Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
fantastic, 13 Jan 2008
Winged stone lions fly through the skies of an imagined Venice, which is besieged by the armies of a revived Egyptian Pharaoh. Orphans Merle and her blind friend Junipa are apprenticed to Arcimboldo, the maker of mysterious mirrors, and find his housekeeper; Unke wears a mask to hide her mermaid's wide mouth of sharp shark's teeth. Merle carries a mirror made of water, and Unke feels the vibration of her connection with the mystical Flowing Queen who protects the Venice lagoon. In the mirror Junipa sees something she cannot tell. Meeting the attractive pickpocket Serafin, Merle overhears corrupt Venetian councillors making a deal with the Egyptians, over a flask containing the essence of the Flowing Queen. Serafin is caught, but Merle flees with the flask and is convinced by the Queen to drink its contents, and from then on carries the Flowing Queen inside her. Envoys from Hell - in this world, a real, geographical place - arrive in Campo San Marco, demanding Venice forms an alliance with Hell, or be destroyed. Vermithrax, one of the last talking stone lions, whisks Merle up from the burning piazza, and away over the mountains to find help... Rating: * * * * / * * * * * .
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Imaginative, 2 Dec 2006
Merle and her blind friend Junipa are apprenticed to a magic-mirror maker in Venice, but the city is under threat from an Egyptian army... Recommended for children aged 10-16.
I especially liked the stone lions, and a twist on 'the little mermaid' story. This was an imaginative, interesting read, though sometimes I lost concentration, and the stroy dragged in places.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The Flowing Queen, 5 Feb 2007
I run a book club for 9-11 yr olds, and we recently read this book. It is a fantastic read, with all the excitement and danger you could wish for, but with the added elgance of being set in Venice with its crumbling buildings and decadent architecture. I was gripped by the story and found that i couldn't put it down once I started reading it! I would thoroughly recommend it, it makes a change from some of the rather staid and boring children's writing which i all too often come across.
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