Masques

Sianim #1

by Patricia Briggs

Experience the fantasy and adventure of #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Brigg's first published novel—the thrilling start of the Sianim series...After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. But her latest mission involves more peril than she ever imagined. Agents of Sianim have asked her to gather intelligence on the increasingly popular and powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. Soon Aralorn comes to see past the man's striking charisma—and into a soul as corrupt and black as endless night. And few have the will to resist the sinister might of Geoffrey and his minions. So Aralorn, aided by her enigmatic companion, Wolf, join the growing rebellion against the ae'Magi. But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is—or where he will strike next?

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Paranormal, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Patricia Briggs was born in Butte, Montana, to a children’s librarian who passed on to her kids a love of reading and books. Patricia grew up reading fairy tales and books about horses, and later developed an interest in folklore and history. When she decided to write a book of her own, a fantasy book seemed a natural choice. Patricia graduated from Montana State University with degrees in history and German and she worked for a while as a substitute teacher. Currently, she lives in Montana with her husband, children, and six horses and writes full time, much to the delight of her fans.

Reviews

[Lisa M · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you've never read Patricia Priggs, please, dear God, please don't start with this book. I love Briggs. She's one of my favorite authors. I have not read her other straight fantasy books, but her urban fantasy series are on my 'instant buy' lists. She is an amazing writer. Unfortunately, this doesn't reflect her current skill.

This was her first novel, originally written twenty (or so) years ago. In her introduction, Briggs states she did not know much about writing then. She tried to polish this story up for the re-release, without taking anything away (she admits, "...much as it sometimes pained me."). This book was re-released to prepare for its sequel's release. I also imagine there was fan demand for her original book, since it was out of print.

Masques suffers a lot from the story being told, not shown. Instead of descibing a character's illness becoming worse (wracking cough, body aches, chills, sweating), its if the illness gets worse, so-and-so will die. And that happens throughout the entire book. I was description starved.

The main character was a bit Mary Sue-ish. (If you're unsure what a Mary Sue is, follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue .) Nothing really phased her. When her male counterpart told her about his horrible past, internally she was bothered, but she had just the right response for his confession. In fact, in pretty much every situation, she had just the right words to say. And she was incessently cheerful and playful. I like happy characters. I like funny characters. And people do joke around to lighten the mood during stressful times. But not always. There were scenes where it was just unrealistic. Or it happened too much. At some point the stress has to get to you.

And a personal pet peeve of mine: when a main character's name is similar to a Lord of the Rings charater (or any other classic literary character). I think she could have been a bit more original than Aralorn.

If this had not been written by Patricia Briggs, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I read the excerpt for the sequel, Wolfsbane, and it looks like some of my issues I mentioned are gone (except the name, she really can't change her main character's name). I will probably either buy the sequel or at least check it out at the library. Briggs is a fantastic writer now, and I look forward to what she can do with these characters with her improved skills.

Follow my reviews at Urban Fantasies Read and Reviewed.

[Angela (Angel's Book Nook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

** Note: This novel is an updated edition of Patricia Briggs first book. It includes an introduction by the author herself explaining the updated edition. **

I’m a huge Briggs fan and wanted to try out her other works. I love her Urban Fantasy series Alpha & Omega along with Mercy Thompson. This is nothing like those series. This is high Fantasy. We are treated to action, intrigue, mercenaries, mages, wizards, shape-sifters and engaging characters. All of this made it a highly entertaining story to listen to and I can’t wait to pick up the next.

Masques is the first book in the Sianim series and the first in Aralorn.

Aralorn is a mercenary with a bit of magic, who rescued a Wolf. She’s got magical gifts that make her a great spy/mercenary. Her latest mission takes her to a powerful mages house to spy and learn of an attempted assassination, but what she discovers is much worse. So, Aralorn sets off on her adventure with a mysterious shape-shifting wolf and a young king who is impervious to magic to fight against the evil that wants to control the world. I enjoyed Aralorn. She cleaver, skilled, and compassionate. She has depth, courage, and is an engaging heroine. She likes to go her own way and work alone, but knows this time she is ill-equipped to do it alone.

Wolf is an interesting puzzles. Who is he? Is he a man, a wizard, or is he more? His past is not good and we learn about him and who he is. I loved Wolf. He’s so complexed. His past is slowly revealed and he must face it; before he can move on. He also must learn to trust.

WOW, the world is vast and in-depth. Their’s a lot of storytelling and information to digest. The lore and legend is beautifully weaved into the story and they play a strong role in helping Aralorn and her friends against the evil taking over the world.

I was captivated and devoured this novel from the first to the last word. The storytelling was wonderful, but also a bit overwhelming at times. Their is also a dose of romance, but the fantasy, action, and intrigue take up the story.

Narration: Katherine Kellgren did a fabulous job with her narration. The story is mainly in Aralorn’s view, but we do get Wolf and a few others. The storytelling was majestic and the fight scenes were great. The voices where nice and distinctive. I have to say I’m glad I listened. If I’d read I would have been to overwhelmed. Not saying I wasn’t, but I digested it better in this formate.

Rated: 4.5 Stars

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

The reason why I chose to read this masterpiece thing book is quite very simple indeed: I don't like Patricia Brigg's UF series. At all. I mean, I rated Moon Called 2 delightful little stars. Then I thought to my little nefarious self: "Well, this series didn't exactly work for me but maybe Alpha & Omega will! Let's be bold! Let's be audacious! Let's give Briggs another chance! Let's give Cry Wolf a try!" So I did. And proceeded to give the book a most glorious 2-star rating.

Not to be deterred by this unfortunate occurrence, I decided to continue with the series (because I'm brave like that) and read Hunting Ground. And guess what? Total success! I loved the book SO much I rated it 2.2 stars! And didn't even DNF it! Go me and stuff!

Thinking that I was just about to see the light and finally appreciate the utter greatness of Brigg's work, some of my Infamous Friends of Despicable Book Taste (IFoDBT™) then kindly convinced me forced me to read the sequel to Moon Called, Blood Bound, at gun point.



Now now, dear, no need to be so harsh. My friends might have despicable book taste and thinking might not be their forte, but they still are my friends. And I do like them. Sometimes.

This went about as well as you'd expect: I (kind of) DNFed the book at the 21% mark and proceeded to rate it 2 wondrous stars. Most wimps people would have left it at that. I mean, why torture one's little self by reading books written by an author who obviously does nothing for one? Well, masochism is real. That's when my Irrefutably Irrefutable Nefarious Logic (IINL™) comes into play. Allow me to explain and stuff: you see, my above-mentioned IFoDBT™ all happen to 💕lurve💕 Patricia Briggs' UF series (what can I say, they're hopeless like that). So when I realized that 99% of them thought the author's ancient older fantasy books were pure crap a little disappointing, I very logically deduced that I would 💕lurve💕 them!



Well excuse me but someone with a slight twitching issue such as yours should know better than to judge.

So here we are and stuff. See how my IINL™ worked for me? Pretty amazing, huh? I mean, I did rate this book 2.5 titillating stars, aka my highest Briggs rating to date! I think it very likely that by the time I finish reading this series

I'll reach a 2.52789 rating. At the most least. And can you imagine what would happen if I gave Hurog and Raven a try? I'd probably end up going for ratings in the high 2.3-star range. And wouldn't that be quite extraordinary indeed? You bet it would.

Sorry, what? I didn't tell you a thing about this particular book, you say? Well, did it occur to your little barnacled brains that this may be because there's absolutely not a damn shrimping thing to say about this book? Apart from the fact it's boring as fish, obviously. And packed with immensely engaging infodump and wonderfully fascinating blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong, it's not ALL bad. I mean, the female lead has a marvelously Mary Sue-ish personality. And the male lead is a shapeshifter. He's probably the most lackluster shapeshifter in the history of most lackluster shapeshifters but hey, at least he's not a vamp. So that's pretty cool. Oh, and the cast of characters as a whole is flatter than my favorite herd of ironing boards. Quite a feat, that.

And I rest in my case I now shall.

➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): Patricia Briggs, it's obviously not me you, it's you me. So no hard feelings and stuff.

P.S.



P.P.S. Can I get a medal now?



[Pre-review nonsense]

Well that was absolutely fascinating.



Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. Then again...

➽ Review to come and stuff.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, Patricia Briggs, added a foreward to this Audible.com re-release of the book. In it, she described how it was her first book and that she had the opportunity to edit it for re-release (in preparation for turning it into a series). She talked about how impossible editing was because she had changed so much as a writer and editing would have meant creating an entirely differet work. She says that she ended up mostly adding-to rather than actual editing. I'm not sure how much or where she added because there are no obvious breaks or additions that I noted. Indeed, the whole adds up to a very enjoyable book that bears few, if any, hallmarks of the first-time writer.

I can see some of her point, however, for the book is more naïve than her more recent work. While I wouldn't charaterize this as a Young Adult novel, it isn't far from it in terms of tone and characterization. Many of the relationships between characters were simple and interractions tended to take the direct path with little scope for exploration or nuance. Along these same lines, world setup and plot are pretty straight forward—without the depth or care of Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. And expository storytelling is frequent, only vaguely justified by Aralorn's hobby of collecting folk tales. And few of the old stories so exposited escape revelation during the course of the book. Nobody has seen a real dragon for ages, of course, but we do. Ditto the legendary "Old Man of the Mountain".

I don't fault the book for this simplicity, but it is pronounced enough that you'll want to save Masques for when you aren't looking for a lot of complexity. That said, there are some pretty harsh events and there is nothing like an easy path for the protagonists to follow. Indeed, there is meat on the bones of this story that prevent it from being dismissed as mere popcorn or of little value.

I found Aralorn, the chief protagonist, youthfully optimistic and engaging, for all her claimed age and experience. And I don't mean that in the back-handed way that it could be interpreted or as part of my characterization of the work as "simple". Aralorn is delightful and her relationship with Wolf deeply moving. In fact, the heart of the book, and the source of its considerable charm, is this relationship between Aralorn and Wolf. While we don't see the first years of their journey together (and I suspect the part at the beginning showing us its start is an added section), we do feel the weight of those years. Their long association leads to a deep trust that, during the story we are given, grows as such relationships can—moving quickly, almost suddenly, into the deep and satisfying parts of a relationship where two people who are comfortable with each other are amazed to find themselves so.

Accepted at its own level and with expectations of a good story well, if simply, told, this book is excellent. I enjoyed it immensely and have no hesitation recommending it to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy book.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors and while it is clear this book was one of her earlier ones, it was still excellent. The characters were well written and the world building was pretty good. I am excited there is a second book with these characters as they are excellent. You have a mercenary spy who can change her shape to take the face of anyone and a magician on the run from the head magician who is slowly trying to take over the world. What trouble could they get into? The book is sweet and I really liked the stories that were told within the book and would love to see more of those. Glad I finally got around to reading this one as it sat on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the paperback, but since I haven't had as much luck actually reading books right now, I listened to the audiobook. I am a huge admirer of Patricia Briggs, so it was really great to read her first book. I like that she includes a foreword about the novel with a disclaimer. I like her humility in admitting that her first novel isn't what she would want it to be now, but also her practicality in admitting that she did not believe she could rewrite it after all this time. Instead she has built on the foundation of this book. Indeed, I can see echoes of Masques in her later books. I cannot help but compare this book to her later books, but it is in a largely favorable way.

I believe this is a very solid first novel. Briggs mentioned that she felt it was cliche-ridden. I believe there are common tropes in the novel for fantasy, but it did not feel cliche to me. In fact, Aralorn is definitely not a Mary Sue, but a layered character. She's thoughtful and seasoned, with her share of ways in which she doesn't measure up to the mark, not someone who has gotten what she wanted through her life. Nor does she feel like the "chosen one." She feels like someone who worked at getting where they are, has the normal fears and doubts, and shortcomings. I appreciated her abilities as a shapeshifter, but also a seasoned warrior who is not great with a sword.

Wolf is like Patricia Briggs took a peek at my list of traits that I love in a hero. He's very broken, but that which broke him made him into a formidable man that he is in this book. Of course, I love wolves (real life and in books), and that was another plus that he shapechanges into a wolf. I loved his character and his dynamic with Aralorn. I also enjoyed that there was some suspense for me not knowing who he was and his backstory until the narrative revealed those answers.

I enjoyed the plot about a certain sorcerer who was trying to gather up all the magic, and the resulting aftermath of that. What I appreciate about Briggs' writing, especially for a novice at that time, was how everything tied together. Even as a newbie, her obvious skill was evident. I do feel that Briggs learned to be more concise as a writer from this book to her Mercy Thompson/Alpha and Omega books, a trait of her writing, I definitely appreciate. She has a marvelous way of using words economically to maximum evocative effect. The seeds of that are present even in this book. Also her ability to convey the emotional makeup of her characters.

The narrator's voice took some getting used to, but I started to enjoy it. Wolf has a particular way of speaking that she captures well, and it cemented what and who he was to me when she spoke his dialogue.

As with most of her books, there's a lovely dose of romance in this books. I loved the chemistry, respect, and deep emotional connection between Wolf and Aralorn, and how much they really got each other.

I'd say for a first book, this one isn't shabby at all. As a matter of fact, it's a great book. I would hesitate to give it five stars because I know that the quality is slightly less than what I expect from her later books. But it's at least 4.25 stars, easily.

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Briggs' first novel, re-released with some tweaks. According to Briggs she couldn't tweak too much without re-writing the whole thing, but she did add a bit of polish and perhaps a chapter to the beginning.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Briggs herself admits she knew nothing about writing at the time and it is obvious she has grown a lot over the years.

This is classic sword and sorcery type fantasy set in a medievalish world. A super evil sorcerer's malignant influence is seeping throughout the lands and the heroine, a spy, stumbles upon his true nature.

The heroine, Aralorn, is very similar to Mercy in personality and, in some ways, background. She's set apart from most everyone by being half-human, half-shapeshifter.

The hero, Wolf, is a classic tortured anti-hero who evolves through his love of the heroine.

Not a terribly original or polished story, but it was action-packed and I enjoyed this glimpse into Briggs' early writing career and what I'm convinced is the medieval prototype of Mercy Thompson.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Briggs, perhaps best known for her Mercy Thompson series, writes an introduction to the reissue of this, the very first of her novels to ever be published. In said into, she says that she didn't think much about this first book, not until she found out that it was fetching some rather high prices on various websites (since there weren't many copies to start with, and it was out of print). She was preparing to release the second book in the series and wanted to reissue the first, but when she went back and looked over it, it was a bit cringe-worthy. However, the more she read, the more she realized that she couldn't change nearly as much as she wanted without having to change a lot of the next book, too. So she pretty much left things alone, and asks the reader to be kind and keep all this in mind as the story opens.

She really shouldn't have worried about it so much.

True, this isn't as polished as her later works, but the heart of the story is there, and if you're like me, that's what pulls you in. Aralorn is perhaps at times a bit too headstrong, but she's young, and that makes sense. She is not, thankfully, one of those too perfect heroines that one can find in books such as this, nor is she too stupid to live. I found her to be someone I could see myself being friends with, and that's exactly what I was looking for. (I've been reading more nonfiction lately, and I wanted something a bit lighter).

The book opens with her meeting Wolf for the first time, then skips ahead about four years, to her involvement with the ae'Magi. It's obvious to Aralorn, and of course, to us, that he's pretty much evil personified. What's worse is that his dark magic has pretty much everyone snowed; only the small handful that finally come together to make up the rebellion seem to be immune to his illusions. The band of misfits includes royalty, children, cooks, and others, and what's nice is that even most of these peripheral characters are developed - enough so that you care about them when the inevitable attacks begin.

Adding to the mix are the Uriah, which I took to be some sort of magical zombies, and you've got a good little fantasy tale on your hands.

Of course, Briggs excels at the relationships between damaged individuals, and Aralorn and Wolf fall into this category. Their story develops at a nice pace - not too fast, not too slow - and now I've requested the sequel to this, "Wolfsbane" to find out what happens with these two. Overall, I would definitely recommend this, and again, I think Briggs was far too hard on herself. Then again, I don't think many writers enjoy reading their first works, as they're often their own worst critics.

[Cheesecake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I gave this another try. I listened to the audiobook and it was great!
The story was mediocre for this author, which still places it well above the riff raff.

Aralorn is a medieval spy. She has green magic that she has taught herself to use.
One day she happens upon a wolf dying in a pit trap and rescues him. He is of course, more than a wolf. Over a few years they develop an off and on again companionship.
The whole story revolves around the Ae'Magi and his thirst for power. He has most of people fooled into thinking he's some kind of benign sweety pie. But much of his power comes from the children and old men that he murders.

Wolf and Aralorn eventually join forces with the king's heir, Myre, who has been displaced from his throne by the Ae'Magi. Aralorn is no beauty. But neither is Wolf. He would have been if he hadn't been so scarred at a young age.

The story was a little rambling and the bad guy was obvious and odious. I loved the characters, Aralorn, Wolf and Myre. The ending was a wee bit abrupt and not really an HEA. More of an HFN.
The romance is very thin. We know that Wolf loves Aralorn and we're pretty sure that she loves him too but they don't even kiss.

Still it was fun and I look forward to reading the next story!
Safety is good. No deets for either really. I got the impression that Aralorn has had healthy sex before. So no sad sack virgin here. I'm not sure if Wolf is a virgin. If he isn't, I doubt his sexual history is anything to brag about. Probably nasty and I'd rather not know!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey look, I read a novel!

This was a solid 3.5.

I already liked Patricia Briggs so I figured this wouldn't be awful - which, yay, it wasn't. I liked all of the characters, the world, the story ... but it was missing something. Honestly I think it was just because this was Brigg's first novel and I know she's capable of better.

Good stuff, though.

[Maria Dimitrova · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[M— · Rating 4 out of 5]

ETA July 2010:
Release date for the Masques reissue is set for October of this year! The sequel, Wolfsbane, will be released in November. New Briggs books in time for Christmas I cannot wait!

http://www.patriciabriggs.com/


Original Review, April 2007:
Oh, this book has given me grief.

This author is a favorite of mine and, with the notable exception of Masques, I have copies of all of her books. Masques, you see, is out of print.

When I first discovered Briggs, I did what I do with any new infatuation: I stalked her through the Internet, found her official website, ran like wildfire through her entire bibliography, snapped up the new titles as soon as they published, and waited patiently for Ace to reissue her first several books that had gone out of print. And I was very patient. And I was rewarded with the reissues of every previous out-of-print title except for Masques.

2006 came and went, and I was very patient. 2007 came, Masques suddenly became delayed at the publishers indefinitely, and my patience snapped. No problem, I thought. I can track down the 1993 edition of this book.

Ha.

It's nearly impossible to track down a copy of Masques. I tried diligently. While Amazon.com did list a couple used copies for sale, prices started at $1,310.99, I am… I am not going to pay that. No public or university library in my state has a copy. My trusty Internet turned up a World Catalog search listing a grand total of 20 copies scattered across the country. An interlibrary loan attempt run through my public library, however, turned up listings for only 10 copies and not one could be sent to me. My faithful university library declined to run a loan search on the grounds that they only run loan searches for students and an alumna is not a student. The WorldCat search listed the Library of Congress (which at 2 hours away counts as practically next door) as having a noncirculating copy, but the LOC online directory did not show that listing. I phoned up the LOC to check anyway. They don't have a copy.

I thought there might be a slim chance that I could go back to my public library interlibrary loan librarian, get the names of those 10 libraries that had copies, obtain their contact information, discern if the copies they have were noncirculating or just currently in use, and beg them to hold and/or notify me when a copy become available so that I may rerequest the loan. Actually, my interlibrary loan librarian took pity on me and sent out a second request for the book, this time finding a copy to bring in. It took about two months of work, but I finally had a copy in my hands.

It took me about 2 hours to read it.

And it was good. I enjoyed it. It's a first novel, and it has the flaws and imperfections that tend to be inherent to such, but I was so glad I went through the effort to track it down.

I'll be even happier when it comes back into print, because Briggs is slatted to rework it (with more experienced hands) and pair it with a sequel. She just needs to complete her contractual obligations for 8 other books and a short story before working on Masques again. It's going to take years.

My advice? If you don't already happen to have a copy and don't have the fortune to have obscenely good luck at flea markets, see your local international loan librarian for assistance.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I’m a huge Patricia Briggs fan. I’ve been reading her Mercy Thompson series going back to when there was only three Mercy books and one Alpha & Omega book. But up until this point, I’ve only read Briggs’s stories set in the Mercyverse. I’ll be honest when I say that I grabbed up this audiobook not knowing much about this story other than it was written by Patricia Briggs and that it is more fantasy than Mercy.

This story starts off with an intro from Briggs talking about her history writing and this book. This was actually her first story. It did go out of print, but once she became the success that she is, there was talk about printing it again. She did some clean up, but she talks about her fears of changing too much where it wasn’t the same story she originally released. While I could see this isn’t as polished as Storm Cursed (which I listened to just three books prior to this one), I can’t fault it.

Aralorn is the main character. While she is from a noble family, she isn’t what would be considered a “lady”. She’s much happier being a mercenary than she is going to balls in pretty dresses. She has a unique talent as a mercenary in that she is a shape changer. While she is not able to change her gender, she is able to take the shape of different females. She’s also able to take the shape of some animals.

She also meets Wolf, a very powerful human magician. He is able to take the shape of a wolf, hence the name. She doesn’t know much about about him, but they have each other’s back and trust each other. There isn’t a physical relationship between the two, he pulls away everytime it starts to even inch in that direction.

There is also the villain, the ae’Magi. He is the ruling sorcerer. He is also using a lot energy and power to keep his political power. He is even killing people to stoak his power. Aralorn and Wolf want to work to kill him. That is where the majority of the plot lies.

I had a great time with this story. You can see where Briggs was still a novice when writing this, but you can also see what a creative mind she has. The characters were a lot of fun and the plot was entertaining. Is there anything else you can ask from a rookie writer? I can’t wait to try the second book and see where Aralorn and Wolf go from here.

Narration
This was my first time listening to Katherine Kellgren. I first learned of her not that long ago when I saw a ton of narrators posting about her death and also about her induction to Audible’s Narrator Hall of Fame. I can completely see why she was inducted. She did a great job with the narration of this story. I love her voices for both male and female characters. Her pace and tone were great and perfect for this story. I highly recommend her work.

**I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Via www.nikihawkes.com

As a long-time fan of Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, I went ahead and bought these before I even knew what they were about. Thinking it was another urban fantasy, I was surprised to discover it’s actually a classic shapeshifter fantasy novel. I find it rather amazing how well Briggs can tell one story about werewolfs and another about shapechangers and have them sound nothing alike. It is a true testament to her creativity as an author to be able to capture each genre so well.

There were some good elements of world-building throughout the story, but overall I found it a bit minimal. She could have done a bit more to bring the feel of the world alive without distracting from the story. This is why I think the characters and events are what made this novel special. The author is excellent at portraying strong female leads, dynamic love interests, and throwing them into great conflicts.

Another writing element I like is that Briggs manages to introduce these interpersonal conflicts without making them feel like senseless turmoils. This is a notable skill, as I find many authors sound like they’re following a formula.. “Okay, there hasn’t been any arguements between the characters in 50 pages, so I’d better invent a problem…” To take it further, all of Briggs works that I’ve read so far possess extrememly natural story progressions, which is probably why she is so easy and fun to read. Although the writing was not quite as strong as the Mercy series, it was highly entertaining in its own right.

Overall, Masques was a great book from an outstanding author and I’m eager to find out what happens next!

As a side note for all you die-hard Mercy fans out there: “Frost Burned” comes out March 5!!!!

Other books you might like:

Shapechanger’s Song by Jennifer Roberson
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs
Thief’s Gamble by Juliet E. McKenna
First Truth by Dawn Cook

[Lisa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Wolf, Blue Eyes

★★★½✩ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Nicely narrated by Katherine Kellgren. I had to get used to her, or maybe she just got better, but she was using some kind of a weird “superior” tone at the beginning. Otherwise, her pacing and the inflections are right for the situations. She is good with both male and female voices. As an extra, we get to hear Patricia Briggs’ voice & thoughts for the intro as to why she chose to change some things and not others, since this was her first book, which she has since polished up and republished.

As the book blurb says, this is a Fantasy book about Aralorn and Wolf. When Aralorn is sent to spy on the powerful sorcerer ae'Magi, she gets in over her head at times. She has magic of her own, and I love that she can’t shift into anything exotic, as she’d like, but only ordinary things, like a mouse and a goose. LOL!

This book shows the signs of a first book, even with Ms. Briggs’ polishing up, which she admits to. I wish there had been a bit more world-building. Plus, it is slow to get off the ground, but all her charm with storytelling is there and I found it fun to participate in a “buddy read” with this one. I think we all guessed some things, but were all still pleased. Looking forward to the next.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook and actually loved it. The narrator is my favorite: Katherine Kellgren. I loved the story. Shape shifters, spies magic, and even a dragon! I'm onto the second book now, Wolfsbane.

[Karyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny thing about this book - hard to find it in libraries and book stores, there aren't many hard copies available - but you can find it for free online.

Lady Aralorn is a shapeshifter who works as a spy. She's charming, humourous, courageous and has a knack for folklore. Wolf is a powerful magician with a scarred tortured past where he wasn't on the good side. He prefers to avoid human contact and stays in wolf form - hence the name. However Aralorn helped him once and he finds he keeps returning for her company.
They're only friends for almost all of the book, and only towards the end do they voice their feelings out. There was one kiss somewhere in between, which you almost miss, so this is no romance book. What i liked was their understanding of each other - they knew what to say or do and what the other needed better than the person themselves. Aralorn uses her wit and simple gestures to show Wolf she cares or to calm him down - and that was one of the reason i read this till 4 this morning.
The villain in this book in an archimage who has everyone's affections and is described as charming and full of laughter. But behind closed doors he's creating new monsters and doing horrible things to children to increase his power - and not enough people know this to be able to stop him without reprisal.
The final showdown between the couple and the archimage was more a blip than a bang - but I've realised that Briggs usually does things subtly and while she's refined her style over the years, this book follows in the same pattern.

This is one of Patricia Briggs early works, and in a way it does show. A lot of things went unexplained, the characters aren't black and white, they don't have the depth of character that you see in her Mercy Thompson series for example. But its a great story nonetheless.

Favourite line:
"When I die of heart failure the next time you frighten me like that, you can put that on my gravestone—‘I didn’t mean to startle her'"

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I didn't love Patricia Briggs (and know that there was a more recently-written sequel to this), I probably would have given up within the first half. The gives plenty of warnings that this is, indeed, a first novel, and that she only did minor polishing to get it ready for a re-printing, but that doesn't change the fact that parts of this are just down-right hard to get through.

The first 50-ish pages (after the prologue) are effectively a ginormous infodump, and for the sanity of other readers might be best enjoyed skimmed over. There are a whole lot of magical systems, locations, names and factions that she tossed at the reader, and it's done in such a way that it really wasn't at all enjoyable for me. I think, after hitting the halfway point in the novel, the part that frustrated me the most with the beginning is that the vast majority of those characters introduced really had nothing to do with the rest of the story, so all that time spent introducing them really felt like a waste.

The second half was an improvement, and there were some neat plot points. For how much that half picked up story-wise, I was going to give this a 3-star, but then the ending happened and it was weak all around (actually, I was thinking "That can't really be the climax? Well, there's 20 pages left.... Oh, wait, 10 of those are a sample from the next book").

Character-wise, Aralorn was pretty flat and uninteresting, and spent most of her time being a giant Mary Sue of a character. Luckily, Wolf makes up quite a bit for her blandness, and is a pretty interesting hero (with plenty of baggage). A big part of what kept me going was just how much I wanted to know what was going on with him.

For the good bits in here, I'll be picking up the sequel, and hoping that this will have just served as a set-up for a true ending. Yes, I went in knowing exactly what this is, but it doesn't really stop this from being a frustrating book for me. So glad that I didn't start reading Patricia Briggs with this novel.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Patricia Briggs. There I've said it.

Now you know that this is going to be biased.

You could tell it was an earlier book in that the storytelling was raw. The plot was interesting and the characters were intriguing but they felt a little underdeveloped. Again, it's what happens in a first book.

Still a really good read for two reasons: 1) It's an interesting and light fantasy read that will make you smile/laugh at the dialogue 2) It's Patricia freaking Briggs!

Wolf is a scarred and flawed character but he is trying to redeem and find himself along the way. Aralorn (how LOTR imo) is his lodestone. She is a 'plain' (I never understood what that meant really) but bad-ass woman. She is a spy and a warrior but she knows her limits. She is curious and easy to be around and she is a shifter. I wish this book was longer because I would've liked to see Aralorn come into her power more than she does in this book, plus it would've been awesome to see how many things she could shift into. Wolf is a character that is shrouded in mystery. The mystery was pretty easy for me to figure out but never explicitly told until the latter half of the book.

This book has two points of view with a smattering of a third or a fourth. I could've done without the others. Though the story is told with 2 POV's, the person with the most screen time is Aralorn. We get Wolf's emotional POV while the plot moves along through Aralorn. It's a good technique and kept me interested without distraction.

I can't wait to start the next one.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is Briggs' first novel, which has been out of print for ages and ages but was recently reissued. She added an introduction that makes it pretty clear that she finds the novel kind of embarrassingly bad and agreed to the reissue because of fan demand and not because she actually thought the book deserved it. So I was kind of wary going in, especially since I'd read a couple of her other novels set in this world and found them kind of meh--I figured the very first would be even worse.

So, considering my low expectations, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Masques. I didn't adore it, but it's a fun traditional fantasy. There isn't any playing with genre tropes or doing anything unique with her worldbuilding, but I'm a sucker for shapeshifters, and Briggs' characteristically strong characterization and clear, concise prose that keeps the plot moving is present even in this, her first novel. So if you enjoy straight up uncomplicated sword and sorcery with a dash of romance, this is worth the read.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Patricia Briggs, her Mercy Thompson books are great fun. But this just didn't do it for me. She would probably have been better served to leave it as it was and never re-publish it or do a complete re-write. I finally tossed it last night after struggling through the first 70 pages and hoping it would eventually grab me. But no, it did not happen. It felt a little like bad fanfiction.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this is Patricia Briggs first book and clearly her writing ability and storytelling has grown exponentially since writing this story but there is such a sweetness and humor to this story that is so appealing and special.
I was really captivated by Aralorn and wolf ... I enjoyed every moment of reading this book. Looking forward to the sequel.

[Lynsey is Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I read (listened to) the updated 2010 version which had been re-written and fleshed out considerably (according to the author's introduction), and was almost twice the length of the original 1993 release.

I really struggled to rate this one. It's so hard not to compare it to her Mercy Thompson series, which is a mistake because that really is in a class of its own. Not even the spin-off Alpha and Omega series compares to it, in truth. But it's hard not to at least compare writing styles since you know it's the same author, and this is definitely a more simplistic style. There is none of the complex layering and weaving of story threads, and not much in the way of mystery or intrigue. Really, it's just about a simple (if magical) girl, who has a friend who is sometimes a wolf, who has to try and stop an evil mage from taking over the world (insert cheesy echo sound effect here). It's a plot that has been wheeled out for fantasy novels many, many times before.

Except that this is Patricia Briggs we are talking about here, who is a master story teller and amazing at characterization. So although the plot shows little originality on the outside, once you get into the nitty gritty of it, there were many enjoyable aspects of the world-building and characters to savour. And a sweet and touching tentative romance.A lthough this part of the story is minimal, it really added to my enjoyment.

The main character we follow is Aralorn, who is a shapeshifter. She can become almost any shape but she has to train and memorize each new one to be able to do them instantly. Being able to switch between girl and mouse, or girl and goose at little more than a thought, helps no end in her job as a spy, which is how she becomes entangled in a powerplay between two opposing leaders.

Wolf is a very interesting character as well, with a rather hellish back story. As you don't find out exactly who is is until after the first quarter of the book (And I try never to mention things past that point in reviews lest I spoil the plot for you) I won't be able to say too much about him, other than that I liked him a lot, and was happy with the progress he made within this story. I would like to see even more progress in the next one, but I understand these things take time.

There are a few issues with the plot even with the rewrites that have been done but I'm not going to go over them. I'll leave that to others. What I will say is that I enjoyed the story, I particularly enjoyed the narrators work on the audiobook, and I grew to like Wolf and Aralorn enough to want to read the next book, Wolfsbane, which I am looking forward to starting very soon.

4 Stars! ★★★★

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is sort of a deceptive three stars, because I really liked the story and the characters, but the pacing is so weird, and the book isn't fleshed out enough.

Also, I did read the updated and expanded version, but I'm attaching this review to the cheesier, older, more colorful original cover because I like it better. It's going to annoy me going forward in the series (which I will be doing!) that the other books won't match, because even though this book was published in 1993 (her first book), the direct sequel, Wolfsbane, wasn't published until 2010. I guess there were indirect sequels published in the same world following this one, but I'm not super interested in those, just the ones that follow Aralorn and her wolf-shifter companion.

I'm actually a little vague on the plot since I finished this in a couple of days back in July, so I will let the blurb speak for me on that front:

"After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy.

Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi.

But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is-or where he will strike next?"

Aralorn is pulled into the conflict in her realm when the evil sorcerer pushes his powers further, and she ends up captured in his castle. There's a lot more going on there, but again, memory bad, book long ago.

I really liked the worldbuilding here, and the characters, particularly our two protagonists, Aralorn and Wolf (who of course isn't who he seems). But it really was a jarring reading experience. It kind of boggles my mind that this is the rewritten/expanded version because it still read like an abridged book; scenes felt constantly as if they were missing and transitions were often non-existent. The worldbuilding was also a tad on the thin side. I had enough not to feel lost, but this is a very small book set in a very rich world, and we barely get a taste of it.

I was interested by the author's foreword to this edition, in which she states that she doesn't want to update the book so much that it's unrecognizable, so it was really a very light expansion and rewrite, rather than an overhaul. I would like to see the overhauled version, but I understood where she was coming from.

I don't think I'm interested in this author's Mercy Thompson books, but I will check out all her other wolfie books, I don't remember their names but the wolfies are the important part.

[3.5 stars]

Chipping Away at Mt. TBR, July 2022—Book 18/31

[Melissa McShane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Patricia Briggs deserves a medal for being brave enough to re-release this book, her first novel and one that doesn't make her look very good. On the other hand, it's interesting to track an author's progress from early books through later ones, and I doubt Briggs is in any danger of losing readers because of this one.

I'm not sure why I read this, except that I had some notion of getting the background for Wolfsbane, which has been recommended to me. Briggs's added chapters at the beginning (for better continuity) weren't integrated very well into the original book; for example, in the new material Aralorn never knows Wolf as anything but a wolf, but then she leaves him for a mission that takes several months (and takes us into the original story) and when she next encounters him, they both react as if she's seen him as human many times. I never really warmed to the characters, and the main bad guy was just...too much. He's totally evil, totally sadistic, and has enough magical power to keep an entire kingdom believing that he's a wonderful guy, plus he's incredibly beautiful and wealthy--is there a word for a Mary-Sue of Evil?

I'm not going to hold Masques against its immediate sequel, Wolfsbane; seventeen years is a long time in the life of an author. Still, Masques hasn't made me eager to read the next one.

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

One of Briggs's earliest works, which sadly shows, but it was an interesting concept and I liked the characters tremendously. I would have loved to have seen this book had she not written it until this juncture in her writing career - would be so interesting to see the differences.

It is very different in style to the sequel, Wolfsbane. This earlier book actually feels more emotional and rich in feeling, as if we are closer to what is happening.

Aralorn and Wolf are quite perfect for one another, but I love how simple and quiet the two are with one another and about their feelings toward the other.

Enjoyable and worth two hours of reading:)

Warnings: Villain engages in some disturbing acts of violence, torture and sexual abuse. Forced another character, his son, to assist him for some time in these acts. Nastiness. *shudders* So, mature readers.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This was Patricia Briggs' first published book, and unfortunately it very much shows. You can see some glimpses of the style she will fully develop later on, which I love in her Mercy Thompson series. I'll read the sequel to this book, which was written 17 years later, but I think I'll pass on the two other standalone books she wrote in this same 'world' but with different characters. I love Briggs, but not that much haha!

[Fluffyswife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Начетох се на коментари как това е най-слабата книга на Патриша Бригс и как е пълна с клишета и проблеми. Затова очакванията ми бяха ниски и силно тревожни. За щастие, не се оправдаха. Да, някои събития и факти бяха лесно предвидими, но това не отне почти нищо от чара на приказката. Защото тази книжка е точно това - приказка за царе, магьосници, дракони и мечове. Добре де, и една инатлива дама шпионин за бонус.
Повествованието е такова, каквото свикнах да очаквам от фентъзитата на авторката - плавно, увличащо и неизменно сгряващо, дори и в напрегнатите моменти. Второстепенните герои не са от най-запомнящите се, но за сметка на това Аралорн няма да я забравя скоро. Тази дама е любимият ми тип героиня - сравнително нормална за света, в който живее. Разполага с посредствен талант, който обаче използва на макс. Борбена, упорита (донякъде граничещо с инат) и силна духом. Веднъж захванала се с някаква задача, не я оставя недовършена, дори ситуацията да изглежда неспасяема. Или по-скоро точно заради това. Всяко предизвикателство приема с добра доза хумор, без обаче да го омаловажава.
Антагонистът ми подейства малко носталгично. Оказа се лошковец какъвто обикновено очаквам да намеря в старите анимета - категоричен, неотклоним, стопроцентов зъл магьосник, който покорява всички, жадува за пълна власт, отъждествява се с боговете и изглежда фантасично красив. Мога да си го представя дори наисуван точно като от японска анимация :D За сметка на това противникът му съвсем не е очакваният бял маг, даже напротив. Много време му трябва на Вълк изобщо да се реши да предприеме нещо и е принуден да търси пътя си опипом, въпреки силата, която притежава.
Романтичната нишка се заплита по-скоро на заден план. Тя си върви по подразбиране и без да е обяснена в дълги и излишни монолози. Един-два бързи погледа във вътрешния свят на героите, още толкоз разменени мили жестове и това е достатъчно. Спасяването на дамата от замъка на злия магьосник е част от борбата с последния все пак. :D Този момент бе предназначен по-скоро да поведе Вълк към осъзнаване на другата половина от талантите му, а не толкова да ни натрие носа в нещо, което в самото начало се усети накъде отива.
Светът за който се води битката е вплетен в същото това леко и ненатрапчиво повествование, което напомня на приказка и до края на книгата се оказа, че го познавам достатъчно добре като за гост, без да помня да съм го обикаляла с гид. Достатъчно ми беше да кротувам зад очите на Аралорн и да се оглеждам пътем.
Казано накратко - останах приятно изненадана. Ако това е най-слабата книга на аворката, значи няма да остана разочарована от което и да било от нейните произведения.

[Z-squared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book. A surprising number of reviewers didn't like this, or said something to the effect of, "I'm so glad I read other Patricia Briggs books first or I never would have read another." I just don't get it. Maybe because the version I'm reading was revised and expanded from the original, but I thought Masques was marvelous. Very well executed, even if it relied on relatively predictable cliches. Like excellent comfort food that way. I even enjoyed it as an audiobook, which is really rare for me because I usually can't stand female narrators (sorry ladies, I'm not being sexist, it's just that most women have a hard time mimicking male voices in any believable way, whereas a large number of men have decent falsettos). I knew about 5% in that I would be finishing it, and I knew about 25% in I would be adding the rest of the series to my to-read pile. Overall, Masques is a piece of extremely entertaining, classic fantasy that stands on its own aside from Briggs' better-known Mercy Thompson series.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this is her first book. Yes, she had done some minor changes, but still it is impressive. I have read the first works of many of my preferred authors, but even if I could see the small roots of the future talent, the books in itself weren't that good.

Masque on the contrary was a damn good book, even if not perfect on details. A light fantasy that's worth reading.