Rating: 
Summary: Very absorbing, it sucks you in.
Review: A story very similar to that of the French Revolution, with magic and illsions thrown in, provide the story line for this book. From the moment you first meet Eliste to the end of the story, it is almost impossible to put this book down. Uncle Quinz, Zerolenn, Eliste, and Dref are such compelling characters, and Whiss and his minions are very hateable. I finished this book in one day, but I stayed up very late to do it. This book rocks!
Rating:
Summary: Exhilarating
Review: A truely magical and wonderful experience. I picked this book up in a trift shop by chance, and started to read it not that long ago. The book is engrossing, to the point where you don't want to put it down. If you do, it just won't get off of your mind.
The setting of the story takes place during the French Revolution when times were chaotic and no one could be trusted. Enter Eliste vo Derrivalle, daughter of an Exalted. The Exalted class is a class of high ranking people who can use magic at their disposal, yet for some reason, Exalted magic is becoming weaker and weaker with every generation.
This book is all about the trials and struggles that Eliste has to go through from being in court and then suddenly dumped on the streets. She does get help along the way though from Dref, the serf whom she loves, to her Uncle Quinz, who is a master of Exalted magic.
A truely exciting book to read. Something I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantasy Novel with Panache
Review: About 20 years after the American Revolution, France entered into one of its own; bloody, hysterical, and cruel. That the guillotine was considered a mercy for most of the aristocrats who were executed pretty much sums up the feelings of the time.Over a hundred years after that revolution, the Russian revolution occurred. This ideological revolution shaped 20th century global politics. You'd think that it'd be hard to put both of these revolutions into one story, but Paula Volsky did it, and added a bit of magic to the bargain. The protagonist, Eliste, spends the greater part of the book in conflict over what she's been taught and what she sees in front of her face. Throughout this gripping work, she learns of the abuses of her aristocratic class -- but if it ended there, this would be just another novel. Instead, we see the abuses of the revolutionary class, who takes what could have been a necessary step in government evolution, and instead turns it into a potential totalitarian regime. The razor-edge blade that keeps the entire country from falling apart over this counter-struggle is managed to be shown in the one microcosm of Vonahr. I highly recommend this work as one of the few potential SF/Fantasy classics.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!!!
Review: Engrossing, fascinating, and just plain awesome, this book is one of the very best I've ever read!! The plot and the characters are deep and marvelous, and the writing is eloquent beyond anything I've seen in a long time. I can't say enough good things about this book. It's a must read!!
Rating:
Summary: a multiple read
Review: Even though I read this book when it first came out in 1992, it has remained one of my most favorite books of all time. I have a total of 8 copies, 3 U.S. hardcovers, 2 U.K. hardcovers, trade paperback, advanced reading copy, and a mass paperback. Some are signed by Ms. Volsky, and yes, this IS extreme. But if you need an idea as to how good this book really is, that should do it. I've read everything Ms. Volsky has done but nothing quite lives up to this one. I continue to eagerly watch for a new book from her, but no such luck. Drop the current fantasy drivel that costs way too much to invest in. Find a copy of this one, special order it, whatever-- JUST READ IT.
Rating:
Summary: My second favorite so far!
Review: Ever since "Mists of Avalon", I've been looking for another book that would draw me into it's world and hold me there whether I was reading it or not. "Illusion" had the magic I was looking for!
Rating:
Summary: One of my Top 10
Review: Honestly, it's a good book. I haven't read it since it was new, probably 10 years ago, but I can't forget it, and came looking for it again. Don't listen to any reviewer who says the characters are "1 dimensional". At the end of this book you will know Eliste vo Derrivalle, and if you're a guy you'll probably be in love with her, though you'll hate her at first. A decade later the phrases "coquettes of the kokotte" and "nits of nu-nu" will still bring pictures into your mind. This is good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: One of my Top 10
Review: Honestly, it's a good book. I haven't read it since it was new, probably 10 years ago, but I can't forget it, and came looking for it again. Don't listen to any reviewer who says the characters are "1 dimensional". At the end of this book you will know Eliste vo Derrivalle, and if you're a guy you'll probably be in love with her, though you'll hate her at first. A decade later the phrases "coquettes of the kokotte" and "nits of nu-nu" will still bring pictures into your mind. This is good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: One of my Top 10
Review: Honestly, it's a good book. I haven't read it since it was new, probably 10 years ago, but I can't forget it, and came looking for it again. Don't listen to any reviewer who says the characters are "1 dimensional". At the end of this book you will know Eliste vo Derrivalle, and if you're a guy you'll probably be in love with her, though you'll hate her at first. A decade later the phrases "coquettes of the kokotte" and "nits of nu-nu" will still bring pictures into your mind. This is good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Wow - this story will hold you and than some
Review: I am not particuler to rewritten history or such since history is written by the victors of the past. This book...just pulled me in and held me there until the end of the book. Having read many fantasy and Sci-Fi books of various colors and flavors (a little physics here), I have never read such an adsorbing book that gives so much emotion and yet a reality to the setting as this. The author does a great job of creating the mood of the exalted to the terror of being one. This is a must read for those that like to be spell bound. Just remember to not have anything to do to before reading it and if you smoke... better be outside, it gets frustrating at times (not the writing, but the situations of the character) :)
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