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annasirius's review
3.0
The language use in this book drew me in from the start. Sometimes I know from page 1 that I'll enjoy a novel. The author has a playful stance to language, which includes the use of old-fashioned words such as 'whilst' and 'whence', which I found charming. I also liked the various characters, although the sole female character very much fit the fantasy role stereotype (young virgin falling for the pretty fighter).
The plot was not as well executed; especially the 'climax' left me wanting.
The plot was not as well executed; especially the 'climax' left me wanting.
red_dog's review
3.0
So there I was in the library, looking for a fantasy book that I could lose myself in. Sadly, every book I picked up was in the "Land of X is being threatened by the dreaded Y, and only the unassuming Z can fulfil the prophecy and free the world of evil" vein, until I got to The Alchemist of Souls. "Ah ha", I thought: "If invented worlds don't cut it, why not delve into counter factuals? You know where you are with the world (at least to start with), and can quickly get busy with any subversion of expectations that the author chooses to throw at you." And from the point of view of evoking Elizabethan England, Anne Lyle's book does a very good job - both the setting and the characters within it feel real, in particular when capturing the sheer paranoia of living in a solidly anti-Catholic police state subtly enforced by the seemingly all-seeing Francis Walsingham.
But my main sticking point with the book is the fact that it feels somewhat under-written when it comes to its main "fantasy" creatures, the skraylings. Aside from the blurb on the back cover - "When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend: skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers' wake, bringing Native American goods - and a skrayling ambassador - to London" - we don't really get any explanation of why the skraylings are there at all, or indeed what impact they have had on this world. Not that I'd necessarily want Basil Exposition to turn up, but the treatment of the skraylings by the Londoners of the book did not feel any different to what one might have expected of any other examples of "the Other" in London (either in Elizabethan times, or since), be they Hugenots, Jews, or Lascars, and as such the reason for me, the reader, to be interested in them, either for myself, or on behalf of the characters (in particular Mal Catlyn), was somewhat lost. By the time the more "magical" elements of the skrayling became more visible, not enough seeds had been sown in terms of highlighting quite why they might be seen as such a threat either socially or politically, with the net result that despite the wonder of their metaphysical approach to existence, the flow of the revelation just didn't feel right to me.
So to sum up, I enjoyed the mise en scène, I enjoyed the characters, but the overall handling of the "counter" to the "factuals" didn't quite add up for me.
But my main sticking point with the book is the fact that it feels somewhat under-written when it comes to its main "fantasy" creatures, the skraylings. Aside from the blurb on the back cover - "When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend: skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers' wake, bringing Native American goods - and a skrayling ambassador - to London" - we don't really get any explanation of why the skraylings are there at all, or indeed what impact they have had on this world. Not that I'd necessarily want Basil Exposition to turn up, but the treatment of the skraylings by the Londoners of the book did not feel any different to what one might have expected of any other examples of "the Other" in London (either in Elizabethan times, or since), be they Hugenots, Jews, or Lascars, and as such the reason for me, the reader, to be interested in them, either for myself, or on behalf of the characters (in particular Mal Catlyn), was somewhat lost. By the time the more "magical" elements of the skrayling became more visible, not enough seeds had been sown in terms of highlighting quite why they might be seen as such a threat either socially or politically, with the net result that despite the wonder of their metaphysical approach to existence, the flow of the revelation just didn't feel right to me.
So to sum up, I enjoyed the mise en scène, I enjoyed the characters, but the overall handling of the "counter" to the "factuals" didn't quite add up for me.
tomlloyd's review
4.0
Excellent book, highly enjoyed it. A strong and authentic-feeling setting, good characters and plot with flashes of prose of such high quality I can hardly believe this is her début novel. From a historical fantasy I first and foremost want something I'm going to greatly enjoy as I charge through it and this delivered perfectly. My niggles were the background to the main plot, the Huntsmen, where I felt there was something lacking, or it hadn't quite come across properly but couldn't pin down how exactly, plus the ending fell a little flat. Mal's in no fit state to be a hero in most of it, Ned's an odd fish as a prominent secondary character and Coby, while a good character herself doesn't really deliver in the action side. I wanted more swashbuckling and action, even if it was Coby delivering that, but where things should have built to an exciting conclusion they just carried on in the same pace. Not bad, just not great, hence the loss of a star. Highly recommended.
tachyondecay's review
4.0
Now this is how you write a novel!
I love fiction set in Tudor and Elizabethan England. It seems an era particularly rich in epic, empire-spanning events and internal religious and royal conflict. If an author can make historical figures come alive and explore the emotions and motivations that might have been involved in these intrigues, the resultant novel can be an intense, interesting invocation of history. This era is also a rich source of inspiration for historical fantasy, and sometimes even alternative history. What if Henry VIII hadn’t killed Anne Boleyn? What if he had lived to take a seventh wife? Or what if, as Anne Lyle posits here, Elizabeth I did not remind the virgin queen, but instead married Robert Dudley and bore him princes? And what if, upon expanding into the New World, European explorers encountered more than just the indigenous human inhabitants? They found the Skraylings, non-human beings steeped in mysterious traditions and magic.
The Alchemist of Souls falls into the category I like to call, “What a Great Read.” It’s not a book that is going to keep me up at night pondering its themes and subtext. But it’s far more than just a competent or compelling narrative. Rather, Anne Lyle has achieved something in between the two, and that’s definitely cause for celebration. I enjoyed the few hours I spent with Maliverny Catlyn and Coby Hendricks, and Lyle’s alternative Elizabethan England is a fascinating setting without becoming overbearing or over-the-top.
Mal Catlyn has seen better days. Down his luck, in debt, suddenly he becomes appointed the bodyguard to a Skrayling ambassador. There are deeper reasons for this, which we learn later, but the upshot is that Mal is caught between several masters. He is working for Walsingham, who of course is trying to control everything. He is working for Leland, the Queen’s man in this matter, and theoretically Mal’s direct superior. But mostly he becomes loyal to Kiiren, the young Skrayling ambassador whom he is assigned to protect. Mal overcomes his initial prejudice and distrust of the Skraylings and comes to consider Kiiren a kind of friend—that is, until a close encounter with Skrayling magic and the abduction of his insane brother threatens Mal’s relationship with Kiiren, as well as Mal’s life.
The other half of the book follows Coby, short for Jacob, an adolescent member of an acting troupe. Except she’s a boy (which isn’t a spoiler, because we learn it when we first meet her). As the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, Coby works on the costumes for the troupe. She finds it easier to live as a boy rather than endure the attention that would fall upon her as a parent-less girl. The threat of discovery looms over Coby at every corner, but Lyle never makes it melodramatic. Rather, she plays upon the ambiguous attitudes towards sexuality and sexual orientation among the Elizabethan classes. Coby falls hard for Mal after he teaches her how to fight in return for lessons from her on Skrayling tradetalk. He notices the attraction, but of course he sees it through the lens of Coby’s apparent masculine gender performance and lets Coby down gently. Later in the book, another man who has relations with men assumes it is Coby’s attraction to Mal that makes her so anxious to find and rescue him from the clutches of an adversary.
This kind of play on mistaken identity or misinterpreted relationships and sexuality is nice to see, particularly in a book set in the time of Shakespeare, who was such a master of it. I won’t pretend to any kind of expertise in this area, so rather than saying that Lyle’s portrayal of sexuality and gender lends the book authenticity, I’ll say that it at least demonstrates a keen awareness that ideas about gender in Elizabethan England were very different from ideas about gender now. So many writers of historical fiction nail the events, dates, names, even clothing, but their men act like 20th- or 21st-century men, and their women act like 20th- or 21st-century women. Lyle’s characters have the prejudices and pre-conceptions of 16th-century Europeans, something that becomes all the more obvious when they deal with the Skraylings.
The principal conflict in The Alchemist of Souls concerns one of the many secrets the Skraylings have yet to reveal to humans: they reincarnate. I won’t go into more detail so I don’t have to attach a spoiler warning. Suffice it to say that Mal and his twin brother play an important role in a gambit between Kiiren and another important Skrayling. In the balance lies not only Mal’s life but the alliance between the Skraylings and England against the staunchly-Catholic French and Spain. Lyle includes both personal and very big-picture stakes in the conflict.
Indeed, in general I am impressed not just with the story but with how tightly written this book is. It’s easy to turn historical fiction into sprawling epics, with descriptions and careful flashbacks and long-winded explanations of genealogies and precedents. Lyle manages to establish a lot with very little in the way of exposition. We quickly learn that Mal is the son of a diplomat who married an heiress from the French court. This gives him a half-French, secret Catholic heritage he has to hide, lest it bring him under suspicion. (Lyle drops a few more hints throughout the book that Mal will eventually renew his connection to France in the service of Walsingham’s spy corps, but I assume that will be another book.) Similarly, we learn about Coby’s background and former life in the Netherlands in about a single conversation between her and Mal. No lengthy flashbacks here, and only a few disjointed dream sequences!
I’m not quite as sold on the way Lyle portrays the magical and supernatural in The Alchemist of Souls. Magic doesn’t play an overt role until the last part of the book, and then there’s quite a bit of it, and it can be a little confusing to try to work out what’s going on, especially during the climax. In the end, all becomes clear once the dust settles. But this is an exception to the otherwise skillful use of action and suspense that makes this book so satisfying to read.
This is definitely a refreshing take on Elizabethan England, and one that I will be happy to follow as a series. The addition of the Skraylings into the political and religious fray between England and the Continent can only deepen the amount of carnage and intrigue that will be forthcoming. I can’t wait to see what Mal gets up to next. But far from serving merely to set up any sequels, The Alchemist of Souls is a fine novel that stands alone. It’s entertaining and action-oriented, but with a keen sense of history, neat new supernatural allies and enemies, and worthy characters to cheer (or boo).
My reviews of the Night’s Masque series:
The Merchant of Dreams →
I love fiction set in Tudor and Elizabethan England. It seems an era particularly rich in epic, empire-spanning events and internal religious and royal conflict. If an author can make historical figures come alive and explore the emotions and motivations that might have been involved in these intrigues, the resultant novel can be an intense, interesting invocation of history. This era is also a rich source of inspiration for historical fantasy, and sometimes even alternative history. What if Henry VIII hadn’t killed Anne Boleyn? What if he had lived to take a seventh wife? Or what if, as Anne Lyle posits here, Elizabeth I did not remind the virgin queen, but instead married Robert Dudley and bore him princes? And what if, upon expanding into the New World, European explorers encountered more than just the indigenous human inhabitants? They found the Skraylings, non-human beings steeped in mysterious traditions and magic.
The Alchemist of Souls falls into the category I like to call, “What a Great Read.” It’s not a book that is going to keep me up at night pondering its themes and subtext. But it’s far more than just a competent or compelling narrative. Rather, Anne Lyle has achieved something in between the two, and that’s definitely cause for celebration. I enjoyed the few hours I spent with Maliverny Catlyn and Coby Hendricks, and Lyle’s alternative Elizabethan England is a fascinating setting without becoming overbearing or over-the-top.
Mal Catlyn has seen better days. Down his luck, in debt, suddenly he becomes appointed the bodyguard to a Skrayling ambassador. There are deeper reasons for this, which we learn later, but the upshot is that Mal is caught between several masters. He is working for Walsingham, who of course is trying to control everything. He is working for Leland, the Queen’s man in this matter, and theoretically Mal’s direct superior. But mostly he becomes loyal to Kiiren, the young Skrayling ambassador whom he is assigned to protect. Mal overcomes his initial prejudice and distrust of the Skraylings and comes to consider Kiiren a kind of friend—that is, until a close encounter with Skrayling magic and the abduction of his insane brother threatens Mal’s relationship with Kiiren, as well as Mal’s life.
The other half of the book follows Coby, short for Jacob, an adolescent member of an acting troupe. Except she’s a boy (which isn’t a spoiler, because we learn it when we first meet her). As the tireman for Suffolk’s Men, Coby works on the costumes for the troupe. She finds it easier to live as a boy rather than endure the attention that would fall upon her as a parent-less girl. The threat of discovery looms over Coby at every corner, but Lyle never makes it melodramatic. Rather, she plays upon the ambiguous attitudes towards sexuality and sexual orientation among the Elizabethan classes. Coby falls hard for Mal after he teaches her how to fight in return for lessons from her on Skrayling tradetalk. He notices the attraction, but of course he sees it through the lens of Coby’s apparent masculine gender performance and lets Coby down gently. Later in the book, another man who has relations with men assumes it is Coby’s attraction to Mal that makes her so anxious to find and rescue him from the clutches of an adversary.
This kind of play on mistaken identity or misinterpreted relationships and sexuality is nice to see, particularly in a book set in the time of Shakespeare, who was such a master of it. I won’t pretend to any kind of expertise in this area, so rather than saying that Lyle’s portrayal of sexuality and gender lends the book authenticity, I’ll say that it at least demonstrates a keen awareness that ideas about gender in Elizabethan England were very different from ideas about gender now. So many writers of historical fiction nail the events, dates, names, even clothing, but their men act like 20th- or 21st-century men, and their women act like 20th- or 21st-century women. Lyle’s characters have the prejudices and pre-conceptions of 16th-century Europeans, something that becomes all the more obvious when they deal with the Skraylings.
The principal conflict in The Alchemist of Souls concerns one of the many secrets the Skraylings have yet to reveal to humans: they reincarnate. I won’t go into more detail so I don’t have to attach a spoiler warning. Suffice it to say that Mal and his twin brother play an important role in a gambit between Kiiren and another important Skrayling. In the balance lies not only Mal’s life but the alliance between the Skraylings and England against the staunchly-Catholic French and Spain. Lyle includes both personal and very big-picture stakes in the conflict.
Indeed, in general I am impressed not just with the story but with how tightly written this book is. It’s easy to turn historical fiction into sprawling epics, with descriptions and careful flashbacks and long-winded explanations of genealogies and precedents. Lyle manages to establish a lot with very little in the way of exposition. We quickly learn that Mal is the son of a diplomat who married an heiress from the French court. This gives him a half-French, secret Catholic heritage he has to hide, lest it bring him under suspicion. (Lyle drops a few more hints throughout the book that Mal will eventually renew his connection to France in the service of Walsingham’s spy corps, but I assume that will be another book.) Similarly, we learn about Coby’s background and former life in the Netherlands in about a single conversation between her and Mal. No lengthy flashbacks here, and only a few disjointed dream sequences!
I’m not quite as sold on the way Lyle portrays the magical and supernatural in The Alchemist of Souls. Magic doesn’t play an overt role until the last part of the book, and then there’s quite a bit of it, and it can be a little confusing to try to work out what’s going on, especially during the climax. In the end, all becomes clear once the dust settles. But this is an exception to the otherwise skillful use of action and suspense that makes this book so satisfying to read.
This is definitely a refreshing take on Elizabethan England, and one that I will be happy to follow as a series. The addition of the Skraylings into the political and religious fray between England and the Continent can only deepen the amount of carnage and intrigue that will be forthcoming. I can’t wait to see what Mal gets up to next. But far from serving merely to set up any sequels, The Alchemist of Souls is a fine novel that stands alone. It’s entertaining and action-oriented, but with a keen sense of history, neat new supernatural allies and enemies, and worthy characters to cheer (or boo).
My reviews of the Night’s Masque series:
The Merchant of Dreams →
khardan's review
4.0
Normalmente, me cuesta bastante decir que me ha gustado un libro como este. Se trata de un libro lleno de politiqueo, cosa que no me molesta, de teatro, aunque no tanto como me hubiera gustado, de historia, con referencias inevitables a las guerras de religión del siglo XVI y a la historia de Inglaterra cercana a ese siglo. Además, y solo lo digo como dato accesorio para demostrar la validez de suponerlo dentro de esa vertiente de libros diferentes, se trata de una historia donde hay relaciones homosexuales entre varios personajes (y lo trata con toda la normalidad, por eso me daba cosa ponerlo como si fuera algo tan extraño)
Sigue leyendo...
Sigue leyendo...
clairerousseau's review
4.0
Anne Lyle’s The Alchemist of Souls follows the adventures of Catholic swordsman-turned-spy Maliverny Catlyn through Elisabethan London with a twist.
Mal, his friend Ned Faulkner and cross-dressing seamstress Coby Hendricks, find themselves at the heart of political intrigue during the visit to England of the Ambassador of the Skraylings, a fay-like race from the New World.
I’m going to keep plot details at that because it is really too good a book to spoil. Let me just say there is swashbuckling-ness galore, a theatre competition, very cool magic… And it’s set in 16th century London. How much better can it get?
Deep, believable, non-anachronistic portrayal of non-traditional gender roles and minority groups within a well-research historical setting, you say? CHECK. Intricate plotting, lively, fun descriptions and wonderful characterisation, you say? CHECK.
I came across this book some time before it was published, when the author posted her success story on the forums for How To Revise Your Novel, an online course she had completed and I had just started. The story sounded great, the cover art was lovely and supporting a debut author was a nice bonus. I made a note to buy the book when it came out.
I ended up listening to the audiobook which was a great treat, as the voice actor, Michael Page, was phenomenally good. I looked him up and was not surprised to see he also narrated The Three Musketeers and the Illiad and several works by Dickens and Austen.
I don’t actually have anything bad to say about this book, I really, really enjoyed it, to the extent that I went back and listened to some of the story’s climax again because it was so cool. I will most definitely be buying a paper copy (probably hardback as well, otherwise it won’t match the next two which I know I’ll buy right as they come out), and probably get it signed at some Con or other.
Anne’s blog and writing journal feature well-written, insightful and informative posts; she also @replied me on twitter, and I felt all giddy because I’m a dork. But a dork who feels massively inspired by this really nifty debut.
Mal, his friend Ned Faulkner and cross-dressing seamstress Coby Hendricks, find themselves at the heart of political intrigue during the visit to England of the Ambassador of the Skraylings, a fay-like race from the New World.
I’m going to keep plot details at that because it is really too good a book to spoil. Let me just say there is swashbuckling-ness galore, a theatre competition, very cool magic… And it’s set in 16th century London. How much better can it get?
Deep, believable, non-anachronistic portrayal of non-traditional gender roles and minority groups within a well-research historical setting, you say? CHECK. Intricate plotting, lively, fun descriptions and wonderful characterisation, you say? CHECK.
I came across this book some time before it was published, when the author posted her success story on the forums for How To Revise Your Novel, an online course she had completed and I had just started. The story sounded great, the cover art was lovely and supporting a debut author was a nice bonus. I made a note to buy the book when it came out.
I ended up listening to the audiobook which was a great treat, as the voice actor, Michael Page, was phenomenally good. I looked him up and was not surprised to see he also narrated The Three Musketeers and the Illiad and several works by Dickens and Austen.
I don’t actually have anything bad to say about this book, I really, really enjoyed it, to the extent that I went back and listened to some of the story’s climax again because it was so cool. I will most definitely be buying a paper copy (probably hardback as well, otherwise it won’t match the next two which I know I’ll buy right as they come out), and probably get it signed at some Con or other.
Anne’s blog and writing journal feature well-written, insightful and informative posts; she also @replied me on twitter, and I felt all giddy because I’m a dork. But a dork who feels massively inspired by this really nifty debut.
ian's review
5.0
Where to start? The setting is fantastically detailed (but not to the point of being overboard, ala The Shadow of Black Wings). Settings as varied as he Royal palace to the darkest slums come alive in Anne's writings. The entire book is set in London, during an alternate history of the 1800s. In this history, Skraylings were discovered in the new world. Although Skrayling traders have become quite common in England by the point of the novel, they have not ever had a formal alliance with Englad. They send an ambassador, one Kiiren. Mal Catlyn, the erstwhile hero of the novel, is assigned to be his bodyguard. The problem? Mal hates Skraylings.
Why do I say the 'erstwhile hero'? One of the side characters - Jacob (Coby) stole my heart about midway through the novel. I love strong female heroines, and the wrap up of Coby's storyline at the end of the novel cinched it - Coby is awesome. At first she seems to be the classic fantasy novel trope - the female dressing as a boy in order to get to their objective - but by the end, Coby breaks free, not just breaking but shattering her mold.
I had a harder time growing to like the main character. Mal is grumpy and prejudiced. Right up until the end. He has his reasons, but I was hoping for more character development from the main character over the course of the novel. This is easily my biggest (only?) complaint.
The rest of the cast is as varied and colorful as the setting. Spies, Diplomats, a troupe of actors, royals, street rats, and more populate the streets of this book, all of them written to perfection.
As far as the Plot goes, it is not as straightforward as it seems. I won't say more because I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I loved the twist at the end. The pacing is perfect. The downtime spaced just right to make the action all the better.
I'll be honest, I didn't follow at all the bits about religion - protestant vs christian vs catholic, vs ??.... oh, my, too much to follow for someone who grew up deep in the bowels of the mormon religion they all seem the same to me. Luckily, these don't play any direct bearing on the plot that I could see. Or perhaps I just missed it? No matter.
Be warned, several of the characters are gay and there is one gay sex scene (very very tastefully done, no worries there). So if that bothers you, best to skip this jewel.
Why do I say the 'erstwhile hero'? One of the side characters - Jacob (Coby) stole my heart about midway through the novel. I love strong female heroines, and the wrap up of Coby's storyline at the end of the novel cinched it - Coby is awesome. At first she seems to be the classic fantasy novel trope - the female dressing as a boy in order to get to their objective - but by the end, Coby breaks free, not just breaking but shattering her mold.
I had a harder time growing to like the main character. Mal is grumpy and prejudiced. Right up until the end. He has his reasons, but I was hoping for more character development from the main character over the course of the novel. This is easily my biggest (only?) complaint.
The rest of the cast is as varied and colorful as the setting. Spies, Diplomats, a troupe of actors, royals, street rats, and more populate the streets of this book, all of them written to perfection.
As far as the Plot goes, it is not as straightforward as it seems. I won't say more because I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I loved the twist at the end. The pacing is perfect. The downtime spaced just right to make the action all the better.
I'll be honest, I didn't follow at all the bits about religion - protestant vs christian vs catholic, vs ??.... oh, my, too much to follow for someone who grew up deep in the bowels of the mormon religion they all seem the same to me. Luckily, these don't play any direct bearing on the plot that I could see. Or perhaps I just missed it? No matter.
Be warned, several of the characters are gay and there is one gay sex scene (very very tastefully done, no worries there). So if that bothers you, best to skip this jewel.
panxa's review
3.0
It was slow in places, but I really liked the idea of the skralings and would like to read more about this world.
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