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A review by windhover
When The King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermer
3.0
The bad news first. The plot is pretty rough here. Lots of people show up at the right places at convenient times, plans just magically work out (sometimes literally), characters have knowledge (presumably so the dialogue is less clunky). For me, these problems were just confusing and broke immersion.
On the other hand, the setting and the characters were a delight! The setting is a fictional region of Renaissance(?) Europe. The story is narrated by Hail Rosamer, the elderly artist, telling about the adventures of her youth. From her apprenticeship with a certain Madame Carriera to the flight to the shrine of St. Istvan, Hail Rosamer is the sort of intrepid, often inept, often frustrating protagonist it is easy for me to like. Also it's a coming of age fantasy story that is not trying to be Tolkien. It's more like one of those quiet, earnest novels about hopeful young artists coming to grips with craft and love and friendship and family. At least, all of my favorite parts were like that. And I can forgive a lot of plot holes for that.
On the other hand, the setting and the characters were a delight! The setting is a fictional region of Renaissance(?) Europe. The story is narrated by Hail Rosamer, the elderly artist, telling about the adventures of her youth. From her apprenticeship with a certain Madame Carriera to the flight to the shrine of St. Istvan, Hail Rosamer is the sort of intrepid, often inept, often frustrating protagonist it is easy for me to like. Also it's a coming of age fantasy story that is not trying to be Tolkien. It's more like one of those quiet, earnest novels about hopeful young artists coming to grips with craft and love and friendship and family. At least, all of my favorite parts were like that. And I can forgive a lot of plot holes for that.