From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Oct 6 13:43:08 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!trane.uninett.no!eunet.no!nuug!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!eff!news.kei.com!yeshua.marcam.com!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!olivea!sgigate.sgi.com!sgiblab!pacbell.com!amdahl!amd!netcomsv!netcomsv!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!postmodern.com!not-for-mail From: schulman+@pitt.edu (Christina Schulman) Subject: Edghill: The Sword of Maiden's Tears Message-ID: <36sfha$b2g@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch) Organization: St. Dismas Infirmary for the Incurably Informed Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 18:17:35 GMT Approved: mcb@postmodern.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Lines: 56 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:634 rec.arts.sf.written:75694 _The Sword of Maiden's Tears_ by Rosemary Edghill is Yet Another Urban Elf Story. It sports an atrocious cover illustration and silly blurbs. So why did I buy it? Because I've heard--and this may be wildly untrue--that Rosemary Edghill is a pseudonym for the same author who wrote the clever, fast-paced sf Hellflower trilogy as Eluki bes Shahar. Rohannon Melior, an elf of the House of Silver Silences, arrives in New York City just as he regains the Sword of Maiden's Tears, and a friendly native promptly mugs him and runs off with his sword. Ruth Marlowe, a librarian-in-training who's bored with her life, picks him up, dusts him off, and takes him home. Rohannon proceeds to enlist the help of Ruth and her circle of friends in finding and recovering the sword, which will transform any human who touches it into a slavering cannibalistic monster. Any habitual fantasy reader can probably fill in the rest of the plot from here. The premise is cliche, the plot drags, and the conclusion is depressing and very unsatisfying. But the writing is witty and peppered with literary allusions, and the characterization of Ruth and her friends is complex and intriguing. The characters have lives and histories that extend beyond the immediate story, and their interplay and banter are what kept me reading along happily. I hope the sequel will redeem the disappointing ending of this book. And there will be a sequel; the characters say so on the last page. (The caption "The First Book of The Twelve Treasures" on the title page was sort of a giveaway, too.) If you can stomach another Urban Elf book, I recommend _The Sword of Maiden's Tears_. If you can't, try the Hellflower trilogy. Sensible Ruth was out walking in the rain. Today was her birthday, and Ruth was thirty. Thirty. All alone, and on the threshold of the rest of her entire life, which would be spent solitary, virginal, and depressed in some miniscule upstate New York library where the book was on view between the hours of three and three-fifteen every other Wednesday. Such a depressing future called for ice cream at the very least, and there was a Haagen-Dazs shop on Broadway. %A Edghill, Rosemary %T The Sword of Maiden's Tears %I Daw %C New York %D October 1994 %G ISBN 0-88677-622-8 %P 284pp %O paperback, US$4.99 %S The First Book of The Twelve Treasures -- Christina Schulman Presbyterian University Hospital schulman+@pitt.edu "The heart has its raisins which the kumquat know not of, as the French don't say." -- Rosemary Edghill From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 3 16:13:08 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed5.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!usenet From: Harriet Klausner Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: The Shadow Of Albion by Norton and Edgehill Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 02 Mar 1999 17:46:18 -0500 Organization: Netcom Lines: 35 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2271 THE SHADOW OF ALBION by Andre Norton & Rosemary Edgehill Review Copyright 1999 Harriet Klausner On an alternate earth where magic exists, Charles II - on his deathbed - admits that he married his mistress. This makes the Duke of Monmouth the king as opposed to Charles' brother James. The Stuart line continues to rule and the American colonies remain part of the British Empire. Napoleon still plans to rule Europe, however. The Marchioness of Roxbury is near death, but still has a crucial role to play in the future of England. Practitioners of the magic arts manage to switch Roxbury's body with that of Sarah Cunningham, a colonial residing on our Earth. Sarah forgets her past life, believing she is Roxbury. England's spymaster, the Duke of Essex, reluctantly plans to marry her because he needs a Duchess to help him with the bride to be of the Prince Regent. The duo go from complete indifference to strong passion, but their future is in jeopardy, as they must travel through the heart of the lands controlled by their hated enemy. THE SHADOWS OF ALBION melds the incredible talents of two great authors to produce a novel deemed to be a classic. Fantasy, intrigue, and romance merge in a spectacular way that will elate fans of all three genres and fiction lovers in general. Readers will want more novels starring the delightful couple in future adventures. There is a new talent abroard and Rosemary Edgehill is her name. She is a worthy successor to Andre Norton as well as a brilliant storyteller in her own right. Harriet Klausner %T THE SHADOW OF ALBION %A Andre Norton %A Rosemary Edgehill %I Tor %D Apr 1999 %O $23.95 %P 352 pp. %G ISBN 0-312-86927-2 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Aug 27 21:23:53 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!netnews.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.cwix.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!usenet From: mcardle@ozemail.com.au (Edward McArdle) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Twelve Treasures, The, a series by Rosemary Edghill. Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 25 Aug 1999 13:46:40 -0400 Organization: none Lines: 79 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2441 The Sword of Maiden's Tears, The Cup of Morning Shadows, The Cloak of Night and Daggers, by Rosemary Edghill. Review Copyright 1999 Edward McArdle [Contains major plot spoilers for all three books. --AW] These are the first three books of "The Twelve Treasures". I emailed the author, also known as Eluki bes Shahar, to ask whether there were to be twelve books, since these three are named for three of the Twelve Treasures. She said that she would be happy to keep writing them, but her editor has not asked for another. Since the third was only published in 1997, there may be hope. There are various worlds, connected by the Iron Road, and the bottom one is ours. Magic hardly works here, and it is full of iron, anathema to magic. In the top world, elven princes rule, and humans are at the bottom of the pile. Hmmm. In our world, New York to be precise, one of the elven princes is cast, mugged for his sword, and found by our heroine, Ruth Marlowe. Unfortunately, if a human touches the sword, he or she becomes a monster, and serial killer of the nastiest sort, able to be destroyed only by the sword itself. Since Melior, the elf, is the only one who can actually touch the sword.. well, you see the problem. There are a group of main characters, and the atmosphere of this book is somewhat dark. It seems almost inevitable that some or all of them will be killed. Ruth and Melior fall in love, but are separated at the end. The reason the sword is important is that if it is lost all Melior's family is doomed. There has been a war, and a bad guy has been elected king at the end. But instead of ruling peacefully, he wants to wipe out all the others. He does this by having their treasures removed by a wizard. When they cannot produce their treasures at the coronation, they are doomed. The second book takes place almost entirely in Elfland. Ruth and another find their way there, and have many adventures trying to get to Melior. Two other major characters are introduced, Melior's young cousin, and a human Robin Hood, The Fox. The third book also introduces new characters, and runs in two strands, one beginning on earth, the other continuing from the previous book, until they join at the end. An advisory warning: those who are offended by extreme coincidence may need to avoid these books. The fairly dark mood of the first book lifts a bit in the others, even though some characters have a bad time of it. The first book can be read alone, but the second ends with a cliff-hanger, so you would need to read both two and three. Three sort of ends with everyone together, but leaves plenty of scope for the story to continue. There is a particularly nasty human character in New York, and it would be worth reading another book just to see him come to a bad end. He is just a momentary presence in the first book, but is well into the other two. Obviously the whole series has been well thought-out and meticulously plotted. The author has obviously had fun writing these books,and I had fun reading them. She in fact appears, thinly disguised, in the third book - very thinly, as the author note at the back lists the fictional character instead of Rosemary Edghill - and we learn incidentally why she is such a good writer of fantasy. She has obviously also been a teacher-librarian. I for one hope that the series continues, and I will keep buying them. %A Edghill, Rosemary %T Sword of Maiden's Tears %I Daw Fantasy %D October 1994 %G ISBN 0-88677-622-8 %P 284pp %S Twelve Treasures Edward McArdle. http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mcardle -me, my tennis club, golf, verses, novel, a crostic puzzle, random photos... and http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/3479/ where you may learn of my Alaskan Cruise with the Stars (and get a glimpse of Vancouver).