Rating: 
Summary: A Heartily Satisfying Read!
Review: For someone who is almost constantly lamenting the lack of detailed, meaty, satisfying books, this book was a real "find". The recipies and other food descriptions sent me into the kitchen with the desire to recreate some of them for myself. The descriptions of settings and characters are very detailed, and Roessner's unbelievable attention to detail regarding the history and other facets of time and place in no way overshadows her attention to character development. Even as a history major, I have never found the Renaissance to be my favorite setting for historical fiction, but this book won me over. My only complaint comes with the way the children in the book are portrayed. Through the entire book, I never once felt that the thoughts and words given to the young characters (most of whom were supposedly in the 8-12 year range) were "age-appropriate". Granted, children of that era were reared much differently from children of our own era, but every time one of them said or thought something, I was distracted by how very adult they sounded. But, if you can get past that, there was little else to distract from this magnificent narrative. I'm already on my library's waiting list for the sequel!
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I bought this book with high hopes -- fiction set in the Medeci household! with witchcraft and astrologers!Unfortunately, the book is seriously brought down by Roessner's overwrought descriptive tone, more characteristic of pulp fantasy and romance novels than what I think of as great fiction. She also has an annoying habit of using characters' thoughts and dialogue as an expository device. I have a feeling that even in Renaissance Florence, people didn't say things like "Today, the young girls will receive decorated branches, in the traditional celebration of the first of May." That's not an exact quote, but it illustrates the style I'm talking about. Why not just tell the reader about the tradition as part of the text, not as part of the dialogue? Do the characters really have to translate Italian phrases to each other for our benefit? She also uses a cat as sort of a narrative focus, which doesn't work all that well. we are supposed to believe this is some sort of magical cat, and her kittens are imbued with the same magic. Roessner obviously poured her heart into this book -- the research is meticulously done, and she even includes recipes in the back. Her dedication is very impressive. Unfortunately the writing skill doesn't match up.
Rating: 
Summary: good idea, falls short in execution
Review: I really liked this book although I agree with the reviewer here that it was hard to understand the motivations of the characters (like Gentile). Still, the story is interesting and the writing well done. It reminded me some of Ellen Kushner's work.
Rating: 
Summary: Lush details, beautiful writing
Review: I really liked this book although I agree with the reviewer here that it was hard to understand the motivations of the characters (like Gentile). Still, the story is interesting and the writing well done. It reminded me some of Ellen Kushner's work.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful melange of art, history, magick, and food!
Review: I really liked this book. It had a whole host of things I like in novels: strong female characters, realistic relationships between people, a look at early pagan religions and how they filter through the lives of people even in the face of Christianity, and marvelous descriptions of Italian cooking! I will concur with other reviewers that the extensive numbers of Italian family names made it hard to track certain characters and parts of the plot. But not excessively so, and it did not lessen my enjoyment of the book. And I loved the recipes at the very end, a charming touch. All in all, a good buy.
Rating:
Summary: A Heartily Satisfying Read!
Review: The Stars Dispose is an unusual historical fantasy. More attention seems to be placed in providing a rich description of the food rather than a system of magic. However, the plot is a slow seduction of the reader, giving view to just enough of the threat facing the characters that the reader is eager to turn the next page. A plethora of Italian names may be confusing, but a glossary at the back helps.
Rating:
Summary: Rich in flavor!
Review: The Stars Dispose is an unusual historical fantasy. More attention seems to be placed in providing a rich description of the food rather than a system of magic. However, the plot is a slow seduction of the reader, giving view to just enough of the threat facing the characters that the reader is eager to turn the next page. A plethora of Italian names may be confusing, but a glossary at the back helps.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: There was a lot about this book that I liked. I enjoyed the descriptions of Italy and the food/kitchens. I liked the character, Tommaso, and his interaction/relationship with Michelangelo Buonarotti, but that wasn't enough to raise this series above average. I agree with the earlier reviewer who had a comment about the way people speak in both Roessner's books - it *is* very expositionally based. Rather than taking a paragraph or a few lines on her own, she has the characters do it and it comes out sounding false or forced. There is one chapter in the first book (second chapter, I think?) between Cosimo Ruggiero and Ruggiero the Older that is massive exposition supposedly in the form of an occult lesson. Because we really haven't met these people, the "lesson" seems stiff and forced, done more for the information the author needs to put out there than anything else. She seems to have a love of the culture and a lot of knowledge gained from her research, it's simply the way she shares some of it that proves awkward. I also had a hard time caring about the characters because she never really spent any time with any *one* of them except Tommaso and he was as clueless as I felt. Gentile, Tommaso's father, is left totally in the background until he's needed to move the plot to a particular point. He's mentioned once or twice but the next time we see him, he's raving at Piera about her use of "witchcraft" and how he's not going to stand for it anymore. Huh? When did this come about besides the one line we're given about how he's never been completely comfortable (I'm paraphrasing)? Suddenly, he's rip-roaring mad enough to tear a necklace from his wife's neck and tear around in a frenzy? And, after what would be a calamitous event in any parent's life, he's suddenly raping Filomena on a regular basis? Nothing Roessner writes about Gentile in the few crumbs she gives us beforehand gives basis to any of his actions, so Tommaso's discovery of Gentile in the act felt more like emotional manipulation than emotional empathy with Tommaso. All it did was move the plot to the next point she needed: Tommaso's relationship with Michelangelo. And Piera...when she realizes that Ginevra might not have been the one who should have received all her training, does she do anything about it? No. She just wrings her hands until Roessner can have her miscarry and ultimately die. (OK, she did manage to rescue Filomena so I'll give her that much). The series is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon or so but it feels overstuffed by facts to the exclusion of character development. I would have preferred a bit more internal dialogue, more of the goings-on in the Befanini family or in the de' Medici family through Tommaso's, Michelangelo's or Caterina's eyes, more dialogue and less exposition...more of the feeling that the characters were *doing* something besides serving as set pieces until the author decided it was time to change the scenery. History and fiction need to blend in books like these (see Colleen McCullough's "First Man In Rome" series or Thomas Flanagan's "Tenants of Time"). The time the author writes about is a fascinating time but I would have preferred a little less history in exchange for a little more story in this case.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: There was a lot about this book that I liked. I enjoyed the descriptions of Italy and the food/kitchens. I liked the character, Tommaso, and his interaction/relationship with Michelangelo Buonarotti, but that wasn't enough to raise this series above average. I agree with the earlier reviewer who had a comment about the way people speak in both Roessner's books - it *is* very expositionally based. Rather than taking a paragraph or a few lines on her own, she has the characters do it and it comes out sounding false or forced. There is one chapter in the first book (second chapter, I think?) between Cosimo Ruggiero and Ruggiero the Older that is massive exposition supposedly in the form of an occult lesson. Because we really haven't met these people, the "lesson" seems stiff and forced, done more for the information the author needs to put out there than anything else. She seems to have a love of the culture and a lot of knowledge gained from her research, it's simply the way she shares some of it that proves awkward. I also had a hard time caring about the characters because she never really spent any time with any *one* of them except Tommaso and he was as clueless as I felt. Gentile, Tommaso's father, is left totally in the background until he's needed to move the plot to a particular point. He's mentioned once or twice but the next time we see him, he's raving at Piera about her use of "witchcraft" and how he's not going to stand for it anymore. Huh? When did this come about besides the one line we're given about how he's never been completely comfortable (I'm paraphrasing)? Suddenly, he's rip-roaring mad enough to tear a necklace from his wife's neck and tear around in a frenzy? And, after what would be a calamitous event in any parent's life, he's suddenly raping Filomena on a regular basis? Nothing Roessner writes about Gentile in the few crumbs she gives us beforehand gives basis to any of his actions, so Tommaso's discovery of Gentile in the act felt more like emotional manipulation than emotional empathy with Tommaso. All it did was move the plot to the next point she needed: Tommaso's relationship with Michelangelo. And Piera...when she realizes that Ginevra might not have been the one who should have received all her training, does she do anything about it? No. She just wrings her hands until Roessner can have her miscarry and ultimately die. (OK, she did manage to rescue Filomena so I'll give her that much). The series is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon or so but it feels overstuffed by facts to the exclusion of character development. I would have preferred a bit more internal dialogue, more of the goings-on in the Befanini family or in the de' Medici family through Tommaso's, Michelangelo's or Caterina's eyes, more dialogue and less exposition...more of the feeling that the characters were *doing* something besides serving as set pieces until the author decided it was time to change the scenery. History and fiction need to blend in books like these (see Colleen McCullough's "First Man In Rome" series or Thomas Flanagan's "Tenants of Time"). The time the author writes about is a fascinating time but I would have preferred a little less history in exchange for a little more story in this case.
Rating:
Summary: this book is dream material
Review: this is one of my all time favorite books, the imagery is so vital to the story that,i still think of this book years after i have read it and its following story. i'm a chef and i delight in her mixing of the art world and the food realm with the magic of the times she writes about, the ice sculpture scene is still one of the most emotional things i have read. i think she unveiled what it must have been like to be michelangelo at that time and place with true passion,his and the authors!i would love to see this as a movie
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