A multilayered, labyrinthine fantasy that will engage fans of the genre, even those not looking for a tale with a moral...
The final book of the trilogy continues the richly imagined although sometimes confusing world of Heartless and Veiled Rose (both 2011).
Rose Red, princess of a long-hidden kingdom, was stolen as an infant by her mother to keep her safe from her royal father, who has evil plans that spell her future doom. Rose Red has lived, hidden by veils, in the world of mortals, working in the household of beloved childhood playmate Prince Lionheart. Lionheart is a flawed hero, terrified when he should be brave, then wracked by guilt for his many shortcomings. Faced with the potential loss of his crown for championing Rose Red, he casts her into the dangerous Wilderlands. This final self-justified act of betrayal has a far-reaching unanticipated impact. Eventually he embarks on a quest to find her, but it may be too late. Rose Red and Lionheart are carefully drawn, but the myriad other characters are less well developed. Between complex back stories and multiple plot lines, readers may wish for a scorecard to help keep track. A theme of Christian allegory runs through the tale, mostly subtle, but notably heavy-handed at the climax.
A multilayered, labyrinthine fantasy that will engage fans of the genre, even those not looking for a tale with a moral message. (Fantasy. 12 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0781-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bethany House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it...
Harris, creator of grand, symphonic thrillers from Fatherland (1992) to An Officer and a Spy (2014), scores with a chamber piece of a novel set in the Vatican in the days after a fictional pope dies.
Fictional, yes, but the nameless pontiff has a lot in common with our own Francis: He’s famously humble, shunning the lavish Apostolic Palace for a small apartment, and he is committed to leading a church that engages with the world and its problems. In the aftermath of his sudden death, rumors circulate about the pope’s intention to fire certain cardinals. At the center of the action is Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose job it is to manage the conclave that will elect a new pope. He believes it is also his duty to uncover what the pope knew before he died because some of the cardinals in question are in the running to succeed him. “In the running” is an apt phrase because, as described by Harris, the papal conclave is the ultimate political backroom—albeit a room, the Sistine Chapel, covered with Michelangelo frescoes. Vying for the papal crown are an African cardinal whom many want to see as the first black pope, a press-savvy Canadian, an Italian arch-conservative (think Cardinal Scalia), and an Italian liberal who wants to continue the late pope’s campaign to modernize the church. The novel glories in the ancient rituals that constitute the election process while still grounding that process in the real world: the Sistine Chapel is fitted with jamming devices to thwart electronic eavesdropping, and the pressure to act quickly is increased because “rumours that the pope is dead are already trending on social media.”
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it is pure temptation.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-49344-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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