The Pyrenees Mountains are impressive enough with any need to make them even more mysterious than they already are. But trust Mary Stewart to manage just that. If you know the mountains, you will know she has been there. As with all her mystery novels, this one is as much travel guide as it is mystery story. It is bound up in the local history of this wild region marking the border between France and Spain.
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Castellebre
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Dive into Paris and Versailles during the time of King Louis XV. Corruption and
intrigue are ripe. France is an open playing field for the Duke of Avon. the English peer has earned the nickname Satanas from his enemies. Broke as a young man, he had toured Europe as a gamester. He gambled a young Austrian noble out
of his fortune and retired to enjoy a lavish and sumptuous lifestyle.
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| Brad Pitt |
This mystery book will take you to Austria's beautiful countryside. As it is all about a horse, you also get a lot of history about the Imperial Stud and the Spanish Riding School. As usual with Mary Stewart, her landscape descriptions are masterful and may sway your decision as to where to take your Austrian holiday. And the mystery will keep you guessing to the end.
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Styria
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How can I put this delicately? The book I am going to tell you about is fantasy fiction with some serious flaws. And yet, at the end I will recommend it to you to read. It's main weakness is its story-line. It has holes like Swiss cheese.
If ever you planned to go on a holiday to the South of France, this mystery novel is the ideal way to take yourself on a spin through all its best landscapes and cities. And when you really go there on your holiday, don’t forget to take the book along; Mary Stewart’s Madam, Will You Talk may serve as guide book and mystery novel at the same time.
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| Avignon |
In fantasy stories, everything from characters, props, through geography to magic has
to work in perfect harmony. Pawn of Prophecy is one of the fantasy books that really
work all the way through. Dialogues are funny, it has the necessary cliff hangers, and magic has
strict rules to follow. You could take a holiday in the land of
make-believe with this book anytime. It is, though, the first in a series of five; you better reserve some time for the others, too.
Enter the world of fantasy writers: Althalus was a thief, a crook, and an occasional murderer; he was probably the best thief in the world.
And this fantasy story book is all about his adventures in a world of make believe. Or it should be
about his adventures, but a few things went wrong along the way. That might seem
normal for any story worth writing about. But a few things went wrong
with writing the book itself. Which makes it either a bad book, or an
interesting one. It depends on your point of view.
