Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Book for a Rainy Day
Review: I've been a Caroline Stevemer fan since 1993 when I found one of her early books. When the King Comes Home is delightful. The mix of magic and art, her post-Renaissance pre-Reformation alternate Europe with the city state as supreme governing structure and the ateliers as the height of artistic education reminded me of Firenze, Italy. Being married to an artist, although not one myself, she caught well the creative process and how creating changes the creator as well as the object created. Delightfully written, spare and elegant, with a nice blend of characters and an unexpected ending - all elements conspire to make a wonderful read. Highly recommended; Hail Rosamer is one of those people you wish you had living near by.
Rating:
Summary: When the King Comes Home -- Will he be welcome?
Review: If something is unlikely, it is said it will happen when the King comes home. This refers to Good King Julian who has been dead for 200 years.Hail Rosamer is the daughter of a sheep merchant but she has a talent for art and wishes to pursue it. She gets her wish when a talented artist agrees to accept Hail as an apprentice. Hail's studies go well and by being in the city, she gets to see fabulous and legendary works of art, including ones that accurately depict the Good King, his Champion and his Queen. But a jealous apprentice tries to frame Hail and Hail flees the city. While resting under a bridge, she encounters a strange man. A man with the face of Good King Julian! Hail then gets caught up in politics as the Prince Bishop, the man who really runs the Empire, tries to squash rumors that the Good King has returned. But he man is not the King, he is the King's Champion, accidently resurrected by necromancy. Necromancy that will try again to resurrect the King. Thus the King returns, not as the Empire's savior, but as a puppet tool of an outlaw baron and a necromancer. Can the city and the Empire survive the return of the King? Can Hail disentangle herself from the politics? Will Hail's love and knowledge of art and the King's artist provide a key for stopping the ensorcelled King? What happens if they succeed? An interesting tale of one way that a people's hopes and dreams can turn awry.
Rating:
Summary: When the King Comes Home -- Will he be welcome?
Review: If something is unlikely, it is said it will happen when the King comes home. This refers to Good King Julian who has been dead for 200 years. Hail Rosamer is the daughter of a sheep merchant but she has a talent for art and wishes to pursue it. She gets her wish when a talented artist agrees to accept Hail as an apprentice. Hail's studies go well and by being in the city, she gets to see fabulous and legendary works of art, including ones that accurately depict the Good King, his Champion and his Queen. But a jealous apprentice tries to frame Hail and Hail flees the city. While resting under a bridge, she encounters a strange man. A man with the face of Good King Julian! Hail then gets caught up in politics as the Prince Bishop, the man who really runs the Empire, tries to squash rumors that the Good King has returned. But he man is not the King, he is the King's Champion, accidently resurrected by necromancy. Necromancy that will try again to resurrect the King. Thus the King returns, not as the Empire's savior, but as a puppet tool of an outlaw baron and a necromancer. Can the city and the Empire survive the return of the King? Can Hail disentangle herself from the politics? Will Hail's love and knowledge of art and the King's artist provide a key for stopping the ensorcelled King? What happens if they succeed? An interesting tale of one way that a people's hopes and dreams can turn awry.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting heroine and world, disappointing ending.
Review: OK, I admit it. I wanted the herione to fall in love at then end of the book. There. Something just rankles about our girl Hail Rosamer being so clueless and indifferent to the hero, after all they've been through! But stilll...it was a good, original story and you can't say that about a lot of fantasy these days! Hail Rosamer is an artist apprentice and either Stevermer is an artist herself or she's done her research, because the littlest details of Hail's training are fascinating. Hail goes to the big city to learn art, she meets a jealous rival and encounters interesting people. Then one day she runs afoul of her rival and runs away, only to stumble onto a seeming living legend. From there we have necromancing sorceresses, Arthurian and Fisher King-like heroes and a work of Art above it all. Although this is set in the same world as "A College of Magics" (which I would rate higher and enjoyed even more) there is little similarity other than one character with a same last name and some references to the juxtaposition of the fantasy world Stevermer has created and our own. Stevermer is a good and fastastically creative writer--I just wish I had her ear next time to tell her how to end the story! :) This book is suitable for high school age and up.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: Stevermer does a wonderful job of portraying what really happens when the king comes home. I really cared about the main characters - Hail Rosamer and Ludo. The one complaint I have about the book is that she didn't fall in love. Just as another reviewer said, I really wanted them to fall in love. Anyway, I really enjoyed how Hail was an artist. I liked how Maspero, the object of her obsession, was connected to everything. It is a very original fantasy and thoroughly satisfying (except for the whole not falling in love with Ludo - who is perfect for her). I think this is better than Stevermer's A College of Magics - but read that too.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: There's no doubt Stevermer can write some eloquent prose, however, her ability to keep a story interesting falters in several places in this book. It took a short while for me to get into the book and start liking it, and it was a good story for half, until she threw in her major plot twist which I feel disrupted a more interesting story. By the last few chapters I was speed reading just to find out how it finished. I have hopes that her style might yet yield a better book from her, but I don't think I'll try another Stevermer.
Rating: 
Summary: try something else of hers
Review: There's no doubt Stevermer can write some eloquent prose, however, her ability to keep a story interesting falters in several places in this book. It took a short while for me to get into the book and start liking it, and it was a good story for half, until she threw in her major plot twist which I feel disrupted a more interesting story. By the last few chapters I was speed reading just to find out how it finished. I have hopes that her style might yet yield a better book from her, but I don't think I'll try another Stevermer.
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