Illusion

Illusion is one of my favorite fantasy novels: I read it for the first time when I was fourteen, and I've read it countless times since then. Paula Volsky brings together elements from the American, Russian, and French revolutions, mixes it with a touch of magic, and lets it loose on her heroine, Eliste vo Derrivale. Eliste, a spoiled and naive member of the wealthy upper class, is forced to come to terms with the realities of her nation, its people, and the strengths and desires of her own heart. Poignant, romantic, and suspenseful, Illusion is that rare breed of stand-alone fantasy novel capable of spinning an epic story.

I. LOVE. this book. Read it many times throughout middle school and high school...just found a copy online a few weeks ago and read it again. Fabulous fantasy retelling of the French Revolution...mastery command of the English language (it's the kind of book where having a dictionary close at hand is helpful, but through her skillful storytelling, you can usually infer what the words mean)...incredible character development (especially the lead character, Eliste vo Derrivalle...her shallow beginnings belie the revolutionary within) and overall fantastic story that is hard to set aside. I've ordered a few more of her books from Paperback Swap and I look forward to reading those also...

Illusion. The cover comes first, because that was the reason I bought the book in the first place, and it was the first of PV's books that I read. Michael Whelan, bless his brushes, is still my hero. This is nothing short of magnificent, and I'm still proud that I had coffee with the man once.

Anyway... the book echoes the French Revolution (except that the Queen isn't exactly Marie Antoinette - hated like she was, though), and follows both Eliste - Exalted lady-in-waiting to the Queen, spoiled but clever and thoughtful when she bothers - and the leaders of what becomes the Reparation movement, the bourgeousie, the "canaille" - the commoners, the serfs and tradesfolk who are being taxed literally to death to support their betters, who show more are no more than property or servants in the eyes of those "betters"...

One can't help but think about conditions here and now, and wonder about the possibilities of another revolution here and now. I'm not about to pick up a torch or a pitchfork... but I can see how it could happen.

Many of Volsky's books call up echoes of classics, and for Illusion the echoes are (somewhat obviously) A Tale of Two Cities - and, less obviously, The Diary of Anne Frank. It's a beautiful, unexpected book. show less

I really wanted to like this book. I haven't read much lately that could be straightforwardly classified as fantasy; this was going to be a welcome relief, the kind of book I could read without worrying about its greater significance or blah blah blah. A fun book, without being simple-minded.

I've read [b:The White Tribunal|910723|The White Tribunal|Paula Volsky|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1179379863s/910723.jpg|895828] and [b:The Wolf of Winter|1022227|The Wolf of Winter|Paula Volsky|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331171627s/1022227.jpg|1008354], both by Volsky, and I enjoyed both. The Wolf of Winter felt very... Siberian, or Russian, or something along those lines, and seemed to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, while The White show more Tribunal felt like a weird take on The Count of Monte Cristo. I've re-read both, and they stand up as being entertaining but not world-shaking. It helps that I read them in high school, when my predilection for tortured, outcast, and/or complicated characters was at its height; both books satisfied this desire. I believe she uses the same setting for most of her books, but there's still continuity beyond geographical names.

Illusion was just too unwieldy, too slow to start, too fragmentary. Volsky re-tells the story of the French revolution, giving her ruling class magical power instead of the monetary and political sort. The main character, Eliste vo Derrivale, is part of this ruling class and strikes a nice balance--she swallows enough of the social norms to be realistic, but questions them enough that she does not alienate readers. She's a mostly good person who's never had to question her place in the world; it would definitely be interesting to see her forced into that questioning.

The problem is that even after getting through a third of the novel, revolution is still fomenting, has not mustered the carbonation required to bubble over and ruin the fine silk tablecloth. Eliste is still courting, attending the queen as a handmaiden, taking erstaz cocaine to keep up with the chores, the parties, the gifts, the men. Volsky intersperses this with passages from revolutionaries' perspectives, which are interesting but disruptive. Everything was at least mildly interesting, but the pacing was so slow that it just wasn't interesting enough. And, not being a French revolution buff, my historical interest wasn't enough to overcome the flaws of the text.

I had to put this one down. It breaks my heart, as I liked the other work I've read from Volsky, and she writes well. Granted, I never stopped to marvel at a particularly beautiful or well-written passage, but neither was I tripped up by bad writing. Her prose is invisible, and in non-"literary" fiction, I'd say that isn't a bad thing. But that's one less reason to keep reading, and I'm afraid Illusion needed it. show less

This book is very much modeled on the French Revolution - the one we're all familiar with. It's not a fast-paced book, picking up on occasion. I did enjoy the book, despite being slow in places.

I loved Volsky's The Grand Ellipse, so I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately it just dragged and didn't really get anywhere. I gave it 160 pages, but after 2 or 3 reading sessions that all ended in me wanted to start skimming in hopes of getting on with the story, I gave up. Her writing is beautiful, but in this case, everything just took twice as long as it should. The "French" names were also problematic because I couldn't pronounce most of them and there were way too many of them, so I immediately lost track of who was who.

I would give other books from her a chance, but this one I couldn't finish.

4/10
Too many flaws detracted from what could have been a good book.

The magic had the promise of being interesting but we never found out much about it other than the ability is somewhat hereditary and its use requires study and concentration.

The characters were almost caricatures--especially the pivotal character of Whiss and the conveniently Teflon character of Aurelie.

And were there no other Exalteds (other than Uncle Quinz) who could/would use their magic to turn things around? Of course not.

Parts of the story were engrossing. But overall, a disappointment.