Flood Tide

Merovingen Nights #6

by C.J. Cherryh (Editor)

Cardinal Boregy's murder has proven a catalyst for dangerous new politcal games among the Great Houses. As intrigues begin to unwind, the death toll slowly mounts, shifting control in many of the Houses. To some this seems the perfect opportunity to dispose of Mondragon, and framed for a murder he didn't commit, Thomas will need the help of Jones and all his allies if he is to have any hope of escaping this deadly trap.

And with Cardinal Willa Exeter as Boregy's replacement, Revantist fanaticism is strengthening, and Merovingen may soon find itself drowning in an unstoppalbe reign of terror which not even Janist and canaler conspiracies can avert...

Includes:
"Flood Tide" novelette by C.J. Cherryh
"The Testing" novelette by Nancy Asire
"Don't Look Back" novelette by Mercedes Lackey
"Walking on the Waves" novelette by Leslie Fish
"Where's the Fire" short story by Roberta Rogow
"Wheels within Wheels" short story by Bradley H. Sinor
"Marriage" novelette by Lynn Abbey
"With Friends Like These" short story by Mercedes Lackey
"Rapproachment" novella by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
Appendix: "Merovingian Folklore 102" essay by Mercedes Lackey
Appendix: "Merovingian Songs" essay by Mercedes Lackey

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Anthologies

340 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 6, 1990

About the author

Currently resident in Spokane, Washington, C.J. Cherryh has won four Hugos and is one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed authors in the science fiction and fantasy field. She is the author of more than forty novels. Her hobbies include travel, photography, reef culture, Mariners baseball, and, a late passion, figure skating: she intends to compete in the adult USFSA track. She began with the modest ambition to learn to skate backwards and now is working on jumps. She sketches, occasionally, cooks fairly well, and hates house work; she loves the outdoors, animals wild and tame, is a hobbyist geologist, adores dinosaurs, and has academic specialties in Roman constitutional law and bronze age Greek ethnography. She has written science fiction since she was ten, spent ten years of her life teaching Latin and Ancient History on the high school level, before retiring to full time writing, and now does not have enough hours in the day to pursue all her interests. Her studies include planetary geology, weather systems, and natural and man-made catastrophes, civilizations, and cosmology…in fact, there's very little that doesn't interest her. A loom is gathering dust and needs rethreading, a wooden ship model awaits construction, and the cats demand their own time much more urgently. She works constantly, researches mostly on the internet, and has books stacked up and waiting to be written.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly one of the stronger entries in the Merovingen Nights saga, which kicks into gear here with some notable shifts in the status quo. Exeter makes for a strong villain, and there's a sense that this sometimes aimless series is coming towards a final showdown. 3.5.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I hadn’t read any of the previous books, it was difficult to get into. Of its time, yet enjoyable nonetheless.

[Macha]

3 and a half stars

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 6th installment of this anthological saga, Merovingen is plagued by strife, both from outside and within; With the late Cardinal's passing, his successor is determined to crack down on the internal scheming that is present in both the hightown crust and the dank canal-side tavern. Now, even Mondragon might not be able to wriggle his way out of the political noose that seems intent on tightening around his neck, and it will take help from Jones, the Takahashi brothers, and all his allies (and even some enemies) to keep the city from going right up in flames.

[marcia rutledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are hard to find, but well worth it. Cherryh and her team of writers assemble an amazing, if now seamless, alternate world in the canals of Merovingen and her characterization, as always, is vividly achieved. I don't know how they put this together so well but I hope they do something on this scale again.