The Eight

I have a rule that if a book doesn't grab me after 60 pages, I put it down. Its very rare for me to put a book down after that point, as normally I know by then if its for me. To put a book down at page 317 is therefore very odd. But the simple truth was that I had stopped caring altogether. This book promised a lot, and was occasionally very exciting, but its flaws massively overshadow the good bits. So here are my two main problems with it. Spoilers may exist.

Firstly, it relies on too many coincidences. I never got to find why the narrator has been chosen to go and search for the magic chess set, but isn't it useful that she just happens to be friends with both a chess champion and a chess -obsessed cryptologist who can fill in all show more the details for her. That sort of thing.

Secondly, it relies on so many ethnic caricatures that it is utterly tiresome. Jewish people are grasping and over-dramatic, Arabs are either mystical sons of the desert or hook-nosed grand vizier types, the Soviets are all either authoritarian grey clones or secret capitalists running rings around the dull commies. As for the various peoples depicted in the 1790s plot, well, the French and the Corsicans should have cause to be offended too.

In the end it was too much for me and I tossed the book aside, utterly frustrated. show less

To say this book is simply about chess would be an egregious mistake. This book is about humanity’s love affair with power. It is about survival and finding the strength to care about something bigger than ourselves. Neville accomplishes this with an interesting duality in storytelling. The reader will cycle between viewpoints written by two different women in two very different centuries. We join young Kat in a dangerous game of survival that she is unprepared for, and nearly oblivious to, in the 20th century. This is interspersed with accounts from two centuries earlier, centering around young nuns escaping and enduring the French Revolution. The two stories dance around each other for over half the book before colliding into one show more another and leaving the reader ready for more. show less

The Eight uses a lot of ingredients that have been successfully incorporated many times since in popular books and movies - Freemasonry, alchemy, the mysterious Middle East. Because these tropes have become so popular as plot devices, the possibility of them feeling stale is high. I felt like this novel was able to stand on its own well, despite the passing of years, because of Neville's expert weaving together of all these familiar strands into a story both exciting and fresh.

Neville's two main heroines, Cat and Mireille, were intelligent and dauntless, and following their dangerous and heroic exploits was complete and utter fun. I genuinely felt anxious on more than one occasion, because I was that involved in their stories. Because show more this novel has been the inspiration for so much that followed, some of the plot twists were easier to predict, but there were still plenty of surprises along the way.

Very, very good - definitely recommended. show less

“But she has risen now—like the pieces of the Montglane Service. And we may well tremble, all of us. For this is the end that was foretold."

I don't think that I will be able to explain just what an amazing adventure that this book turned out to be. I was invited by the publisher to read this book (this being the first time that the book is being published in ebook format) and even though I was a bit wary of it I decided to give it a try. Little did I know that once I picked it up it would be nearly impossible to put down.

This book switches between the 1970's and the 1790's. In the 1970's readers follow Cat as she is being shipped off to exile in Algeria after upsetting some major players at her work. Before she can even get to show more Algeria she is thrown into some mysteries in which she will only be able to find answers in Algeria. In the 1790's we follow two French novices, Valentine and Mireille, who are lead on a dangerous mission by their abbess.

I was originally wary about this book because I don't know how to play chess and I thought that I would need to know how to enjoy this book. While this book does have a lot of chess in it I still found it absolutely fascinating even with my lack of knowledge about chess. There was just so much adventure to this story and so many twists and turns that I was constantly amazed by this story and practically on the edge of my seat throughout. I don't want to give anything away about the plot as I feel that everyone should go into reading this with a clean slate.

I really loved the cast of characters in this book. There were characters that I really grew to love (and loved to follow) from both time periods. I originally did not like Lily at all but as the story progressed she really grew on me. There were plenty of characters from both time periods that I was unsure if they were trustworthy or not and was ultimately glad at where each of those characters ended up at the end.

This has most likely been my favorite read of 2015 so far and I really don't think that anything will be able to top this. I became a maniac absolutely obsessed with this book and felt like I was right there with the characters. I couldn't get enough of this while I was reading it and quite frankly I am a bit bummed that its over. Thank you (so very much) to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. show less

A very dense book, traveling between the French Revolution and its aftermath, and during the early 70's in the nascent OPEC coalition. The basis for the mystery is a chess set, the Montglane Service, given to Charlemagne by Moorish allies, that contained a formula and a power of raising and destroying great kingdoms. The Service is hidden for a thousand years in the Montglane Abbey until events leading up to the French Revolution cause it to be scattered throughout France, Algeria, Russia, and England.

The book opens with two young nuns at Montglane Abbey, Valentine and Mireille, who are called upon to be a conduit for the pieces as the Abbey is broken up and the pieces are scattered in 1792. These two young women are sent to live with show more the painter David as his wards and are later to get caught up in the September Massacres. Notable figures who have an interest in this chess set include the Bishop d'Autun (Charles-Maurice Talleyrand), Maras, Charlotte Corday, and Catherine the Great of Russia.

Fast forward to early 1970's New York, where a young computer programmer is given the task of creating a program to chart the oil output of the Middle Eastern countries that are becoming OPEC. Catherine (the narrator) is brought into events, all unwittingly, through the chess prowess of the Russian chess master Solarin, her cousin Lily and Lily's wealthy family, a mysterious friend named Nim who seems to have an understanding of the forces at work, and her contacts in Algeria, Dr. Kamel and Sharrif.

Both time periods have action that takes them from their native countries to Algeria with trusted guides, and both Mireille and Catherine grow to realize the burden of the tasks they are called upon: to find and guard the chessboard, its embroidered cover, and the fantastically wrought chess pieces. Because hidden within the formula carved on the pieces, the board, and embroidered in the cloth is the secret to their use and their power. The burden lies in discovering what piece they themselves represent on the board and how to keep the pieces from falling into the wrong hands.

It's been compared to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and I tend to agree: once the reader suspends belief and becomes involved in the story, it becomes a rousing adventure. But the denseness of the narrative and the meandering nature of the events cause the readability to be difficult and its non-linear writing at times distracting. show less

In its early printings, The Eight was compared to Umberto Eco's puzzle-novels, but it doesn't really have their literary integrity. It's probably more deserving of comparison to Dan Brown's film-treatment-cum-novel conspiracy thrillers, which may have been influenced by (or even modeled on) this book.

Pluses: Enigmatic ages-spanning conspiracy constructed around chess. Efficiently told fast-paced adventure story. North African setting rendered with experienced detail and rich imagination. Surfeit of ass-kicking redhead heroines. Little bits of comedy. Cameos by William Blake, Giacomo Casanova, and practically anyone of note in the last decade of the 18th century.

Minuses: Use of third-person narrative in 18th-century plotline which is show more eventually revealed to be contained in a journal. Use of first-person narrative in 20th-century plotline, including chronological inclusion of events unknown at the time to the character describing them. 1970s protagonist of author Katherine Neville is named "Catherine Velis." Really? It's hard to care for Velis, who seems to have everything fall into her lap, and to have no real personal attachments: no reference to any prior lover (is she a 24-year-old virgin?) or close peers or blood relations, just an abundance of mentors and benefactors, who are nearly all eventually implicated in the conspiracy. She was a music major at an unnamed college, but never plays, sings, or actively listens to music during the nine months of her story in the book. Out of three or four major plot twists at the novel's end, I saw a couple of them coming at least 150 pages in advance. I groaned out loud at this passage from page 108, spoken to the French Abbess of Montglane by Catherine the Great in 1791:

"I know the secret is older than the Moors, older than the Basques. Older, indeed, than the Druids. I must ask you, my friend, have you ever heard of a society of men who sometimes call themselves the Freemasons?"

On the whole, it's a reasonably fun read for those of us who like this sort of thing. The historical parts audaciously conscript an enormous range of famous figures, usually with some level of believability, and the modern parts churn out a bewildering array of heterogeneous clues before the solutions start to cohere. I'm not signing up for the sequel, though. show less

I read a review of this book online that led me to believe I might enjoy it. I ordered it - and when I got the book in the mail, I saw that the cover blurb read something like, "If you loved the Da Vinci Code, you'll love The Eight."
"OH NO," I said. Because I certainly did NOT love the Da Vinci Code (although it is, admittedly, the best of Dan Brown's shoddily researched and crappily written novels.)
Nevertheless, I read this book; cover blurbs are not always correct. Unfortunately, in this case, it was absolutely correct. It was very similar to Dan Brown's writing, both in style and content.
If you are into unlikely and ridiculous conspiracy theories that don't stand up to a bit of logical thought, and have a lot of time to kill, go for show more it.

(My problem is that I really like novels that involve conspiracies - but I have absolutely no patience for conspiracy theories.)

The premise is that Catherine Velis, a computer expert at the top of her field (or so we are told - not ONCE in the VERY LONG book does she do anything, or even THINK in such a way that would indicate she knows anything about computers), is sent to Algeria on assignment. Her antique-dealing friend takes advantage of this to try to get her to acquire some rare chess pieces while she is there.

Meanwhile, back in the 18th century, two young novice nuns (yes, this is an excuse for some unnecessary but oddly understated trashiness) are asked by their abbess to participate in hiding the Very Same chess pieces, which everyone is out to get - because they are imbued with Magical Powers which will allow the owner of the whole chess set to Take Over the World.

Poorly written. Characters that seem to have their attributes assigned to them by dice roll. Historically inaccurate. Unnecessarily long. Trashy, but not trashy enough to be titillating. Unconvincing fantasy elements. Plot elements that don't stand up to any sort of analysis. Boring. show less