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The back of this book promises "breathless swashbuckling, intrigue, spying, and sword fights" in the vein of The Three Musketeers plus dragons. On that account, the book delivers. On the other hand, if you want things like a plot that make sense and relatable (or even distinguishable) characters, this is not the book for you.Yes, works in translation are always a little chancy, but I think the problems with The Cardinal's Blades are structural. The average chapter length is about four pages. Fas...
I've been waiting to pick up a french fantasy book for a LONG time. For the last two decades, i have been reading only french crime whilst when reading english authors i bounce around horror, fantasy, sci fi as well as the ol' murder case.After some searching of up and coming and exciting french fantasy authors, I came upon Pevel and his work set in the past (Richelieu) but includes DRAGONS! Sounded too good to be true. It was.It took about half the book to kick off, with far too many characters...
http://www.rantingdragon.com/the-card...The Cardinal’s Blades is a work of alternative history set in a vividly realized reimagining of seventeenth century Paris. While many elements of the story and setting stay true to the period, this version of France is no stranger to dark magics and various fantastic, often draconic, beasts. The Cardinal’s Blades is the first book in an ongoing series, also titled The Cardinal’s Blades, by French author Pierre Pével, and was originally published in France
We bought a new blender recently. The manual for it was more interesting than this book. I mean: it has recipes! For 'Cuban Milk' among other things. That's just banana-milk with lemon if you're wondering. And no I have no idea what's Cuban about that either.Can you tell that I really don't want to talk about this book? I'm just not sure what I can say about it. It's not bad in an entertaining way and (at least) also not in and offensive way, just in a very, very, very, very boring way.The chara...
France, 1633. Cardinal Richelieu is the most powerful and feared man in France, overseeing the affairs of the kingdom from Paris. His current priority is to prevent war from breaking out between France and Spain whilst France is militarily distracted in the Low Countries. To this end, at the request of the Spanish crown he reforms an elite band of men and women known as the Cardinal's Blades and gives them a delicate mission that will strengthen the ties between the two countries. For Captain La...
The Cardinal's Blades should be an interesting novel: Musketeers meets dragons? How could that fail to appeal?And in many ways it does. The setting is beautifully done, there is an excellent attention to detail, and there is a political plot that should enthral.So where does it go wrong?Simply put, the absence of character. This is a book full of names, and all of them are meaningless. No one is described by anything other than a habit, mannerism, or even geography.We meet seven musketeers, The
Firstly, a point for clarity: in my role as part of the Gemmell Legend Awards Committee I’ve met and talked through email to Pierre a couple of times. He’s a lovely chap, very unassuming and a genuine fan of the genre. He’s also the author of two award winning novels (2002 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and 2005 Prix Imaginales) for Best Novel, although The Cardinal’s Blades is Pierre’s first novel to be translated into English. It was a winner of the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2009.And therein li...
Although I did like reading this book, I did not think it was up to the back-cover hype. My opinion of the book is complex. It appears that the author did a decent job of researching the period and physical state of Paris. I can't fact-check him, but whether he relied on primary sources or other popular literature for his knowledge may not matter. It was convincing enough that I accepted the milieu and the non-fantasy aspects of his world. In fact, I enjoyed the historical content of the novel q...
Fantasy novel (with little fantasy) but enjoyable nonethelessThis book takes place during the reign of Louis XIII of France with Cardinal Richelieu presiding over the nation. The cardinal's Blades are an elite group task ed with a secret mission but betrayal and double-crossing prevail.The fantasy element involves the existence of dragons and dragonnets but they are mainly incidental here. /so it's more of an historical adventure story, well-told and exciting enough, a bit reminiscent of the wor...
Enjoyed this in the same way I enjoy a good action movie with charismatic cast. It isn't particularly going to set the world on fire for originality or strong writing, but the story moved briskly through the sort of beats that will usually make for a fun ride for me, especially when the "actors" are people you enjoy watching. Getting the band back together after they've been apart for a while due to past traumas, a bit of quippiness, a liberal dose of loyalty-tropes and competence porn, rooftop
A fun read,but be wary the story jumps around a bunch.
(Remember that two stars means 'OK', not 'bad'!)Like a few other reviewers, I'm in two minds about this one. The good stuff first: It's a readable romp through the France of The Three Musketeers, with a little fantasy-style magic to add flavour. There's plenty of action and the author slips in lots of details to give a great sense of historical accuracy. Now the less good. The story and characters are phoned in. All of the 'Blades' - Cardinal Richelieu's elite covert fighting unit - are from cen...
I started reading this book because of my childish nostalgia for Alexandre Dumas and his famous The Three Musketeers. But Pevel disappointed me. I didn’t like his book at all. Caveat: as I can’t read the original in French, I can only talk about the English translation of the novel, and it’s lousy, as if the translator has only a passing acquaintance with English grammar. Dangling participles litter every page, and pronouns referring to the wrong nouns mar almost every paragraph. I’m a grammar f...
(2009) This was more a very fast read through to see if there is anything that would make me read it carefully and I cannot say I found that; average Dumas pastiche with magic and dragons; no plans to pick up next volumesAfter the wonderful Knight I decided to give another try to this one and its sequels and this time I liked it more, though it still has the above mentioned flaws - suspension of disbelief required big time to combine real history and personages like Richelieu with stuff like Dra...
Unashamed swashbuckling adventure with a great group of misfits and miscreants as the protagonists... The characters are defined in broad strokes by their actions. Pierre has depth to his writing even with this rollicking kind of adventure tale. I found I really liked the characters and like them even for their faults. They would be the crew if the Firefly had this been a space western.... but it's a musketeer era novel and it's a great read.
I read the blurb on the back and was sooooo excited to read this book. Then I started reading. It is so badly translated that I think they might have just plugged it into google translate and called it a day. As a native English speaker with an intermediate level of French (book is originally written in French) it’s quite easy to see the person who translated it isn’t a native speaker, there are too many words that are unnecessary, and frequently there are better options than the words that are
The young man entered the tavern, glad to have finally reached a place of relative safety, and warily looked around him. A few of the habitués gave him a quick glance, then returned to their wine or their game of dice. Indeed, there was little in Pierre de Pevel's outward appearance that would attract idle curiosity. His plainly cut doublet and travel-stained boots had clearly seen better days, as had his wide-brimmed hat, ornamented with a single osprey feather. But a closer inspection would ha...
Also published under The Ranting DragonThe Cardinal’s Blades is a work of alternative history set in a vividly realized reimagining of seventeenth century Paris. While many elements of the story and setting stay true to the period, this version of France is no stranger to dark magics and various fantastic, often draconic, beasts. The Cardinal’s Blades is the first book in an ongoing series, also titled The Cardinal’s Blades, by French author Pierre Pével, and was originally published in France i...
One of my favourite recent series and one of the best homages to Alexandre Dumas I have read. Verve, panache, charm, wit and wonderful sword-fights draw you into Pevel's textured, detailed alternate Paris, where scheming human dragons plot, and only the Cardinal's Blades -- elite warriors and spies -- stand between France and chaos. A glimpse into European fantasy as European writers write it: smart, sharp, wonderful.
The Cardinal’s Blades mixes fantasy and historical fiction by adding dragons into 17th century France.Action and intrigue dominate this book from start to finish. Unfortunately plot and characters must take a backseat, leaving the end result as slightly confusing and not all that emotionally engaging.I liked this book, despite its flaws. It’s the first book of a series, though I only learned this after reading it so I didn’t know to expect a sequel. In a way knowing it’s the first book makes sen...