Amazon.com Review
In this sequel to the Victorian fantasy A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma continues to pursue her role as the one destined to bind the magic of the Realms and restore it to the Order--a mysterious group who have been overthrown by a rebellion. Gemma, Felicity and Ann, (her girlfriends at Spence Academy for Young Ladies), use magical power to transport themselves on visits from their corseted world to the visionary country of the Realms, with its strange beauty and menace. There they search for the lost Temple, the key to Gemma's mission, and comfort Pippa, their friend who has been left behind in the Realms. After these visits they bring back magical power for a short time to use in their own world. Meanwhile, Gemma is torn between her attraction to the exotic Kartik, the messenger from the opposing forces of the Rakshana, and the handsome but clueless Simon, a young man of good family who is courting her. The complicated plot thickens when Gemma discovers a woman in Bedlam madhouse who knows where to find the Temple; Ann shows signs of being enamored of Gemma's loutish brother Tom, and their father's addiction to laudanum lands him in an opium den. A large part of the enjoyment of this unusual fantasy comes from the Victorian milieu and its restrictive rules about the behavior of proper young ladies, as contrasted with the unimaginable possibilities of the Realms, where Gemma has power to confront gorgons and ghosts and the responsibility to save a world. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–At the end of A Great and Terrible Beauty (Delacorte, 2003), Gemma Doyle was determined to rebuild the Order and find and destroy Circe. Now the teen finds that she must do one more thing–find the Temple and bind the magic she released into the realms when she destroyed the runes. Her task will not be easy; Kartik and the Rakshana have their own plans, which threaten her; a mysterious new teacher may be Circe; and Christmas in London challenges the careful facades that Gemma and her friends Ann and Felicity have built. Dark things are stirring within the realms, including a possibly corrupted Pippa, and the only guides are Gemma's horrifying visions of three girls and the gibberish of a girl confined to Bedlam. Like the first volume, this is a remarkable fantasy steeped in Victorian sensibility; even as the girls fight to bind the magic, they are seduced by London society and the temptation to be proper young ladies. Gemma and her friends are pitch perfect as young women in a world poised for change, uncertain of their places. In many ways, this volume surpasses the first. The writing never falters, and the revelations (such as Felicity's childhood of abuse, discreetly revealed) only strengthen the characters. Clever foreshadowing abounds, and clues to the mystery of Circe may have readers thinking they have figured everything out; they will still be surprised. This volume does not stand alone; however, any collection that doesn't already have the first should just get both volumes.–Karyn N. Silverman, Elizabeth Irwin High School, New York City
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这本书的氛围营造简直绝了,从一开始进入那个世界,就感觉自己被一股强大的魔力拉扯着,完全停不下来。作者对于细节的描绘非常到位,无论是那些古老建筑的阴森感,还是角色们之间微妙的权力斗争,都刻画得入木三分。特别是当剧情开始加速,那些隐藏的秘密一点点被揭开的时候,那种紧张感让人心跳加速。我特别喜欢看主人公在困境中如何挣扎和成长的过程,她的内心戏非常丰富,让人感同身受。书中对魔法体系的构建也很有新意,不是那种平铺直叙的设定,而是通过事件和冲突自然而然地展现出来,让人在阅读的过程中不断有“原来如此”的惊喜。更别提那些配角,每一个都有自己的立场和动机,绝不是功能性的工具人,他们的复杂性让整个故事的层次感一下子提升了好几个档次。有时候读到某个角色的抉择,甚至会让人停下来思考,如果是我,我会怎么做。那种引人深思的力量,才是真正的好故事的标志。我已经迫不及待想知道接下来会发生什么了,那种被悬念紧紧抓住的感觉,太棒了!
评分这本书的阅读体验,对我来说,更像是一场酣畅淋漓的智力游戏和情感过山车。我喜欢它对‘灰色地带’的探讨。在这个世界里,好人和坏人的界限是如此模糊不清,每个人都有自己难以言说的苦衷和不得不为之的选择。这种对人性的复杂挖掘,让故事充满了深度和厚度,让人不得不去思考道德困境。我尤其喜欢那些充满智慧的对话,它们不仅仅是推进情节的工具,更是角色思想深度和世界观的展现。书中对于古代文献、预言、家族秘密的铺陈,处理得恰到好处,既保持了神秘感,又提供了足够的线索供读者去推测和分析,大大增加了阅读的参与感。我甚至在阅读过程中,会忍不住上网查阅一些相关的历史或神话背景,这正说明了作者构建的世界观是多么引人入胜,具备了自我完善的魅力。
评分读完这本书,我第一反应就是,这作者的想象力简直是天马行空,但又非常扎实地建立在一个逻辑严谨的框架之上。它不是那种只追求视觉冲击力的爆米花小说,而是深谙叙事节奏的精妙之处。故事的推进就像剥洋葱,一层层地揭开,每一次的发现都伴随着更深层次的疑问。我个人特别欣赏作者在处理人物关系上的细腻手法,尤其是那些表面和谐实则暗流涌动的互动,每一个眼神、每一次不经意的触碰,都可能暗藏玄机。这种张力,让人欲罢不能。此外,这本书的文笔有一种独特的韵律感,读起来非常流畅,即使面对一些比较晦涩的背景设定,也能被作者优美的文字带着轻松消化掉。我不是那种喜欢在阅读中做笔记的人,但这本书里的一些精妙的句子,我恨不得都摘抄下来,细细品味。它不仅仅是一个故事,更像是一幅精心绘制的、充满隐喻和象征意义的画卷,值得反复玩味。
评分这本书的节奏控制得简直是教科书级别的。它知道什么时候该放慢脚步,细细雕琢人物内心的波澜和环境的氛围,让读者充分沉浸其中;也知道什么时候该猛地提速,用一连串的突发事件和反转将读者推向剧情的爆发点。我很少在阅读过程中感到时间流逝得这么快,往往一翻书页,窗外天色就变了。最让我赞叹的是,它成功地在宏大的冲突背景下,保留了人物之间的亲密联结。即便面对世界的存亡危机,那些最微小、最私人的情感——忠诚、背叛、不被理解的爱意——依然被清晰地捕捉并放大,使得这场史诗般的斗争,有了温度,有了切肤之痛。这种大格局与小情感的完美平衡,是许多奇幻作品难以企及的高度。我已经迫不及待要进入下一卷,去看看这些角色们将如何面对更加严峻的挑战了。
评分坦白说,一开始我还有点担心这种带有奇幻元素的设定会不会显得过于幼稚或者老套,毕竟市面上的同质化作品太多了。但这本书彻底颠覆了我的预期。它的格局非常大,不仅仅局限于几个年轻人的小情小爱或简单的善恶对决,它触及到了权力、信仰、历史遗留问题等更宏大的主题。角色的成长弧光处理得尤其出色,你会看到他们从最初的懵懂无知,到逐渐意识到自己肩负的责任,那种痛苦的蜕变过程,写得极其真实可信。而且,作者非常聪明地设置了多重叙事线索,它们看似各自独立,却又在关键时刻汇集,那种“命运的交织感”处理得极其漂亮,读到高潮部分,所有线索同时爆炸开来,那种震撼感是无与伦比的。这本书的后劲很大,合上书本后,很多情节和人物的命运还会在我脑海中盘旋很久,这不是快餐文学能做到的效果。
评分All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.-- Edgar Allan Poe
评分All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.-- Edgar Allan Poe
评分All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.-- Edgar Allan Poe
评分All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.-- Edgar Allan Poe
评分All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.-- Edgar Allan Poe
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