The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Magic Circle
Book Review: A CHANGE OF HEART
Summary: 5 Stars
When this book first came out, I wrote one of the very first reviews of it (This is a brilliant book, but is it a good book? Feb 22, 1998.) I have received many letters, both from Neville's devoted fans as well as comments from my own colleagues about those initial thoughts I jotted down.As an historian, as a lover of mysteries, and a devoted fan myself of Katherine Neville, I decided to take a good hard look at the review I wrote so long ago. In retrospect, I realize my review was neither fair nor completely accurate, and that it may have led to a great deal of misunderstanding on the part of other readers. I must admit that today it seems more of a gut level reaction to a book that, on first reading, had disturbed me deeply. But when I confronted those feelings, and especially when I realized that there were many readers, with perhaps less depth of sincere feeling than my own, who seem to have jumped on the bandwagon of something I wrote, in haste, so long ago, I thought I should be enough of a man to admit I might have made a serious error in judgment. I would therefore like to correct the impression I may have given to others.
The real error of my review which I would like to address is when I accused Neville of setting herself up as a "self-proclaimed expert on the Bible, Torah, Greek history, Roman history, Ancient Civilization, the Gauls, the Celts, nuclear science, the beliefs and rituals of Native Americans," etc
This statement of mine has caused a lot of controversy because I then proceeded (or so I am told) to launch into a diatribe that made it sound as if I was presenting MYSELF as an expert in all those fields, and therefore in a position to judge her in each and every one of them. Nothing could have been further from my intention. Indeed, I have subsequently learned that Neville actually IS an expert in some of these things, and in others she really did her homework in a manner that would befit even the finest writers of historical fiction. For instance, I was mistaken in thinking she had never been in Russia, Vienna, or Paris, but had merely collated her descriptions from books. I learned that she has lived in all these places and that her descriptions were based on her experiences, just as with all those descriptions I loved so much that I AM acquainted with myself, like those of Marin, Sun Valley, the Snake River, and the Kootenai Wilderness.
I also accused Neville of taking a "series of rumors, uncertainties, and guesses" and turning them into fact. As her readers have, quite rightly, objected to me, her book is presented as a work of fiction, not of history, so of course, she has a perfect right to make any such changes as she sees fit. That doesn't necessarily signify, however, that she has taken such liberties, and I was wrong to suggest, without any specific evidence, that she ever has.
The real eye-opener for me, was when several of my own colleagues who are grounded in the classics pointed out the incredible variety and richness of her actual historical sources, and what a creative mind it took to pull these all together. They aren't sure anyone has ever accomplished this before in a work of fiction. For instance, in her sections on the Roman emperors alone, Neville has utilized more than fifty historical sources they were able to pinpoint just off the top of their heads, such as Plutarch, Nonnos, Arrian, Tacitus, Suetonius, Diodorus Siculus - to name but a few - not to mention the ancient fiction writers she pays tribute to, like Euripides and Virgil. A female colleague of mine has also told me how impressed she was that Neville's section on the druids and Boadicea were partly drawn from Antonia Fraser's powerful book, The Warrior Queens (well worth a read for those unacquainted with Celtic history!)
I must say that I am at a loss to explain why this particular book of Neville's so seriously troubled me - even DISTURBED me - on my first reading. Perhaps it was simply a knee-jerk reaction to what seemed to me a feminist stance on her part, toward the end of the book. After all, those of us who love the wilderness do understand the importance of protecting our natural environment, our rivers and lakes and streams. I have read the book three times since, and each time I saw another, deeper, layer that led me closer to the meaning the author was trying to convey, which is the interconnectedness of all things. I especially have grown to appreciate the relationship between Ariel and Sam, portrayed so lovingly and beautifully at the book's end, that reveals our interconnectedness.
So I hope that those readers who blindly followed my rather scathing first review will forgive me for having misguided them. And I sincerely hope that Katherine Neville, who still remains one of my favorite authors, will accept my deep and heartfelt apologies for any pain I may have caused her by a hasty, perhaps overly superficial, initial critique of her book.
Book Review: A Contorted, Unbelievable Tale
Summary: 1 Stars
What a waste of time reading this mish-mash of historical and pseudo-historical facts was for me. I began reading it with great anticipation, but my hopes were soon dashed in the complicated morass of the plot. It was nearly impossible for me to keep track of all the characters and all the unbelievable turns of events. I'm glad that I bought my copy at a library book sale for 30 cents. I liked Ms Neville's previous book, The Eight, much better.Book Review: A Fast, fun read!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't believe a word of anyone who says this book is difficult. For my career in data processing, I have to read tons of technical literature - and I therefore INSIST that all my pleasure reading must conform to three rules: light, upbeat, and totally escapist. I whizzed through the Magic Circle like a breeze. It took me one afternoon to read it. Anyone who has to work at it must have a pretty limited attention span. Give us more like this one, Ms Neville!Book Review: A Huge Disappointment & A Great Waste of Time
Summary: 1 Stars
I realize that there are a large number of negative reviews of this book already posted, but if I can stop one more person from wasting the time to read this book, it's worth one more review. I loved Katherine Neville's previous two novels and was looking forward to reading The Magic Circle on my vacation. The Magic Circle is riddled with numerous personal stories involving a vaguely defined collection of objects that may or may not have cosmic value. The main characters balance their time between researching their family's incestuous behavior and pursuit of the manuscripts that may or may not have a connection to the cosmic objects. After you dragging yourself through hundreds of pages of this confusing fog, you are left with no more than what you started with. The main character manages to sleep with her half brother/cousin and the manuscripts they risked their lives over are still a unconnected mess. They spectulate over what they could mean, but no conclusion is ever drawn. I don't know what's worse: the amount of time wasted by Katherine in writing it or the time wasted by all of us that bothered to read it.Book Review: A Native American hero!
Summary: 5 Stars
Katherine Neville really knows her history. She sure didn't seem to pull any punches in Magic Circle on what the Old World (White Europeans) did to the other cultures they conquered. I read that she's doing a book on Spain and the New World next. I hope it's as good at expose and revelationas this one. I loved it, finally having a Native American hero!