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Creature Court #1
Power and Majesty
“She almost missed the sight of a naked youth falling out of the sky. He was long and lean and muscled … He was also completely off his face.”
A war is being fought in the skies over the city of Aufleur. No one sees the battles. No one knows how close they come to destruction every time the sun sets.
During daylight, all is well, but when nox falls and the sky turns bright, someone has to step up and lead the Creature Court into battle.
Twelve years ago, Garnet kissed Velody and stole her magic. Five years ago, he betrayed Ashiol, and took his powers by force. But now the Creature Court is at a crossroads … they need a Power and Majesty who won’t give up or lose themselves in madness …
A war is being fought in the skies over the city of Aufleur. No one sees the battles. No one knows how close they come to destruction every time the sun sets.
During daylight, all is well, but when nox falls and the sky turns bright, someone has to step up and lead the Creature Court into battle.
Twelve years ago, Garnet kissed Velody and stole her magic. Five years ago, he betrayed Ashiol, and took his powers by force. But now the Creature Court is at a crossroads … they need a Power and Majesty who won’t give up or lose themselves in madness …
512 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2010
31 people are currently reading
1251 people want to read
About the author
Tansy Rayner Roberts
133 books314 followersTansy Rayner Roberts is a fantasy and science fiction author who lives in southern Tasmania, somewhere between the tall mountain with snow on it, and the beach that points towards Antarctica.
Tansy has a PhD in Classics (with a special interest in poisonous Roman ladies), and an obsession with Musketeers.
You can hear Tansy talking about Doctor Who on the Verity! podcast. She also reads her own stories on the Sheep Might Fly podcast.
Tansy has a PhD in Classics (with a special interest in poisonous Roman ladies), and an obsession with Musketeers.
You can hear Tansy talking about Doctor Who on the Verity! podcast. She also reads her own stories on the Sheep Might Fly podcast.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
April 20, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. It was a book that grew on me. The first few pages had me wondering, thinking that Velody was going to be just another run of the mill female character but I was completely wrong. Velody was much, much more. I loved the detail that Tansy Rayner Roberts put into developing not only Velody but Delphine and Rhiaan, and I thought that sentinel MacReady was just fabulous. I really hope we see more of him in the subsequent books.
There was drama, great secondary characters, excitement and lots of page turning. The politics were complex, but not too complex, and realistic, given the characters involved.
The world building was great, and I'm desperately wanting to know what's behind it all, and why it all works the way it does.
This book sucked me in completely and I was sad when it came, quite abruptly, to an end, so I was very happy to see that there are another two already written. (Which I will be purchasing and reading!)
A comment on the Kindle formatting - it looks as if there's about nine hundred pages of text when you download it. What you get is an enormous font, which can be reduced slightly, but is still larger than normal.
There was drama, great secondary characters, excitement and lots of page turning. The politics were complex, but not too complex, and realistic, given the characters involved.
The world building was great, and I'm desperately wanting to know what's behind it all, and why it all works the way it does.
This book sucked me in completely and I was sad when it came, quite abruptly, to an end, so I was very happy to see that there are another two already written. (Which I will be purchasing and reading!)
A comment on the Kindle formatting - it looks as if there's about nine hundred pages of text when you download it. What you get is an enormous font, which can be reduced slightly, but is still larger than normal.
January 4, 2012
A cracktastic piece of fan-fiction made flesh :) (in the best possible way)
This was a great summer read that kept me coming back to find out what more desires and betrayals (and fabulous costumes) were waiting for the characters... for all that, it's a gentle, sweet, almost meandering story with a surprisingly likeable lead female. The women in this story, particularly, get satisfying development and moments of growth. The men... kind of feel like sexy, twisted and angsty decorations, so if you like that kind of thing - turns out I do, on occasion - then give this a go! I particularly liked the way the lead came into some mighty powerz yet didn't become an over-aggressive kick-ass loner, and shows signs of being a fallible but compassionate 'superhero'. I've read more insightful and skillful writing, and the angst of past relationship tortures (literally) does get ladled on a bit thick at times, but she kept me coming back to the book for the pleasure of her storytelling. Looking forward to book 2.
This was a great summer read that kept me coming back to find out what more desires and betrayals (and fabulous costumes) were waiting for the characters... for all that, it's a gentle, sweet, almost meandering story with a surprisingly likeable lead female. The women in this story, particularly, get satisfying development and moments of growth. The men... kind of feel like sexy, twisted and angsty decorations, so if you like that kind of thing - turns out I do, on occasion - then give this a go! I particularly liked the way the lead came into some mighty powerz yet didn't become an over-aggressive kick-ass loner, and shows signs of being a fallible but compassionate 'superhero'. I've read more insightful and skillful writing, and the angst of past relationship tortures (literally) does get ladled on a bit thick at times, but she kept me coming back to the book for the pleasure of her storytelling. Looking forward to book 2.
January 26, 2012
Power and Majesty is the first book in the Creature Court Trilogy. The second book in the series, The Shattered City comes out in April of this year.
But on with the Story
Power and Majesty charts the story of Velody and her two friends Rhian and Delphine, as they move to the city of Aufluer and begin their apprenticeships as Seamstress, Ribbon maker and Florist.
The setting is an interesting mix of renaissance Rome with perhaps a sliver of steampunk-the characters catch a train to their hometown and machinery is used to sew garments.
The night she arrives teenage Velody is kissed by a strange boy that falls from the sky, he manages to steal a bit of her innocence as well as a dormant magical power- her Animor.
But before the story can turn into a coming of age tale, Roberts fast forwards five years to where Velody and her friends are running their own business.
Unbeknownst to Velody and indeed the entire daylight world, an age old invisible battle is being fought against the sky by the mysterious and internecine Creature Court - humans with the ability to transform into animals and wield Animor(magic). The Sadistic Power and Majesty(the title of the Ruler of the Court) falls in one of these battles and the Animor he stole from Velody as a girl returns to her, brining with it enormous power and good dose of trouble to go along with it.
Power and Majesty is then chiefly about Velody's coming into this power, the power plays within the Creature court, the political and personal maneuverings - all the while dealing with being a dressmaker with two very ordinary and troubled friends.
What I liked
I found the concept, the setting and the writing original. While the ability of magic users or Fae to transform into animals is an old trope, I felt that Roberts had an original spin on this and that the descriptions and the visuals of the Creature Court transforming into their various forms had an almost anime like quality. It was this that steered it away from what could easily be seen as a paranormal romance. While there’s love and lust within these pages, there’s also a good deal of blood and violence. I think Roberts has struck the balance right with this one.
What I didn't like
The cover- which shouldn't really bother me since its an eBook. If I didn't know Tansy's work I wouldn't have picked this book up of the self. I much prefer the style of the illustrations found at Creature Court website or perhaps something similar to Kate Elliot’s Cold Magic.
Final thoughts
A well written, original fantasy of which I will be buying the next book in the series. Tansy has roped me in with her pace, deft handling of emotional content and the intriguing and manipulation carried out by the various characters of the creature court.
But on with the Story
Power and Majesty charts the story of Velody and her two friends Rhian and Delphine, as they move to the city of Aufluer and begin their apprenticeships as Seamstress, Ribbon maker and Florist.
The setting is an interesting mix of renaissance Rome with perhaps a sliver of steampunk-the characters catch a train to their hometown and machinery is used to sew garments.
The night she arrives teenage Velody is kissed by a strange boy that falls from the sky, he manages to steal a bit of her innocence as well as a dormant magical power- her Animor.
But before the story can turn into a coming of age tale, Roberts fast forwards five years to where Velody and her friends are running their own business.
Unbeknownst to Velody and indeed the entire daylight world, an age old invisible battle is being fought against the sky by the mysterious and internecine Creature Court - humans with the ability to transform into animals and wield Animor(magic). The Sadistic Power and Majesty(the title of the Ruler of the Court) falls in one of these battles and the Animor he stole from Velody as a girl returns to her, brining with it enormous power and good dose of trouble to go along with it.
Power and Majesty is then chiefly about Velody's coming into this power, the power plays within the Creature court, the political and personal maneuverings - all the while dealing with being a dressmaker with two very ordinary and troubled friends.
What I liked
I found the concept, the setting and the writing original. While the ability of magic users or Fae to transform into animals is an old trope, I felt that Roberts had an original spin on this and that the descriptions and the visuals of the Creature Court transforming into their various forms had an almost anime like quality. It was this that steered it away from what could easily be seen as a paranormal romance. While there’s love and lust within these pages, there’s also a good deal of blood and violence. I think Roberts has struck the balance right with this one.
What I didn't like
The cover- which shouldn't really bother me since its an eBook. If I didn't know Tansy's work I wouldn't have picked this book up of the self. I much prefer the style of the illustrations found at Creature Court website or perhaps something similar to Kate Elliot’s Cold Magic.
Final thoughts
A well written, original fantasy of which I will be buying the next book in the series. Tansy has roped me in with her pace, deft handling of emotional content and the intriguing and manipulation carried out by the various characters of the creature court.
October 30, 2012
Sometimes I’m such a numpty. I see a book in my stash that’s 500 pages long and I think “I want to read that but it will take aaaaaages. It’s so biiiiiiiiiiiig.” So I put it off and off and off, until finally I think: “Damnit. I will MAKE time.”
And then I read it over two weekends, in two massive gulps, devouring it like a starving thing, reluctant to put it down because OMG WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??!! Apparently, it’s not the size that counts, it’s the writing.
Power and Majesty is the first in a trilogy about the Creature Court – a group of people with extraordinary powers, who secretly fight a war in the night sky of the city of Aufleur. The daylight folk have no idea what’s going on each night (or ‘nox’), or the price they’ll pay if the Court loses.
At the start of the book, Velody is a 14 year old girl, come to Aufleur to seek a position as an apprentice dressmaker. On her first night in the city, she can’t sleep. Slipping away from her chaperone to the balcony of her accommodation, she witnesses a young man fall from the sky. Garnet finds her, recognises her innate magic – and with her uninformed permission, takes away her magic.
Years later, Velody is an adult, an accomplished dressmaker living and working with her two best friends, still ignorant of the Creature Court and its nightly war. That’s when a sky battle goes badly wrong and Velody’s power is suddenly restored. She and her friends are drawn into the mad, dangerous and deadly games of the Creature Court and the war that’s killing them one by one.
That’s the basic premise of a book that is rich in detail. The world Roberts creates is an imaginative, delightful mix of an alternative Italy which could be a hundred years old or closer to our own times. But don’t rely on any idea of historical fantasy or modern alternative reality – Roberts had done something much more difficult and exciting. She’s taken bolts and cuttings of a world we know and stitched an entire, fresh new world out of them. Innovative use of language and a respect for the complexities of different cultures and times make the worlds of Aufleur and the Creature Court distinct and complete, where they are separate as well as where they overlap.
The characters are wonderfully complex and so very messed up. There’s darkness and light, betrayal and redemption, loss and triumph. Often simultaneously. No matter how strange the powers they have, or the lives they lead, every human, every sentinel and every mad bastard from the Court is a multi-faceted, very real person.
A big surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the frocks. Fiction in which the female protagonist is excited about shoes and dresses rarely does much for me. I care not a whit for shoes and dresses, generally. But Velody and her friends Rhian and Delphine aren’t just clothes horses. Dress and appearance are a powerful representation of power and status as well as creativity, not to mention the fact that these skills are the livelihoods of these wonderful characters. The mindset of creation, of stitching parts together to make a more wonderful whole, is an important underlying theme, too.
Velody being a dressmaker is an integral part of who she is – and more to the point, this part of Velody is an integral part of how she deals with the challenges and horrors of the Creature Court. Others who have come to the Court as children and have known nothing but the fight against the sky and vying for power with each other seem to know nothing but destruction. Velody, protected from that world by Garnet’s theft of her magic, grew to adulthood as a carer and creator. She works with her friends to create wearable art. The difference is vital and may be what will save both the Creature Court and the city they battle to protect.
While Power and Majesty is certainly not a vampire novel – I’ve seen it described as a combination of urban fantasy and court fantasy with elements of manga and goth (and none of that does it justice) – Roberts also makes innovative use of vampire tropes. There’s a lot of sharing of vital fluids: ingestion of blood from mortals to members of the Court and vice versa not only aids healing but has other effects which are important to the plot. In the Court, Poet’s ability to become hundreds of rats echoes the same ability Dracula has in some versions of the old story, but of course this ability to become an abundance of one’s power animal is a characteristic shared by the whole Court. It’s where the name comes from, after all. Some Court members become birds, cats or wolves.
So, here we have incredibly intelligent, creative, complex and colourful world-building married to fabulous, layered characterisation and engaging, tense powerplays, social interactions and politics in all levels of society. Add to that the fact that from one chapter to the next, I just couldn’t guess where we might be going. In a lot of stories, you can get the broad gist of what is coming next. Reading Power and Majesty, I honestly never had a clue. Who can be trusted? How will Velody react to this latest challenge? What’s going to happen to Delphine? Oh my giddy lord, what have you done to the sentinels??!!
It’s delicious, it’s exquisite, it’s exhilarating, it’s pain of the purest, most pleasurable kind to have no idea how it’s all going to work out, or what’s going to happen next, or who to trust, and sometimes even who to like – and to wanted to grab the writer’s hand and run headlong down that unknown path to find out!! No wonder I read it in those two big gulps. I couldn’t bear to slow down, and the grace of the writing led me down that magnificent path at a gallop.
So, after leaving Power and Majesty unread for a year, stupidly daunted by the size of it (because, as mentioned, I’m a numpty) I immediately upon finishing downloaded the next book, The Shattered City, to start right away. And that night sat next to a complete stranger in a Melbourne theatre and told her she should read it. Because she should. You all should. It’s terrific!
And then I read it over two weekends, in two massive gulps, devouring it like a starving thing, reluctant to put it down because OMG WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??!! Apparently, it’s not the size that counts, it’s the writing.
Power and Majesty is the first in a trilogy about the Creature Court – a group of people with extraordinary powers, who secretly fight a war in the night sky of the city of Aufleur. The daylight folk have no idea what’s going on each night (or ‘nox’), or the price they’ll pay if the Court loses.
At the start of the book, Velody is a 14 year old girl, come to Aufleur to seek a position as an apprentice dressmaker. On her first night in the city, she can’t sleep. Slipping away from her chaperone to the balcony of her accommodation, she witnesses a young man fall from the sky. Garnet finds her, recognises her innate magic – and with her uninformed permission, takes away her magic.
Years later, Velody is an adult, an accomplished dressmaker living and working with her two best friends, still ignorant of the Creature Court and its nightly war. That’s when a sky battle goes badly wrong and Velody’s power is suddenly restored. She and her friends are drawn into the mad, dangerous and deadly games of the Creature Court and the war that’s killing them one by one.
That’s the basic premise of a book that is rich in detail. The world Roberts creates is an imaginative, delightful mix of an alternative Italy which could be a hundred years old or closer to our own times. But don’t rely on any idea of historical fantasy or modern alternative reality – Roberts had done something much more difficult and exciting. She’s taken bolts and cuttings of a world we know and stitched an entire, fresh new world out of them. Innovative use of language and a respect for the complexities of different cultures and times make the worlds of Aufleur and the Creature Court distinct and complete, where they are separate as well as where they overlap.
The characters are wonderfully complex and so very messed up. There’s darkness and light, betrayal and redemption, loss and triumph. Often simultaneously. No matter how strange the powers they have, or the lives they lead, every human, every sentinel and every mad bastard from the Court is a multi-faceted, very real person.
A big surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the frocks. Fiction in which the female protagonist is excited about shoes and dresses rarely does much for me. I care not a whit for shoes and dresses, generally. But Velody and her friends Rhian and Delphine aren’t just clothes horses. Dress and appearance are a powerful representation of power and status as well as creativity, not to mention the fact that these skills are the livelihoods of these wonderful characters. The mindset of creation, of stitching parts together to make a more wonderful whole, is an important underlying theme, too.
Velody being a dressmaker is an integral part of who she is – and more to the point, this part of Velody is an integral part of how she deals with the challenges and horrors of the Creature Court. Others who have come to the Court as children and have known nothing but the fight against the sky and vying for power with each other seem to know nothing but destruction. Velody, protected from that world by Garnet’s theft of her magic, grew to adulthood as a carer and creator. She works with her friends to create wearable art. The difference is vital and may be what will save both the Creature Court and the city they battle to protect.
While Power and Majesty is certainly not a vampire novel – I’ve seen it described as a combination of urban fantasy and court fantasy with elements of manga and goth (and none of that does it justice) – Roberts also makes innovative use of vampire tropes. There’s a lot of sharing of vital fluids: ingestion of blood from mortals to members of the Court and vice versa not only aids healing but has other effects which are important to the plot. In the Court, Poet’s ability to become hundreds of rats echoes the same ability Dracula has in some versions of the old story, but of course this ability to become an abundance of one’s power animal is a characteristic shared by the whole Court. It’s where the name comes from, after all. Some Court members become birds, cats or wolves.
So, here we have incredibly intelligent, creative, complex and colourful world-building married to fabulous, layered characterisation and engaging, tense powerplays, social interactions and politics in all levels of society. Add to that the fact that from one chapter to the next, I just couldn’t guess where we might be going. In a lot of stories, you can get the broad gist of what is coming next. Reading Power and Majesty, I honestly never had a clue. Who can be trusted? How will Velody react to this latest challenge? What’s going to happen to Delphine? Oh my giddy lord, what have you done to the sentinels??!!
It’s delicious, it’s exquisite, it’s exhilarating, it’s pain of the purest, most pleasurable kind to have no idea how it’s all going to work out, or what’s going to happen next, or who to trust, and sometimes even who to like – and to wanted to grab the writer’s hand and run headlong down that unknown path to find out!! No wonder I read it in those two big gulps. I couldn’t bear to slow down, and the grace of the writing led me down that magnificent path at a gallop.
So, after leaving Power and Majesty unread for a year, stupidly daunted by the size of it (because, as mentioned, I’m a numpty) I immediately upon finishing downloaded the next book, The Shattered City, to start right away. And that night sat next to a complete stranger in a Melbourne theatre and told her she should read it. Because she should. You all should. It’s terrific!
June 28, 2020
And once more I downloaded a free book without even checking what it was about and if it would be something for me. Based on my previous experiences with Roberts, I was quite certain that I would end up reading and liking this book. However, the deadline for my review was coming closer and closer and yesterday I knew I had to get started. And, since I already read a few of her other books I was already prepared that there would be a lot of information at first without many explanations.
And I have to admit that it's a good thing I was prepared for that. There really is a lot of mythology and info in the first part of the book. And there were actually no explanations. In a way that makes a book harder to read. It's not easy. On the other hand, that's also part of the fun. It's a nice challenge and I like figuring things out on my own or along with the characters who are thrown into the midst of everything without understanding it.
In this case it was a huge challenge. There was a huge cast of amazing characters, there was a lot of weird stuff going on and there was a nice historical city with a lot of history and politics. However, the further I got and the more I started to understand, the more I could appreciate all of this. I'm not a visual reader, but even I got flashes of images and had clear ideas on how certain locations looked and felt. Everything was so well thought out, so detailed. It really felt like I was walking around in the city, like I became part of the city.
And although there are a lot of characters in this book, we get to see how layered, complicated and interesting they are. Every character has their own story, history and interests. Everyone also has their own motives. Some characters we get to know a little better, because we're spending some time in their heads, reading what they think and feel. Some characters stay more of a mystery, hiding their goals and personal gains a little better.
All those elements combined result in a very interesting, complicated, vidid and layered story. And even though it's quite a heavy read, there are a lot of questions still unanswered. I'm not sure when I'll pick up the next installment, but I will pick it up at some point.
And I have to admit that it's a good thing I was prepared for that. There really is a lot of mythology and info in the first part of the book. And there were actually no explanations. In a way that makes a book harder to read. It's not easy. On the other hand, that's also part of the fun. It's a nice challenge and I like figuring things out on my own or along with the characters who are thrown into the midst of everything without understanding it.
In this case it was a huge challenge. There was a huge cast of amazing characters, there was a lot of weird stuff going on and there was a nice historical city with a lot of history and politics. However, the further I got and the more I started to understand, the more I could appreciate all of this. I'm not a visual reader, but even I got flashes of images and had clear ideas on how certain locations looked and felt. Everything was so well thought out, so detailed. It really felt like I was walking around in the city, like I became part of the city.
And although there are a lot of characters in this book, we get to see how layered, complicated and interesting they are. Every character has their own story, history and interests. Everyone also has their own motives. Some characters we get to know a little better, because we're spending some time in their heads, reading what they think and feel. Some characters stay more of a mystery, hiding their goals and personal gains a little better.
All those elements combined result in a very interesting, complicated, vidid and layered story. And even though it's quite a heavy read, there are a lot of questions still unanswered. I'm not sure when I'll pick up the next installment, but I will pick it up at some point.
January 21, 2016
I want to review this book so badly, because it is one of the best books I've ever read and not enough people know about it. But I genuinely don't think I have the words to describe how beautiful, original, clever and ground-breaking it actually is.
Yes, I said ground-breaking. Can you name many other fantasy novels where homo- and bisexuality is not even a Thing? The Creature Court trilogy doesn't 'deal' with being gay; this isn't an issues book. Most of the characters are gay or bi, and that's that.
But that's really just a fraction of Power and Majesty's awesomeness. The best part of this trilogy is how it constantly goes against expectations. I read almost nothing but fantasy, so I can promise that most books ultimately follow the same pattern with the same kinds of twists. If characters fall in love, they will stay in love. Big dramatic sacrifices always successfully save the day. Nobody REALLY important dies. Last minute ideas and plans always work. Idealism is always rewarded.
Except they aren't and don't, here. For all that this is an amazingly unique fantasy, it's incredibly real - both in characterisation and in plot. The twists are truly twisty, and almost nothing goes as expected.
Then there's the worldbuilding, which is so stunningly gorgeous heavenly choirs should start singing every time I crack this book open. Without ever info-dumping the reader Roberts gets across an incredibly detailed, beautiful world - and not just in the magical, idealistic department either. There are nitty gritty details, like festivals and music and drugs and slang, all of which help to turn the city of Aufleur into a place you feel you could walk right into.
Urgh, I'm failing totally at getting across how amazing this book is! Put it this way: it's unputdownable, it's beautifully written, and it's original in a genre where everything seems to have been done a million times. It's intense and sensual and exciting. You don't just read it; you get sucked in and you live the story.
Please, please, PLEASE pick it up. You won't regret it for a second!
Yes, I said ground-breaking. Can you name many other fantasy novels where homo- and bisexuality is not even a Thing? The Creature Court trilogy doesn't 'deal' with being gay; this isn't an issues book. Most of the characters are gay or bi, and that's that.
But that's really just a fraction of Power and Majesty's awesomeness. The best part of this trilogy is how it constantly goes against expectations. I read almost nothing but fantasy, so I can promise that most books ultimately follow the same pattern with the same kinds of twists. If characters fall in love, they will stay in love. Big dramatic sacrifices always successfully save the day. Nobody REALLY important dies. Last minute ideas and plans always work. Idealism is always rewarded.
Except they aren't and don't, here. For all that this is an amazingly unique fantasy, it's incredibly real - both in characterisation and in plot. The twists are truly twisty, and almost nothing goes as expected.
Then there's the worldbuilding, which is so stunningly gorgeous heavenly choirs should start singing every time I crack this book open. Without ever info-dumping the reader Roberts gets across an incredibly detailed, beautiful world - and not just in the magical, idealistic department either. There are nitty gritty details, like festivals and music and drugs and slang, all of which help to turn the city of Aufleur into a place you feel you could walk right into.
Urgh, I'm failing totally at getting across how amazing this book is! Put it this way: it's unputdownable, it's beautifully written, and it's original in a genre where everything seems to have been done a million times. It's intense and sensual and exciting. You don't just read it; you get sucked in and you live the story.
Please, please, PLEASE pick it up. You won't regret it for a second!
August 24, 2013
It's not that this is a bad book - it's just not my style. The jumping around, the lack of explanation, the arrogance of the characters all add up to a mix I don't enjoy. I guess I need something to be able to relate to: even though there is some growing up with the characters the jumps change their personalities so I lost that connection.
July 22, 2020
I had a bit of trouble diving into this book, because it threw me in the middle of a world with a magic system and a mythology that I totally didn't know, and that was a bit confusing from time to time, but it paid off to read on. At a certain moment things do click and questions are answered, and then you turn out out to be in a very rich world with an amazing mythology. Velody is an amazing main character who grows into her power, but still struggles with what and who she is and what she has to do with that. The Creature Court is an environment that keeps you on your toes, never knowing exactly who will do what, and I'm really curious what will happen with Ashiol.
February 23, 2019
I really enjoyed my time with this book. Plenty of drama and characters working out their multitudes of issues. Casually queer too.
June 12, 2015
22.2.2015 - 4,5*
Originální. Plné vášnivosti a prudkosti. Promyšlené a propracované.
Jesus, když jsem to začala číst, nenapadlo mě, že to bude tak...
Brutální.
Garnet, jedna z hlavních postav, bude tak... šílený.
Vše bude tak dekadentní.
Dočista jiné, než jsem čekala, temné, násilné, plné sexu a žádostivosti a něhy. A bezcitné a nemilosrdné. A hrající si s láskou, jako se starou tretkou, kterou pokýváváte před nosem zoufalce.
Napsané zvláštně pomalým tempem a... ne zmatené, ale...
Neuspořádaný úvod. Napsaný způsobem, který vás postupně stahoval pod hladinu. Aby vás utopil.
Propracované pozadí, geografie. Ráda bych věděla něco více o historii světa a o Nebi. I když teď už vím, že se něco dozvím později.
Postavy byly skvělé. Děsivé, propracované, měly charakter a svou jedinečnou pečeť.
Bylo to něco tak zatraceně jiného, než jsem čekala.
Děj se vyvíjel šíleným tempem, přeskakovaly jsme roky. Postavy se vyvíjely, měnily, rostly stránku od stránky.
Nebylo to ze začátku ani tolik o ději jako o tom, jak se postavy prodíraly životem, hledaly místo, ze kterého mohly začít vyprávět svůj příběh.
Četla jsem několikrát o nepříčetných postavách, o dvorech ovládaných šílencem. Ale způsob, jakým Roberts popsala Creature Court, způsob, jakým psala, roztříštěně a jakoby ve shonu, vytvořilo to depresivní atmosféru a pachuť nepříčetnosti, s kterou jsem se ještě nesetkala a která mě trochu děsila. Skličovala.
Power and Majesty na mě udělala dojem, tak silný, jako žádná kniha už dlouho ne.
Originální. Plné vášnivosti a prudkosti. Promyšlené a propracované.
Jesus, když jsem to začala číst, nenapadlo mě, že to bude tak...
Brutální.
Garnet, jedna z hlavních postav, bude tak... šílený.
Vše bude tak dekadentní.
Dočista jiné, než jsem čekala, temné, násilné, plné sexu a žádostivosti a něhy. A bezcitné a nemilosrdné. A hrající si s láskou, jako se starou tretkou, kterou pokýváváte před nosem zoufalce.
Napsané zvláštně pomalým tempem a... ne zmatené, ale...
Neuspořádaný úvod. Napsaný způsobem, který vás postupně stahoval pod hladinu. Aby vás utopil.
Propracované pozadí, geografie. Ráda bych věděla něco více o historii světa a o Nebi. I když teď už vím, že se něco dozvím později.
Postavy byly skvělé. Děsivé, propracované, měly charakter a svou jedinečnou pečeť.
Bylo to něco tak zatraceně jiného, než jsem čekala.
Děj se vyvíjel šíleným tempem, přeskakovaly jsme roky. Postavy se vyvíjely, měnily, rostly stránku od stránky.
Nebylo to ze začátku ani tolik o ději jako o tom, jak se postavy prodíraly životem, hledaly místo, ze kterého mohly začít vyprávět svůj příběh.
Četla jsem několikrát o nepříčetných postavách, o dvorech ovládaných šílencem. Ale způsob, jakým Roberts popsala Creature Court, způsob, jakým psala, roztříštěně a jakoby ve shonu, vytvořilo to depresivní atmosféru a pachuť nepříčetnosti, s kterou jsem se ještě nesetkala a která mě trochu děsila. Skličovala.
Power and Majesty na mě udělala dojem, tak silný, jako žádná kniha už dlouho ne.
September 18, 2010
I do think this book is a little let down by its cover. It does refer to a specific scene in the book, but to me, despite the dark and brooding city in the background, it looks delicate and pretty, almost a YA book. I anticipated a teenage antagonist. But that's not what Power and Majesty is like at all. This is one dark and intense novel. There's sex scenes. There's a hell of a lot of violence. There's monsters, and betrayal, and torture - it's fantastic.
It's set in Aufleur, a city partly based on Ancient Rome, and a city under attack each night from the sky. These attacks are only visible to the Creature Court, those people with magic who fight the night sky. Velody had her magic taken away when she was younger, but after the Power and Majesty of the Creature Court dies, she gets it back - and is suddenly thrust into a completely unfamiliar world, with its own very vicious politics. So who will be the new Power and Majesty?
This is fantastic and very original fantasy, from an Australian author. It doesn't have a cliffhanger ending, but there's so much more of this story to come - I'm really looking forward to the sequel.
It's set in Aufleur, a city partly based on Ancient Rome, and a city under attack each night from the sky. These attacks are only visible to the Creature Court, those people with magic who fight the night sky. Velody had her magic taken away when she was younger, but after the Power and Majesty of the Creature Court dies, she gets it back - and is suddenly thrust into a completely unfamiliar world, with its own very vicious politics. So who will be the new Power and Majesty?
This is fantastic and very original fantasy, from an Australian author. It doesn't have a cliffhanger ending, but there's so much more of this story to come - I'm really looking forward to the sequel.
April 30, 2012
Amazing i have never a read book like it ,can`t wait to get the second
book. Who would have thought the sky is the enemy ! a wonderful rich woven tappestry of a world
loved it .
book. Who would have thought the sky is the enemy ! a wonderful rich woven tappestry of a world
loved it .
November 8, 2018
One of those books where I just wanted to read for twenty minutes on the way home and then ended up not doing anything else until I'd finished it. I really liked the worldbuilding, and the characters. As characters, that is, many of them not as people, so many of them are really messed up (to be fair they have good reasons.) I enjoyed both Ash's angst and Velody dealing so well with this mess she suddenly ended up in, and also her friends and the sentinels and the other minor characters. I am so here for power struggles (half people wanting to get power and half people trying to get rid of it) and loyalty being tested and different worlds colliding etc. etc., and I really look forward to the other books.
January 6, 2012
This review forms part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge.
I recently read Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts and liked it a lot. On the strength of that collection I decided to give Ms Roberts latest trilogy a try. Power and Majesty is book one of the Creature Court trilogy, a fantasy series set (going off the map at the front) in an alternate Earth, more specifically in an alternate Italy.
Teenagers Velody, Delphine and Rhian have come to the city of Aufleur (an alternate Rome?) to become an apprentice dressmaker, ribboner and florister respectively. One night Velody sees a young man (Garnet) fall from the sky and land in the street outside. He displays magical abilities and sees in her the ability to use the same magic. Freaking out, Velody agrees to give up her powers and give them to Garnet, then promptly loses her memory of the encounter.
12 years or so later, Garnet dies and Velody suddenly gets her power back. She enters the world of the Creature Court, where powered individuals fight attacks from the sky at night to keep the city safe (the normal citizenry are completely oblivious to both the danger and the Creature Court and indeed seem to spend their days celebrating an almost never ending series of festivals). The Court is a decadent place and the rest of the book describes Velody's trials and tribulations as she attempts to navigate its somewhat murky waters.
The magic system is very interesting - practitioners are aligned to a particular animal and can split themselves into multiple instances of that animal (although I have to think that splitting your consciousness multiple ways to control your various animal vessels has got to at least involve a headache). The Creature Court is divided into a hierarchy depending on levels of power, with more powerful members having stronger abilities. I liked the way the magic was described and the complex web of interrelationships that make up the Court.
Sometimes the first book in a trilogy works well as a stand alone novel as well. This is not one of those books. It felt very much like the first in a series, and established the major characters without fully introducing the main antagonist (assuming you consider the danger from the sky as the main antagonist). If you considered this as a stand alone book, it would feel a little underdone. As a start of a trilogy it did a good job of whetting my appetite for the rest of the series.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters seemed well realised to me. The dialogue was great and the main characters seemed quite three dimensional. The minor characters were also excellent, with my personal favourite being the Sentinel Macready. The pacing was just about spot on and there was a good balance of violence, vicious politics and romantic elements (although I must say that the cover makes the book look like it is going to be mainly a romance and I wouldn't describe it that way at all).
As someone with very little interest in the craft/fashion world there were aspects of Velody, Delphine and Rhian's professional day jobs that were difficult to generate enthusiasm for. I suspect someone with a stronger interest would have got more out of those sections of the book.
The only bit of the story that bothered me a little was that there was a touch of the never-done-martial-arts-before-go-into-the-woods-for-a-week-and-become-a-kung-fu-master-accompanied-by-a-suitable-video-montage in how quickly Velody came into mastery of her powers. Given the painstaking time it took each of the three women to master the skills necessary for them to become successful in their chosen daytime professions, I thought there might be a little more of that ethos in mastering the magic as well. But that is a minor quibble, and at least it did help to move the story along at a good pace.
(As an aside, I got this novel on the Kindle and there was some weirdness in how it rendered the text. The font size kept jumping around and for most of the book even the smallest font setting on the Kindle had very big text on the screen. But every now and then it would revert to normal for a few pages. I've read quite a few books on the Kindle, and this was the first time I've seen behaviour like this. Having said that, my Kindle is a couple of generations out of date - perhaps that had something to do with it).
Overall I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Excellent fantasy generally, and if you particularly like dress making, ribboning and floristry then you'll like it all the more!
I also reviewed this book my website.
I recently read Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts and liked it a lot. On the strength of that collection I decided to give Ms Roberts latest trilogy a try. Power and Majesty is book one of the Creature Court trilogy, a fantasy series set (going off the map at the front) in an alternate Earth, more specifically in an alternate Italy.
Teenagers Velody, Delphine and Rhian have come to the city of Aufleur (an alternate Rome?) to become an apprentice dressmaker, ribboner and florister respectively. One night Velody sees a young man (Garnet) fall from the sky and land in the street outside. He displays magical abilities and sees in her the ability to use the same magic. Freaking out, Velody agrees to give up her powers and give them to Garnet, then promptly loses her memory of the encounter.
12 years or so later, Garnet dies and Velody suddenly gets her power back. She enters the world of the Creature Court, where powered individuals fight attacks from the sky at night to keep the city safe (the normal citizenry are completely oblivious to both the danger and the Creature Court and indeed seem to spend their days celebrating an almost never ending series of festivals). The Court is a decadent place and the rest of the book describes Velody's trials and tribulations as she attempts to navigate its somewhat murky waters.
The magic system is very interesting - practitioners are aligned to a particular animal and can split themselves into multiple instances of that animal (although I have to think that splitting your consciousness multiple ways to control your various animal vessels has got to at least involve a headache). The Creature Court is divided into a hierarchy depending on levels of power, with more powerful members having stronger abilities. I liked the way the magic was described and the complex web of interrelationships that make up the Court.
Sometimes the first book in a trilogy works well as a stand alone novel as well. This is not one of those books. It felt very much like the first in a series, and established the major characters without fully introducing the main antagonist (assuming you consider the danger from the sky as the main antagonist). If you considered this as a stand alone book, it would feel a little underdone. As a start of a trilogy it did a good job of whetting my appetite for the rest of the series.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters seemed well realised to me. The dialogue was great and the main characters seemed quite three dimensional. The minor characters were also excellent, with my personal favourite being the Sentinel Macready. The pacing was just about spot on and there was a good balance of violence, vicious politics and romantic elements (although I must say that the cover makes the book look like it is going to be mainly a romance and I wouldn't describe it that way at all).
As someone with very little interest in the craft/fashion world there were aspects of Velody, Delphine and Rhian's professional day jobs that were difficult to generate enthusiasm for. I suspect someone with a stronger interest would have got more out of those sections of the book.
The only bit of the story that bothered me a little was that there was a touch of the never-done-martial-arts-before-go-into-the-woods-for-a-week-and-become-a-kung-fu-master-accompanied-by-a-suitable-video-montage in how quickly Velody came into mastery of her powers. Given the painstaking time it took each of the three women to master the skills necessary for them to become successful in their chosen daytime professions, I thought there might be a little more of that ethos in mastering the magic as well. But that is a minor quibble, and at least it did help to move the story along at a good pace.
(As an aside, I got this novel on the Kindle and there was some weirdness in how it rendered the text. The font size kept jumping around and for most of the book even the smallest font setting on the Kindle had very big text on the screen. But every now and then it would revert to normal for a few pages. I've read quite a few books on the Kindle, and this was the first time I've seen behaviour like this. Having said that, my Kindle is a couple of generations out of date - perhaps that had something to do with it).
Overall I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Excellent fantasy generally, and if you particularly like dress making, ribboning and floristry then you'll like it all the more!
I also reviewed this book my website.
December 1, 2018
An interesting book. Betrayal and friendship
February 2, 2022
Slow to start, but enthralling by the middle.
June 25, 2015
Velody moves to Aufleur to attempt to become a dressmaking apprentice, but late one night she allows a mysterious young man to kiss her and steal the magic she didn’t really know she had. Her life moves on, more or less as it is supposed to, until the Creature Court needs a new leader, and everything begins to unwind.
As the first book in a trilogy, this is definitely setting things up for us. We discover the new world (there are maps!), the way it’s structured, the way people talk and celebrate and relate to each other. We also have to meet the characters – which in the beginning felt a little overwhelming for me, but once I started to get them straight, I realised how much about them all fell into place.
I really love how natural the ‘different’ language feels when you’re reading. Although there’s a glossary available, it’s really not required, because the words work so well in context (plus they’re mostly based on languages we know/use). They work extremely well to build the world of Aufleur and beyond – you can see the prettiness and excitement, but also the risks and dangers of the city – a nice metaphor for the ‘real’ world and the Creature Court world.as well as a parallel with the beautiful, but dangerous Creature Court itself.
The use of animals, and people changing into animals, is something we see a lot of in fantasy. Here, though, I particularly enjoyed the way the Creature Court changes were described, and the way that the connection to animals went beyond a simple transformation. The use of animals continued that ‘lovely to look at, but will bite if it needs to’ feeling that was present throughout the book.
I have to admit that I’m completely, head over heels, in love with so many of the characters. I adore Velody’s devotion to her sewing and her friends and the way she uses these when she finds herself thrust into the Creature Court. I love (and occasionally want to shake) Ash, and the way he’s trying to reconcile his past with the present dangers. My absolute favourites, though, are the sentinels who are interesting and funny and so different from each other (I want them to have more back up, though. I’m very invested in them sticking around)
Originally reviewed at Subversive Reader
As the first book in a trilogy, this is definitely setting things up for us. We discover the new world (there are maps!), the way it’s structured, the way people talk and celebrate and relate to each other. We also have to meet the characters – which in the beginning felt a little overwhelming for me, but once I started to get them straight, I realised how much about them all fell into place.
I really love how natural the ‘different’ language feels when you’re reading. Although there’s a glossary available, it’s really not required, because the words work so well in context (plus they’re mostly based on languages we know/use). They work extremely well to build the world of Aufleur and beyond – you can see the prettiness and excitement, but also the risks and dangers of the city – a nice metaphor for the ‘real’ world and the Creature Court world.as well as a parallel with the beautiful, but dangerous Creature Court itself.
The use of animals, and people changing into animals, is something we see a lot of in fantasy. Here, though, I particularly enjoyed the way the Creature Court changes were described, and the way that the connection to animals went beyond a simple transformation. The use of animals continued that ‘lovely to look at, but will bite if it needs to’ feeling that was present throughout the book.
I have to admit that I’m completely, head over heels, in love with so many of the characters. I adore Velody’s devotion to her sewing and her friends and the way she uses these when she finds herself thrust into the Creature Court. I love (and occasionally want to shake) Ash, and the way he’s trying to reconcile his past with the present dangers. My absolute favourites, though, are the sentinels who are interesting and funny and so different from each other (I want them to have more back up, though. I’m very invested in them sticking around)
Originally reviewed at Subversive Reader
September 29, 2015
Dark, sexy, violent and bloody, this book is pleasantly not what I'd expected looking at that YA-esque cover. It's also possessed of deep world building, flowing prose and characters I couldn't help but love.
The story follows Velody, among other characters. Following the loss of the sadistic ruler of the Creature Court, a dwindling number of shapechangers, the Court is in desperate need of another to lead them in their nighttime war against the sky, which seeks to swallow the city. They also need a leader to stop them ripping out each others throats while their supposed to be fighting the sky. In the early chapters, Velody is like the rest of the city's daylight citizens, she has no knowledge of the nighttime war. She has to adapt quickly when her powers manifest as she's drawn into the nighttime world, and the dangerous politics of the Creature Court, otherwise she might lose her powers and life to one of the ambitions Creature Lords. She does so without losing her humanity, practicality or her daylight life.
The one itch I have is that I found the tension to be quite low. You can guess where the plot is heading well before it gets there, and despite all the threats and posturing, I never felt Velody was in real danger of failing. She was always going to win, and she was always going to do it in her own way. However, I still really enjoyed the book. This is dark, without being grimdark.
+ for including LGBTQ representation, even if the on page relationships are mostly hetero. For reasons, the society of the Creature Court places gender no limitations on love and sex. There is also a few complicated female characters, other than Velody.
9/10
The story follows Velody, among other characters. Following the loss of the sadistic ruler of the Creature Court, a dwindling number of shapechangers, the Court is in desperate need of another to lead them in their nighttime war against the sky, which seeks to swallow the city. They also need a leader to stop them ripping out each others throats while their supposed to be fighting the sky. In the early chapters, Velody is like the rest of the city's daylight citizens, she has no knowledge of the nighttime war. She has to adapt quickly when her powers manifest as she's drawn into the nighttime world, and the dangerous politics of the Creature Court, otherwise she might lose her powers and life to one of the ambitions Creature Lords. She does so without losing her humanity, practicality or her daylight life.
The one itch I have is that I found the tension to be quite low. You can guess where the plot is heading well before it gets there, and despite all the threats and posturing, I never felt Velody was in real danger of failing. She was always going to win, and she was always going to do it in her own way. However, I still really enjoyed the book. This is dark, without being grimdark.
+ for including LGBTQ representation, even if the on page relationships are mostly hetero. For reasons, the society of the Creature Court places gender no limitations on love and sex. There is also a few complicated female characters, other than Velody.
9/10
October 14, 2016
This book was one of those that I just stumbled across.
In fact I didn't like it at first either. I saw the cover and the blurb in a selection of books at a department store book area last year and neither grabbed my interest that much.
However it ended up in my purchases as it was a first in a series, it stayed unread for well over the end of the year potentially creeping into a full twelve months but I thought I better just read it. I took a little time to get into it, I thought the language would be too fantasy like for me but once I was a few chapters in the mysteries and powers in the book held my attention more than I had expected.
In the last half of the book I started having feelings for the characters and being a bit invested in their world. Which is always a good sign!
It has its dark moments both with violence, blood and sex so I wouldn't recommend teenagers to read it only adults. But I would recommend if looking for something a bit different to the usual lighter fare.
In fact I didn't like it at first either. I saw the cover and the blurb in a selection of books at a department store book area last year and neither grabbed my interest that much.
However it ended up in my purchases as it was a first in a series, it stayed unread for well over the end of the year potentially creeping into a full twelve months but I thought I better just read it. I took a little time to get into it, I thought the language would be too fantasy like for me but once I was a few chapters in the mysteries and powers in the book held my attention more than I had expected.
In the last half of the book I started having feelings for the characters and being a bit invested in their world. Which is always a good sign!
It has its dark moments both with violence, blood and sex so I wouldn't recommend teenagers to read it only adults. But I would recommend if looking for something a bit different to the usual lighter fare.
December 5, 2011
Imagine being fourteen and coming to a large city to become an apprentice. Then imagine being unable to sleep, see a naked man fall from the sky and see another man become a bundle of cats. Velody shocked by what she had witnessed turns to go back to her room only to find the naked man there. He explains that she has a certain power that she wouldn't want and he can take it from her with a kiss. She agrees. Twelve years later she gets that power back and enters a world that she has forgotten existed...
I love this book. It is very, very different from everything that is out there at the moment. Great plot, complex characters and twists and turns come all the time. I loved that for the first third of the novel you know what is going on but not why. The suspense keeps you going until the very last page. I can not wait to read the next book.
I love this book. It is very, very different from everything that is out there at the moment. Great plot, complex characters and twists and turns come all the time. I loved that for the first third of the novel you know what is going on but not why. The suspense keeps you going until the very last page. I can not wait to read the next book.
December 23, 2011
This was one of those books I have waited patiently for at the library. I was curious to see what the story was about and how it unfurled. It ended up being one of those books that I couldn't leave alone, creating resentment at mundane life activities intruding. The characters, world building and set up of the Creature Court built and developed throughout the pages. One thing that I noticed was the use of the Ancient Roman world as a basis for the world (the calendar, naming of the days, use of traditions, geography and naming customs to list a few) however it was not too much of a distraction (which I had feared it may when I commenced reading). Look forward to seeing what happens next in book 2.
October 6, 2015
Interesting and original enough, I just didn't gel with any of the characters all that well. I'd like to make a note of something that did grate on my nerves a little though. Why use the word feck to replace a word but still use the C word? I don't get it and I didn't like it. One of those personal things I guess.
March 21, 2020
This book far outstripped my expectations, with the cover not at all matching the tone of the story. I thought it was about fairies but no it's about a unseen violence, danger and sensuality behind the scenes in a city where every day is a festival and there is far more going on then first meets the eye.
March 17, 2019
I loved this. (Took ages to read it because life was busy!)
An otherworld urban fantasy combining bits of ancient Rome with 1920s flappers, gin and jazz; something werewolfey, maybe, and some bloody, great storytelling, worldbuilding and characters. I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3.
An otherworld urban fantasy combining bits of ancient Rome with 1920s flappers, gin and jazz; something werewolfey, maybe, and some bloody, great storytelling, worldbuilding and characters. I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3.
March 27, 2019
A page-turner with plenty of darkness to it. That said, Tansy's trademark deft touch means that it never feels too grim, despite the desperate stakes (and cannibalism). The characters are wonderfully drawn, and the way shapeshifting is treated is delightfully imaginative.
June 12, 2011
This is the first book in Tansy's Creature Court series and a compulsive read!
March 17, 2017
So...this tries too hard to be too many things and ultimately it fails because of that. Too many viewpoints. Too many clashing settings. Not enough depth to anyone or anything.
April 25, 2021
The blurb from Goodreads:
“A war is being fought in the skies over the city of Aufleur. No one sees the battles. No one knows how close they come to destruction every time the sun sets. During daylight, all is well, but when nox falls and the sky turns bright, someone has to step up and lead the Creature Court into battle.
Twelve years ago, Garnet kissed Velody and stole her magic. Five years ago, he betrayed Ashiol, and took his powers by force. But now the Creature Court is at a crossroads … they need a Power and Majesty who won’t give up or lose themselves in madness …”
First of all, I thought I’d chosen another YA Fantasy book. But the very descriptive sex scenes in later chapters reminded me it is definitely adult fiction. In the first chapters, we meet Velody as a young girl of fourteen. But here’s what I found interesting – instead of using a prologue, Tansy brings us to the now by speeding through the years of events; to Velody, now 26 years old, and to the current state of affairs, when the Creature Court is at it’s crossroads (as per the Blurb). The role of those chapters caused some confusion, but it eventually made sense.
I loved how she develops the characters, the detailed descriptions of the wonderful costumes and the characters themselves.
“…he walked down from the sky as if there were stairs beneath his feet…He wore his nakedness like armour, and his skin had a lantern glow about it.”
I felt their desires, triumphs and pain. I loved Velody’s friends and their relationship with each other. Strong women in their own right. Her new friends, not sure that’s the right word for them, are a mixture of tough arrogance and vulnerability. Even though one of those characters, Macready, is described by Tansy as islander, I could not get Gimli’s (LOR) brogue voice out of my head.
This book has a similar theme to The Hush by Skye Melke-Wegner (YA Fantasy) -Both have their own badness in a different realm of the city that ordinary folk of that city know nothing about. Tansy added another little gold nugget about that, but that would be telling. Oh, and there’s a twist…I love a twist.
I found this book hard to put down. I received it as a free download, but have just purchased the next book in the trilogy – The Shattered City and can’t wait to start it.
I gave it 4 stars.
“A war is being fought in the skies over the city of Aufleur. No one sees the battles. No one knows how close they come to destruction every time the sun sets. During daylight, all is well, but when nox falls and the sky turns bright, someone has to step up and lead the Creature Court into battle.
Twelve years ago, Garnet kissed Velody and stole her magic. Five years ago, he betrayed Ashiol, and took his powers by force. But now the Creature Court is at a crossroads … they need a Power and Majesty who won’t give up or lose themselves in madness …”
First of all, I thought I’d chosen another YA Fantasy book. But the very descriptive sex scenes in later chapters reminded me it is definitely adult fiction. In the first chapters, we meet Velody as a young girl of fourteen. But here’s what I found interesting – instead of using a prologue, Tansy brings us to the now by speeding through the years of events; to Velody, now 26 years old, and to the current state of affairs, when the Creature Court is at it’s crossroads (as per the Blurb). The role of those chapters caused some confusion, but it eventually made sense.
I loved how she develops the characters, the detailed descriptions of the wonderful costumes and the characters themselves.
“…he walked down from the sky as if there were stairs beneath his feet…He wore his nakedness like armour, and his skin had a lantern glow about it.”
I felt their desires, triumphs and pain. I loved Velody’s friends and their relationship with each other. Strong women in their own right. Her new friends, not sure that’s the right word for them, are a mixture of tough arrogance and vulnerability. Even though one of those characters, Macready, is described by Tansy as islander, I could not get Gimli’s (LOR) brogue voice out of my head.
This book has a similar theme to The Hush by Skye Melke-Wegner (YA Fantasy) -Both have their own badness in a different realm of the city that ordinary folk of that city know nothing about. Tansy added another little gold nugget about that, but that would be telling. Oh, and there’s a twist…I love a twist.
I found this book hard to put down. I received it as a free download, but have just purchased the next book in the trilogy – The Shattered City and can’t wait to start it.
I gave it 4 stars.
September 8, 2020
I finished this book with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I think it's terrifically well-crafted, with a meticulously-thought-out fantasy world, intriguing characters, a twisty plot, and a heroine who is determined to take control of her destiny. All good.
But wow, is it ever dark, violent, and depressing. Mild-mannered dressmaker Velody discovers that she is something more than human: She's one of the "Creature Court", a group of shapeshifting beings who secretly defend the city from supernatural threats. In fact, she may turn out to be the so-called "Power and Majesty", the super-duper Creature King who rules over them all. But this crew isn't exactly the Knights of the Round Table; they're all nasty pieces of work who constantly scheme and backstab each other while jockeying for a better position in the Court. The previous Power and Majesty kept them in line by being a sadistic bully, and Velody fears that she will end up going down the same path.
I was rooting for Velody throughout; she's a winner of a character with a good heart and plenty of common sense. At various points in the story, it seems she will either find a way to rule the Court on her own terms, or just walk away from the whole mess. But by the end of this first book, she seems inextricably stuck. No doubt things will change over the course of the series, but I'm not sure I really want to spend any more time in this dismal swamp of a milieu, in the hopes that things will improve.
In short, it's very well-done, but I'm not the target audience. If you like your fantasy pitch-black, then by all means, step right up.
But wow, is it ever dark, violent, and depressing. Mild-mannered dressmaker Velody discovers that she is something more than human: She's one of the "Creature Court", a group of shapeshifting beings who secretly defend the city from supernatural threats. In fact, she may turn out to be the so-called "Power and Majesty", the super-duper Creature King who rules over them all. But this crew isn't exactly the Knights of the Round Table; they're all nasty pieces of work who constantly scheme and backstab each other while jockeying for a better position in the Court. The previous Power and Majesty kept them in line by being a sadistic bully, and Velody fears that she will end up going down the same path.
I was rooting for Velody throughout; she's a winner of a character with a good heart and plenty of common sense. At various points in the story, it seems she will either find a way to rule the Court on her own terms, or just walk away from the whole mess. But by the end of this first book, she seems inextricably stuck. No doubt things will change over the course of the series, but I'm not sure I really want to spend any more time in this dismal swamp of a milieu, in the hopes that things will improve.
In short, it's very well-done, but I'm not the target audience. If you like your fantasy pitch-black, then by all means, step right up.
January 6, 2021
(This review originally appeared at Mad Scientist Journal.)
Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts is the first book in the Creature Court series and serves as a wonderful introduction to this epic fantasy world.
The city of Aufleur seems like a normal enough place, if a bit oversaturated with festivals. But that just means that Velody, a young dressmaker, and her friends Delphine, a ribbon maker, and Rhian, a florist, have plenty of work. All is well for them in their chosen careers for many years, until Velody’s eyes are opened to the truth of the city of Aufleur and the danger of the skies. She is abruptly pulled into a secret war that protects the inhabitants of Aufleur from a threat they aren’t even aware of, and her friends wind up impacted by her new role as well.
The descriptive language and fully realized characters sucked me straight into this book, making it hard to put down. For me, I found it had shades of Dark City and Neverwhere, though more than enough unique qualities to distinguish it from those stories of secret cities existing alongside real places. Though the book uses a lot of specialized language, it includes a glossary to explain those words and the extensive cast of characters. Personally, I found it easy enough to track most of the language and characters without it, but knowing it is there may help some readers.
The author provided us with a free copy of this book for review consideration.
Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts is the first book in the Creature Court series and serves as a wonderful introduction to this epic fantasy world.
The city of Aufleur seems like a normal enough place, if a bit oversaturated with festivals. But that just means that Velody, a young dressmaker, and her friends Delphine, a ribbon maker, and Rhian, a florist, have plenty of work. All is well for them in their chosen careers for many years, until Velody’s eyes are opened to the truth of the city of Aufleur and the danger of the skies. She is abruptly pulled into a secret war that protects the inhabitants of Aufleur from a threat they aren’t even aware of, and her friends wind up impacted by her new role as well.
The descriptive language and fully realized characters sucked me straight into this book, making it hard to put down. For me, I found it had shades of Dark City and Neverwhere, though more than enough unique qualities to distinguish it from those stories of secret cities existing alongside real places. Though the book uses a lot of specialized language, it includes a glossary to explain those words and the extensive cast of characters. Personally, I found it easy enough to track most of the language and characters without it, but knowing it is there may help some readers.
The author provided us with a free copy of this book for review consideration.
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