The Master of all Desires - Softcover

Riley, Judith Merkle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140296530 ISBN 13: 9780140296532

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2000

Synopsis

In 1556, the prophet Nostradamus stumbles upon a plot by the queen, Catherine de MTdici, to rid herself of the the king's mistress and races against time to stop the queen and an ambitious young woman from acquiring a magical but cursed artifact before it is too late. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author

Judith Merkle Riley, author of The Oracle Glass (a Book-of-the-Month Club selection) and The Serpent Garden, (both available from Penguin) is a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College. She is also the author of A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the Green Lion. She lives in Claremont, California.

From Publishers Weekly

Again mixing history and fantasy with ?lan, the author of The Oracle Glass and The Serpent Garden offers a tightly woven, suspenseful and fiendishly funny novel. In 1556 France, Queen Catherine de Medici spies on her husband, King Henri II, and his lover, Diane de Poitiers, in a vain attempt to learn how Poitiers has ensnared her husband's heart. Driven nearly mad by jealousy, the queen, who is "very fond of do-it-yourself magic," is frustrated with her sycophantic, possibly duplicitous court astrologer's ineffective powers, until he reveals his knowledge of the magical object called the Master of All Desires. This is a centuries-old box that contains the living head of Menander the UndyingAa magus who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal life. Anyone in possession of the sharp-tongued, mean-spirited and unpleasant head may have their wishes granted, selling their own soul in the process. Through a series of clever plot twists, Menander winds up in the hands of Sibille Artaud de La Roque, a gritty girl from the provinces, who refuses to make a wish, thereby halting Menander's destructive path. Sibille and her aunt, the remarkable, independently wealthy Pauline Tournet, endeavor to rid themselves of Menander, with assistance from Nostradamus. With the queen in pursuit of Menander, and Nostradamus aiming to destroy it, the terrible head still manages to prevent Sibille from marrying her love, Nicolas. Although every character is appealing (the rotten ones serve up deliciously clever dialogue), the most sympathetic, surprisingly, is the "serpent-queen," as Nostradamus dubs her. Catherine is vulnerable and desperate; for want of love, she risks all, and gains nothing. Lush period detail and sprightly dialogue laced with humor and courtly pomp anchor Riley's romantic adventure with stylized whimsy and historical plausibility. Agent, Jean Naggar. Regional author tour; rights sold to Germany and Denmark. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0140296530
• ISBN 13: 9780140296532
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400