I had two major problems with this book. I really wanted to like. A Venice with magic and a real griffin. Cool! Sadly, not cool here. One problem I had was the male characters act like boys. I suppose this really isn't a problem, considering the male characters are in fact boys, but the female characters are the same age or younger, but act years older. I'm a woman, I suppose this shouldn't bother me, but it does. True the sexes mature at different rates, but not one male character is mature or

I think this is my fifth time reading this book, but since it's now goodreads official I'll write a real review. I read this book as a variety starved teen in Yellowstone. Considering that it's an epic fantasy written by three people not really in that genre (Mercesdes Lackey maybe, but Eric Flint writes sci-fi and David Freer writes satire) it was definitely different. Ten years later I still love it. The story is set in alternate history Venice (!!!) and stars a huge cast that due to outrageou...

It’s been a while since I’ve read a hefty fantasy book, and I loved getting back to the genre that made me fall in love with reading in the first place. While I was thoroughly confused as to what exactly was happening for the first 50-75 pages of this book, it all eventually came together beautifully and I ended up really enjoying the slow way I was able to get to know the characters and fall in love with them.The worldbuilding in this story is incredible; it really made me feel as though I was

“Just as simple as original sin and just as seductive.” Excellent. Amazingly deep, rich epic fantasy set in an alternate timeline very close to Renaissance northern Italy. The nations, myths, religions, factions and families are close enough to historical that the student of history has a leg up on the fun. Yet Lackey has shifted emphasis, history there, motives somewhere else just enough to create a fascinating new universe.“There is such a thing as evil in the world, which cannot be persuaded,...

16th century Venice with magic and a guardian lion that protects it from evil but only with the personal sacrifice of its noble families. Will be interesting to see where the series goes.

***Crossposted from 'Outside of Dogs: a Reviewer's Blog'***I'm often wary of collaborations, but in this case as I was reading I kept forgetting that the book has more than one author, no mean feat, in my opinion.I picked The Shadow of the Lion from the Baen Free Library, I was intrigued by the premise, a fantasy set in 16th century Venice, and I figured that, it being free, at worst I would just lose a couple of hours before deciding it wasn't for me (I'm past the phase in my reading life in wh...

The things I liked about this book, I loved. The things I didn't like, I didn't like at all.On one hand, it took only the first couple of chapters to pleasantly surprise me with the story's epic scope, meticulous historical detail, alternate-universe/fantasy speculation, vivid characters, and capable, gripping writing style. On the other hand, I felt that the book didn't ultimately live up to its promise. It brought its multiple plot strands to a satisfying, but not a stunning conclusion. And by...

This is, absolutely, the best fantasy book I’ve probably read in a long time. It’s a perfect twist of historical fiction and fantasy swirled with romance and epic adventure. If I ever crave to read the Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, all Greek Mythology, and some good ol’ Mercedes Lackey Valdemar books, then all I have to do is pick up this book (and it’s brother) and sink into a captivating story combining all these elements into a steamy pie of wholesome goodness.

I really really want to find the second of this series. Because the first book was so good. My most favorite part of this book is actually the beginning, the fight scene. I can read that scene a few times and not get bored.But the rest of the society and build up of the world is just as fascinating! I'm sure that the second book in the series is just as amazing!

On page 56 is explained the pivotal point that makes this an alternative universe. The Library of Alexandria is NOT burned, thus preserving the knowledge of magic from the ancient times. Also Hypatia rather than being murdered becomes the Saint of a liberal order of religious philosophers...the Order of Hypatia worshiping Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom. Outstanding!Can't wait to get to the next book

This was a very long and rambling book. It was well written, but far too complex and meandering for my tastes. They were good portions of it and ultimately the story became interesting in the last quarter of the novel. But it took too long to reach a point where I actually cared about it.There were so many main characters that it was very difficult to keep track of them all. And when I found myself not remembering a character or what their role was, I didn’t care enough about it to stop and look...

I don't normally go in for really long sweeping hard fantasy novels but damn if this series never fails me every time I reread it. Seriously some food the least oppressive writing ever, amazing characters, and just ace research. The cast of characters is a bit much and the politics may be hard to follow but it's worth it to just get to know everyone featured. I,anime game of thrones, but less problematic. Will say that the lack of POCs did bother me a little this time around but if I recall, the...

If you want a “meaty” historical fantasy series, this is it. The descriptions of Venice and Italy are rich and detailed, bringing to solid life the history, characters, places and plots. There is no skimming of this book; every page is like Italian food — filling, full of flavor, and impossible to stop consuming.

Interesting ReadLittle tedious. Took 60 chapters before story started moving. Characters well developed. Good read for believers and non believers, draws on many forms of theology

I totally read this series out of order, and it made sense anyway. Great writing.

catching up on books

Read with pleasure again

The prologue was so wordy and complicated that I’d lost the will to read any more by chapter one.

From Publishers Weekly The prolific Lackey (the Bardic Voices series, the Urban Faerie series, etc.) and cohorts Flint (1632) and Freer (The Forlorn) whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice." Like the actual 16th-century city-state, the authors' Venice of the 1530s is a dangerous place, filled with as many illicit love affairs as murders. Garbage and occasional dead bodies float in the stinking canals. The city

The high page count is because I have the text size set big on my ereader, which results in this book being 2900 pages long. With smaller font, it's only 800 or so pages, but still... this LONG BOOK. Normally, I did that, but this one is really complex, with lots of competing factions, political intrigue, and subplots within subplots, so it's taken this long for me to really understand what's happening and what each of the characters is all about. I'm still finding myself confused, though, and I...

This is the first book in Heirs Of Alexandria series. I enjoyed it but found it hard to tell at times who the good guys and the bad guys were. For such a big book it held my interest all the way through and I didn't fell that it was too long or that it was wordy. I definitely will be looking for the next book as I am sure we will see Aldanto again in some form. For three people to be able to write a book together it must be difficult. To all be on the same page as to what is going to happen and

The size of this book originally daunted me enough to keep me from reading it until last week after checking it out from the library. Most other books I've read cannot boast approximately 800 pages and still be all one story. Granted, with the book partitioned into parts, it probably COULD have been divvied up into smaller books, but I think it flows well as is. Divided up, the flow would have been halted instead of quickly diving into the next section. I really loved the intregue, suspense, bud...

Shadow of the Line has three authors, each of whom apparently brought their own cast of characters to the book. There are over a dozen main characters, and probably twice that many supporting characters that are still important enough to have names, back stories, and plot lines of their own. While I was trying to keep track of everyone, I had the voice of a baseball game crier in my head: "Get a scorecard, can't tell the players without a scorecard!" They could have eliminated half the character...

I read this years ago in Baen's free library and quite liked it, but the series was never finished. Now that a third (or fourth, depending on how you're counting) book has come out, I picked it up again.I don't know Dave Freer's work at all, but I can say this book - and series, really - is exactly what you'd expect from Lackey and Flint working together. Complex plotting, lots of military and history tidbits for their own sake, and many, many viewpoints from Flint, and straightforward, likable,...

Refreshing, well-researched historical fantasy fiction set at the height of the Venetian empire. Think a book written in the Game of Thrones style, but infinitely less tawdry and boring. Unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, the entire cast is compelling, the religion/magic dichotomy is fairly easy to grasp, and there isn't any weird exotification of other non-white cultures. It's also fairly sex positive and features the best written Courtesan I think I've ever read in a fantasy novel, save of course,...

Any book set in the Renaissance is pretty much bound to be a complex amalgam of plots and counter plots. This book lives up to its setting in history. I was cautious in approaching a book that was written by three authors, expecting writing dissonance and perhaps some plot danglies. But the authors did a very good job of developing characters and coherent plot. I didn't expect anything along the lines of a serious historial novel, and so was not disappointed. I would almost classify this as a Yo...

I read this book twice. I couldn't remember it very well, but it seems like I liked it a lot more the first time than the second time.I'm having difficulty putting into words why the book didn't grab me. It was too long, for this story at least.The evil character who was remotely directing the evil in Venice was over the top evil in a lot of ways. He didn't invoke fear as much as disbelief.Maybe the main thing is that a lot of the characters didn't come across as real, especially characters that...

My reaction to this book was a little uncertain. First of all, it's pretty much three novels set in the same city, and pushed together into one book. That's all right. But I was a little more annoyed to realize that one of the story lines was basically the storyline Mercedes Lackey wrote for the Merovingen Nights shared world anthology series (set on an alien planet that reverted to medieval technology, and in a city heavily based on Venice). I loved the Merovingen Nights books (created by CJ Ch...

I am kind of torn about this book. I think this is the longest any book has ever taken me to read, I left it and came back, left it again, came back. Overall the book was good. I liked the concept, the characters, the setting. The main characters, the brothers Marco and Benito, were interesting as was the city of Venice as a setting for a fantasy novel. I just never was drawn into until the last two hundred pages or so. I am a bit unsure whether I will revisit the rest of the series at some poin...

This book was long. At times it was a bit too dry for me. This doesn't have the characteristic spark Ms. Lackey generally has when she writes. It's probably because she has not 1 but 2 male writers with her on this book.Marco and Ben are brothers trying to survive on their own. They are rather young and they get pulled into things that are more than they can handle. This new series is interesting. The magic and the world crafting is rather spectacular. I recommend this for my sci fi fans than fa...