Ashley Megan

Too predictable!, July 11 2004

Unfortunately, I bought this book based on the glowing reviews which breathlessly promised a shocking story filled with plot twists and revelations, and was disappointed by a morality tale with a twist I saw coming within the first two chapters. Perhaps if my expectations hadn't been so high, I would have been less let down, but as it was I finished the book with a sense of "That's it?"

Out of deference to those who haven't read the book, I won't give the plot away, but savvy readers with even the vaguest hint of the genre will undoubtedly figure it out early on as I did, after which none of the supposed surprises will offer much additional excitement. Faber does show a mastery… Read more

Ignore the main character and this is a pretty good book, Jun 3 2004

As every other reviewer has noted, Nicole, the protagonist in "Household Gods," is a selfish, bitchy, judgmental bore who threatens to suck the life out of the book. That she doesn't is testament to the strength of the story and the ability of the authors to recreate a vivid and enthralling snapshot of life in 180 A.D. Austria. As it is, she's an annoying distraction best dealt with by ignoring her as much as possible.
The story is at its best when it reports, rather than editorializes. Nicole, a 21st-century single mom and lawyer, is whisked back to the days of the Roman Empire after an ill-thought out wish for a "simpler time". Once there, she finds herself on speaking terms with… Read more

The pen is mightier than the sword, Jun 3 2004

Turtledove, the master of alternative history, turns his gaze to the Elizabethan era and asks, what if it were the Isabellian era instead? As "Ruled Britannia" opens, England has been occupied for ten years by the Spanish forces of Phillip II, who holds it in the name of his daughter Isabella. Elizabeth is held in the Tower of London, most of the nobles of the realm have either been exiled or executed, and the weary populace shows little signs of resisting. But as Philip lies on his deathbed, a coup is planned by Elizabeth's faithful councilor William Cecil, who enlists the aid of the popular playwright William Shakespeare in a plot to inspire the English to rise against the… Read more