Auriel Rising

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Mix of Alchemy and Treason
Review: "To Auriel, I will give the gift of gold.
After the night of long and false captivity, the golden SUN is about to rise, and all this by the power of the Stone, lapis ex caelis; for be sure that as Auriel rises the LION shall fall."

So began the letter that would change Ned Warriner's life, that winter of 1609. He found it inside a leather volume that he had won at dice; after a bit of research, he determines it to be an alchemist's letter, the recipe for gold. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, though, and this letter had the uncanny ability to bring death to those who saw it and talked about it.

Ned has just returned to London from exile and his former patron isn't as patronizing as Ned had anticipated, the love of his life has married one of his ill-wishers and his brother's business-and life-is in danger. Not exactly the homecoming he had expected.

His interest about the Auriel letter goes no farther than curiosity, but as he soon discovers, there are others that find it of much more significance. Ned finds that he has endangered his friends and family and a whole host of innocent others as this search for Auriel's gold becomes the center of political intrigue.

Having read Redfern's first novel (The Music of the Spheres), I was pleased to see the publication of her second novel. The plot of Auriel Rising is sound and thorough, bringing together many different points that seemed to have no possible connection. Ned Warriner is a likable protagonist, he and most of the other characters are convincing and on the whole the novel was fully credible. As an mix of alchemy and treason, it makes an intriguing read and I rate it a solid four out of five.

Rating:
Summary: if only she wrote as well as she researched.
Review: I'm in the middle of this book - if I change my opinion in the remaining hundred pages or so, I'll come back and edit this review. But I don't think that will happen.

I've been reading AURIEL RISING for about a month. It's set in a period, seventeenth-century England, which normally appeals to me. Elizabeth Redfern has flushed up all sorts of period detail, and has gotten many names, relationships, and situations spot-on; the dialogue has a period flavor without being too anachronistic. Under most circumstances, I would have devoured this book within a few days. So I found myself wondering why finishing it had begun to feel like a chore.

Then it came to me: Redfern really isn't a "literary" writer. She's not *bad* - the grammar is fine, the book is well-edited. It's something past that, something almost intangible. It's something about the aesthetic quality of her prose and character development. The problem with the book is that its mechanics, its prose and characterization, can best be described as "workmanlike."

The prose is simply narrative, with little offered in the way of psychological or philosophical reflection. Often, characters are just mouthpieces for expository dialogue, crammed with information in a way that does not necessarily reflect the way an actual person in that character's time and situation might speak and think. This isn't done in a terrible, "As you know, we've been at war with Spain for ten years!" sort of way (if they know, why say it?), so it is at least more subtle than that. But the overall effect is like playing an adventure game on a computer, when a character only speaks to give the reader essential information. None of the characters are particularly well-developed or interestingly conflicted, and none of the mystery is truly arcane.

A lot of readers won't mind this (plenty of popular genre authors have similarly bland writing skills), and will be caught up in the drama. The plot is not the most absorbing tale of suspense ever concocted, but it's serviceable and relatively entertaining, despite the predictability of Which Character Is Only Around To Be Poignantly Killed-Off Later. Someone who reads a lot of historical mysteries (Anne Perry, Ellis Peters, etc) and is used to their conventions will probably like this one. Another reader, interested in deeply-grounded character-driven historical fiction that happens to be suspenseful, might be disappointed.

Despite the time I've put into reading this book, I just can't bring myself to care much about the characters or the outcome. But if you can breeze through it and ignore its shortcomings, AURIEL RISING probably isn't the worst way to spend a few afternoons.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent historical in the traditionof The Alienist
Review: In 1609 London, King James I wants peace with Spain while his son and heir Prince Henry, a staunch anti-papist wants England freed of Catholics. After helping the Dutch fight the Spanish in the Low Countries, Ned Warriner returns to England to see the now married Kate Pelham, the only woman he ever loved. During his first week back in the country, he wins a letter in a dice game that he later finds out is written by the dead alchemist Edward Dee.

The letter is a formula to create the Philosopher's Stone, which many people believe will turn any substance into gold. Whomever Ned talks to about the letter winds up murdered by a group of men who have the protection of someone powerful. Ned tries, for reasons unknown even to him, to create the Philosopher's Stone. He also deals with enemies who want nothing more than to see him dead for the knowledge he has in his possession about plots, gun shipments and gold making its way into the prince's coffers.

Cross Caleb Carr's THE ALIENIST with any work of Charles Dickens and one will have a feel for the historical mystery AURIEL RISING. The protagonist is a good man who finds himself in dangerous situations but is willing to pursue that course even though it might mean his life or his freedom. Elizabeth Redfern captures the mood of England less than a decade after the death of Elizabeth I adding background depth to a one-of-a-kind fascinating reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Excellent historical in the traditionof The Alienist
Review: In 1609 London, King James I wants peace with Spain while his son and heir Prince Henry, a staunch anti-papist wants England freed of Catholics. After helping the Dutch fight the Spanish in the Low Countries, Ned Warriner returns to England to see the now married Kate Pelham, the only woman he ever loved. During his first week back in the country, he wins a letter in a dice game that he later finds out is written by the dead alchemist Edward Dee.

The letter is a formula to create the Philosopher's Stone, which many people believe will turn any substance into gold. Whomever Ned talks to about the letter winds up murdered by a group of men who have the protection of someone powerful. Ned tries, for reasons unknown even to him, to create the Philosopher's Stone. He also deals with enemies who want nothing more than to see him dead for the knowledge he has in his possession about plots, gun shipments and gold making its way into the prince's coffers.

Cross Caleb Carr's THE ALIENIST with any work of Charles Dickens and one will have a feel for the historical mystery AURIEL RISING. The protagonist is a good man who finds himself in dangerous situations but is willing to pursue that course even though it might mean his life or his freedom. Elizabeth Redfern captures the mood of England less than a decade after the death of Elizabeth I adding background depth to a one-of-a-kind fascinating reading experience.

Harriet Klausner