The Eight
Chess-Themed, Female-Led, Fast-Moving Adventure Fantasy from the French Revolution to the Present - The Eight is a one-of-a-kind novel. I ve never read a book quite like it for drawing on so many genres and interestingly using so many references to history, the arts, culture, geography, mysticism, and religion. It s like watching a more culturally connected version of The Amazing Race television program.At the same time, the new story combinations mostly work quite well. The queen is the most powerful chess piece, and it makes sense that women should dominate a novel about chess. So there s an integrity to the new mosaic that lends the plot an inner strength.The book alternates between two story lines with different leading heroines, Mireille de Remy (an apprentice nun, or novice, during the French Revolution of 1789) and Catherine (Cat) Velis (a computer whiz working for an accounting firm in Manhattan in the early 1970s). Most times, the story line hits a cliff hanger just in time to shift back to the other story line. It s a good book structure for maintaining your interest.Both heroines are drawn into the search for missing chess pieces and board from a set that was once owned by the Emperor Charlemagne, a set which physically represents an age-old secret that conveys some sort of astonishing benefit to the person who employs the secret. Naturally, there are opposing forces looking to find the clues and to grasp the secret for their own advantage. That competition is expressed in terms of chess moves and pieces.No one, however, will ever accuse Ms. Neville of being a stylish writer in crafting sentences. Rather, she is a writer who evokes emotion in he readers by falling back on favorite techniques of thriller, romance, and mystery novelists to make her story compelling.She does a good job of keeping the various elements of the story in balance. For that reason, if you don t like one aspect of the story, you won t find yourself putting the book down in disgust. She ll distract you with another aspect of the story before that happens.Ms. Neville has a prodigious imagination, and she employs it well to connect coincidences, historical figures, important world events, and facts into a new tapestry that seems for vivid for its antecedents in the real world.Unfortunately, the book s ending isn t quite up to its premise. Ms. Neville has her characters doing things at the end that don t quite fit with the logical flow of her story. But it s only a minor disappointment in the end. The fun of getting to the end is too vivid for the reader to be ultimately disappointed in the experience.
four - This was what I d call a good holiday read, an interesting plot, fleshy characters and not too weighty. It reminds me of Labyrinthe by Kate Mosse although other reviewers relate it to the Da Vinci Code, it s a similar style to both. I would certainly say it s as good as these two anyway. The story enfolds at a good pace that keeps you interested, it s not too predictable. Don t expect to be blown away by the prose just expect an enjoyable easy read and I don t think you ll be disappointed.
One of my favourite books - I read this some time before The Da Vinci Code and to my mind this is vastly superior - a bit like a rder haggard for the feminist generation??!!It has better pace, really interesting, quirky female characters with depth and a cracking, adventurous storyline.In fact the story is so absorbing & page turning that the first time I read it, I read all night just to find out what happened. I have also re-read it several times and still enjoy it.Heartily recommend it
An excellent read! - I had a vague recollection of my mother stuffing this book into my hands one day and saying this was good, have a read. Eventually I rediscovered it in my library and settled down to investigate. Someone else on here wrote in their review that this was a book to remember, and I have to agree. The detail used is exceptional and nothing has been left to the realms of guesswork. The characters are believable and fun. You do have to concentrate though, it s not something you can just breeze through on autopilot. Take your time reading this novel to get the most out of it. Enjoy!
The Eight - I recently reread this book, that i owned years before The Da-Vinci code was ever conceived, I thought it was probably by far,one of the best book I have ever read, page turning stuff,clever plot, based on a game of chess, with a magnificent prize, to find! read it, you won t be disappointed.