Rating: 
Summary: Borderline 4 stars out of 5
Review: As I make an effort to review every book I read whether good, bad or indifferent, I find myself almost at a loss for words over this one. It has some really interesting pages intermingled with a lot of boring ones that I found myself skimming over.The book centers around a chess set once owned by Charlemagne and said to have some sort of magic power. The set somehow ends up in the possession of the Montglane Church and hence, referred to as the Montglane service. The heads of the church realize that its power can be used to promote evil intentions and thus, sequester the service within the Church walls. There it remains for several centuries and its legend grows. With the outset of the French Revolution, some of the leaders of the revolution have a goal to confiscate the service to further their power. The Abbess of the church is forewarned and has the service dug up and its pieces given to several of the nuns to hide in various parts of Europe. The most prevalent of these nuns is a young woman named Mirelle (who really shouldn't have been a nun because of her feral life-style). As Mirelle is set upon by the evil leaders of the revolution she starts to piece together the secret of the Montglane service. The story interlays a separate tale of a young woman (Katherine) in the early 1980's who is sent on an assignment to Algiers to help start up OPEC. Katherine is warned by a fortune teller about the dangers that lie ahead and also asked by a friend to try to obtain pieces of the Montglane service while in Algiers. Along the way Katherine is dragged into a chess tournament where one of the player is murdered and Katherine is shot at. She also seems to be involved in a huge game of intrigue with a Russian chess player who appears to be KGB, a mysterious recluse named Nim, a wealthy female chess player named Lily and another chess guru named Mordecai. As Katherine embarks to Algiers she seems earmarked to follow a similar path that Mirelle had followed 200 years prior and be the one to re-unite all the parts of the Montglane service. One of the reasons I didn't give this book a higher rating is that people are murdered around Katherine, yet nothing really happens to her even though everyone seems to know that she may play an important role in re-uniting the service. I periodically play chess for fun but am not a student of vast strategies of the game. The whole book seems to revolve around complex chess strategies, which should make the book extremely interesting for chess aficionados. Additionally, Katherine's portions of the tale are told in first-person, which kills some of the mystery because you already know that she will survive all the dangers she faces.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite book ever!
Review: When I worked in a bookstore I handsold more copies of this book than any other as it is so much fun. I would describe it as Indiana Jones with females as the lead characters yet I think men enjoy this as much as women. It has action, adventure, history, mystery and romance.I have read it several times over the years and always manage to find something new in it. I may learn chess just so I can appreciate the book even more.
Rating:
Summary: Neither as good nor as bad as some claim
Review: This complex, mostly well written, and exhasutivly researhed novel follows the parallel quests of to young woman ( living hundered of years apart) for a chess set that holds a mysterious secret. The plot is convaluted yet reletivly choherent and is scatterd with historical figures, most fairly well drawn, as well as a great deal of information about chess, mathmatic, reliion alchemy, the Terror, and secrety societies. It is clear that that Ms Neville worked hard at her research, displaying a respect for her readers that few authors approach. This is, however, a double edged sword for it is sometimes unclear when she is useing historical fact and when she is on a flight of fancy so it would be unwise to think you have learned anything of these subjects without fact checking specifics.
The main female characters are well developed and complex however many of the supporting characters are little more than cardborad cut outs with a few embellishments. The men in particular are given short shrift with the exception of Telleyrand who is presented in a complex manner and not simply as the machivellian opportunist that much of history implies. The cast of characters is vast however many of the historical characters seem superflous in that they do not particularly advance the story, besides imparting information to the heroine but this does give a sense of the scope and improtance of the quest ( though at the same time makeing it seem that everyone in the world is in on it, if you acheive some historic fame you are in the club and someone takes you aside and explains it to you.)
The story it self is usually well paced being at times hard to put down, but at others it becomes much easier. One of the particular problems with this, in terms of being a "page turner" was the skipping back and forth of the two time frames. Since the concurant stories were not always at similar levels of rising tention, a sudden shirt from one approaching a climax to the next in a lull did not encourage continued reading so much as frustration. In the middle of the night it is difficult to read another thirty pages of the lull in sone story to get back to the exciting part of the other. Nevertheless, there are many wonderful moments where I couldn't wait to continue on.
Despite the negative things I have said, I enjoyed this book a great deal, so much so that I looked up the author and came across a web sight that, among otherthings, said that the origenal manuscript was about 1200 pages. If so, it explains alot as the weakest part of the book seemed to lie in poor editing. Many characters, as well as many implied themes and sub plots, just disappear or do nothing to advance the story in anyway that justifies their inclusion ( the little prophet for instance.) The book needed to be either longer or shorter to include the things that made these characters/plots, etc relevant or they should have been excised. Excision, however, would probably not have been possible as the intricate tapastry that Nevile has woven is to complex to have removed many of these suddenly cut off threads without rewriting the whole thing.
On the whole I enjoyed this book very much, for all the weaknesses, it was still interesting, well written, and, at times facinating. As it is, I would read it again, but in truth I would love to see an expanded version, the meticulous care Neville put in to so much of the work implies strongly that much of the uneveness alluded to is the work of an hamhanded editor to shoehorn it down to size. The only book I have ever read that screams for the written equivelent of a "director's cut."
Rating:
Summary: plots within plots, tales within tales
Review: Author Katherine Neville tells two stories here, one the tale of orphans in a 1790 French convent and the other the tale of a computer expert at a large accounting firm. Both stories are character rich and intricately plotted. Separated by two centuries but connected by similar circumstances and goals, Mireille de Remy and Catherine Velis each finds her way to Algeria as she attempts to gather the pieces of the legendary chess set of Charlemagne and command the action of a real-life Game being played by opposing sides who will stop at nothing, including murder, to win. This is a satisfying thriller with the added dimension of a historical mystery. You will learn a lot about the Freemasons, the number eight, Algeria and chess, and you will also get embellished introductions to many historical figures of the time, including Catherine the Great, Robespierre, Talleyrand, Napoleon, Benedict Arnold, Marat and Jacques-Louis David. I thought the heroines were both admirable, which is tricky in this genre. You want them to be intelligent but somehow sympathetic while they remain clueless for the longest time. And here I DO mean the longest time -- six hundred pages is too long for even an engaging thriller, though I would read other books by this author.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever
Review: I loved this book. It's not your typical contemporary fiction--it's more complex and has many themes . . . Read this ONLY if you don't mind working a little to keep things straight. It's not just a pleasure read, it's a stimulating, thought-provoking story.
Rating:
Summary: Top 10 - To Be Sure!
Review: Like many people I read for relaxation and enjoyment. I have read many, many, many books over time and there are few books that I can honestly say have surprised me. The Eight was one that really surprised me. Perhaps it is because I make allowances or dont expect much from literature, especially modern fiction. This book was well conceived, well written and had a brilliant and intriguing plot that held together from beginning to end. I consider myself a fairly cynical and discerning reader but this book is absolutely on my Top 10. Post Script: To the recent reviewers who were so hugely disappointed by the 4.5 Star rating I can understand why you felt this book was lacking if your tastes run to the more mundane and oft replicated plots by Grisham, Crichton (have you read Prey yet???) and Sheldon.
Rating: 
Summary: How did this get 4 1/2 stars?
Review: My "Amazon.com Strategy" is to buy books with an Average Customer Review of 4 1/2 or 5 stars. It has worked well (I've bought and enjoyed The Firm, Jurassic Park, And Then There Were None, The Other Side of Midnight, etc.). However my Amazon.com Strategy failed me on The Eight. It was boring to me. I had to work hard to get through all 598 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Weaving a thread through history...with a hammer!
Review: What starts as moderately interesting just begins in a downward spiral as the author insists on making the plot more ludicrous with everyone page. While the concept of weaving a story around seamingly separate true historical characters is a nice concept, Neville really takes it too far and makes it into a global conspiracy extending back thousands of years. Ridiculous does not even begin to describe this book. Bored does not even begin to describe the experience of reading it. If you MUST read this book, read her subsequent book The Magic Circle first. That one is so painful that it makes The Eight seem like a gift from the gods.
Rating:
Summary: Fun adventure through time
Review: OK, it isn't the best writing I've ever read. But is this book ever FUN! It involves a mysterious and powerful chess set, hidden for centuries and the mad dash to find the pieces. The story manages to include lots of history (my husband had issues with some of the details about Charlemagne), chess details, French nuns of the 18th century and more. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: Gosh, I was surprised to see that some people didn't like this book. I read it years ago. What I remember is my sister recommending it to me. I couldn't put it down. I liked the book so much I told everyone in my office about it. We had to have a list so everyone could read it. I didn't return it to my sister for about 8 months. Personally I would love to read it again.
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