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Title: Illusion

Author: Paula Volsky

LOC Call No.: PS3543.O634 I43

LOC Subjects:
Fantasy.

Source: owned

Rating: Grand scale, danger, romance, and unforgettable characters... Wow.

Readings: March or April 1997

I ordered this from Amazon.com because it was on their recommended list. Good choice....

This is a retelling of the Russian Revolution with French overtones, but in a very different setting -- here magic works to a certain somewhat forgotten extent. Along with excellent prose, Volsky creates a cast of very memorable characters, with the lead going to Eliste vo Derrivalle.

Eliste is a young, haughty, and well-educated woman about to assume her adult position in the ruling class as a maid-in-waiting to the queen. Her life begins to change as she travels from her provincial home to the capital, Sherreen. In Sherreen she is the responsibility of her very proper, elegant, and stern great-aunt, Zeralenn, a memorable character in her own right. We also meet her ditzy younger teenage cousin Aurelie, who is very fond of the word "La!" as in, "Oh! He was so handsome! La! I thought I would swoon!" I will say no more about the rest of the cast so as not to spoil the fun....

Volsky presents a view of the city and its citizens so real that the reader can smell the streets, feel the fabrics, and see the faces quite clearly, often entirely too clearly for the reader's comfort. Her characters, especially Eliste, change according to their experiences, sometimes growing, sometimes shrinking. The plot gives the unsuspecting rider, er, reader some very startling thumps as the simmering chaos of the Revolution develops into a roiling hell of societal madness, with Eliste alternately in the middle of it and spinning in an eddy off to the side.

And one more thing: Michael Whelan's cover art proves that he actually read the book. It's just about perfect.


Page created 5/27/97.
Last updated 03/17/03 at 14:33.

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