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blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I read book 1, but I did not read book 2. But for me it worked excellent like this anyway. Book 1 took place 200 years before this one and book 2 100 years before this one. And the main character was not born back then. Though there is this other big POV that they do mention was around in book 2, but I really can't say how much. I got to know her here and that was fine.
Haley's comet is approaching and with it a dragon that wants to destroy London. This London is the normal London and fairy London. The queen of the Onyx court I got to know in book 1 as she got her throne, but here she is only in the background. This book is Lord Galen's, the human consort of the queen. The one who stands in both worlds (though nothing romantic about it, they are not lovers. It is just a title.) Galen was young, he wanted to save the world, and he was totally in love with his queen. Poor thing.
The book is also about a sprite, Lady Irrith that comes back to the Onyx court. She gets involved in court intrigues, meets Galen and is the one that shows more of the fae world.
The next book jumps ahead again so this is it for this crew.
It's an interesting series, but I do fear for the Onyx court. Iron and all that you know. The world is changing.
Haley's comet is approaching and with it a dragon that wants to destroy London. This London is the normal London and fairy London. The queen of the Onyx court I got to know in book 1 as she got her throne, but here she is only in the background. This book is Lord Galen's, the human consort of the queen. The one who stands in both worlds (though nothing romantic about it, they are not lovers. It is just a title.) Galen was young, he wanted to save the world, and he was totally in love with his queen. Poor thing.
The book is also about a sprite, Lady Irrith that comes back to the Onyx court. She gets involved in court intrigues, meets Galen and is the one that shows more of the fae world.
The next book jumps ahead again so this is it for this crew.
It's an interesting series, but I do fear for the Onyx court. Iron and all that you know. The world is changing.
megmcardle's review against another edition
4.0
Good but not great fantasy with fairie courts and magic in Elizabethan England.
chloroform_tea's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ofliterarynature's review against another edition
5.0
It made me cry so I suppose it can have 5 stars, as a treat
wynwicket's review against another edition
5.0
In this historical fantasy, the Great Fire of London in 1666 was caused by a great Dragon. It was banished to Halley's Comet by Queen Lune and her Faerie Court, and London and her people were saved for many years. But the comet's on its way back towards Earth, and this time the Dragon wants revenge....
Meanwhile, a young human man, Galen St. Clair searches for a bride to save his family's failing fortunes. Unfortunately, he's the Prince of the Stone, the Faerie Queen's human consort, and he's desperately in love with her.
Complications involving the Royal Society, alchemy, the crumbling walls of the Onyx Court, and a genie ensue.
A perfect blend of 18th-Century historical fiction and a fantasy adventure, with a poignant and powerful ending. Good stuff! This was apparently Book 3 in the series, but it can be read (as I did) out of sequence with no confusion.
Meanwhile, a young human man, Galen St. Clair searches for a bride to save his family's failing fortunes. Unfortunately, he's the Prince of the Stone, the Faerie Queen's human consort, and he's desperately in love with her.
Complications involving the Royal Society, alchemy, the crumbling walls of the Onyx Court, and a genie ensue.
A perfect blend of 18th-Century historical fiction and a fantasy adventure, with a poignant and powerful ending. Good stuff! This was apparently Book 3 in the series, but it can be read (as I did) out of sequence with no confusion.
markyon's review against another edition
4.0
As we get to the third in Marie’s Faerie series (Midnight Never Come, (2008; In Ashes Lie,(2009))we reach the Age of Enlightenment in England, the time when historically science superseded superstition and religion.
Here we have Marie’s entertaining take on it: that in 1757 the Faerie Court under London still exists, though diminished in power since the last novel. The exile of the fire dragon that was the cause of the Great Fire of London in 1666 (in the previous book) seems to have led to a more settled time in the court of the Faerie Queen Lune. As time has rolled on, however, again we see many of the cast of previous books now gone.
Edmond Halley’s calculations that propose comets travel elliptical orbits and that the comet will return in 1759 suggests that the previous problem may not have disappeared. A comet is traditionally often seen as a bad omen: and it so proves here. Facing both the return of the great dragon and the difficulties created by science upon faerie magic may just be too much for Lune and the fae this time.
As this series has developed there has been change in both worlds, though it is perhaps the human world that has changed most. After the removal of four-fifths of London in the Great Fire, it is here that we begin to see the reconstruction and urbanisation that leads to the historic elements of London today. There is also the social reconstruction after the debacle of the English Civil War. London here is a growing, thriving centre of commerce as well as ideas.
The crisis here for the Faerie world is a fundamental one: one of science versus magic, of rationalism versus mysticism. As the world above becomes more concerned with facts, there becomes less room for the superstition and the supernatural of the world below. This is the crisis that Lune faces, because she is aware, unlike the world above, that the two co-exist. It is further echoed in the fact that as the Onyx Court is fraying at its edges, Lune’s monarchy is under threat from a rival group, the Sanists, who feel that Lune needs replacing.
To convince the reader that the Human and Faerie worlds go together in a logical, well-rounded way is not easy and yet here Marie has managed it supremely well. We not only see the growth and development of London above but the magnificence and other-worldliness of the Onyx Court below.
In terms of characters, we see Irrith make decisions that are not always for the best, and also the consequences of Galen, the Prince of the Stone’s actions, as he searches for a mortal wife. Above all is Queen Lune, whose imperious governance oversees all and yet maintains a front behind which there lies a much more fragile figure.
In some ways this tale is less complex than In Ashes Lie, and all the better for it. Although there is some, we have less of the frenetic to-ing and fro-ing forwards and backwards in time that seemed to me to be an unnecessary element of Ashes. Instead, we have a stronger narrative, with better realised characterisation and a much better sense of drive.
The ending is terrific and one I found most moving: there is a major sacrifice and the loss of a major character. The solution to the plot problem is one which emphasises both human and faerie responsibilities and yet simultaneously their fundamental differences. The end is a bitter-sweet moment, where some sacrifice all and there are also future opportunities for both human and fae to work together.
Though Ashes was a little disappointing in consequence, this one really works. An ambitious tale and a pleasing triumph. Wonderful.
Mark Yon, August 2010.
Here we have Marie’s entertaining take on it: that in 1757 the Faerie Court under London still exists, though diminished in power since the last novel. The exile of the fire dragon that was the cause of the Great Fire of London in 1666 (in the previous book) seems to have led to a more settled time in the court of the Faerie Queen Lune. As time has rolled on, however, again we see many of the cast of previous books now gone.
Edmond Halley’s calculations that propose comets travel elliptical orbits and that the comet will return in 1759 suggests that the previous problem may not have disappeared. A comet is traditionally often seen as a bad omen: and it so proves here. Facing both the return of the great dragon and the difficulties created by science upon faerie magic may just be too much for Lune and the fae this time.
As this series has developed there has been change in both worlds, though it is perhaps the human world that has changed most. After the removal of four-fifths of London in the Great Fire, it is here that we begin to see the reconstruction and urbanisation that leads to the historic elements of London today. There is also the social reconstruction after the debacle of the English Civil War. London here is a growing, thriving centre of commerce as well as ideas.
The crisis here for the Faerie world is a fundamental one: one of science versus magic, of rationalism versus mysticism. As the world above becomes more concerned with facts, there becomes less room for the superstition and the supernatural of the world below. This is the crisis that Lune faces, because she is aware, unlike the world above, that the two co-exist. It is further echoed in the fact that as the Onyx Court is fraying at its edges, Lune’s monarchy is under threat from a rival group, the Sanists, who feel that Lune needs replacing.
To convince the reader that the Human and Faerie worlds go together in a logical, well-rounded way is not easy and yet here Marie has managed it supremely well. We not only see the growth and development of London above but the magnificence and other-worldliness of the Onyx Court below.
In terms of characters, we see Irrith make decisions that are not always for the best, and also the consequences of Galen, the Prince of the Stone’s actions, as he searches for a mortal wife. Above all is Queen Lune, whose imperious governance oversees all and yet maintains a front behind which there lies a much more fragile figure.
In some ways this tale is less complex than In Ashes Lie, and all the better for it. Although there is some, we have less of the frenetic to-ing and fro-ing forwards and backwards in time that seemed to me to be an unnecessary element of Ashes. Instead, we have a stronger narrative, with better realised characterisation and a much better sense of drive.
The ending is terrific and one I found most moving: there is a major sacrifice and the loss of a major character. The solution to the plot problem is one which emphasises both human and faerie responsibilities and yet simultaneously their fundamental differences. The end is a bitter-sweet moment, where some sacrifice all and there are also future opportunities for both human and fae to work together.
Though Ashes was a little disappointing in consequence, this one really works. An ambitious tale and a pleasing triumph. Wonderful.
Mark Yon, August 2010.
ejimenez's review against another edition
4.0
This book has a bunch of stuff that I don't normally like - a faerie court, including toxic court politics, a damsel in distress (actually, more than one distressed damsel), plus both. Plus it's chock full of white people (and white faeries) who are generally oblivious to racism, and all but one of the characters of color in the story show up in the context of an awful pseudo-scientific display of curiosities.
But somehow it all worked for me. The racism was actually relevant to the plot, providing a contemporary reader with useful information the characters didn't have (dramatic irony!), and it's a pleasant surprise to have a historical with faeries address the realities of race at all, even in the kind of side-on approach found here. The story was unpredictable and satisfying, and the characters were compelling. I think Marie Brennan's later work is stronger, but you can see the themes and approach taking shape here.
Spoiler
wicked betrayal and a heartbreaking sacrificeBut somehow it all worked for me. The racism was actually relevant to the plot, providing a contemporary reader with useful information the characters didn't have (dramatic irony!), and it's a pleasant surprise to have a historical with faeries address the realities of race at all, even in the kind of side-on approach found here. The story was unpredictable and satisfying, and the characters were compelling. I think Marie Brennan's later work is stronger, but you can see the themes and approach taking shape here.
nancyotoole's review against another edition
4.0
A Star Shall Fall is the third book in Marie Brena's Onyx Court series, which follows a fairy queen's reign and how it impacts (and is impacted) by the history of England. Taking place in the mid 1700s, A Star Shall Fall is highly concerned with the dragon that was banished during In Ashes Lie. When faerie methods alone cannot stop the dragon, the court turns to the great thinkers of the Royal Society to try to find a solution.
It took me a while to pick up A Star Shall Fall. This is mainly due to finding In Ashes Lie a little uneven. Fortunately, due to the large time gaps, it's really easy to pick up a book in the series even if you find yourself struggling to recall past events. I found Galen to be a great Prince of Stone, and enjoyed the way that his unrequited love for Lune is handled. A Star Shall fall also features some excellent suspense building, as everyone tries to find a solution for the returning dragon. The character of Irrith and her storyline involving the Sanists (people who believe that Queen Lune should no longer hold the throne), was very interesting as it built off her her own conflicting loyalties and doubts over the queen. Honestly I found A Star Shall Fall to be the strongest book in the series yet. If you made it this far, you really should continue.
It took me a while to pick up A Star Shall Fall. This is mainly due to finding In Ashes Lie a little uneven. Fortunately, due to the large time gaps, it's really easy to pick up a book in the series even if you find yourself struggling to recall past events. I found Galen to be a great Prince of Stone, and enjoyed the way that his unrequited love for Lune is handled. A Star Shall fall also features some excellent suspense building, as everyone tries to find a solution for the returning dragon. The character of Irrith and her storyline involving the Sanists (people who believe that Queen Lune should no longer hold the throne), was very interesting as it built off her her own conflicting loyalties and doubts over the queen. Honestly I found A Star Shall Fall to be the strongest book in the series yet. If you made it this far, you really should continue.
princess_starr's review against another edition
4.0
This is probably my favorite book in the Onyx Court series. It’s a much tighter story, and I got the sense of how closely the mortal and Faerie worlds influence one another, even if the monarchs aren’t tied. The ending made me want to read more about the Court and their reactions to the oncoming Industrial Revolution, what happened with Lune and the future of the Onyx Hall and the London fae. I also liked Abd al-Rashir, and the glimpse of non-European fae and their cultural differences. In all, a fun read and I would love to see more from Marie Brennan’s world.
linekgh's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0