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Nancy Pearl Book Reviews for 9/15/08

Dave Beck
09/15/2008

A collection of fantasy novels that will engage readers age ten and up, and Georgette Heyer's stories will lift you out of a 'fit of dismals.'

A friend who works in a bookstore suggested that I might like Megan Whalen Turner's "The Thief" (Penguin/Puffin, 1998), and was he ever right. This supremely satisfying fantasy will please readers age ten and up. It's the first in a trilogy, followed by "The Queen of Attolia" and "The King of Attolia." Gen, aka "the thief," has been caught with the King of Sounis's gold ring. He's imprisoned deep in the King's dungeon, with no prospects of escape. But when the King's magus sets off on a dangerous journey that requires a thief's talents to succeed, Gen is brought along, with a particular mission in mind: Gen must steal Hamiathes' Gift (a precious stone that gives its owner the right to rule over a country). If Gen succeeds, he'll be rewarded; if he fails, he'll die; and there's to be no escape from the magus, who promises to track him down wherever he might try to hide. There are many adventures and not a few surprises in store for both Gen and the reader, before the last page is turned. Gen is a terrific hero; a mixture of bravado and cunning. The well evoked settings — three warring kingdoms, Eddis, Sounis, and Attolia — loosely resemble the city–states of ancient Greece, and some of the most interesting parts of the books are the myths and legends of the region's gods and goddesses.

These days I've been treating myself to reading or rereading all of Georgette Heyer's novels in the order in which they're being reissued by Sourcebooks (in lovely trade paperback editions). Although they've not yet reprinted my favorites (those being "The Grand Sophy," "Sylvester," "Arabella," and "The Reluctant Widow"), I just finished "Black Sheep" (Sourcebooks, 2008), which now joins the other four on my "absolutely best of the best list." So even though I included Heyer's "An Infamous Army" in March's Pearl's Picks, I feel compelled to rave about "Black Sheep." Abigail Wendover is beautiful, smart, and high–spirited. She's also, at age 28, well past the optimal marriageable age for an upper–class Regency woman. She and her also unmarried, much older sister are raising their young, orphaned heiress niece, Fanny. Fanny has most unfortunately fallen in love with a cad of a fellow named Stacy Calverleigh (who's obviously after her not inconsiderable inheritance). In attempting to break up the relationship, Abigail finds herself forced to spend more time than she wishes with Stacy's uncle Miles (the black sheep of the title), who has just returned to England from years spent womanizing and making a fortune in India. Miles is strong–willed, unconventionally handsome, and witty enough so that he can invariably bring Abigail to giggles, even when she's furious at him (which is almost always). Obviously these two are going to get together (this is a romance, after all), but you can have faith that Heyer's going to throw a lot of obstacles in the putative lovers' way. Heyer's writing is both clever and droll — the closest to Jane Austen that you'll get — but I found myself chuckling over all the Regency era slang that Heyer uses: "a fit of the dismals" seemed pretty easy to decode, as did "slow-top," but what about "lobcock"? "scaff and raff" and "turnip-sucker"? And what does "quizzes" mean when it's not referring to tests but rather describing a group of women? And what is a "brummish" story? (Context will usually give you some idea, but Google "regency slang" if you really want to know.) Perhaps the worldwide legion of Georgette Heyer fans can join forces and bring some of these words back into common usage. I think stating that you're having (or are in) a fit of the dismals is so much more descriptive than saying that you're feeling blue, don't you?