If you don't read the author's note first, then you would think that this was a typical piece of fantasy. A boy shows a knack for magic, so he begins a long journey towards mastering the power. Along the way, he will meet a girl with similar abilities and will engage in the fight of his life. These are true, but the framework makes this an interesting read.

Judith Tarr did her research into the ancient days of the Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire. The characters she chooses are Pope Sylvester and Emperor Otto. Each of these had rumors about them insinuating that they were practitioners of magic. Tarr takes this and posits "What if this were true?" Having an actual historical figure to borrow from adds a tinge of authenticity to the book.

At times, I feel that the narrative jumps a little bit. I don't know if Tarr was keeping to the history (for instance, perhaps no record exists of Sylvester at a certain age), or if she was try to keep the book flowing. I would have liked to know a little more about the school of magic he tried to found.

Nonetheless, this is a fairly good read. It is a quick book, so I would recommend reading this.

Judith Tarr's Ars Magica is wonderful tale of a young monk in the 10th Century who learns the secrets of magic while rising in power and influence within the medieval Church. The mixture of fact (the main charecters are almost all versions of real people) and fantasy is well-developed, and the author's essay on the historical basis of her work is informative and fascinating. Fans of Tim Powers, another master of historical fantasy, may well find much to enjoy in this great novel.

The first book in a trilogy, The Isle of Glass introduces us c. 1195 to Brother Alfred, priest and elf of St. Ruan's of Ynys Witrin, the Isle of Glass of the title, otherwise known as Avalon. I found this book to be by far the more entertaining of the three, and the better written. The characterisation is delightful, though some plot elements toward the end seemed rushed and merely tacked on to give the book it's shape.. as if Tarr had created her characters first, and her plot was merely secondary -- something I felt even more keenly in the next two books. As Alfred leaves his cloister to send an urgent message to the King's Bishop, he discovers the world, and struggles to find his place in it. Highly recommended to fans of Lisa Goldstein and Gael Baudino, et al.

This is the first book out of the trilogy and sets the scene for what is to come. The central character is Alfred (Alf). A foundling left at an abby who becomes a monk, yet he is never just a monk. His magical powers lead him to question everything from his ancestory to the existance of his soul. The story is an inner quest for who he really is and his place in the world. He meets kings, bishops and more as he travels at the behest of his friend and Abbot. Tarr captures and harshness of the world and the sweetness that exists despite of it.

If you are an avaryan fan then this book will not disappoint. Its not perfect but the character of Daros makes this a fresh and interesting read. He adds an element of unpredictablity to the story that is a nice change from the torqed, god-bound characters that we have met since Mirain. The book has a nice paced plot, lots of high majic, decent characterization. As I said, it isn't perfect...the women in the story are pretty typical of the women that have gone before in the series but that didn't detract much from the book. If you are a Tarr fan, I don't think this book will dissappoint you.

A hedonist of the worst order, Indaros Karelios seeks a good time whether he is wenching of drinking. Nothing else really matters to the member of the aristocratic house of Han-Gilen. Daros actually has talent, but chooses to hide his abilities so he could avoid having to attend Mage School. He fears that would cramp his style.

When Daros gets in deep trouble and has to appear before the current Lady of the Gates, the Golden Emperor Merian sees inside to the very soul of Daros. She concludes that the wastrel is a strong but untrained mage. She decides he will be allowed to live but he must be punished. Lady Merian exiles Daros by sending him to her grandfather to receive the training he needs to control his power. Now a student disciple of the mighty Emperor Estarion, Daros soon is alone battling against the growing darkness of demons destroying his world one land at a time. His mentor has been dispatched by the evil one to a more mundane orb called earth.

TIDES OF DARKNESS, the latest Avaryan Chronicles, is a tremendous epic fantasy that will send genre readers in search of the previous novels, all wonderful entries. The story line makes the fantastic seem authentic as if Judith Tarr has visited this magical plane in her real life. The growing terror adds to the belief that this realm exists outside of the fertile imagination of the author. Daros, Merian, and Estarion are strong characters inside a powerful plot and that leads to another terrific Tarr tale.

Harriet Klausner

I read The Hall of the Mountain King back in 1988, and I jotted down my impressions of the novel at that time. The male characters in this novel were very effeminate, and I don't think that's what the author intended. Rather, I got the impression that the author just wasn't skilled in showing how males express deep friendships toward each other.

The plot concerns a youth who's the scion of a sun god. He comes to accept his inheritance of his grandfather's kingdom, but first he has to defeat his uncle. The boy has mind control powers and is a quick swordsman, so he kicks butt through most of the book. However, halfway through the book we find out he's only 15 years old! Suspension of disbelief is shattered at that point.

Save your money. This isn't worth reading.

Before this, I've never read any of Judith Tarr's work, but after reading this trilogy, you can be sure that I will be searching for everything she's ever written! At certain points in the story, I found myself breathless. The characters were very well developed and believable. The tapestry of magic, romance, power and sacrifice that Ms. Tarr weaves is complex and beautiful. This is a definite "must read."

I could rave but it'd be pointless, my opinion of this book could not be expressed in less than several pages; Tarr has unsurpassed talent in this area, READ IT.

This is an entertaining work of historical fantasy, set during the Crusades.

Hasan, a young wastrel, finally goes too far: he rapes the daughter of his benefactor, a magus. In retaliation, the magus changes him into a horse. In this form, he must learn lessons of obedience and courage, and finally find redemption.

Tarr is a horsewoman, and her descriptions of Hasan in his horse form are wonderful. In addition, her writing flows well, and this story has much of the action that her later work tends to lack. Characters are generally attractive, and there are some wonderfully active and humorous scenes.

Something bothered me here, though, and that was the reduction of the medieval Islamic enslavement of women to a mere plot device, to be outwitted by the characters at will. As well, the subjugation of Islam's enemies, the whole idea of holy war, and the horrendous custom of male castration get, well, romanticized. As a reader I'm certainly more sensitive to these portrayals due to current events, but even taking the book purely on its own terms, I think that these themes deserve more serious and critical treatment than Tarr gives them.

I was looking for this book for a long time, so when I found a nice affordable copy I was very excited. But the book was quite disapointing - maybe part of my problem is that I have been looking for it for so long, but still it does not compare well to Tarr's other "Crusade" books, Alamut particularly, which is much better. Some of the problems I had with A Wind in Cairo is choppy writing, where one is not quite certain what refers to what, a lack of resolution about an event which causes Khamsin's transformation, and somehow the reverse transformation into a man seems oddly unconvincing. And despite trying not to judge the book by some minor plot events but I found the notion of Khamsin having a daughter disturbing, what cames of her, is she totally horse, does he worry about her when he returns to human shape? Very weird.

It's an interesting book, but Judith Tarr wrote better ones.

This is a fabulously compelling story of magic, horses, and relationships. I lent my only copy to someone who didn't return it and now I want my daughter to read it. It provides a great view of the relationships between people and horses, but also between men and women.

I have been a Tarr fan since I was about 14 years old. I have read most of her fantasy series and her historical novels. So when I saw this one, I grabbed it. Sadly, this book is very dissappointing. It is so lacking in freshness and originality that I was bored to senselessness. I found myself skipping pages and pages in this book. It felt like it would never end. And by the way, skipping those pages did not detract from this slow moving tale at all. The characters are all people you have met before in other of her works and better portrayed. It is hard to say exactly what is it that makes this book so poor except to say that in reading it you definately have a feeling of "been there, done that". I felt as if the author was sleep walking thru this one-- doing it to satisfy a contract or something. If you are a Tarr fan, this is one book that you can skip. I have faith that she will be better next time.

A seamless alternate history that appears to be so close to 'real' history, that you could be left believing that the events portrayed actually happened. Sioned, an illegitimate sister of Richard the Lionheart, is the heroine of the novel. Eleanor, queen mother of Richard, has used her black arts to ensure that Richard's Crusade against Saladin is successful. Sioned works in the crusader's hospital, and does diplomatic work when Richard requires it. Sioned rather inconveniently falls in love with a diplomat on the opposite side. The novel revolves around Sioned's loyalty to her brother and her wish to be with Ahmad, Saladin's brother and prime Muslim negotiator with the Christian side. Sioned is called upon to resolve the problems that Eleanor has created with her black magic when the consequences of the bargain that Eleanor has made with the demonic forces coincide with the Crusade to endanger the whole Crusade and the Crown of England. A well written and absorbing alternate history fantasy that is worth your time.

Richard the Lionhearted has won battles, but victory in his Crusade is far from clear. Saladin and his brother Ahmad command powerful armies of Islam--Arabs, Turks, Egyptians, and Kurds, all sworn to defend the holy city of Jerusalem. More dangerous still, to both Crusader and Jihad, is the Old Man of the Mountain, Sinan, chief of the Assassins. The dark lord he serves would destroy both Richard and Saladin. And Richard's mother, Eleanor, has promised Sinan Richard's soul if he will help Richard win Jerusalem.

Richard's bastard sister Sioned, heir to the magics of Britain and the Celts, along with Richard's moorish servant Mustafa, stand against the assassins and the dark magic that they command. Yet, for Mustafa, aid for Richard means aid for the enemies of his faith. And will Sioned, relatively untrained in the ways of magic, be able to confront both Eleanor and Sinan? Or will her growing love for Ahmad force her to turn against the family that has always denied her?

Author Judith Tarr has created an emotionally compelling and exciting story of the third crusade. Her depiction of Richard, a noble warrior who holds the seeds of magic within him but denies them, is convincing and sympathetic. Sioned, with her celtic magics and her love for Achmad, is attractively conflicted. Mustafa is probably the most interesting character, uniquely able to penetrate both Islam and Crusader camps and learn secrets that swing the course of history.

As Tarr notes in the Author's Note, the Third Crusade was something of a let-down. It petered out without resolving anything except for Europe's inability to unite long enough to accomplish anything. Yet, with a few shifts, it could have led to a decisively different present--and Tarr's magic certainly delivers those shifts. One major glitch stood out--why, exactly, did Ahmad visit Sinan and put himself in the Assassin's debt? Surely he could have accomplished everything Sinan did without the risk to his own soul. In this case, I think Tarr's author-desire to put more at stake detracted rather than added to the story. Still, DEVIL'S BARGAIN more than redeems this one flaw delivering an exciting and satisfying read.

As I settled down to read about a little known period of history--the Byzantine Empire and Otto II--I purred with anticipation. The characters are well rounded. The story plot is solid. But missing is the breath of focus, the width of historical sweep that we readers of historical fiction have come to expect from other historical authors likes Margaret George and Mary Stewart. There are good heavy doses of minute period detail, yet they lack the ricness we want to feel. It seems to be written for someone already familiar with the period and tale. Not bad, but not great.

Judith Tarr has written another brilliant book! This rich tapestry of a story covers the shaky Roman Empire in the West and the Bzyantine Empire in the East. Good storyline, setting, charactors. A book I highly recommend to anyone who adores historical fiction and shuge sweeping novels.

The second book in a trilogy, The Golden Horn finds Alfred, elf and priest, in Byzantium during the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople, c. 1203 [the "Golden Horn" of the title -- named for its shape and its famed wealth]. Alfred begins to reconcile body and mind, and continues to grow as a person, while questioning his own and his Kinsmen's part in his religion. After reading The Isle of Glass, I found the Golden Horn something of a disappointment. Everything about it seemed rushed, unfinished. The writing is only a little better than average for a fantasy novel, and I craved more of the rich characterization and dialogue that I found in the first book. Still, entertaining enough.

Judith Tarr's the Golden Horn is one of those truly rare books that doesn't stick to the old helpless woman and big brave knight story line. What I loved best about the book was how she made Thea more in the image of the big brave knight and Alf more in the image of the helpless woman. I found myself for the first time in years not being able to guess (at all!) what was going to happen next in a book. Tarr's characters are ones that stay with and make you reread this book over and over again.

For anyone who enjoyed the first three volumes of Avaryan Rising, this is a must read. Judith Tarr continues to write a captivating story that keeps you enthralled from start to finish. Just like the first three, you want to keep reading until you reach the end. And when you get to the end you want to start all over again! (From the very first volume!!)

I love seeing Judith Tarr writing fantasy again. Her grey mare's daughters series was ok, but she is at her best when describing the swirl of Wild Magic about Riders who have gone beyond the boundaries of the mundane world.

Henry is dead, Richard the Lionhearted is to be crowned King of the English, but there is another crown waiting for him, did he but accept it: the crown of the King of Britain, guardian of the mystical realm that is Britain, warded by four guardians who are more than human. However, Richard's eyes and heart are set on Jerusalem and his Crusade. He has no use for Pagan ceremonies and spurns the Crown of Britain. This sets in motion a magical chain of events that resonated in the real world.

In Anjou, Arslan, a young ... son of a dead lord waits with his two Seljuk servants. He had been born and raised in outremer, the son of a mortal lord and an Ifritah, a spirit of fire. In him the magic runs high. A Crusade is gathering and he intends to return to the East. However, he is given a prophetic dream, in which he is told that he must go to Britain, where he is needed. There comes riding into his brother's keep a company, one of whom is recognizable as William, a ... Plantagenet. The other, who seems less worthy is pushed aside while William is feted. The one who is pushed aside is John Lackland, the very legitimate son of Henry and Eleanor of Acquitaine. He is pleased to be amused by it and when he rides out, leaving a discomforted Lord of Anjou, he takes Arslan with him.

The mystical forces that protect Britain offer John a bargain. They offer him a chance to rule as overlord of the spirit of the place, but he is to pay a price. That price is that the world will see him as his brother's usurper and would not know of the service that he had performed to save Britain (and England) to, from the forces arrayed against it.

The book though focuses mainly on Arslan, on his love for one of the Guardians and how two people both blessed and cursed with magic come to an understanding. Arslan, the son of a spirit of fire, is beautiful and strong. His name means lion. The Lady Eschivra, the daughter of Morgana and a river god, is older than him in years, wiser than he in magic, but more tangled in her thoughts and emotions. Together they must face the forces of the Wild Magic, of Sorceries sent against them by enemies outside Britain, and the convolutions of their own too human hearts.

If you liked Ms Tarr's earlier fantasies, if you have a fondness for Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill and Reward and Fairies, if you just enjoy a good historical fantasy then grab a copy, curl up on the couch with a small dog or two (I recommend a Jack Russell terrier) and settle down to enjoy a rouse-- and touching-- fantasy.

(By the way, the title is a pun. It refers to both the feeling of pride, and a collective noun for all the young lions who make up the actors in this book.)

Oh, don't you tell the priest Our plight,
He will think it a sin.
We have been out in the woods all night
A-conjuring summer in;
Now we bring good news by word of mouth,
Good news for cattle and corn;
The sun today came up from the south
By Oak and Ash and Thorn.
--Rudyard Kipling

I love seeing Judith Tarr writing fantasy again. Her grey mare's daughters series was ok, but she is at her best when describing the swirl of Wild Magic about Riders who have gone beyond the boundaries of the mundane world.

Henry is dead, Richard the Lionhearted is to be crowned King of the English, but there is another crown waiting for him, did he but accept it: the crown of the King of Britain, guardian of the mystical realm that is the spirit of Britain, warded by four guardians who are more than human. However, Richard's eyes and heart are set on Jerusalem and his Crusade. He has no use for Pagan ceremonies and spurns the Crown, breaking the Walls of Air that protect Britain and making it imperative that a new King be found. This sets in motion a magical chain of events that resonate in the real world.

In Anjou, Arslan, young bastard son of a dead lord waits with his two Seljuk servants. He had been born and raised in outremer, the son of a mortal lord and an Ifritah, a spirit of fire. In him the magic runs high. A Crusade is gathering and he intends to return to the East. However, he is given a prophetic dream, in which he is told that he must go to Britain, where he is needed. There comes riding into his brother's keep a company, one of whom is recognizable as William, a bastard Plantagenet. The other, who seems less worthy is pushed aside while William is feted. The one who is pushed aside is John Lackland, the very legitimate son of Henry and Eleanor of Acquitaine. He is pleased to be amused by it and when he rides out, leaving a discomforted Lord of Anjou, he takes Arslan with him.

The mystical forces that protect Britain offer John a bargain. They offer him a chance to rule as overlord of the spirit of the place, but he is to pay a price. That price is that the world will see him as his brother's usurper and would not know of the service that he had performed to save Britain (and England, from the forces arrayed against it.

The book though focuses mainly on Arslan, on his love for one of the Guardians and how two people both blessed and cursed with magic come to an understanding. Arslan, the son of a spirit of fire, is beautiful and strong. His name means lion. The Lady Eschivra, the daughter of Morgana and a river god, is older than him in years, wiser than he in magic, but more tangled in her thoughts and emotions. Together they must face the forces of the Wild Magic, of Sorceries sent against them by enemies outside Britain, and the convolutions of their own too human hearts.

If you liked Ms Tarr's earlier fantasies, if you have a fondness for Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill and Reward and Fairies, if you just enjoy a good historical fantasy then grab a copy, curl up on the couch with a small dog or two (I recommend a Jack Russell terrier) and settle down to enjoy a rousing-- and touching-- fantasy.

(By the way, the title is a pun. It refers to both the feeling of pride, and a collective noun for all the young lions who make up the actors in this book. Try to pick them all out.)

Judith Tarr has wonderful imagery. The story she tells is based on history and she makes it alive and exciting. A wonderful continuation, if you will, of the movie "Lion in Winter"

A really great read. I wish I had the words to say more. Get the book, enjoy it.