Ilario: The Stone Golem: A Story of the First History, Book Two (Ilario, A Story of the First History, 2) - Softcover

Gentle, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061344982 ISBN 13: 9780061344985

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2007

Synopsis

The dramatic conclusion to Ilario: The Lion's Eye!

Fleeing a surprise treacherous murder attempt, the former King's Freak and would-be painter Ilario has run to Carthage, the city-state under perpetual darkness, in search of freedom. But strange plots are afoot, and a tenuous, complicated alliance with a bookseller-turned-spy will lead Ilario from the shrouded land into tense negotiations and intrigues in seductive, mercurial Venice, from a fraught return to Iberia to a final confrontation with family . . . and destiny.

About this title

About the Author:

The author of A Secret History, Mary Gentle has written eight books that have won critical acclaim from science fiction and fantasy authors and critics alike. She's completed two Master degrees and is an expert sword-fighter. Her home resides in England

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. Medieval alternate historians rarely conceive such wondrously convincing intrigue as Gentle has in this second installment of the First History series (after The Lion's Eye). The action sweeps Ilario, a young hermaphrodite artist, from giving Caesarian birth to a daughter in Venice to befriending Pharaoh-Queen Ty-ameny in Alexandria-in-exile at Constantinople. A turn of fate sees a Chinese war junk taking Ilario first home to Iberia to negotiate with King Rodrigo and then to mighty Carthage, gloomy under the mysterious sunless Penitence but still capable of menacing the civilized world. Gentle's fascinating protagonist, as clever with words as with line and color, plays off a colorful host of fine-tuned characters like the noble Captain-General Honorius, the Alexandrine castrato-by-choice spy Rekhmire'; and the handsome Ramiro Carrasco, Ilario's would-be assassin and later slave. Historical figures like Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, add depth to this rousing adventure, and the intricate plots allow plenty of room for Gentle's subtle, ironic commentary on politics and gender. (Sept.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0061344982
• ISBN 13: 9780061344985
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368