Flower-arranging has never been so interesting.

Loved this. Love the whole series. The writing is so smooth and assured, with so much left between the lines. The world is intricately constructed, the mystery elegantly developed, the romance beautifully understated. This is the kind of writing that feels effortless, which of course means it was anything but. This reminds me of how fantasy used to make me feel, which is to say, why I spent years reading very little else. I would rather be in these books than not, that's all.Edit: Yes I am rerea...

I am not a big fan of mysteries where stubborn higher-ups want to stop the detective from investigating a murder because of reason/politics/whatever and they get into more and more trouble because they, of course, investigate anyway. And Point of Dreams started with exactly such a situation which is why I had a hard time getting into it at first. But Rathe got quickly distracted by other murders (lots of them) he was actually supposed to investigate and the first murder was pushed into the backg...

Shame they changed the narrator for this book. Matt Leisy who did Astreiant, #1 & 1.5 was excellent, very clear and easy to understand, and his regional accents were spot on. Mark Mullaney who narrated this one is so bad I almost stopped listening. His "British" accents are painful to British ears, and he mispronounces so many words in what I can only assume is an attempt to make them sound "British" that it becomes distracting and hard to follow the story. His website claims he can do British,

Very enjoyable update to the series!!I appreciated that there was more romance/relationship in this one than in the previous book, though it's still extremely understated. I don't mind, but I definitely generally prefer slightly more character-focused books, and this is much more centered on world and mystery. The mystery was super engaging, and I continue to enjoy the world created here, though I also continue to feel a bit lost at times. The world-building is done in a way that sort of assumes...

I love this series. I love the strange world (now becoming very familiar), the characters, and the mystery plot. In this one I also liked how even when Philip and Nico were pretty established as a couple, there was still room for their relationship to grow.NGL, I love books that make me question things and notice things that prompt me to discuss them - I'm reading this series because it was recommended to me by my friend D (and because it's the sort of thing I'd like) and so I've been messaging

The second full length novel in Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett's elaborately crafted Astreiant universe takes Nico and Philip into the world of the theater, where Philip has found new employment after losing his old job and Nico is called to investigate the mysterious murder of a nobleman on the stage who was rehearsing for the prestigious midwinter masque.Usually it takes me a while to find my way back into a world and reacquaint myself with its characters when so much time (in this case, fo...

when i say “fun matriarchal renaissance-fantasy police procedural with astrology magic, flower magic, tea, theatre, and low-key background romance” is your immediate response “yes, i want to read that right now”? GOOD. read this series!!!! the only word i can properly use for it is delightful. it just delights me! and this one was about the theatre and flowers, two of my favorite things, and what can i say when something just knows the way to my heart so precisely?? i’m defenseless, you know?

This second book in the late-Renaissance series centred on pointsman Rathe is similar at first sight to the first but subtly different nonetheless, as if the two plots belonged each to one of the two authors.The first was more focused on the mistery, on the action that brings to its solving and it was fleshed out with countless details about the lower-class characters' way of life.In this second one the mistery seems not to be the focus of the narrative: it rather seems an excuse to examine char...

I think I preferred this book to the first one, which was brilliant don't get me wrong. I just love Nico and Philp being lemen together it makes me so happy. And I adore how Scott and Barnett write their relationship, it is there, but also so subtle making the moments of tenderness more heart moving and wonderful. I really want all my books to be set in this world, where everyone is bisexual and it doesn't matter. Nico and Philip are lemen and its just the perfect setting for a story that is dri...

Enjoyable, but I didn't like it as much as the first book. Philip and Nico are entertaining characters and it's nice to see their relationship develop, plus I like the setting and world that the authors have constructed. On the down side, the mystery plot is very convoluted but never quite emotionally engaging to me, so I wasn't all that interested in its resolution. Also, and I'm kind of surprised to be saying this because I dislike clunky exposition, this series could use a lot more exposition...

Flower-arranging has never been so lethal.

When I finished this book, I set it aside with a feeling of satisfaction, as if I'd had a good meal. The mystery was well-done, the fantastic elements of the story and the world well-conceived, the backstory well-integrated and relatively easy to pick up once I got into the rhythm of the plot.Scott and Barnett write with an attention to detail and a richness of atmosphere not often found in fantasy. The story moves along leisurely, over the course of a few days, and (forgive the clumsy metaphor)...

4.5 stars. So well done. This is a marvellous book in a marvellous fantasy mystery series and this is my favourite so far. The city of Astreiant and its residents continue to capture all my attention. There's so much depth and subtlety and complexity in this story and the characters continue to be totally compelling. The mystery is absolutely fascinating, as is the theatrical setting. It's a murder mystery story based around a big theatrical production. Also going on is a mad flower craze like t...

What a delightful series this is. And it’s such a good blend of my favorite genres - mysteries, fantasy, and queer romance.

Chronologically, this is the third book in the series I think of as "CSI: Big Gay Fantasy". The mental name is probably an unfair depiction, since the book is much more about the teamwork between Rathe and Eslingen than about their growing intimacy.This mystery is set against the upcoming power changeover, a situation much like the tulip craze of Holland, and a magically important play. There is also a confluence of the stars that is causing everyone to see ghosts of their past, quite literally....

In some ways the murders are the least interesting part of this book. They matter, and they drive the plot, but it's the thematic stuff going on around and in cause of the murders that I found most interesting.This is a book about relationships, and the ways they are seen and controlled by society and societal pressures. It's mostly about queer relationships. The growing intimacy between Philip and Nico and the ways in which they are both drawn to but also unsure if they're ready for that intima...

Still hitting EVERYTHING I LOVE. Some of the theatre stuff got a bit impenetrable at times, but it didn't take away from the book.

it was diminishing returns with the second book, Point of Dreams, as Nico and Philip investigate strange murders at the playhouse. I felt there was too little time exploring how they felt about each other - even as past loves were thrown in to the mix, it felt like all the relationship stuff happened offstage (lol pun unintended), only so they could bring it to the fore to hammer home a pertinent point to the mystery. I also felt the crime was ridiculously easy to solve, and was really annoyed t...

Having read two books in the Astreiant series, I want to describe them as balanced. Procedural cop drama with an exemplary treatment of magic (consistent logic balanced against breathless wonder). Characters that obey the same rhythm of everyday life that you and I are bound to, even as corpses pile up. Seasons change, stars align, the logic of mercantilism and social class rule all. This constraints of internal logic and societal organization ground the book in a way necessary to run a procedur...