Mary Hoffman
Paperback | Pages: 345 pages Rating: 3.91 | 15221 Users | 635 Reviews
Identify Appertaining To Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
| Title | : | City of Masks (Stravaganza #1) |
| Author | : | Mary Hoffman |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 345 pages |
| Published | : | September 9th 2004 by Bloomsbury (first published December 8th 2002) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Young Adult. Science Fiction. Time Travel. Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction |
Interpretation Conducive To Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boy's clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessa's lover, and saving the Duchessa's life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps.Specify Books To City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
| Original Title: | City of Masks |
| ISBN: | 1582349177 (ISBN13: 9781582349176) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://bloomsbury.com/Stravaganza-City-of-Masks/Mary-Hoffman/books/details/9780747595694 |
| Series: | Stravaganza #1 |
| Characters: | Leonora, Arianna Rossi, Rodolfo Rossi, Silvia Bellini, Guido Parola, Francesca di Chimici, Enrico Poggi, Lucien Mulholland, Rinaldo di Chimici, Paola, Giuliana, Vicky Mulholland, David Mulholland, Alfredo, William Dethridge |
| Setting: | Bellezza, Venice(Italy) |
Rating Appertaining To Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Ratings: 3.91 From 15221 Users | 635 ReviewsNotice Appertaining To Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (maybe even 3.5)Wait, what?!? Quite a low rating to be on an all-time-favourites list, I know. I wont lie: objectively this series may not be the best ever written. Frankly, I am not even sure I am capable of judging them in that aspect. I read these books together with my mother when I was probably 11. My mother was already very sick and the memories we spent taking turns reading pages to eachother are ones that I will treasure for life now that she is no longer withUnfortunately, this is another example of a great concept ruined by bad storytelling. Our 'protagonist' (and I use that lightly) is Lucian, a boy with cancer who discovers he can travel to a different world (a pseudo-Venice as it were) through the acquisition of a magical notebook. However, this ability is never really the foundation of the plot; instead, Miss Hoffman tends to write where the wind takes her, forming a mix-match of elements that are never deeply explored, into a plot sequence
Cute. That a the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book. Cute and mostly harmless. Adorable and sweet, but unfortunately just not too memorable. Like a decent fast food meal, it's satisfying but not too nutritious.This is a story of a teenage boy dying from cancer in contemporary England, who accidentally discovers a way to travel to an alternate reality that closely resembles medieval Venice. He makes friends with a powerful scientist-magician and a perky tomboy-girl, foils a
This was my favourite book as child, and it still holds up as a good read. I found it initially difficult to get into because the language is very simple, and jarring after reading more adult novels, but I quickly became accustomed to it.The plot can be predictable at times, but more in a good way, than bad. Each scene is interesting and adds to the story, and there are different levels of clues that can be found for younger and older readers.I like that Bellezza is based on Venice and a certain
Love. So much love. STRAVAGANZA: CITY OF MASKS was such a surprise. I read the summary, and was like yea, it sounds good, but oh manit was so much more than good. This book had me trapped in its story from the first word and I was so content by the end of the epilogue. Happy little sigh and clutching the book to my chest? Yupp, that was me.Basically, our main character Lucien is bedridden from chemo treatments to try and cure his brain cancer. His father gives him a book, and suddenly when he
This hit on some MAJOR pet peeves for me, so even though I saw potential in some respects, I gave up.
This hit on some MAJOR pet peeves for me, so even though I saw potential in some respects, I gave up.
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