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The Duke In His Castle Vera Nazarian 9781934648421 Books

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The Duke In His Castle Vera Nazarian 9781934648421 Books

Vera Nazarian, The Duke in His Castle (Norilana, 2008)

Interesting novella by Norilana headmistress Nazarian, a blend of fantasy and romance in the classical sense of the term (high adventure mixed with passion, rather than the passion-based stuff we know as romance today). Not without its flaws, but well worth your time nonetheless.

Rossian, the Duke of Violet, is the title character, the leader of one of seven duchies in the kingdom that is the world of the novel. Like his six compatriots, Rossian is incapable of leaving is castle, held in place by a curse from the Just King; none of the seven may leave, for reasons unknown. Rossian has his hypotheses, though, and they find themselves tested when a woman who claims to be an emissary of the Duchess of White shows up in Rossian's study bearing a box of bones.

The back of the book has a lot of words being thrown around that I'm not entirely sure apply to it, between it being called "erotic" ("disturbing" is far closer to the mark for the sexual scenes to be found here) and it being compared to Angela Carter, which is the tallest of orders (and obviously, I'm not holding it against Nazarian that someone blurbing the book was overzealous). The book's one problem, in my opinion, is the baroque language; you'd expect a book of just one hundred eighteen pages to be short, sweet, and to the point, but Nazarian is almost rococo in its application. That is a matter of taste, of course, and I'm sure many readers will find it as delightful as I find it off-putting. I certainly enjoyed this, and I hope others will discover Nazarian as well. ***


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The Duke In His Castle Vera Nazarian 9781934648421 Books Reviews

The Duke in His Castle is a fairly short book about Rossain, the Duke of Violet. Like the other dukes in this land, Rossain has been cursed to never leave his castle ... but there is one hope for escape. When the dukes were cursed, each was said to also receive a secret power. If any one duke learns the powers of all the others, he or she will be free.

While the others plot and scheme, sending messengers to try to pry secrets from their counterparts, Rossain seems uninterested in playing. He simply wanes away, his life empty and relatively meaningless until a messenger from the Duchess of White arrives at his palace bearing a box of bones and asking him to restore them to life.

Like most of Nazarian's work, this is a richly written world of depth and complexity. The references to various colors (White, Violet, etc.) made me wonder if this story tied into her book Lords of Rainbow, but they seem to be separate. Indeed, there are hints that this is set in some version of our own world a reference to the lost library of Alexandria, for example. I'm afraid those lines bumped me out of the story. This doesn't feel at all like our world, but there were just enough hints to make me wonder. Hints, but no answers.

That's a minor complaint, probably more from Jim the writer than Jim the reader. The larger problem I had was that I simply didn't like Rossain. In the beginning, he's essentially given up. He's rude, lost in self-pity, and not someone I want to read about. That changes somewhat as Lady Izelle arrives -- their game of magical hide-and-seek is wonderful. But as the story moves on, one of Rossain's later actions undoes the sympathy I've developed.

The story itself is a complex one, with several unexpected twists. Izelle is a marvelously deep and tormented character. Her story is easily the most engaging, and the most tragic. I'll admit that I didn't completely understand the ending, where we discover the nature of Rossain's power (oh, right -- like that's a spoiler). But that might be me being a little slow.

I've yet to read one of Nazarian's stories that settled into the typical fantasy mold. This is another very original tale, and at times very powerful.
The story was unique and very beautifully done. As a novelette, I was ultimately unsatisfied. I wanted to know more about what the heck was going on outside and why - also far more resolution to Rossian's story.

BUT! That might have just been me - because it was all in keeping with the tone of the story. And I'm going to say that my dissatisfaction is actually a compliment because I really wanted more.
This novella never disappoints for a moment. I never saw the ending coming, and was utterly satisfied with it when it came. That's the mark of a GOOD story.
A very disturbing, intense read. Still not sure I understand it, but it was well written and engrossing.
This is an amazing story on every level. Vera Nazarian always produces stories that are as entertaining as they are well-written, constantly surprising you with each event although, once read, you wonder why you never thought of that. And you can't, you are not Vera Nazarian. No one brings so much power that a story seems like a myth that has been around as long as we have existed. No one else has her antic spirit, her deft turn of situations, her quick and lethal balance of protagonists. Nominated for a Nebula, this is the story that should have won.
Vera Nazarian, The Duke in His Castle (Norilana, 2008)

Interesting novella by Norilana headmistress Nazarian, a blend of fantasy and romance in the classical sense of the term (high adventure mixed with passion, rather than the passion-based stuff we know as romance today). Not without its flaws, but well worth your time nonetheless.

Rossian, the Duke of Violet, is the title character, the leader of one of seven duchies in the kingdom that is the world of the novel. Like his six compatriots, Rossian is incapable of leaving is castle, held in place by a curse from the Just King; none of the seven may leave, for reasons unknown. Rossian has his hypotheses, though, and they find themselves tested when a woman who claims to be an emissary of the Duchess of White shows up in Rossian's study bearing a box of bones.

The back of the book has a lot of words being thrown around that I'm not entirely sure apply to it, between it being called "erotic" ("disturbing" is far closer to the mark for the sexual scenes to be found here) and it being compared to Angela Carter, which is the tallest of orders (and obviously, I'm not holding it against Nazarian that someone blurbing the book was overzealous). The book's one problem, in my opinion, is the baroque language; you'd expect a book of just one hundred eighteen pages to be short, sweet, and to the point, but Nazarian is almost rococo in its application. That is a matter of taste, of course, and I'm sure many readers will find it as delightful as I find it off-putting. I certainly enjoyed this, and I hope others will discover Nazarian as well. ***