The Master of all Desires by Judith Merkle…

The Master of all Desires (edition 2000)

by Judith Merkle Riley (Author)

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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: "A delightful blend of history, romance, and the supernatural, served with a generous helping of wit and humor."-Booklist Nostradamus, a ruthless queen, and a young poet find themselves in the fight of their lives... Lady Sibille never goes looking for trouble, but trouble always seems to find her. When she inadvertently becomes the master of an ancient cursed head of Menander the Magus-the Master of All Desires-she suddenly has the power to grant any wish, at a steep price. Queen Catherine de Medici is trying to obtain the power of the Master in order to get rid of her husband's mistress. But she does not understand that the Master is malic itself, twisting the wishes that he grants to bring destruction. But only Nostradamus knows that evil befalls all who wish upon this accursed object. Can he stop these determined women before they unwittingly destroy the entire kingdom of France? Praise for The Master of All Desires: "Mixing history and fantasy with élan, Judith Merkle Riley offers a tightly woven, suspenseful, and fiendishly funny novel...Lush period detail and sprightly dialogue laced with humor and courtly pomp anchor Riley's romantic adventure with stylized whimsy and historical plausibility."-Publishers Weekly "Another darling mix of history, romance and the occult from Riley, a writer who excels at getting the background right and creating strong, intelligent heroines."-Kirkus Reviews… (more)

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Member:	ethorwitz
Title:	The Master of all Desires
Authors:	Judith Merkle Riley (Author)
Info:	Penguin Books (2000), Edition: First Edition, 400 pages
Collections:	Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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Tags:	to-read, fantasy

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The Master of all Desires by Judith Merkle Riley

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Showing 5 of 5

Good fun. Quick read. (

)

maryroberta | Jul 20, 2022 |

One of 3 loosely-linked historical novels (with a soupçon of fantasy) by Judith Merkle Riley, this historical novel deals with the poetess, Sibille Artaud de la Roque.

After her father is arrested for heresy, Sibille shoots an intruder with her father's gun. This turns out to be her betrothed; thinking that she has murdered him, Sibille goes to take a petition to the local bishop to free her father. She meets Nostradamus and acquires a mysterious box en route, and discovers it contains a rather nasty living head, the Master of All Desires - who grants wishes at the expense of one's soul. She and her aunt refuse to give into it's blandishments, and end up travelling to Paris at the behest of Catherine de'Medici, Queen of France who desires the use of the Master.

Queen Catherine is trying to break Diane de Poitiers' hold on the King, and wishes this to come about. Unfortunately, Diane de Poitiers also makes the same wish - that Queen Catherine does not gain a hold on the King. The story deals with the consequences of that wish, and along the way, Sibille breaks the Master's power with the help of Nostradamus.

Fun and light-hearted, this historical novel has a smidgen of fantasy - the living head and the angel of history (who passes foreknowledge to Nostradamus).

Recommended.

Maddz | Jun 24, 2020 |

"It is difficult to describe the burdens of a civilized soul born into entirely the wrong family" says our Sibille early in the story. Craving a peaceful life as a poet, our heroine is un-wittingly sucked into quite a situation. After accidentally "murdering" her fiancee Sibille runs to her Aunt Pauline for help, unknowingly aquiring The Master of all Desires en-route. Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers battle with black magic and will stop at nothing to gain possession of The Master. Nostradamus, guided by Anael the disorganized spirit of past and future history, would rather stay home and rest. Wacky Aunt Pauline converses regularly with the ghosts which haunt her house and has quite a history of her own. Add to that Sibille's monstrous dog gargantua, a troublesome monkey and a babbling severed head which follows Sibille everywhere. Oh what wacky fun, I devoured the book in two days. (

)

laracorsets | Nov 30, 2011 |

Nicely woven story. I am fascinated by the Medici family and Catherine de Medici does not disappoint her ancestors. The author does a very good job of mixing fantasy, common sense, intrigue and history. If you need something good to read and don't like wasting your time with popular books - read this.

RavRita | Oct 13, 2009 |

Mutassatok nekem még egy ilyen humoros történelmi regényt... úgysem tudtok:P Najó, kivéve amit JMR írt. (

)

Amadea | Jul 10, 2008 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Judith Merkle Riley	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Craft, Kinuko	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Książnica kieszonkowa

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Canonical title

The Master of all Desires

Original title

The Master of All Desires

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1999-11

People/Characters

Nostradamus

Catherine de Medici

Henri II, King of France (1519-1559)

Sibille Artaud de la Roque

Important places

Paris, France

Important events

Death of Henri II of France (1559)

Related movies

Epigraph

'Guess now who holds thee?' - 'Death,' I said.

But, there,

The silver answer rang... 'Not Death, but Love.'

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Dedication

To the memory of my parents

First words

"Here's the place," said the Queen of France, whispering in Italian.

Quotations

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Judith Merkle Riley

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

"A delightful blend of history, romance, and the supernatural, served with a generous helping of wit and humor."-Booklist

Nostradamus, a ruthless queen, and a young poet find themselves in the fight of their lives...

Lady Sibille never goes looking for trouble, but trouble always seems to find her. When she inadvertently becomes the master of an ancient cursed head of Menander the Magus-the Master of All Desires-she suddenly has the power to grant any wish, at a steep price.

Queen Catherine de Medici is trying to obtain the power of the Master in order to get rid of her husband's mistress. But she does not understand that the Master is malic itself, twisting the wishes that he grants to bring destruction.

But only Nostradamus knows that evil befalls all who wish upon this accursed object. Can he stop these determined women before they unwittingly destroy the entire kingdom of France?

Praise for The Master of All Desires:
"Mixing history and fantasy with élan, Judith Merkle Riley offers a tightly woven, suspenseful, and fiendishly funny novel...Lush period detail and sprightly dialogue laced with humor and courtly pomp anchor Riley's romantic adventure with stylized whimsy and historical plausibility."-Publishers Weekly
"Another darling mix of history, romance and the occult from Riley, a writer who excels at getting the background right and creating strong, intelligent heroines."-Kirkus Reviews

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Book description

The year is 1556 and the setting is Paris--capital city to a country on the brink of civil war. Catherine de Medici is queen, and her astrologer, the prophet Nostradamus, has divined the secret evil of the Undying Head of Menander, the Master of All Desires. The Queen wants to use Menander to get rid of the king's mistress, and a spirited young poet named Sibille Artaud de la Roque is tempted by Menander to obtain all her desires. But only Nostradamus knows that evil befalls all who wish upon this accursed object. Can he stop these determined women before they unwittingly destroy the entire kingdom of France?

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