experience. Alchemist of Souls is a novel where I was quite consciously judging the characters every step of the way. Were they cliches? Did the author try something interesting with them or were they just run-of-the-mill? How did the characters react to the events around them. Did they let opportunities pass them by or did they take charge like I expected them to?
November 30, 2012
This is a Fantasy novel that pays close watching: though it looks and feels like a traditional Historical Fantasy, there’s more going on than first appears.
In Elizabethan England Maliverny (Mal) Catlyn is a petty thief and swordsman, always on the lookout for the way to pay his next bill or at least keep his debt collectors off his back.
So when he is offered (some would say forced to take) a job to become an ambassador’s bodyguard, he accepts it. It is clearly dangerous. Within the first day there is an assassination attempt on the ambassador, and clearly some want the ambassador dead. But why?
From the start this story feels great and has a tone and presence that feels both natural and of its time, Tudor England. It reminded me very much of Mark Chadbourn’s Will Swyfte novels, which I‘ve read and reviewed before (and perhaps partly explains why Mark has a glowing comment on the front of this book.) Like Mark’s books, the dialogue is appropriately nuanced, the places reeking with the grubby effluvium and gorgeous splendour of Elizabethan life as you would expect.
But Anne’s tale has a new take on the world of the Tudors. Here the Ambassador and his fellow group of voyagers, having travelled from the New World, appear un-human - alien-like in a number of ways. Known as skraylings, their ways are clearly not the ways of England, and as we read on it the reader may find it may be more than that. They are treated with suspicion and distrust by the English though they appear to be respectful, polite and observant of English ways of life, for reasons not clear at first.
The book is also slyly about gender and sexuality. Much is about hidden identities. In a subplot, Coby is a girl masquerading as a boy named Hendricks in a troupe preparing for the presentation of a major play held in a competition in honour of the ambassador’s visit. Coby has to not only keep her identity a secret, for to be discovered invites death. She meets Mal in order to train in fighting so that she can fend off the attentions of other males and females in the company, though she harbours a secret love for him. Mal himself has secrets: he once was a member of the Hunters, a secret clan who kill skraylings as part of an initiation ceremony. He has relationships with women but more secretly with his best friend, Ned. Ned himself is forced to betray Mal to people looking for him, which leads to others knowing about Mal’s twin brother, who is insane and secretly kept locked away in a hospital.
All of this is revealed as we count down to the play, which ends in tragedy and with major revelations all around.
To engage in the telling of such a complicated tale is not usually the actions of a debut author. The fact that Anne does so and makes it work shows the reader that this is an assured debut that repays careful following. Its style is confident and I found it to be surprisingly good for a debut author.
Though it may not be what the casual reader expects, it is a great read whose revelations along the way offer much. Recommended.
In Elizabethan England Maliverny (Mal) Catlyn is a petty thief and swordsman, always on the lookout for the way to pay his next bill or at least keep his debt collectors off his back.
So when he is offered (some would say forced to take) a job to become an ambassador’s bodyguard, he accepts it. It is clearly dangerous. Within the first day there is an assassination attempt on the ambassador, and clearly some want the ambassador dead. But why?
From the start this story feels great and has a tone and presence that feels both natural and of its time, Tudor England. It reminded me very much of Mark Chadbourn’s Will Swyfte novels, which I‘ve read and reviewed before (and perhaps partly explains why Mark has a glowing comment on the front of this book.) Like Mark’s books, the dialogue is appropriately nuanced, the places reeking with the grubby effluvium and gorgeous splendour of Elizabethan life as you would expect.
But Anne’s tale has a new take on the world of the Tudors. Here the Ambassador and his fellow group of voyagers, having travelled from the New World, appear un-human - alien-like in a number of ways. Known as skraylings, their ways are clearly not the ways of England, and as we read on it the reader may find it may be more than that. They are treated with suspicion and distrust by the English though they appear to be respectful, polite and observant of English ways of life, for reasons not clear at first.
The book is also slyly about gender and sexuality. Much is about hidden identities. In a subplot, Coby is a girl masquerading as a boy named Hendricks in a troupe preparing for the presentation of a major play held in a competition in honour of the ambassador’s visit. Coby has to not only keep her identity a secret, for to be discovered invites death. She meets Mal in order to train in fighting so that she can fend off the attentions of other males and females in the company, though she harbours a secret love for him. Mal himself has secrets: he once was a member of the Hunters, a secret clan who kill skraylings as part of an initiation ceremony. He has relationships with women but more secretly with his best friend, Ned. Ned himself is forced to betray Mal to people looking for him, which leads to others knowing about Mal’s twin brother, who is insane and secretly kept locked away in a hospital.
All of this is revealed as we count down to the play, which ends in tragedy and with major revelations all around.
To engage in the telling of such a complicated tale is not usually the actions of a debut author. The fact that Anne does so and makes it work shows the reader that this is an assured debut that repays careful following. Its style is confident and I found it to be surprisingly good for a debut author.
Though it may not be what the casual reader expects, it is a great read whose revelations along the way offer much. Recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2012
A sweeping story that engrossed me on many levels, THE ALCHEMIST OF SOULS kept me guessing with nuanced characters, unexpected world building, and a fascinating blend of real and imagined history. The switching view points expertly kept several plots in the air at once, and I would be hard pressed to choose which of the several charming lead characters emerged as my favorite overall.
Mal and Coby are both admirable and vulnerable by turns, but the author never betrays their soft spots for cheap emotional thrills. I had little hope for Coby's girlish crush, and no one could be more thrilled (and surprised) than I at the triumphant close to this book, and the enticing start to what I would love to see as a series. Mal himself is so evenhanded and capable he's almost anachronistic, observing and respecting all manner of minority races and alternative sexual orientations at a time when "tolerance" was barely in the dictionary. The author does a great job weaving this strength back to the world building without making Mal any less compelling as a character. Though there are plausible magics that may have influenced his development as a man, he is no less charming of a man for them.
A mix of mystery, historical fiction, and pure fantasy, THE ALCHEMIST OF SOULS will definitely appeal across many genres. For Urban Fantasy fans, those who appreciate Harry Dresden's quixotic charm will certainly find a lot to love in Mal's band of brothers.
Sexual Content: References to sex and prostitution, scenes of brief sensuality and kissing.
Mal and Coby are both admirable and vulnerable by turns, but the author never betrays their soft spots for cheap emotional thrills. I had little hope for Coby's girlish crush, and no one could be more thrilled (and surprised) than I at the triumphant close to this book, and the enticing start to what I would love to see as a series. Mal himself is so evenhanded and capable he's almost anachronistic, observing and respecting all manner of minority races and alternative sexual orientations at a time when "tolerance" was barely in the dictionary. The author does a great job weaving this strength back to the world building without making Mal any less compelling as a character. Though there are plausible magics that may have influenced his development as a man, he is no less charming of a man for them.
A mix of mystery, historical fiction, and pure fantasy, THE ALCHEMIST OF SOULS will definitely appeal across many genres. For Urban Fantasy fans, those who appreciate Harry Dresden's quixotic charm will certainly find a lot to love in Mal's band of brothers.
Sexual Content: References to sex and prostitution, scenes of brief sensuality and kissing.
October 22, 2015
This was just ok for me. It sort of felt like there was something missing. I can't put my finger on exactly what, but something. It started out interesting, but just failed to hold my attention overall. By the halfway point I was just waiting for it to be over and pushing through just to get it over with. And that's not to say it was bad though... It was fine. Like I said, it just didn't hold my attention. Whenever I read it my mind would drift and instead of comprehending the words on the page I would instead be thinking about what I wanted for dinner, what I was going to do over the weekend, whether or not turkey's laid eggs and if so why we don't eat them? Side note, I googled it and it's because turkey's don't lay eggs very often. Also, if you type "why don't we eat" into google the first result is completed with "turkey eggs". So I'm not the only one ever to wonder!
This has gotten way off track. Bottom line, it was only ok and I'm glad it's over. I have nothing bad to say about the book, it just wasn't my thang.
This has gotten way off track. Bottom line, it was only ok and I'm glad it's over. I have nothing bad to say about the book, it just wasn't my thang.
July 7, 2012
Original Post: http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/02/...
“A fantastic, original piece of historical fantasy that makes Lyle a début author to watch out for in 2012.” The Founding Fields.
I haven’t read that much Historical Fiction, be it historical fantasy, as Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan was, and Dan Abnett’s Triumff (also published by Angry Robot) – or just standard historical action, like the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, or the Eagle novels by Simon Scarrow, so I thought I’d allow myself to pick up Anne Lyle’s The Alchemist of Souls, the first novel in the Night’s Masque Trilogy, which comes in at just under five hundred pages, and is published by Angry Robot – who are one of my favourite publishers of science fiction and fantasy.
Set during Elizabethan England, The Alchemist of Souls takes the reader on a tour-de-force that asks the question, what if whilst exploring the new world, the Tudors found a race known as Skraylings, a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend. Following the discovery, ships with red sails bring not only Native American goods to London, but also – a Skrayling ambassador. However, what do these beings want with London, and is all as it seems?
Enter the very strong lead character, Mal Catlyn. Well-rounded, well-developed, he is easy to like and easy to root for in a novel and it is him you see on the novel’s cover. He’s a swordsman, and the novel kicks off with him being taken to the Tower of London to be appointed as the bodyguard to the Skrayling ambassador. However, he soon has more on his plate than assassination attempts to worry about, for what he learns about the Skraylings could put him, his soul, and England into a whole world of trouble…
I’m going to start by saying that this was a fantastic novel. I can say that now, before I tell you the plot. The characters, the setting, the action, everything. I know The Alchemist of Souls is not even released yet, but I am already awaiting the sequel. That’s how much I liked it, and coming from someone who doesn’t usually read historical fantasy, I think I’m going to have to try more of the genre if similar novels are as good as The Alchemist of Souls. Indeed, as mentioned in the quote, Anne Lyle has fast become a good, strong début author who is defiantly one to watch out for in 2012, historical fantasy fan or not.
Mal Catlyn may be the show-stealer, but he’s far from the only character in The Alchemist of Souls, for there are several, each well developed and imaginative. Sure, you’ve got the girl disguising herself as a boy cliché involved (the girl in question, Coby), but the only time that gets on my nerves is when it’s not pulled off as well it should be. However, here, in Elizabethan England, in The Alchemist of Souls, Lyle does it superbly.
Don’t be put off by the fact that The Alchemist of Souls has five-hundred odd pages in and the fact that this is Lyle’s first novel, because by the end of it, you’ll find yourself wondering how can this possibly be the author’s début? It’s a pretty exceptional novel, that’s for sure.
The novel itself is pretty accurate history-wise, as far as I can tell, there are no historical errors, apart from a minor one about a character’s homosexuality being accepted so easily, given the timeframe that we’re in; after all, Elizabethan England was a pretty homophobic society. However, that’s only one minor error that didn’t detract from my reading experience of the book.
The pacing in The Alchemist of Souls is pretty quick, and despite the fact that the novel is roughly 500 pages, you’ll get through it quite quickly. In my opinion, the pace is strong, consistent, and there isn’t any overloading on info-dumping throughout the novel, and neither is there any typos or grammar/punctuation errors in my ARC.
I enjoyed The Alchemist of Souls so much that I will no doubt read the sequel, The Merchant of Dreams, as soon as it is released (or even before, if I can get an ARC). A real shame that I have to wait until spring next year, though.
Bane of Kings’ Verdict: 4.5/5
“A fantastic, original piece of historical fantasy that makes Lyle a début author to watch out for in 2012.” The Founding Fields.
I haven’t read that much Historical Fiction, be it historical fantasy, as Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan was, and Dan Abnett’s Triumff (also published by Angry Robot) – or just standard historical action, like the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, or the Eagle novels by Simon Scarrow, so I thought I’d allow myself to pick up Anne Lyle’s The Alchemist of Souls, the first novel in the Night’s Masque Trilogy, which comes in at just under five hundred pages, and is published by Angry Robot – who are one of my favourite publishers of science fiction and fantasy.
Set during Elizabethan England, The Alchemist of Souls takes the reader on a tour-de-force that asks the question, what if whilst exploring the new world, the Tudors found a race known as Skraylings, a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend. Following the discovery, ships with red sails bring not only Native American goods to London, but also – a Skrayling ambassador. However, what do these beings want with London, and is all as it seems?
Enter the very strong lead character, Mal Catlyn. Well-rounded, well-developed, he is easy to like and easy to root for in a novel and it is him you see on the novel’s cover. He’s a swordsman, and the novel kicks off with him being taken to the Tower of London to be appointed as the bodyguard to the Skrayling ambassador. However, he soon has more on his plate than assassination attempts to worry about, for what he learns about the Skraylings could put him, his soul, and England into a whole world of trouble…
I’m going to start by saying that this was a fantastic novel. I can say that now, before I tell you the plot. The characters, the setting, the action, everything. I know The Alchemist of Souls is not even released yet, but I am already awaiting the sequel. That’s how much I liked it, and coming from someone who doesn’t usually read historical fantasy, I think I’m going to have to try more of the genre if similar novels are as good as The Alchemist of Souls. Indeed, as mentioned in the quote, Anne Lyle has fast become a good, strong début author who is defiantly one to watch out for in 2012, historical fantasy fan or not.
Mal Catlyn may be the show-stealer, but he’s far from the only character in The Alchemist of Souls, for there are several, each well developed and imaginative. Sure, you’ve got the girl disguising herself as a boy cliché involved (the girl in question, Coby), but the only time that gets on my nerves is when it’s not pulled off as well it should be. However, here, in Elizabethan England, in The Alchemist of Souls, Lyle does it superbly.
Don’t be put off by the fact that The Alchemist of Souls has five-hundred odd pages in and the fact that this is Lyle’s first novel, because by the end of it, you’ll find yourself wondering how can this possibly be the author’s début? It’s a pretty exceptional novel, that’s for sure.
The novel itself is pretty accurate history-wise, as far as I can tell, there are no historical errors, apart from a minor one about a character’s homosexuality being accepted so easily, given the timeframe that we’re in; after all, Elizabethan England was a pretty homophobic society. However, that’s only one minor error that didn’t detract from my reading experience of the book.
The pacing in The Alchemist of Souls is pretty quick, and despite the fact that the novel is roughly 500 pages, you’ll get through it quite quickly. In my opinion, the pace is strong, consistent, and there isn’t any overloading on info-dumping throughout the novel, and neither is there any typos or grammar/punctuation errors in my ARC.
I enjoyed The Alchemist of Souls so much that I will no doubt read the sequel, The Merchant of Dreams, as soon as it is released (or even before, if I can get an ARC). A real shame that I have to wait until spring next year, though.
Bane of Kings’ Verdict: 4.5/5
May 5, 2012
All I can say is Wow! This book is so utterly amazing in the seamless way it blends real history with imaginative elements that if you hadn't read your history books it would be believable that people like Mal Catlyn and Skaylings existed. Of course the Queen of adding people to historical novels is Dorothy Dunnett, but Ms. Lyle had a harder job, as she not only had to add people to history, but change history as wel,with Elizabeth I marriage to Dudley and the discovery of the Skraylings in the New World. So overall, I think Ms. Dunnett, you may have a challenger for your throne.
The storyline was twofold and encompassed Mal Catlyn as bodyguard to the Skrakling Ambassador to protect him from any plots inside England, as well as from France and Spain. The second part of the plot concerned a contest between the three play houses in London - the winner to be decided by the Skrayling Ambassador. Coby is with the play company at the Mirror (one of the 3 in the contest) as an assistant to the owner and a tireman even though she's a girl who's crossdressing a man. Colby becomes integral to the story by first teaching Mal trade talk so that he can speak to the Skraylings, but also further into the story she foils plots, bonks heads, finds men, rescues people, gets help and many other things. She is a very resourceful young woman.
Well, it turns out, Mal is busy in his job as bodyguard for the Skrayling Ambassador, and people do want to kill him. Mal kills one of them back on his second day. There is intrigue, whoever it is, is rich and powerful and probably close to the Queen. Then they start messing with the Mirror which is partially Skrayling backed, putting on a Skrayling play for the contest. People start turning up dead, missing, libels are tacked on the gate.
Through all of this runs a thread of unknown, Mal has bad dreams from when he was young that have something to do with Skraylings, magic and a terrible night long ago. His identical twin brother Sandy was with him that night and ever since has been insane. And somehow, the Skraylings asked for him by name? How did they know who he was? What happened that night long ago? How much magic do these Skraylings really have?
At this point, the story really get moving. We have cannons exploding, play houses burning, people being tortured, shootings, whippings, stabbings, kidnappings, drownings, skewerings, butcherings, a few hug and kisses, grand theft boat and finally release.
The characters in this book were really quite amazing, they were all very sympathetic with the exception of Blaise Grey. Kiieran, the Skrayling Ambassador was really quite wonderful. He just wanted one thing - he wanted his heart back, and he thought he knew how he could do it. Mal was a driven character, driven by his brother's gambling problems and abandonment, driven by his need to support his brother Sandy, driven by his nightmares. Colby gets involved with Mal through those Trade talk lessons. Next he teaches her how to defend hersellf. The next thing you know she's helping him with his job with the Ambassador. What will happen between these two?
The pacing of the story is perfect for the type of story it is. The pacing builds and builds and builds untils the climax and thereafter is a worthy epilogue to the title among other things. I think it was really well done. I can't wait for the sequel it will be too log in coming. Ms. Lyle, you have a new fan.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fantasy, historical mystery, alternative historicals, a good manly historical adventure, or a tame historical romance. This one's a genre buster. I truly had many unalloyed hours of reading pleasure with this book. Ms. Lyle, thank you for such a wonderful book, it's exactly the type of book that I love to read. Please come out with the sequel as quickly as you can.
The storyline was twofold and encompassed Mal Catlyn as bodyguard to the Skrakling Ambassador to protect him from any plots inside England, as well as from France and Spain. The second part of the plot concerned a contest between the three play houses in London - the winner to be decided by the Skrayling Ambassador. Coby is with the play company at the Mirror (one of the 3 in the contest) as an assistant to the owner and a tireman even though she's a girl who's crossdressing a man. Colby becomes integral to the story by first teaching Mal trade talk so that he can speak to the Skraylings, but also further into the story she foils plots, bonks heads, finds men, rescues people, gets help and many other things. She is a very resourceful young woman.
Well, it turns out, Mal is busy in his job as bodyguard for the Skrayling Ambassador, and people do want to kill him. Mal kills one of them back on his second day. There is intrigue, whoever it is, is rich and powerful and probably close to the Queen. Then they start messing with the Mirror which is partially Skrayling backed, putting on a Skrayling play for the contest. People start turning up dead, missing, libels are tacked on the gate.
Through all of this runs a thread of unknown, Mal has bad dreams from when he was young that have something to do with Skraylings, magic and a terrible night long ago. His identical twin brother Sandy was with him that night and ever since has been insane. And somehow, the Skraylings asked for him by name? How did they know who he was? What happened that night long ago? How much magic do these Skraylings really have?
At this point, the story really get moving. We have cannons exploding, play houses burning, people being tortured, shootings, whippings, stabbings, kidnappings, drownings, skewerings, butcherings, a few hug and kisses, grand theft boat and finally release.
The characters in this book were really quite amazing, they were all very sympathetic with the exception of Blaise Grey. Kiieran, the Skrayling Ambassador was really quite wonderful. He just wanted one thing - he wanted his heart back, and he thought he knew how he could do it. Mal was a driven character, driven by his brother's gambling problems and abandonment, driven by his need to support his brother Sandy, driven by his nightmares. Colby gets involved with Mal through those Trade talk lessons. Next he teaches her how to defend hersellf. The next thing you know she's helping him with his job with the Ambassador. What will happen between these two?
The pacing of the story is perfect for the type of story it is. The pacing builds and builds and builds untils the climax and thereafter is a worthy epilogue to the title among other things. I think it was really well done. I can't wait for the sequel it will be too log in coming. Ms. Lyle, you have a new fan.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fantasy, historical mystery, alternative historicals, a good manly historical adventure, or a tame historical romance. This one's a genre buster. I truly had many unalloyed hours of reading pleasure with this book. Ms. Lyle, thank you for such a wonderful book, it's exactly the type of book that I love to read. Please come out with the sequel as quickly as you can.
August 9, 2013
Fantasy Review Barn
If I just throw out my random thoughts about this book could someone do all the work and put it into a cohesive review? Because I have honestly tried three times, and have deleted everything I wrote each time. So here are my thoughts, and feel free to email the review back to me when you’re done. K? Thanks!
-Wow, totally thought this was a first contact book based on the blurb, but really it deals with two cultures still feeling each other out, but with strong trade ties already in place. I also expected protagonist Mal to be a scoundrel with a heart of gold, but there was very little scoundrel and a whole lot of heart of gold. So all my expectations were wrong.
-I do like the characters. Two main characters, both entertaining. Both were fairly straight and narrow, but compelling enough to show that fantasy’s current focus on morally ambiguous characters isn’t the only way to keep a reader interested. Perhaps too much focus on some of the secondary characters at times, several of them ran together in my mind; page flipping was needed to keep them straight.
-Does Angry Robot have all the best covers? I really like the cover.
-Nice to see the Skraylings being an example of anti-orking. Rather than being a people of a single mind, it is obvious that they are much like humanity, with different members of society having different ideas of what is best.
-Something about the theatre setting that ran through the background of the book just worked. It allowed the diverse cast to act realistically. Not sure I completely understood the contest of plays that was going on, but it was a fairly unique setting for a story anyway.
-Romance angle was light and handled very nicely. Realistic crushes, casual sex for some and chastity from others; another example of each characters having their own lives and agency. Did I mention I liked the cast?
-See how scatterbrained I am? I haven’t even mentioned the story itself. It was quick paced, bouncing mostly between two PoV’s with some small passages going to others. The Skraylings were just mysterious enough to be interesting without feeling completely alien. There was some good action, villains convinced they are morally right, and some double crossings. I would have liked some more of the espionage angle but I got an interesting tennis match instead, so I will take what I can get. All said, it was interesting throughout, I was never bored, and I am happy I read it.
Ok, if you’re willing to write this review for me be sure to throw in a little plot summery. Let them know that Mal is a reluctant ambassador’s guard who’s past involves an unknown incident with the Skraylings that has him scared; and that he thinks the Skraylings may know about it. Mention young Coby, hiding under the guise of a man allowing her more options to work. Add in that a plot is active against the Skraylings, the Queen, or maybe both. Xenophobia is present, restrictive religious laws are in place, and many people have something to hide. Or just point them to the book blurb, because this book it too hard to summarize in a paragraph.
Lastly, be sure to make it a lot more coherent than my ramblings, and feel free to make it witty. I want to look good. Thanks!
4 stars
If I just throw out my random thoughts about this book could someone do all the work and put it into a cohesive review? Because I have honestly tried three times, and have deleted everything I wrote each time. So here are my thoughts, and feel free to email the review back to me when you’re done. K? Thanks!
-Wow, totally thought this was a first contact book based on the blurb, but really it deals with two cultures still feeling each other out, but with strong trade ties already in place. I also expected protagonist Mal to be a scoundrel with a heart of gold, but there was very little scoundrel and a whole lot of heart of gold. So all my expectations were wrong.
-I do like the characters. Two main characters, both entertaining. Both were fairly straight and narrow, but compelling enough to show that fantasy’s current focus on morally ambiguous characters isn’t the only way to keep a reader interested. Perhaps too much focus on some of the secondary characters at times, several of them ran together in my mind; page flipping was needed to keep them straight.
-Does Angry Robot have all the best covers? I really like the cover.
-Nice to see the Skraylings being an example of anti-orking. Rather than being a people of a single mind, it is obvious that they are much like humanity, with different members of society having different ideas of what is best.
-Something about the theatre setting that ran through the background of the book just worked. It allowed the diverse cast to act realistically. Not sure I completely understood the contest of plays that was going on, but it was a fairly unique setting for a story anyway.
-Romance angle was light and handled very nicely. Realistic crushes, casual sex for some and chastity from others; another example of each characters having their own lives and agency. Did I mention I liked the cast?
-See how scatterbrained I am? I haven’t even mentioned the story itself. It was quick paced, bouncing mostly between two PoV’s with some small passages going to others. The Skraylings were just mysterious enough to be interesting without feeling completely alien. There was some good action, villains convinced they are morally right, and some double crossings. I would have liked some more of the espionage angle but I got an interesting tennis match instead, so I will take what I can get. All said, it was interesting throughout, I was never bored, and I am happy I read it.
Ok, if you’re willing to write this review for me be sure to throw in a little plot summery. Let them know that Mal is a reluctant ambassador’s guard who’s past involves an unknown incident with the Skraylings that has him scared; and that he thinks the Skraylings may know about it. Mention young Coby, hiding under the guise of a man allowing her more options to work. Add in that a plot is active against the Skraylings, the Queen, or maybe both. Xenophobia is present, restrictive religious laws are in place, and many people have something to hide. Or just point them to the book blurb, because this book it too hard to summarize in a paragraph.
Lastly, be sure to make it a lot more coherent than my ramblings, and feel free to make it witty. I want to look good. Thanks!
4 stars
Read
May 14, 2013An impeccably-researched alt-history set late in Queen Elizabeth I's reign.
In this world there are two main points of difference. Elizabeth married and bore two sons, and there is a race of people called "skraylings" who come from Vinland (Newfoundland). Presumably this is a play on 'skraeling', which is what the Norse called Greenland and Vinland's Native Americans, although this book's skraelings are non-humans with fangs and vestigial tails. England has an important alliance with (the main clan of) the skraylings.
The plot revolves around three people. Mal, who has been specifically requested as a bodyguard by the skrayling ambassador. Coby, a girl-dressed-as-a-boy working for a theater company. And Ned, Mal's good friend. Many plots begin revolving around Mal after his appointment, and Coby and Ned are drawn into them in his wake. Things are far more complex than any of them realise.
The story very successfully conjures the uncertainty and powerlessness of the landless and poor during Elizabethan times, and the culmination of the story is quite interesting, but I kept putting the book down and not picking it up, so I guess overall it didn't click with me.
A couple of things which made me a little uncomfortable were the use of an actual-world word for Native Americans for a non-human race, and the general womanlessness of this world. There are quite a few incidental women in the story, but Coby is the only one who matters enough to be a person to the reader (and she's ). Even the Queen is off-scene and not directly involved in much of the story.
At any rate, I think this is a solidly-told story, which just didn't click enough with me.
In this world there are two main points of difference. Elizabeth married and bore two sons, and there is a race of people called "skraylings" who come from Vinland (Newfoundland). Presumably this is a play on 'skraeling', which is what the Norse called Greenland and Vinland's Native Americans, although this book's skraelings are non-humans with fangs and vestigial tails. England has an important alliance with (the main clan of) the skraylings.
The plot revolves around three people. Mal, who has been specifically requested as a bodyguard by the skrayling ambassador. Coby, a girl-dressed-as-a-boy working for a theater company. And Ned, Mal's good friend. Many plots begin revolving around Mal after his appointment, and Coby and Ned are drawn into them in his wake. Things are far more complex than any of them realise.
The story very successfully conjures the uncertainty and powerlessness of the landless and poor during Elizabethan times, and the culmination of the story is quite interesting, but I kept putting the book down and not picking it up, so I guess overall it didn't click with me.
A couple of things which made me a little uncomfortable were the use of an actual-world word for Native Americans for a non-human race, and the general womanlessness of this world. There are quite a few incidental women in the story, but Coby is the only one who matters enough to be a person to the reader (and she's ). Even the Queen is off-scene and not directly involved in much of the story.
At any rate, I think this is a solidly-told story, which just didn't click enough with me.
October 2, 2015
rating: 3.5
May 13, 2014
originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2014...
The Alchemist of Souls is a book that has been on my must read list for a very long time. Ever since I found out about this title it has been luring at me. Luckily I got the opportunity to finally review The Alchemist of Souls and all I can say is wow. This isn't your ordinary historical fiction as Anne Lyle greatly builds up her world in a deft way, using an important timeframe in Elizabethan London, and spinning it in her own direction. I have to admit that I haven't read that much historical fiction set in England in this time, my historical fiction experience mostly is from the roman times. I very much enjoyed venturing into the Tudor setting as this was new to me. From the first pages Anne Lyle emerges you into a rich and intriguing world, you are in the hands of a great storyteller!
The first thing that will fall to note to many readers is the alternate history setting that Anny Lyle creates. Imagine an Tudor - Elizabethan London wherein Elizabeth got to marry the love of her life Robert Dudely and where she had the best time of her life with him going as far as having children and remaining a solid position on the throne. This is only the first part of the alternate England that Anne Lyle creates, the second part is from discovering the New World and all it's riches, think on one part the rich spices they brought home from the oriental place but on the other part from the frigid lands of Scandinavia they brought back a race of people known in the old Viking legends as: skraylings. These skraylings aren't your normal people like the English themselves, though they are a bit of the workhorses of society and people trust them, they have an air of immediate mystery surrounding them. Because they something of innate magic within them. I really have to give a hand to Anny Lyle for the setting she manages to create in The Alchemist of Souls, the whole Tudor era combined with the mystery that the skraylings are creates a rich and atmospheric setting.
In The Alchemist of Souls you follow two storyline the first one is of Mal Catlyn and the second one is of Coby. Mal lives day by day and has had a better time in his life. He likes to take on a gamble once in a while and this has caused him to be in a precarious situation. Situations that put him in a position where all he can do is accept the job offered to him. Mal is appointed a position of bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador Kiiren. Though Mal cannot get around not to accept this job he does have a hard time really fitting in (at the start), and does accept this job with a rather high reluctancy. What Mal doesn't know is that there are many more motives surrounding him being appointed bodyguard of the ambassador. From the first day Mal has a tough time keeping the ambassador alive as assassination attempts start to happen right from the start. As for the second one of Coby, Coby works at a play performance called the Mirror and together with two other play houses they have to give an stage performance to the skrayling ambassador, and he has to decide who is the winner. By the close proximity of Mal - Kiiren - Coby, their storyline soon become intermingled with each other. When Mal manages to fend of an assassin that was set out to get rid of Kiiren, things are set into motion regarding the Mirror's performance, they wanted to perform a skrayling play and their stage group is partially funded by the skraylings. From this point onwards the whole story is thrown into a rapid action sequence that really got me clued to the pages. Around every corner there is someone that you cannot trust, people get killed, assassination attempts are being made and it all topped up with muskets being fired and swashbuckling sword fights. In The Alchemist of Souls Anne Lyle has created on one hand a beautiful story, with the world building and excellent visualization and England and on the other hand a dark and gruesome story that takes place in the dark corridors and underground of this same London, very intriguing.
I already mentioned the main characters that you follow in The Alchemist of Souls namely Mal and Coby. Just as the strong narration that Anne Lyle provides she also clearly shows how to build interesting characters. Mal is really a "special" case, granted he hasn't had the easiest life but he isn't or wasn't trying to make the better of it. Ex-gambler and worn-out swordsmen he doesn't have a lot to look forward to. Added to this comes the fact that he has to take care for his twin brother Sandy, he has been in a sort of asylum, since Mal is the only one taking care of Sandy all his funds go there, he also visits his brother often but now with this new job as bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador even this becomes sporadic. And all Mal want is to have everything nice for his brother. I found that Mal was just one of those character that you will connect to from the first time you read about him, not to give him any sympathy, but more to cheer him on to keep up and go into the right direction. But what would a good character be with some added allures? Well this is not to be missed, above you can read that the intent with which Mal was optioned to be a bodyguard has some ulterior motives, well Mal's history, as you will find out when you read The Alchemist of Souls also has a nice twist to it. Which I will, of course, not reveal but lets say it has something to do with the skraylings... Next up is Coby character, for clearance sake I do have to reveal what Coby is else I can't justify my opinion. Coby is a gril-dressed-boy. Living in a harse time, being a girl can be dangerous. She is still young and doesn't show any signs of feminism, yet. I liked how Anne Lyle wrote up her character, she is a determined young woman, not shy to speak her mind and show what she can do. Since both Mal and Coby's storyline start to intermingle their relation also starts to grow in an intersting way, Coby start to develop feeling for Mal but Mal clearly does not see this... In the end something do become inevitable, but only work for the better for both characters. Next to these two main characters there are a few side characters like the skrayling ambassador Kiiren that really help build a solid character cast for The Alchemist of Souls. I am very curious to see just to which level Anne Lyle will bring these characters.
Perhaps one of the most wonderful and alluring things about the world that Anne Lyle has created in The Alchemist of Souls are the skraylings themselves. They hold something of magic within them but it isn't the all powerful spell-flinging fireballs, call down lightning from above kind of magic. No. It's subtle and deft and more in the lines of the dark, dark arts. The magic isn't paraded with but as soon as you find out what the skrayling can do, you will revise every character you have met so far and just look at what their motives are how they have said several things and how they have acted upon others. Who can you really trust?
The ending of The Alchemist of Souls is one of those endings that will get you excited for the sequel. Anne Lyle has proposed a pretty cool concept of just what the skraylings are capable of... there are dark times ahead for Mal and Coby...
With The Alchemist of Souls, Anne Lyle has created an absorbing and rich alternate history story. Though this is my first venture into the Tudor setting of England, Anne Lyle has readily convinced me to pick up more books in this same setting, but whether they will be on par with The Alchemist of Souls remains to be seen. The whole setting that Anne Lyle creates taken together with the concept of the skrayling and the darker undertones that soon become apparent and the set of engaging characters really make The Alchemist of Souls stand out. As I have already said, dark times are encroaching upon Mal and Coby. The Night's Masque is off to a terrific start with The Alchemist of Souls, the cliffhanger moment does a lot to get you excited for the sequel: The Merchant of Dreams. Defenitly a recommendation for readers that enjoy their alternate history with great world building and characters and a whole lot of surprises to keep you glued
The Alchemist of Souls is a book that has been on my must read list for a very long time. Ever since I found out about this title it has been luring at me. Luckily I got the opportunity to finally review The Alchemist of Souls and all I can say is wow. This isn't your ordinary historical fiction as Anne Lyle greatly builds up her world in a deft way, using an important timeframe in Elizabethan London, and spinning it in her own direction. I have to admit that I haven't read that much historical fiction set in England in this time, my historical fiction experience mostly is from the roman times. I very much enjoyed venturing into the Tudor setting as this was new to me. From the first pages Anne Lyle emerges you into a rich and intriguing world, you are in the hands of a great storyteller!
The first thing that will fall to note to many readers is the alternate history setting that Anny Lyle creates. Imagine an Tudor - Elizabethan London wherein Elizabeth got to marry the love of her life Robert Dudely and where she had the best time of her life with him going as far as having children and remaining a solid position on the throne. This is only the first part of the alternate England that Anne Lyle creates, the second part is from discovering the New World and all it's riches, think on one part the rich spices they brought home from the oriental place but on the other part from the frigid lands of Scandinavia they brought back a race of people known in the old Viking legends as: skraylings. These skraylings aren't your normal people like the English themselves, though they are a bit of the workhorses of society and people trust them, they have an air of immediate mystery surrounding them. Because they something of innate magic within them. I really have to give a hand to Anny Lyle for the setting she manages to create in The Alchemist of Souls, the whole Tudor era combined with the mystery that the skraylings are creates a rich and atmospheric setting.
In The Alchemist of Souls you follow two storyline the first one is of Mal Catlyn and the second one is of Coby. Mal lives day by day and has had a better time in his life. He likes to take on a gamble once in a while and this has caused him to be in a precarious situation. Situations that put him in a position where all he can do is accept the job offered to him. Mal is appointed a position of bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador Kiiren. Though Mal cannot get around not to accept this job he does have a hard time really fitting in (at the start), and does accept this job with a rather high reluctancy. What Mal doesn't know is that there are many more motives surrounding him being appointed bodyguard of the ambassador. From the first day Mal has a tough time keeping the ambassador alive as assassination attempts start to happen right from the start. As for the second one of Coby, Coby works at a play performance called the Mirror and together with two other play houses they have to give an stage performance to the skrayling ambassador, and he has to decide who is the winner. By the close proximity of Mal - Kiiren - Coby, their storyline soon become intermingled with each other. When Mal manages to fend of an assassin that was set out to get rid of Kiiren, things are set into motion regarding the Mirror's performance, they wanted to perform a skrayling play and their stage group is partially funded by the skraylings. From this point onwards the whole story is thrown into a rapid action sequence that really got me clued to the pages. Around every corner there is someone that you cannot trust, people get killed, assassination attempts are being made and it all topped up with muskets being fired and swashbuckling sword fights. In The Alchemist of Souls Anne Lyle has created on one hand a beautiful story, with the world building and excellent visualization and England and on the other hand a dark and gruesome story that takes place in the dark corridors and underground of this same London, very intriguing.
I already mentioned the main characters that you follow in The Alchemist of Souls namely Mal and Coby. Just as the strong narration that Anne Lyle provides she also clearly shows how to build interesting characters. Mal is really a "special" case, granted he hasn't had the easiest life but he isn't or wasn't trying to make the better of it. Ex-gambler and worn-out swordsmen he doesn't have a lot to look forward to. Added to this comes the fact that he has to take care for his twin brother Sandy, he has been in a sort of asylum, since Mal is the only one taking care of Sandy all his funds go there, he also visits his brother often but now with this new job as bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador even this becomes sporadic. And all Mal want is to have everything nice for his brother. I found that Mal was just one of those character that you will connect to from the first time you read about him, not to give him any sympathy, but more to cheer him on to keep up and go into the right direction. But what would a good character be with some added allures? Well this is not to be missed, above you can read that the intent with which Mal was optioned to be a bodyguard has some ulterior motives, well Mal's history, as you will find out when you read The Alchemist of Souls also has a nice twist to it. Which I will, of course, not reveal but lets say it has something to do with the skraylings... Next up is Coby character, for clearance sake I do have to reveal what Coby is else I can't justify my opinion. Coby is a gril-dressed-boy. Living in a harse time, being a girl can be dangerous. She is still young and doesn't show any signs of feminism, yet. I liked how Anne Lyle wrote up her character, she is a determined young woman, not shy to speak her mind and show what she can do. Since both Mal and Coby's storyline start to intermingle their relation also starts to grow in an intersting way, Coby start to develop feeling for Mal but Mal clearly does not see this... In the end something do become inevitable, but only work for the better for both characters. Next to these two main characters there are a few side characters like the skrayling ambassador Kiiren that really help build a solid character cast for The Alchemist of Souls. I am very curious to see just to which level Anne Lyle will bring these characters.
Perhaps one of the most wonderful and alluring things about the world that Anne Lyle has created in The Alchemist of Souls are the skraylings themselves. They hold something of magic within them but it isn't the all powerful spell-flinging fireballs, call down lightning from above kind of magic. No. It's subtle and deft and more in the lines of the dark, dark arts. The magic isn't paraded with but as soon as you find out what the skrayling can do, you will revise every character you have met so far and just look at what their motives are how they have said several things and how they have acted upon others. Who can you really trust?
The ending of The Alchemist of Souls is one of those endings that will get you excited for the sequel. Anne Lyle has proposed a pretty cool concept of just what the skraylings are capable of... there are dark times ahead for Mal and Coby...
With The Alchemist of Souls, Anne Lyle has created an absorbing and rich alternate history story. Though this is my first venture into the Tudor setting of England, Anne Lyle has readily convinced me to pick up more books in this same setting, but whether they will be on par with The Alchemist of Souls remains to be seen. The whole setting that Anne Lyle creates taken together with the concept of the skrayling and the darker undertones that soon become apparent and the set of engaging characters really make The Alchemist of Souls stand out. As I have already said, dark times are encroaching upon Mal and Coby. The Night's Masque is off to a terrific start with The Alchemist of Souls, the cliffhanger moment does a lot to get you excited for the sequel: The Merchant of Dreams. Defenitly a recommendation for readers that enjoy their alternate history with great world building and characters and a whole lot of surprises to keep you glued
July 17, 2022
2.5 stars.
It was okay; not great, just okay. Set in an alternative history version of Elizabethan England where Elizabeth I married Robert Dudley and has two sons. A strange race is visiting from the New World - a race of non-humans called Skraylings. Our hero, Mal Catlyn, is a down on his luck swordsman given the role of bodyguard to the Skrayling ambassador. One thing the ambassador will be doing is judging three different plays performed by three different theatre tropes; here, we meet our main female character: Jacomina Hendricksdochter, disguising herself as a boy, Jacob 'Coby' Hendricks. She's seventeen years old (because she has to be above the age of consent to be our love interest) but supposedly hasn't started her periods yet - this was the part of the book I found hardest to believe.
The parts of the book dealing with Mal and his interactions with the Skrayling ambassador were interesting, but the parts dealing with the theatre trope bored me and left me cold (William Shakespeare, you have a lot to answer for). Likewise, many of the characters and their relationships irritated me; Coby has been living in fear of her true gender being discovered for years, but when she first meets Mal of course she experiences desire for the first time. Mal's friend Ned was another character I really disliked, because of and he seemed to think with his prick, not his brain.
Summing up, more action and swordplay and less theatre doings would've been good. I wouldn't pay full price for the next book in this trilogy, but if I see it for sale in a second hand bookshop I may purchase it. Recommended for alternative history fans with a special fondness for Elizabethan times - but you probably already have a copy.
It was okay; not great, just okay. Set in an alternative history version of Elizabethan England where Elizabeth I married Robert Dudley and has two sons. A strange race is visiting from the New World - a race of non-humans called Skraylings. Our hero, Mal Catlyn, is a down on his luck swordsman given the role of bodyguard to the Skrayling ambassador. One thing the ambassador will be doing is judging three different plays performed by three different theatre tropes; here, we meet our main female character: Jacomina Hendricksdochter, disguising herself as a boy, Jacob 'Coby' Hendricks. She's seventeen years old (because she has to be above the age of consent to be our love interest) but supposedly hasn't started her periods yet - this was the part of the book I found hardest to believe.
The parts of the book dealing with Mal and his interactions with the Skrayling ambassador were interesting, but the parts dealing with the theatre trope bored me and left me cold (William Shakespeare, you have a lot to answer for). Likewise, many of the characters and their relationships irritated me; Coby has been living in fear of her true gender being discovered for years, but when she first meets Mal of course she experiences desire for the first time. Mal's friend Ned was another character I really disliked, because of and he seemed to think with his prick, not his brain.
Summing up, more action and swordplay and less theatre doings would've been good. I wouldn't pay full price for the next book in this trilogy, but if I see it for sale in a second hand bookshop I may purchase it. Recommended for alternative history fans with a special fondness for Elizabethan times - but you probably already have a copy.
January 9, 2012
I received this through a Goodreads giveaway – a nice surprise during the holidays.
There was so much good in this book that I really wanted to like it more. The writing, the characters, the setting, the dialogue – all were handled beautifully. But that just disappointed me more when the novel started to unravel toward the end. When you build a story up to a high pitch of excitement, you’ve got to deliver a rousing finish. And this book just didn’t follow through enough. What can I say? It stumbled just before the finish line. It clipped the treetops instead of soaring. It fizzled instead of sizzled. It’s still a good read, but it could have been a whole lot better.
The premise of the book is a lot of fun. It’s a swashbuckler set in in an alternate Elizabethan England that has magic, Native Americans, Viking folklore, and plenty of scoundrels and scurrilous behavior. As the cover blurb says, it’s full of “seedy glamour” and “long shadows,” indeed. The book is about Mal Catlyn, a gentleman who has absented himself from the world of the court for reasons only darkly hinted at. (Interestingly, Maliverny Catlyn was an actual agent for Sir Francis Walsingham.) Not by chance, Catlyn is appointed bodyguard to the Skrayling Ambassador, who is visiting London at the head of a delegation bent upon establishing trade agreements with the crown. Their goods are a commodity of considerable value, and Catlyn finds himself wrenched back into the world of intrigue.
The lynchpin of the novel is a theater competition, with the Skrayling Ambassador to judge which acting company presented the best play. Catlyn is acquainted with members of one of the companies (led by the kindly Master Naismith), and he is drawn further into the mix because Coby, an apprentice tiring “man,” is the only one able to teach him the Skrayling’s language. There’s also a mad brother trapped in Bedlam, sinister spies, evil doings in the Tower of London, and an ingeniously-engineered trapdoor.
Ms. Lyle has a wonderful grasp of Elizabethan society. The politics, the interplay between people of different social levels, the details of daily life – all were evocative enough to put the reader solidly in her world. Politics at the time was not just about who got what job. It was more like a deadly chess game where one ill-advised alliance or slip of the tongue could get you imprisoned or killed. Catlyn has been thrust back into these treacherous waters unwillingly, and Ms. Lyle does an excellent job of having him navigate the shoals.
I particularly liked the way she portrayed male sexuality, which was much more fluid during this time than it is today. While there was plenty of talk about the sinfulness of engaging in illicit behavior, in actual practice there was a lot of rule-bending going on behind closed doors at the same time – at least if those doors were to be found in fairly up-market houses. In fact, sometimes people didn’t always bother to close the door, especially when it came to the literary and theatrical worlds! It was sort of like being Catholic today while using birth control – you know what the church says, and you usually give it lip service, but enough people still visit the pharmacy before heading out for an evening of romance! What I really like is that none of the characters obviously leaps out at you, shouting, “look at me – I’m gay!” They’re far more natural, and who they sleep with is just a matter of course. When an accusation of sodomy arises, it’s a political stratagem used by a rival acting company against the Duke of Suffolk’s players and not really a condemnation of homosexuality.
The second lead character is Coby, the apprentice tiring man who is really a girl of 17. Once you accept Coby’s situation (which was a bit of a leap of faith for me), she makes an excellent boy – reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Rosalind and Viola, but with a far grittier predicament. Still, we all know that there’s going to be a “big reveal” between Coby and Mal. We can see it coming, and we know it’ll have something to do with him teaching her how to fight. The only question is when.
But – and this is a big but – this is where things fall apart. I do enjoy speculative history of all kinds, but it has to make sense. This book read almost as if someone felt that the book were running too long and so decided to cut out great swaths of prose. As a result, too much about the Skraylings in particular was cut, making the later parts of the books much murkier than they ought to have been.
When an author has paid as close attention to the details of the rest of a story as Lyle has, then at least as much attention should be paid to the thing that makes her book so unique. Here she’s created a fascinating new society, almost, one can argue, an entirely new species. Sure, they’re mysterious, and that mystery is part of their allure, but by the end of the book we deserve to know much, much more. The revelations at the end – about Mal, Sandy, the Duke of Suffolk and what happened in the wilderness all those years ago – were far too sketchy. This was the climax of the novel – it needed more!
You can argue that everything will be explained in the book’s sequel, but that’s not quite fair. A novel, even if part of a series, is a complete thing unto itself, and it needs to be able to stand by itself, too. As I read the end of this novel, I felt much as I do when I’m watching a foreign-language movie with bad subtitles. I know something important is going on – I can see that the pace has picked up and that everyone is dashing around doing deeds of great daring, and I can hear quite clearly that the music has gotten more thrilling – but I can understand the meaning of only half of what’s going on. So the end of this book feels hollow to me. I see that there’s a lot of great stuff happening, but it’s just not happening for me.
There was so much good in this book that I really wanted to like it more. The writing, the characters, the setting, the dialogue – all were handled beautifully. But that just disappointed me more when the novel started to unravel toward the end. When you build a story up to a high pitch of excitement, you’ve got to deliver a rousing finish. And this book just didn’t follow through enough. What can I say? It stumbled just before the finish line. It clipped the treetops instead of soaring. It fizzled instead of sizzled. It’s still a good read, but it could have been a whole lot better.
The premise of the book is a lot of fun. It’s a swashbuckler set in in an alternate Elizabethan England that has magic, Native Americans, Viking folklore, and plenty of scoundrels and scurrilous behavior. As the cover blurb says, it’s full of “seedy glamour” and “long shadows,” indeed. The book is about Mal Catlyn, a gentleman who has absented himself from the world of the court for reasons only darkly hinted at. (Interestingly, Maliverny Catlyn was an actual agent for Sir Francis Walsingham.) Not by chance, Catlyn is appointed bodyguard to the Skrayling Ambassador, who is visiting London at the head of a delegation bent upon establishing trade agreements with the crown. Their goods are a commodity of considerable value, and Catlyn finds himself wrenched back into the world of intrigue.
The lynchpin of the novel is a theater competition, with the Skrayling Ambassador to judge which acting company presented the best play. Catlyn is acquainted with members of one of the companies (led by the kindly Master Naismith), and he is drawn further into the mix because Coby, an apprentice tiring “man,” is the only one able to teach him the Skrayling’s language. There’s also a mad brother trapped in Bedlam, sinister spies, evil doings in the Tower of London, and an ingeniously-engineered trapdoor.
Ms. Lyle has a wonderful grasp of Elizabethan society. The politics, the interplay between people of different social levels, the details of daily life – all were evocative enough to put the reader solidly in her world. Politics at the time was not just about who got what job. It was more like a deadly chess game where one ill-advised alliance or slip of the tongue could get you imprisoned or killed. Catlyn has been thrust back into these treacherous waters unwillingly, and Ms. Lyle does an excellent job of having him navigate the shoals.
I particularly liked the way she portrayed male sexuality, which was much more fluid during this time than it is today. While there was plenty of talk about the sinfulness of engaging in illicit behavior, in actual practice there was a lot of rule-bending going on behind closed doors at the same time – at least if those doors were to be found in fairly up-market houses. In fact, sometimes people didn’t always bother to close the door, especially when it came to the literary and theatrical worlds! It was sort of like being Catholic today while using birth control – you know what the church says, and you usually give it lip service, but enough people still visit the pharmacy before heading out for an evening of romance! What I really like is that none of the characters obviously leaps out at you, shouting, “look at me – I’m gay!” They’re far more natural, and who they sleep with is just a matter of course. When an accusation of sodomy arises, it’s a political stratagem used by a rival acting company against the Duke of Suffolk’s players and not really a condemnation of homosexuality.
The second lead character is Coby, the apprentice tiring man who is really a girl of 17. Once you accept Coby’s situation (which was a bit of a leap of faith for me), she makes an excellent boy – reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Rosalind and Viola, but with a far grittier predicament. Still, we all know that there’s going to be a “big reveal” between Coby and Mal. We can see it coming, and we know it’ll have something to do with him teaching her how to fight. The only question is when.
But – and this is a big but – this is where things fall apart. I do enjoy speculative history of all kinds, but it has to make sense. This book read almost as if someone felt that the book were running too long and so decided to cut out great swaths of prose. As a result, too much about the Skraylings in particular was cut, making the later parts of the books much murkier than they ought to have been.
When an author has paid as close attention to the details of the rest of a story as Lyle has, then at least as much attention should be paid to the thing that makes her book so unique. Here she’s created a fascinating new society, almost, one can argue, an entirely new species. Sure, they’re mysterious, and that mystery is part of their allure, but by the end of the book we deserve to know much, much more. The revelations at the end – about Mal, Sandy, the Duke of Suffolk and what happened in the wilderness all those years ago – were far too sketchy. This was the climax of the novel – it needed more!
You can argue that everything will be explained in the book’s sequel, but that’s not quite fair. A novel, even if part of a series, is a complete thing unto itself, and it needs to be able to stand by itself, too. As I read the end of this novel, I felt much as I do when I’m watching a foreign-language movie with bad subtitles. I know something important is going on – I can see that the pace has picked up and that everyone is dashing around doing deeds of great daring, and I can hear quite clearly that the music has gotten more thrilling – but I can understand the meaning of only half of what’s going on. So the end of this book feels hollow to me. I see that there’s a lot of great stuff happening, but it’s just not happening for me.
December 24, 2018
This alternate history set in Elizabethan England started off slow. It took about 150 pages until it really gets to the meat of the story: intricate political plots surrounding the strange skrayling race from Vinland. The individual characterisation lacks depth, but the power relations and setting are interesting. I much enjoyed the plotting in the latter half of the book, and the slow revealing of the skrayling's magic was well done.
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Trigger warnings:
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Trigger warnings:
December 2, 2012
Wow! Lyle created a parallel world set in Elizabethan Era.
Brilliant world building, intriguing story... cant wait for the next book!
Review:
To be honest I kind of stumbled over this book, mainly picked it up in the first place because i liked the cover… yes sometimes i am just a simple cover slut!
I did like the summary as well. The book however was for a long time in my shelf unread. When I finally picked it up, I was astounded! Lyle created an alternate universe set in Elizabethan London added some shakespearean characters and a dash of fantasy. And all of it was done very well! I am so glad now that I liked the cover!! Sometimes being a cover slut pays off obviously ;)
While the summary might give one the impression that this is an action packed fantasy. Well, it's not. It does however move in a pleasant past, lots of its action involve intrigue and deception, there are mysteries (that are partly solved) and even a bit of romance. It's a subtle book, where characters are defined more by their actions than by their expressing their feelings and the fantasy is so well incorporated in a pseudo historical England that one can believe in it.
The plot in itself is cleverly woven and has a couple of twists. It's not unpredictable but it's thoroughly enjoyable. A somewhat classic daggers and cloak tale. It is not an especially fast-paced story, but it is an entrancing one; I just couldn't stop turning page.
However, the romance, while it was sweet, it also was a bit clumsy and lacked a bit of chemistry. My biggest critic though is that I was left with a lot of questions- many to do with Mal's past- despite the fact that the book was ended quite neatly, no cliffhanger or such at the end.
It took me a while to be able to connect to characters, which in my opinion is due to the third person narrator. The POV does also swap between different characters, so getting to know them take a little longer. But saying that, even though it is written in the third person, the three narrators have each their distinct voices- which in my opinion shows how good Lyle is in her craft!
But by the end of the book I was thoroughly invested in the characters. In fact I really like them.
Lyle does approach the characters rather with a subtle hand. So as reasons for their actions unfold, we get to know them and by the end of the book many questions raised about them fall into place. They are well rounded characters and felt rather realistic. Lyle gave them each the world view a person of their status and time probably would have had. Each of them has their own views on politics and religion but none of them are judged.. simply told. I think in fact these are the reason they felt so very real.
Admittedly they are very shakespearean type characters. But in my opinion that was a plus point.
I really enjoyed Mal's practical stoicism, Coby's practical romanticism, and even Ned's doubtful integrity made him more complex and real.
Mal the handsome rough with a golden heart who is the catalyst to get the others entangled in a web of espionage and intrigue. He is haunted by things that happened in his past and is probably his own worst critic. There are aspects of his past that are still not reveal by the end of this book and I hope that Lyle will reveal them in the next….
Coby the orphan girl that make her living as a tire man, posing as a boy, is brave and loyal. An immigrant to England she is acutely aware of its politics. She is also aware that her guise, while giving her freedom and a way to survive, also might be a possible barrier for any possible future. Her insecurities and worries were so one of the things I really like about Lyles writing. She manages to convey Coby's feelings in manner that make Coby extremely real. I could totally relate to Coby, I think most women will. Since many of her issues are totally universal for many girls in their late teens, Lyle just packaged it into parallel tudor times
Ned, was my least favorite character for most of the book. I never trusted him, felt he was just a spoilt wimp half to the time… and then suddenly he came through and redeemed himself. And its like I suddenly got what happened before and why he did it all. And forgave him.. yeah you read right. I forgave him. Because that's how invested I got into them!
The world building. WELL! Let me tell you, its probably the best part of the book! It's brilliant. Lyle did not only create an entire parallel Elizabethian England.. she created an entire new species, the skrylings (a term taken from the norse sagas), complete with their own cultures, histories and believes. And its done absolutely flawlessly! Absolutely brilliant.
The historical part of the novel is just as amazing, it is so well crafted that it makes everything else seem completely real. Lyle brought the Tudor times back to life in every minute detail. She is obviously well acquainted with that time of history. Did I mention its brilliant?
The prose is definitely another favorite part of this book for me. Its simply beautiful. Lyle is fabulous at it. I enjoyed each sentence and am hoping that Lyle will produce many many more books
Brilliant world building, intriguing story... cant wait for the next book!
Review:
To be honest I kind of stumbled over this book, mainly picked it up in the first place because i liked the cover… yes sometimes i am just a simple cover slut!
I did like the summary as well. The book however was for a long time in my shelf unread. When I finally picked it up, I was astounded! Lyle created an alternate universe set in Elizabethan London added some shakespearean characters and a dash of fantasy. And all of it was done very well! I am so glad now that I liked the cover!! Sometimes being a cover slut pays off obviously ;)
While the summary might give one the impression that this is an action packed fantasy. Well, it's not. It does however move in a pleasant past, lots of its action involve intrigue and deception, there are mysteries (that are partly solved) and even a bit of romance. It's a subtle book, where characters are defined more by their actions than by their expressing their feelings and the fantasy is so well incorporated in a pseudo historical England that one can believe in it.
The plot in itself is cleverly woven and has a couple of twists. It's not unpredictable but it's thoroughly enjoyable. A somewhat classic daggers and cloak tale. It is not an especially fast-paced story, but it is an entrancing one; I just couldn't stop turning page.
However, the romance, while it was sweet, it also was a bit clumsy and lacked a bit of chemistry. My biggest critic though is that I was left with a lot of questions- many to do with Mal's past- despite the fact that the book was ended quite neatly, no cliffhanger or such at the end.
It took me a while to be able to connect to characters, which in my opinion is due to the third person narrator. The POV does also swap between different characters, so getting to know them take a little longer. But saying that, even though it is written in the third person, the three narrators have each their distinct voices- which in my opinion shows how good Lyle is in her craft!
But by the end of the book I was thoroughly invested in the characters. In fact I really like them.
Lyle does approach the characters rather with a subtle hand. So as reasons for their actions unfold, we get to know them and by the end of the book many questions raised about them fall into place. They are well rounded characters and felt rather realistic. Lyle gave them each the world view a person of their status and time probably would have had. Each of them has their own views on politics and religion but none of them are judged.. simply told. I think in fact these are the reason they felt so very real.
Admittedly they are very shakespearean type characters. But in my opinion that was a plus point.
I really enjoyed Mal's practical stoicism, Coby's practical romanticism, and even Ned's doubtful integrity made him more complex and real.
Mal the handsome rough with a golden heart who is the catalyst to get the others entangled in a web of espionage and intrigue. He is haunted by things that happened in his past and is probably his own worst critic. There are aspects of his past that are still not reveal by the end of this book and I hope that Lyle will reveal them in the next….
Coby the orphan girl that make her living as a tire man, posing as a boy, is brave and loyal. An immigrant to England she is acutely aware of its politics. She is also aware that her guise, while giving her freedom and a way to survive, also might be a possible barrier for any possible future. Her insecurities and worries were so one of the things I really like about Lyles writing. She manages to convey Coby's feelings in manner that make Coby extremely real. I could totally relate to Coby, I think most women will. Since many of her issues are totally universal for many girls in their late teens, Lyle just packaged it into parallel tudor times
Ned, was my least favorite character for most of the book. I never trusted him, felt he was just a spoilt wimp half to the time… and then suddenly he came through and redeemed himself. And its like I suddenly got what happened before and why he did it all. And forgave him.. yeah you read right. I forgave him. Because that's how invested I got into them!
The world building. WELL! Let me tell you, its probably the best part of the book! It's brilliant. Lyle did not only create an entire parallel Elizabethian England.. she created an entire new species, the skrylings (a term taken from the norse sagas), complete with their own cultures, histories and believes. And its done absolutely flawlessly! Absolutely brilliant.
The historical part of the novel is just as amazing, it is so well crafted that it makes everything else seem completely real. Lyle brought the Tudor times back to life in every minute detail. She is obviously well acquainted with that time of history. Did I mention its brilliant?
The prose is definitely another favorite part of this book for me. Its simply beautiful. Lyle is fabulous at it. I enjoyed each sentence and am hoping that Lyle will produce many many more books
Read
February 28, 2019DNF at 31%/175 pages. It sparks no joy. Time to give up.
September 27, 2012
The Alchemist Of Souls, written by Anne Lyle, is a book I spotted on several occasions during my search on Amazon for new and exciting fantasy books. It is also a book I am ashamed to admit I discounted several times. The reason was simple: The Alchemist of Souls is historical fantasy and I had never, until I read it, given the genre a go. Instead, I had this weird concept that I wouldn’t like it.
Now I sit here wondering what the hell I was thinking.
There are few books that I have loved as much as this one, and there are fewer still that I have found hard to review simply because of how awesome they are. This book is one of those, and I feel that I almost lack the words to express how much everything in this book seemed so utterly perfect.
Maliverny Caitlyn is a down-on-his-luck swordsman, low-born noble, who has been without an assignment for longer than he likes. And so, when he is summoned to the Tower of London and told that he is to become the bodyguard to the first skrayling ambassador to set foot in England, Mal is both delighted and absolutely crushed: he possesses a secret that could jeopardise his position if it were to be found out, not to mention his own distaste for the creatures.
The skraylings are creatures, humanoid in shape, that come from the New World and have arrived in England as traders of never-before-seen goods. They are more often feared than respected as they refuse to receive the word of Christ, and are therefore seen as creatures of the devil.
Anne Lyle manages to paint the Tudor-era London effortlessly. London comes to life as a busy city, full of life, sounds and smells, and serves as the backdrop to one of the most intriguing stories I have read in a while.
Mal is joined by a vast and colourful cast of characters each just as real as the next, each unique and wonderful in their own way. Two other characters have a POV in this book: Jacob ‘Coby’ Hendricks—the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, a theatre company—and Edmund ‘Ned’ Faulkner, Mal’s gay best friend.
All of the POVs are rich in wonderfully real inner-monologues and conflict, as well as being characters easy to get attached to and with whom I found it extremely easy to empathise. They were probably the most real characters I have encountered in a long, long time. The interactions in between them are effortless and make them all seem ready to get up and walk off the page.
Ned Faulkner is the second POV character of a book that I had read who is also gay. For me, this was an amazing discovery as I am always on the lookout for gay characters in fantasy. Ned was so overtly gay that it was wonderful, and his relationship with Gabriel, another gay actor, was, to me, a highlight of the book. Lyle not only had gay characters in her book but she acted upon it, building upon their gayness as an inherent part of their characters, instead of something hardly ever mentioned because it was taboo. She has created in Ned and Gabriel one of the most lovable pairs I have read in a while, and all I wanted was to see them happily together.
Lyle’s prose is one of the most beautiful I have read in a while, and it is, at times, akin to poetry. She manages to describe everything and everyone with effortless and elegant efficiency, immersing the reader in her re-imagined London with every word that she writes.
I won’t say much about the plot, as I want to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but it was tightly plotted and intriguing from start to finish. Each question answered throughout the book only asks half a dozen more and the pace never lets up, making The Alchemist of Souls a gripping page-turner that had me laughing, smiling, worrying, and could have brought me to the brink of tears a couple of times.
This book managed to mesh all the elements of the books of my childhood (mainly thinking of The Three Musketeers here) with all the magic that I love in fantasy. It simply was a magnificent reads that sits very high in my list of best books I have read this year.
More reviews at: http://alekcristea.wordpress.com/
Now I sit here wondering what the hell I was thinking.
There are few books that I have loved as much as this one, and there are fewer still that I have found hard to review simply because of how awesome they are. This book is one of those, and I feel that I almost lack the words to express how much everything in this book seemed so utterly perfect.
Maliverny Caitlyn is a down-on-his-luck swordsman, low-born noble, who has been without an assignment for longer than he likes. And so, when he is summoned to the Tower of London and told that he is to become the bodyguard to the first skrayling ambassador to set foot in England, Mal is both delighted and absolutely crushed: he possesses a secret that could jeopardise his position if it were to be found out, not to mention his own distaste for the creatures.
The skraylings are creatures, humanoid in shape, that come from the New World and have arrived in England as traders of never-before-seen goods. They are more often feared than respected as they refuse to receive the word of Christ, and are therefore seen as creatures of the devil.
Anne Lyle manages to paint the Tudor-era London effortlessly. London comes to life as a busy city, full of life, sounds and smells, and serves as the backdrop to one of the most intriguing stories I have read in a while.
Mal is joined by a vast and colourful cast of characters each just as real as the next, each unique and wonderful in their own way. Two other characters have a POV in this book: Jacob ‘Coby’ Hendricks—the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, a theatre company—and Edmund ‘Ned’ Faulkner, Mal’s gay best friend.
All of the POVs are rich in wonderfully real inner-monologues and conflict, as well as being characters easy to get attached to and with whom I found it extremely easy to empathise. They were probably the most real characters I have encountered in a long, long time. The interactions in between them are effortless and make them all seem ready to get up and walk off the page.
Ned Faulkner is the second POV character of a book that I had read who is also gay. For me, this was an amazing discovery as I am always on the lookout for gay characters in fantasy. Ned was so overtly gay that it was wonderful, and his relationship with Gabriel, another gay actor, was, to me, a highlight of the book. Lyle not only had gay characters in her book but she acted upon it, building upon their gayness as an inherent part of their characters, instead of something hardly ever mentioned because it was taboo. She has created in Ned and Gabriel one of the most lovable pairs I have read in a while, and all I wanted was to see them happily together.
Lyle’s prose is one of the most beautiful I have read in a while, and it is, at times, akin to poetry. She manages to describe everything and everyone with effortless and elegant efficiency, immersing the reader in her re-imagined London with every word that she writes.
I won’t say much about the plot, as I want to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but it was tightly plotted and intriguing from start to finish. Each question answered throughout the book only asks half a dozen more and the pace never lets up, making The Alchemist of Souls a gripping page-turner that had me laughing, smiling, worrying, and could have brought me to the brink of tears a couple of times.
This book managed to mesh all the elements of the books of my childhood (mainly thinking of The Three Musketeers here) with all the magic that I love in fantasy. It simply was a magnificent reads that sits very high in my list of best books I have read this year.
More reviews at: http://alekcristea.wordpress.com/
December 15, 2013
This was my first foray into historical fantasy, and if all of it is this good I’m going to have to read a lot more of it. The story takes place in an alternate version of Elizabethan England, where the Virgin Queen of yore has actually married and has two adult sons. If the book stated an actual date when the action takes place I have forgotten it, but since this is an alternate reality it’s not really relevant.
The other significant difference is that when the explorers discovered America, they also discovered a race of people called skraylings. They are disconcertingly alien to humans, with their slit-pupiled eyes, pagan customs and strange magic, even if otherwise they don’t look too different. However, they are also important trade partners, and as such there is a slightly uneasy relationship between humans and skraylings. Added to that there is the tension between England and Spain and the old division of catholics and protestants, which all makes for a volatile climate.
Thrown into the midst of all this is our hero, Maliverny Catlyn. Mal is a trained swordsman but down on his luck and desperate for money when he is offered the position of bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador, who is coming to London to strengthen the ties between the English and the skraylings. This includes being the judge in a competition between theatrical companies for who puts on the best play. Mal is hesitant due to a dark, skrayling-related event in his past, but cannot really afford to decline the offer.
The plot pretty much centres on that – Mal’s history with the skraylings and the playwright competition, but even though that sounds slight, the book is never boring. I have often mentioned the ‘debut novel syndrome’, but even though this is Lyle’s debut novel (insofar as I could see), there was nothing of that to be found here. The writing is assured, evocative and engaging, and all the characters are fully fleshed-out. Since I’m Dutch I’m not as well-versed on my English history, so apart from the bit about Elizabeth the First having married I don’t really know what is authentic and what has been changed, but I really liked the fact that one of the secondary characters is a Dutch girl disguised as a boy, having fled the war with Spain in the low countries. I also liked the fact that Mal’s best friend is gay and in a relationship with one of the actors. I don’t know how historically accurate it is that people more or less turn a blind eye to it, but this was of course the time when male actors played all roles, even the female ones, because having a female on stage would be sacrilege, so I can very well imagine that the profession would have attracted gay people.
The final part of the book where various matters are resolved felt a bit overly easy to me, but on the whole I very much enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading the remaining two books in this trilogy. I would also like to say that I absolutely adore the cover of this book. I commend the artist on a perfect rendition of Mal.
More reviews on Silk Screen Views.
The other significant difference is that when the explorers discovered America, they also discovered a race of people called skraylings. They are disconcertingly alien to humans, with their slit-pupiled eyes, pagan customs and strange magic, even if otherwise they don’t look too different. However, they are also important trade partners, and as such there is a slightly uneasy relationship between humans and skraylings. Added to that there is the tension between England and Spain and the old division of catholics and protestants, which all makes for a volatile climate.
Thrown into the midst of all this is our hero, Maliverny Catlyn. Mal is a trained swordsman but down on his luck and desperate for money when he is offered the position of bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador, who is coming to London to strengthen the ties between the English and the skraylings. This includes being the judge in a competition between theatrical companies for who puts on the best play. Mal is hesitant due to a dark, skrayling-related event in his past, but cannot really afford to decline the offer.
The plot pretty much centres on that – Mal’s history with the skraylings and the playwright competition, but even though that sounds slight, the book is never boring. I have often mentioned the ‘debut novel syndrome’, but even though this is Lyle’s debut novel (insofar as I could see), there was nothing of that to be found here. The writing is assured, evocative and engaging, and all the characters are fully fleshed-out. Since I’m Dutch I’m not as well-versed on my English history, so apart from the bit about Elizabeth the First having married I don’t really know what is authentic and what has been changed, but I really liked the fact that one of the secondary characters is a Dutch girl disguised as a boy, having fled the war with Spain in the low countries. I also liked the fact that Mal’s best friend is gay and in a relationship with one of the actors. I don’t know how historically accurate it is that people more or less turn a blind eye to it, but this was of course the time when male actors played all roles, even the female ones, because having a female on stage would be sacrilege, so I can very well imagine that the profession would have attracted gay people.
The final part of the book where various matters are resolved felt a bit overly easy to me, but on the whole I very much enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading the remaining two books in this trilogy. I would also like to say that I absolutely adore the cover of this book. I commend the artist on a perfect rendition of Mal.
More reviews on Silk Screen Views.
September 21, 2013
Where to start? The setting is fantastically detailed (but not to the point of being overboard, ala The Shadow of Black Wings). Settings as varied as he Royal palace to the darkest slums come alive in Anne's writings. The entire book is set in London, during an alternate history of the 1800s. In this history, Skraylings were discovered in the new world. Although Skrayling traders have become quite common in England by the point of the novel, they have not ever had a formal alliance with Englad. They send an ambassador, one Kiiren. Mal Catlyn, the erstwhile hero of the novel, is assigned to be his bodyguard. The problem? Mal hates Skraylings.
Why do I say the 'erstwhile hero'? One of the side characters - Jacob (Coby) stole my heart about midway through the novel. I love strong female heroines, and the wrap up of Coby's storyline at the end of the novel cinched it - Coby is awesome. At first she seems to be the classic fantasy novel trope - the female dressing as a boy in order to get to their objective - but by the end, Coby breaks free, not just breaking but shattering her mold.
I had a harder time growing to like the main character. Mal is grumpy and prejudiced. Right up until the end. He has his reasons, but I was hoping for more character development from the main character over the course of the novel. This is easily my biggest (only?) complaint.
The rest of the cast is as varied and colorful as the setting. Spies, Diplomats, a troupe of actors, royals, street rats, and more populate the streets of this book, all of them written to perfection.
As far as the Plot goes, it is not as straightforward as it seems. I won't say more because I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I loved the twist at the end. The pacing is perfect. The downtime spaced just right to make the action all the better.
I'll be honest, I didn't follow at all the bits about religion - protestant vs christian vs catholic, vs ??.... oh, my, too much to follow for someone who grew up deep in the bowels of the mormon religion they all seem the same to me. Luckily, these don't play any direct bearing on the plot that I could see. Or perhaps I just missed it? No matter.
Be warned, several of the characters are gay and there is one gay sex scene (very very tastefully done, no worries there). So if that bothers you, best to skip this jewel.
Why do I say the 'erstwhile hero'? One of the side characters - Jacob (Coby) stole my heart about midway through the novel. I love strong female heroines, and the wrap up of Coby's storyline at the end of the novel cinched it - Coby is awesome. At first she seems to be the classic fantasy novel trope - the female dressing as a boy in order to get to their objective - but by the end, Coby breaks free, not just breaking but shattering her mold.
I had a harder time growing to like the main character. Mal is grumpy and prejudiced. Right up until the end. He has his reasons, but I was hoping for more character development from the main character over the course of the novel. This is easily my biggest (only?) complaint.
The rest of the cast is as varied and colorful as the setting. Spies, Diplomats, a troupe of actors, royals, street rats, and more populate the streets of this book, all of them written to perfection.
As far as the Plot goes, it is not as straightforward as it seems. I won't say more because I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I loved the twist at the end. The pacing is perfect. The downtime spaced just right to make the action all the better.
I'll be honest, I didn't follow at all the bits about religion - protestant vs christian vs catholic, vs ??.... oh, my, too much to follow for someone who grew up deep in the bowels of the mormon religion they all seem the same to me. Luckily, these don't play any direct bearing on the plot that I could see. Or perhaps I just missed it? No matter.
Be warned, several of the characters are gay and there is one gay sex scene (very very tastefully done, no worries there). So if that bothers you, best to skip this jewel.
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