The Stars Compel

The Stars #2

by Michaela Roessner

A fantastical account of the life of Catherine de 'Medici follows the adventures of Catherine, the beautiful heiress to the fortune of the de 'Medici, and her personal chef, Tommaso Arista, as they come up with a way to defeat the ambitious schemes of her uncle, Pope Clement, to use her for political power. Reprint.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fantasy

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Michaela-Marie Roessner-Hermann is an American science-fiction writer publishing under the name Michaela Roessner.

Born in San Francisco, Michaela Roessner was raised in (successively) California, New York, Pennsylvania, Thailand, and Oregon. Trained as a visual artist, she holds a BFA in Ceramics from the California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA in Painting from Lone Mountain College, and exhibits under the name M. M. Roessner-Herman. In 1989, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Her first novel, Walkabout Woman, was a 1989 nominee for the Mythopoeic Award, and won the Crawford Award. She has also published the science fiction novel Vanishing Point and number of short stories, published in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, SciFiction, Omni Online, Strange Plasma, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and elsewhere. She is also the author of two historical novels, The Stars Dispose (1997) and The Stars Compel (1999), about Catherine de Medici. She lives in southern California.

She has taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University and the Gotham Writers' Workshop.

Reviews

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as in the first book in the series, the magic, woven in the fabric of the story is like a subtle thread of silver. It glimmers and shines at points, but otherwise it is almost not there. Beautifully done with rich tales of the Renaissance and famous Italian and French historical figures, THE STAR COMPEL is a fascinating read. I hope that book three, long in coming, arrives soon for us to continue the adventures of Tommaso Arista and family along with the Befanini's, Ruggiero's, and de' Medicis. I hear it is being written - I hope it is soon!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently written, very evocative, enjoyed the characters, all that, but it just kind of...ended. The climax was not very climactic. Ah well. If you enjoy tales of the Italian Renaissance, I do recommend it.

[Ice Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

The attempt to cover differing aspects of the period results in a story line that seems to drift. Perhaps with a view to keeping open the option for another sequel.

[Elaine Fultz, Teacher Librarian, MLS · Rating 4 out of 5]

VOYA review 2000

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably never going to get finished, which is such a shame, because it has everything I want in a fantasy: an interesting magic system, strong characters (most of them female), a loveable primary character (Tommasso broke my heart, I had no idea, I just want him to be happy), and most importantly: GOOD FOOD.

I find it that the fantasy books I love best talk about food a lot. Reading the Harry Potter series makes me hungry. And I knew when I picked this series up that main characters working for the kitchen!! Yes!

Politics more gnarly here as Caterina Medici finally leaves Florence for Rome under her cousin the Pope's commands. I sometimes forget how young these people are (even Tommasso, who started having an affair with Michaelangelo when he was 14??), because they really needed to grow up so fast. And I guess Caterina is really of age to get married during those times, but to actually stand as the figure-head of the Medicis and fight for Florence?

I wonder what happened and if book 3 is still happening? I want to know how Tommasso would end up. And I definitely want to see more of Lorenzacchio!

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know before I started reading The Stars Dispose that there was a sequel, but I managed to find The Stars Compel and read it fairly quickly. It was still pretty good, but I didn't enjoy it as much, largely because it focused more on political intrigue than on the kitchen and hearth magic which I thought was such a strong feature of the first book. Apparently, Roessner planned a third book, which hasn't yet materialized; I wish it would, because like the first book, The Stars Compel doesn't exactly wrap up all the plot threads.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does anyone know what has happened to the planned third book in this trilogy? The ending of this is kind of a cliffhanger, with Caterina arriving in France. I'm a bit baffled by how the author planned to move forward with this story, as Caterina is the heroine of the first two books. How will she end up as the conniving poisoner of historical legend and the authoress of one of the worst massacres in history? Or not? Was the author so confounded by the historical Caterina that she found herself unable to continue with this series?

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this somewhat less compelling than the first book in this series. I particularly like stories about learning a craft or trade; there's a bit less of that in this book, and more of a focus on Caterina's politicking. Nevertheless, though I have little hope that the third book will ever see the light of day (given it's been eight years since this was published), I will say that I wish I could read it.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stars Compel continues the story of Tommaso and Catherine de Medici (known as Caterina here), though in this book the location moves from Florence to Rome. My view is that it is essential to read the first book, The Stars Dispose, before this one, as it places the relationship between Caterina and her servant and confidante, Tommaso in context.
Read my full review here.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've waited years to read this sequel. I was given its predecessor as a birthday gift quite a long time ago. I was a bit rusty on some of the finer details, but I enjoyed this retelling of Catherine de Medici's early life. This volume covers the two years just before her marriage to Henri, the Duke of Orleans. It's amazing to think of the high level of statecraft she was involved in at just twelve years old!

[ExtremeBibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical novel with supernatural elements. Apparently this is part of a series of novels but this is the only one I've read so far. The blending of a true historical figure (Catherine de Medici) and fictional characters was very nicely told, and the author threw in some shape-shifting werewolves just to keep things interesting. Will probably pick this up again once I finish "Dance of Dragons."

[Mrelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware, if you read this book you will be hungry all the time! The protagonist is an apprentice cook in Renaissance Italy for the Medici family. The feasts, foods and descriptions had me salivating.
Oh, the story's pretty good, too.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a pretty good book, many different perspectives of renaissance italy, wish it ended differently

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first book, but only slightly less so. Wondering what ever became of book #3?

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

25 years later, still desiring the planned sequel... grump.

[B.J. Sikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting concept but I couldn't lose myself in the story so it took a long time for me to finish. It was fun reading about the food of the time and I liked the protagonist a lot.

[Colin]

Decent. Not as good as the first book.

[Jeff Youngstrom]

My review from March 7, 2000