The Spirit Ring: Amazon.ca: Lois McMaster Bujold: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo and Nebula winner Bujold (the Miles Vorkosigan series; Barrayar ) makes her hardcover debut with this enthralling dark fantasy set in Renaissance Italy, where the church regulates magic and licenses magicians. After Uberto Ferrante assassinates the Duke of Montefoglia and takes over the duchy, master goldsmith and sorcerer Prospero Beneforte flees with his 16-year-old daughter, Fiametta. But he dies of a heart attack while being pursued by Ferrante's men for his magical powers and knowledge. His unshriven body is taken back to Ferrante to be used in making a spirit ring granting the usurper the strong powers of black magic. Fiametta, talented in magic and metalwork but untrained because she is female, joins with Thur Ochs, a young Swiss with untapped skills in necromancy, to rescue the souls of her father and of Ochs's brother, a mercenary soldier. Aided by a wise churchman, the two youngsters take on the ancient evil of sorcery used for devilish ends. In a perfectly natural manner, Bujold incorporates the concept of magic into this crisply paced, fully developed tale. She notes that Benvenuto Cellini served as the inspiration for the hugely talented, hugely egocentric Beneforte.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

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3.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate historical fantasy, set in a magical Renaissance, Jan 6 2004

By

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Spirit Ring (Mass Market Paperback)

____________________________________________
"The Spirit Ring" is based on "The Grateful Dead", which is an old
folk-tale (young man pays for a pauper's burial, and is rewarded by his
ghost), Ms. Bujold's great-uncle's Ph.D. dissertation, and (I presume)
source of the band's name. This is, I think, her most personal novel. The
heroine's domineering, larger-than-life father must be, in part, LMB's own
engineer-father, though the character is formally modeled on Benvenuto
Cellini. The spunky, rebellious, and ultimately spectacularly successful
daughter is surely, in part, Lois herself (or at least a power-fantasy
wish-fulfillment mental self-image) [1]. Huh. I don't normally do (or
like) this sort of review, but it feels right this time. Read the book and
see what you think. LMB has said that the engineer-hero of "Falling Free"
was explicitly modeled after her Dad. And "The Spirit Ring" is her only
female coming-of-age novel. None of this will get in the way of your
enjoyment of the book, BTW, it's Bujold at her story-telling best, a fine
and stirring yarn indeed.

We're in the smokehouse at a rural inn:

Thur glanced up, then his gaze was riveted by what lay in the shadows
above the rafters... the nude body of a gray-bearded man, close-wrapped in
the same sort of gauze as the sausages... His skin was shrivelled and
tanning in the smoke.

"Pico was right," Thur observed after a moment's stunned silence. "Your
wife does smoke the most unusual hams."

Catti glanced up after him. "Oh, that," he said in disgust. "...He's a
refugee from Montefoglia who didn't quite make it. Penniless, it turned
out -- after the bill was run up."

"Do you often do this to guests who don't pay?" asked Thur in a fascinated
voice. "I'll tell Pico to settle our bill promptly..."

"The Spirit Ring" was Bujold's ninth published novel, first fantasy novel
and first hardcover. It didn't sell very well. I was vaguely aware of its
existence, but I'm not a regular fantasy reader and had passed it by. Don't
you make the same mistake.

Happy reading!
Pete Tillman

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4.0 out of 5 stars Magic, mages and the might of right, Aug 14 2003

By

K. Newman "krazykmcd" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Spirit Ring (Mass Market Paperback)

Fiametta Beneforte is a metal worker, the unofficial apprentice to her father, who is also a master mage. Unfortunately, as a female although she has the talent, Fiametta is not in the ordinary run of things likely to be acknowledged as a mage herself, although she has the talent and the skill. But the usual run of things is interrupted when a diplomatic negotiation turns to betrayal and the town is subsequently under siege. Fiametta and her father escape, but her father soon dies.

Thur Oches is a miner with a talent for finding things lost and for metal, plus a skill in forgery (not faking - heating and casting metal). His brother has obtained an apprenticeship under a master goldsmith and mage, Beneforte. He travels towards the town to encounter Fiametta on the way, who gives him news of the Master's death. Thur and Fiametta have a common need to return to the town, and together with the help of several monks, they work for retribution and justice, to save the town and the rest of their livelihood.

It's a folk story, full of magic, evil and unusual beings in the form of the kobolds. Simple, uncomplicated story combining known Italy / Europe / religious influence with magery and fantasy. A skilful blend that results in a pleasing satisfying tale of a band of a few good people with right on their side, opposing a defined and evil threat.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Fast Read!, Jun 12 2003

By

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spirit Ring (Mass Market Paperback)

Fiametta Beneforte wants nothing more than to be a great mage like her father. Well, she would also like to be more beautiful and have the handsome Captain of the Guard Uri Ochs fall in love with her, but she really wants to be a master goldsmith/mage. Unfortunately, girls simply don't practice trades like men do and her father has never made her an official apprentice, though she does know quite a bit of metalworking. Her father just completed a beautiful engagement gift for the Duke of Montefoglia and Fiametta is thrilled to learn that she will be able to accompany her father to the feast where it will be presented. However, when Fiametta sees the Duke murdered by his soon to be son-in-law, Ferrante, her life suddenly changes. Prospero Beneforte, Fiametta's father, is able to get her out of the castillo and escape, but they are followed by some of Ferrante's soldiers and Prospero dies. Fiametta keeps heading to the border with her father's body, but she has no idea what she will do. Then she meets Thur Ochs, Uri's younger brother, and they contrive to return to Montefoglia and ask for Abbot Monreale's help. For, Ferrante is no ordinary soldier, he wears a spirit ring fashioned by the dark magic of Vitelli, where the spirit of his dead daughter resides and gives him power. Ferrante pursues Fiametta and steals Prospero's body to make a new, more powerful spirit ring. Fiametta is frantic to recover her father's body and have him buried in holy ground, but her face is well known in Montefoglia. So Thur goes in to the castillo as a spy to try and find out all the information that he can. There he finds much evil for, not only does the dark sorcerer Vitelli plan on making a spirit ring for Ferrante, but he plans on using Uri's spirit to make a ring for himself...

The Spirit Ring is based in a quasi-medieval Italy with an interesting tangle of political and religious maneuvering among the duchies. I didn't like Fiametta at first because she is a spoiled brat, but she grew on me. I really enjoyed most of the secondary characters and Bujold's descriptions are, as always, superb. Bujold has a nice, smooth writing style and the plot was evenly paced, if a little predictable. This is a great book to give to young adults or first time readers of fantasy because there is little magic contained therein. A light, frothy, fun read!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Average Fiction
I am having a real problem with this one. On one hand I know it is a relatively simplistic tale, with an average story line and mediocre characters. Read more

Published on Feb 10 2003 by Phillip B. Spotts

4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than the cover implies
A quite enjoyable book. Being a fan of the Vorkosigan books, I put off reading this book out of fear that a SF author's first (and at the time only) foray into fantasy wouldn't... Read more

Published on Dec 11 2002