Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund
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Rate this Book Sonderbooks 84 Previous Book Next Book Nonfiction Fiction Young Adult Fiction Fantasy Previous Book Next Book Children's Nonfiction Children's Fiction Picture Books 2004 Stand-outs Previous Book Next Book 2003 Stand-outs 2002 Stand-outs 2001 Stand-outs Five-Star Books Four-Star Books Previous Book Next Book Old Favorites Back Issues List of Reviews by Title List of Reviews by Author Why Read? Children and Books Links For Book Lovers Book Discussion Forum About Me Contact Me Subscribe Make a Donation I don't review books I don't like! *****= An all-time favorite |
****The Grand TourOr The Purloined Coronation Regaliabeing a revelation of matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, including extracts from the intimate diary of a Noblewoman and the sworn testimony of a Lady of Qualityby Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer Reviewed August 24, 2004.
Harcourt, Orlando, 2004. 469 pages. Sonderbooks Stand-out 2004, #15, Fantasy for Young Adults As soon as I learned that the sequel to Sorcery and Cecilia was coming out, I ordered my own copy from Amazon, as well as one for the library. Of course, this made a delightful excuse to reread the earlier book, which I think of as like Jane Austen, with a touch of magic. The Grand Tour is perhaps not as thoroughly delightful as Sorcery and Cecilia, but that is only because Cecilia and Kate are now happily married, so we can’t have the fun of the misunderstandings of courtship. They and their husbands have taken off on a Grand Tour of the continent as their honeymoon. Along the way, they encounter a mystery of missing antiquities important in ancient coronations. The couples travel throughout Europe, uncovering a plot to revive the empire of Napoleon or worse. I would have liked for Kate and Cecilia to show up their husbands, but on the whole the couples work together, using magic and cleverness to thwart the plot of the bad guys. This is a fun story of a Europe that might have been, if the world were the same except with a little bit of magic. Reviews of other books by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer: The Grand Tour The Mislaid Magician Reviews of other books by Patricia C. Wrede: Dealing with Dragons Searching for Dragons Calling on Dragons Talking to Dragons The Book of Enchantments Thirteenth Child Across the Great Barrier The Seven Towers Copyright © 2005 Sondra Eklund. All
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