Rating: 
Summary: If you need a Merovingen Nights fix...
Review: _Shadow of the Lion_ (hereafter referred to as SoL) is indeed related to Merovingen Nights, although SoL's acknowledgements may not mention it, but it's not a simple recycle.Once upon a time (1980s), the Merovingen Nights series, hereafter referred to as MN - 1 novel and 7 anthologies - was set in the city of Merovingen (a Venice-like city of canals) on Merovin, a world in Cherryh's Union/Alliance universe cut off from the rest of humanity and frozen at a pre-starflight level of technology. Cherryh introduced the framework of the city and some of the star characters in the novel _Angel with the Sword_. The series regrettably stopped at anthology #7 and passed out of print. Moving on to _Shadow of the Lion_ (SoL), we have an alternate universe wherein the breakpoint was the conversion of Hypatia (last Librarian of Alexandria in our timeline) to Christianity. (This information is provided gently early on, via a character ducking into a church during a rainstorm, looking at the frescoes of Saint Hypatia.) In SoL's universe, when the mob incited by bishop Cyril (in our universe, *he's* the saint) came to burn the Library down, Hypatia was saved by a miracle. That's the official version, anyway; it's been several centuries, Hypatia was an eloquent woman, and magic exists in SoL's universe, so SoL's history may have been prettified. Since Hypatia became a major Christian theologian-saint and the Library survived, Christianity and the political map of the world are different in SoL's 16th-century: the Church has different relationships with other religions, the Holy Roman Empire is a major power, and neither France and England exist as such. The magic system resembles that of Lackey's elemental magic novels with more religious overtones, a la Katherine Kurtz' Deryni. What has this to do with MN? The main action of SoL takes place in Venice (obviously correlating nicely with Venice-like Merovingen), and Lackey has used some of her contribution to MN's characters and short stories as raw material for SoL. Both characters and plots have been remolded, however, allowing for 1) the different histories of Venice (pretech) and Merovingen (posttech), 2) more realistic characterization, and 3) revision of areas where the original cast and plots interacted most with contributions from other authors. Consequently, any similarity between the storylines fades as events in SoL play out. Manfred - a prince serving his hitch in the Knights of the Holy Trinity - and his protector Erik have no counterparts in MN, and neither does Manfred's lover, the courtesan Francesca, consummate political operator that she is. I suspect Lackey of major contributions to her character, especially some of her conversations with Kat Montescue, daughter of a noble house fallen on hard times; Kat's far better developed than her underutilized MN alter ego. The priests seeking to form a new order within SoL's Church have no MN counterparts - instead, they correspond to those who in our universe founded the Society of Jesus: the Jesuits. The nebulous Strega correspond to the slot occupied by the Janists in MN, but only insofar as they interact with the Valdosta brothers. In place of MN's house Takahashi, SoL has the ducal house of Ferrara - the Valdosta family. As in MN, a wayward daughter of the house got involved with a very dangerous group of political fanatics - in SoL, the Montagnards - who murdered her as unreliable before the story opens, leaving her two young sons fugitives far from home. Marco's in the Rigel Takahashi role: a good, somewhat naive kid, having had no chance to learn social skills in the swamp. Benito corresponds to his younger half-brother Denny - a wild petty thief. Their introduction to SoL is a twisted reflection of "Deathangel" from _Festival Moon_: they ask one of their mother's old contacts (now *ex*-Montagnard, as it turns out) for help. Caesare is far more realistic than MN's Mondragon. Mondragon was a wish-fulfillment character - very beautiful, a great fighter who'd left his revolutionary cause through having a few too many ethics (his assassin aspects were played down), and genuinely devoted to the canaler-girl who once saved his life. Caesare presents a Mondragon-like facade, especially to his rescuer Maria, but it's a pose. He's mercenary to the core: he's only interested in Maria for her canaler connections and her body, and wants her loyalty as long as she's useful. When *he* takes in the Valdosta brothers, it's not charity; their grandfather hadn't abandoned them, and had paid Caesare (among others) to search for them. (What the reader knows up front, although the other characters don't, is that Caesare helped murder the kids' mother in the first place.) To summarize: the events of the Marco & Benito thread initially reflect those of the corresponding characters in MN; compare with the 5 stories Lackey contributed to MN anthologies 2-6. However, the SoL and MN threads diverge with good reason, with the realistic characterization of Caesare and Maria and their differences from Mondragon and Jones. SoL isn't MN, but if you liked certain aspects of MN you'll like this.
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