Rating: Summary: A funny well written fantasy. Review: Lots of: Magic (creatures, gods, spells)Sex (mostly sexual references and jokes) Food (described in minute detail that will leave you drooling even if you read it 5 minutes after Thanksgiving dinner) Very funny and original, my only 2 complaints are that there are too many characters and some of their names are simillar like Rinaldo and Roberto, kind of confusing; and it has a liteness about it like if you took out the sex it could be a children's book.
Rating: Summary: AN INCREDIBLE ITALIAN RENNAISANCE BOOK Review: Midori Snyder uses wonderful language that draws you into this book. Definitely a book that is worth reading. I found that this was my favorite type of book (Rennaissance-Italian). I also recommend Louis L'Amour's The Walking Drum
Rating: Summary: worth getting lost therein Review: Set in a vision of Renaissance Italy that brings to life the classic mythology of the area, the story focuses on the "curses" so often brought upon progtagonists by their own actions and biases. It is supposedly only through traversing the Maze featured in the story they can be cured -- except that none of the pilgrims who have entered in the many years since the Maze first appeared have ever emerged from it again. The plots and subplots are as labyrinthine as the Maze itself -- no simple tale of sword and sorcery here. In Chaucerian style, each character of the story appears to represent one of the archetypes from traditions of the Commedia del'Arte, and each must overcome their own passions to grow into the role they are meant to play.
This is the first novel by this author that I have read, though I'd heard many good things about her. I most certainly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to those who want a good read that's complex and challenging and full of substance.
Rating: Summary: A delightful Renaissance tale Review: The Innamorati is a wonderful journey into the world of 16th century Italian commedia dell'arte, told within a great story with as many laughs and surprises as the theatre which inspired it. It has quickly worked its way to the top of my "most loaned out" list, and has had considerable influence upon my troupe's performances.
Rating: Summary: almost Chaucerian Review: The setting : Renaissance Italy, various real and fictional cities. The cast: (and here's the Chaucerian part): A mask-maker artist, a priest, an actor, a merchant, a thief, a prostitute, a warrior, a Siren (well.. that's not so Chaucerian). They come from all walks of life, but all beset by some 'curse'. Thus they pilgramage to a fictional city with a magical maze to cure their woes. The story starts off with very seperate tales.. almost too hard to follow as Snyder jumps from character to character to follow their own individual tales. But slowly, they come together as the routes of a maze come to the center. The story is enchantingly different from the classical fantasy genre. Magic is as viewed by old world Italians is amazingly real and quite different from the magic in our present day stories. It's magic that is out of our control, that cuts and mends in surprising unpredictable ways, that is guided and quirky according to the personality, the moral ground, the intents of the character involved. This book is well worth reading... it won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award!!
Rating: Summary: almost Chaucerian Review: The setting : Renaissance Italy, various real and fictional cities. The cast: (and here's the Chaucerian part): A mask-maker artist, a priest, an actor, a merchant, a thief, a prostitute, a warrior, a Siren (well.. that's not so Chaucerian). They come from all walks of life, but all beset by some 'curse'. Thus they pilgramage to a fictional city with a magical maze to cure their woes. The story starts off with very seperate tales.. almost too hard to follow as Snyder jumps from character to character to follow their own individual tales. But slowly, they come together as the routes of a maze come to the center. The story is enchantingly different from the classical fantasy genre. Magic is as viewed by old world Italians is amazingly real and quite different from the magic in our present day stories. It's magic that is out of our control, that cuts and mends in surprising unpredictable ways, that is guided and quirky according to the personality, the moral ground, the intents of the character involved. This book is well worth reading... it won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award!!
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