This was a zippy, fun read. The cover description makes it seem much more serious than it is- this book is essentially a dark comedy, and Judith Merkle Riley's signature dry with shines through.The Master of All Desires paints a portrait of the age of Catherine de Medici. Our heroine is Sibille, the sensitive, poetic black sheep of her family. Through a series of unfortunate events she is swept up in court intrigue, becoming acquainted with Catherine de Medici. All the characters are connected through their dabblings in the occult- Sibille reads tarot cards, her aunt has a house full of ghosts, and Queen Catherine vies with her husband's mistress by consulting astrologers and the famed prophet Nostradamus. Nostradamus, by the way, is surprisingly practical for a man who can call upon the Angel of Past and Future History at will.The book's McGuffin is a severed head, the titular Master of All Desires, who grants your wishes in a way that actually makes your life miserable. But the supernatural element is really just a fun way to throw everyone together and create improbable scrapes that the characters can scheme their way out of. Still, the journey was so pleasant that I didn't mind. The last chapter and epilogue are a little darker, and hint at what the book could have been, and made me wish the author would try her hand at writing a serious alternate history novel- I would love to read it! But if you're looking for a lighter take on historical fiction, without an epic romance bogging things down, this is the ticket.
This book is set during the reign of Henry II of France. You start by meeting his slighted queen, who is understandably upset about him blowing her off for his elderly mistress. The history of this story revolves mostly around these royals and their children. I have to admit, I really wanted to see his manipulative mistress get hers all the way through.The "main" plot revolves around Sibille. I loved Sibille all the way through. She lived a life of unfortunate events, but had a good nature. So every time people tried to scheme against her, or use her, I just felt bad for her. Especially when she managed to acquire the mystical "Master of all Desires". Despite resisting the horrible mummified head in a box, she seemed to have one bad thing after another thrown at her. Luckily she had her insanely rich Aunt looking out for her!All in all, the book is an interesting read. It taught me about the time period, especially the horrid royal families, and the famous Nostradamus.The beginning felt jumbled, as there are many perspective swaps through this book, but once I had it figured out, I didn't struggle so much. There were slow parts, and parts that made my blood boil.If you up for a historical read with a hint of darkness and supernatural, this is your read.
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Another wonderful historical piece from Judith Merkle Riley, but with this book I started to see her pattern. Her heroines tend to be social misfits cast out of their families and have physical deformities, but are super intellegent. If you want a legitimately engaging look at Riley at the top of her game, stick with The Oracle Glass. This book tries too hard to cram in a bunch of unnecessary historical figures.However, anyone with a really dark sense of humor will LOVE this book. This book is really hilarious for people of the right mind set.
—Dominique Lamssies
Starts great and ends great, but the middle leaves something to be desired. This is a book that I should have enjoyed more than I did. It has all the ingredients to be a lot of fun - French history, Nostradamus, an undying talking mummified head who grants wishes with an evil twist, and two people fighting for love against all odds. The book begins very strong, but then it sort of loses its way. There are a good 100 or so pages in the middle where nothing much happens, the main characters are rarely seen, and I started to wonder if it was worth finishing. Thankfully, the last 100 pages or so brought the main story back to the forefront and picked up the pace. Overall, not a bad read - very unique and clever. If only the middle section had been good, it would have been excellent.
—Matt
A very strange historical novel, using Nostradamas as the vehicle to tie Mary, queen of Scots, the French Court and many of the predictions made by Nostradamas. Giving the reason why he was able to have this gift, or curse, and the beginning of the killing of protestants in France. Having read London, I began to understand the enormous influx of French protestants to England during Queen Elizabeth the First's reign. Extremely interesting way of writing. I would like to read Judith Riley's other books.
—Dona Krueger
