The third in the French Orphan series follows the exploits of Pierre, former penniless orphan who discovers he is heir to the de Beauvoir inheritance.
So far, Pierre has found friends in unexpected places, been surprised by love, learned the true meaning of friendship, discovered the extent of human cunning and depravity and dodged numerous attempts by his closest family member to despatch him to the next world.
In Under the Spell of the Serenissima Pierre’s search for the third Templar ring continues, but as ever, his path is not a smooth one. Pierre and Armand, along with Jean and Edoardo, are making for Venice, unaware that others too are racing towards the beautiful city, some intending to help, others with far more sinister motives.
As the various characters are drawn inexorably towards Venice, a conclusion will be played out that must decide Pierre’s fate, one way or another…
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com
Length: 302 pages (Paperback)
Source: Review Copy
Genre: Historical Fiction
Available Formats: Print/E-Book
Publication Date: December 15th 2013 by CreateSpace
You don't have any idea how much I've enjoyed my trips back in time in Michael Stolle's French Orphan series.
In Under the Spell of the Serenissima, we see things really begin to heat up politically and personally for Pierre, and his best friend Armand. We see both of them really grow into men in this installment and earnestly try to leave their youthful fancies behind. We see where the furture may come to lead these two and it made me wonder if they had a future supporting each other and made me want to bash their heads together more than once over some disagreements. However, I did enjoy that there was a bit more conflict between our two lads in this one because they are best friends we also see how each of them is being pulled in so many directions that I found it dizzying.
That being said, the book wasn't chaotic don't get me wrong there was a lot going on but I by the time I finished it I could begin to see where it was all headed and what might just be the outcome. One thing I think was a great push for this installment was that I saw that not just the main characters grown and evolve but many of the main supporting cast like Marie, Jean and Nicholas as well. We begin to see what everyone elses motivations are and I thought it was refreshing that they came more to the forefront in this volume since they play such a large part in the story.
We also see the treacherous political machinations begin to reach a head, and there was plenty of heart pounding moments in which I thought the jig might be up but I was pleasantly surprised to see how our young hero Pierre bounced back in the face of adversity.
This was a welcome edition in this series and I'm glad to say that the momentum has not let up. This one truly lives up to the standard that the first two books put in place. If you haven't checked this series out (my reviews for books one and two are located in the sidebar), than I highly suggest doing so if you want a book that's a mixture of historical fiction, political thriller and adventure novel.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's review of the final book in this series!
Author Bio:
Born and educated in Europe, Michael has always been intrigued by the historical setting and the fact that what makes us human was as true in the 17th century as it is now.
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I'm so glad your digging the series. It's right up your alley. Looking forward to the review for the final book in the series. Should be good
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