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Product Description
Review
'a well-written and exciting read'
(The School Librarian 20020607)'a terrific story, wonderfully written'
(Families Magazine 20020607)MALVOLIO'S REVENGE: '... carefully constructed, well researched and ambitious novel.' (writeaway.org 20020607)
Reading one of Sophie Masson's books is like standing on top of a lonely mountain at midnight, under a star-filled sky ... Her work has that same sense of clarity, magic and mystery ... (GARTH NIX 20020607)
THE TEMPESTOUS VOYAGE OF HOPEWELL SHAKESPEARE: 'Masterly' (The Times 20020607)
'Step aboard ... and embark on a magical mystery voyage.' (Books for Keeps )
'Sophie Masson is decidedly a captivating narrator who certainly knows how to hypnotise her readers.' (Lollipops )
CLEMENTINE: 'A fabulous novel ...' (Adele Geras, TES )
CARABAS: 'A sophisticated and timeless tale of magic and human nature.' (Weekend Australian )
'One of the strengths of Masson's work is this creation of parallel worlds of fantasy which interweave with the old folk tale but also produce echoes of myth.' (Australian Book Review )
Praise for Snow, Fire, Sword:
'Sophie Masson combines her unique gifts of marvellous storytelling, high drama and poetic intensity.'
'This has a real storytelling intelligence directing it and a true and vivid sense of what makes a fascinating narrative.'
(Philip Pullman )Praise for Cold Iron:
'Haunting beauty that lingers in the mind and heart.'
Product Description
The London home of Matthew Ashby is visited by the beautiful, famous half-Venetian musician, Emilia Lanier, begging him for help. A young Venetian girl, Sarah, has been accused of witchcraft by a wealthy merchant's wife, and has since disappeared. Is she in hiding? Or worse - kidnapped or murdered?
So with his daughter, Celia, and his clerk, Ned, Matthew Ashby sets off for Venice and into a greater mystery than could ever be imagined. They must draw on all their wits and ingenuity to find allies in unexpected places. When Master Ashby is kidnapped, Ned and Celia have to race against the clock to find him as well as Sarah - but nothing is as it seems, not least the mysterious Madman of Venice ...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To be entertained when reading along with your young teenager, buy this one for mystery, culture and the world's most beautiful floating city.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The versatile Australian writer, Sophie Masson, can seemingly turn her hand to everything. In this latest book, she gives us Venice, with all its mystery, spookiness and magic as well as its history. Celia, the heroine, manages to be resourceful and clever without her feistiness becoming unbelievable at a period when girls were expected to know their place. Ned is a splendid hero: not the macho sort you might expect but one who delivers the goods when it matters. The romance is well-handled but it's more than anything the pace and excitement that Masson manages to build up, the thrills and the adventures which will appeal to readers. The cover doesn't give nearly enough indication of the pleasures within, which is a pity, but I do recommend this book to everyone, especially lovers of Venice.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Dull
16 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I wanted to like this well-meaning YA novel, but whenever the author had successfully engaged my interest she would cut to another scene and proceed to tell her story in the most uninteresting way possible rather than to show us her characters in action.
My other complaint is that despite the historical setting there was little effort to make the characters congruent with the time. In that era, teenagers were regarded as adults, rather than children.
My breaking point came at the middle of the book. Rather than allow the girl character to discover that the boy/young man loves her, the author has a minor character tell the girl all about it. Why spend half the book making a big deal of the fact that the guy is too shy to declare himself and then blow all the dramatic possibility of that like this?
And could it be that continually asking questions might not be the best way to create dramatic tension in the reader? Why not allow your heroine to ask dozens of them before breakfast and engage in hokey theorizing about the investigation without a shred of evidence? Could it be some readers will actually stand for this? Should I?
This book features well-meaning characters and a plot about pirates, abductions and the Jewish community in Venice. It's kinda sorta okay. I'm not a big fan of "okay" in literature for young people. Seems to me they deserve only the best.
My other complaint is that despite the historical setting there was little effort to make the characters congruent with the time. In that era, teenagers were regarded as adults, rather than children.
My breaking point came at the middle of the book. Rather than allow the girl character to discover that the boy/young man loves her, the author has a minor character tell the girl all about it. Why spend half the book making a big deal of the fact that the guy is too shy to declare himself and then blow all the dramatic possibility of that like this?
And could it be that continually asking questions might not be the best way to create dramatic tension in the reader? Why not allow your heroine to ask dozens of them before breakfast and engage in hokey theorizing about the investigation without a shred of evidence? Could it be some readers will actually stand for this? Should I?
This book features well-meaning characters and a plot about pirates, abductions and the Jewish community in Venice. It's kinda sorta okay. I'm not a big fan of "okay" in literature for young people. Seems to me they deserve only the best.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great for the Target Group
8 Oct 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Set in the early 17th century, this young adult novel is the story of Ned Fletcher, an orphan taken in by a wealthy English merchant as a clerk and bookkeeper. In love with his patron's daughter, Celia, Ned is a dreamer who loves to write plays and poetry. He's managed to see several of Shakespeare's plays at the Globe Theatre and is therefore delighted when his benefactor decides to include both Celia and himself on a trip to Venice to investigate a couple of mysteries. The novel is inspired by two of Shakespeare's plays and may very well act as an introduction to the bard's writings to the target group.
I think if I were a girl of 12 or 13, I would love this book. It has romance, mystery, travel and adventure. The arc of the plot is cleverly carried through to the end and the settings are very well done. I've visited Venice and the descriptions of both exteriors and interiors of the fabled architecture of that city are well portrayed. So are the wonders of gliding through the canals. As well there are the subtle lessons of tolerance versus "man's inhumanity to man." So for the early teenager, the book is both entertaining and educational.
For the older, more sophisticated teenager or the adult reader, not so much. A more critical, advanced reader would definitely pick up on a few problems. For example there are many anachronisms such as "she's a piece of work," "small time crook," and "dead in the water." Also both the narration and dialogue are often overly simplistic and sound almost childish. And yet, I found myself eager to finish the book to see where it goes. So perhaps these things are deliberate by the author because she knows the genre and I really don't.
Based on these thoughts and a readership of ages 11 to 15, I am going to give it a good rating.
I think if I were a girl of 12 or 13, I would love this book. It has romance, mystery, travel and adventure. The arc of the plot is cleverly carried through to the end and the settings are very well done. I've visited Venice and the descriptions of both exteriors and interiors of the fabled architecture of that city are well portrayed. So are the wonders of gliding through the canals. As well there are the subtle lessons of tolerance versus "man's inhumanity to man." So for the early teenager, the book is both entertaining and educational.
For the older, more sophisticated teenager or the adult reader, not so much. A more critical, advanced reader would definitely pick up on a few problems. For example there are many anachronisms such as "she's a piece of work," "small time crook," and "dead in the water." Also both the narration and dialogue are often overly simplistic and sound almost childish. And yet, I found myself eager to finish the book to see where it goes. So perhaps these things are deliberate by the author because she knows the genre and I really don't.
Based on these thoughts and a readership of ages 11 to 15, I am going to give it a good rating.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing
1 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover
I was not at all impressed. Weak, contrived storyline, overdone dialogue, wooden and predictable characters. The mystery was melodramatic and shallow. Honestly, this book was just stupid, and I don't say that lightly. There are much better historical mysteries, and much better novels set in Venice, if that's what you're looking for. DOn't bother with this one.
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