Auriel Rising

by Elizabeth Redfern

Book Overview

Elizabeth Redfern works literary alchemy in a novel that seamlessly incorporates the best of historical fiction, romance, and intrigue. Elizabeth Redfern's storytelling powers have also been compared to le Carr? and Dickens, Thomas Harris and Iain Pears. Now she presents her new novel, set in 1609 London and centering on the furious quest to turn lead into gold. Since the night that young Ned Warriner set upon the guards escorting a Catholic prisoner...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399151052
• ISBN13: 9780399151057
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

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excellant book i hope she writes more books i love reading her books they are intense.

Intrigue and Artistry

I totally enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to the next offering by Elizabeth Redfern. The story is involved, and dark, and it conveys an atmosphere of the mystic longings of the alchemists. It is beautifully written, and has suspense without a hectic pace. I find it to be an ideal historical novel. Another favorite of mine, which I compare to this, is "Stone Virgin" by Barry Unsworth. Mystery stories with a literary quality.

Get past the letter and the book is good

Alchemy is one of the oddest things that lurks in our history. The search went on for maybe a thousand years or more-the search to make something that could turn anything into stone. This obsession with gold went far beyond the natural inclination of anyone to want wealth; it became an actual search for a perfect object. This is a novel about a man who returns home to find out if his past love had his child, and wins a letter in a game of a dice. The letter is addressed to an Auriel (like the angel) and evidently contains a guide for making gold. This letter is the first thing you'll see upon opening this book. Naturally, it makes no sense to someone who is not intimately familiar with alchemy (which I don't think anyone alive today is.) This is the hardest part of the book to get through. I recommend you struggle through this two page letter to get to the book, which contains love, adventure, sex, fighting, plots, evil, good and in the end-maybe even the secret to really making gold. Some parts of this book are over done, but in the end it is good, if not great. If you like historical fiction I think you'll enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to the authors other works. Four stars.

Intriguing Mix of Alchemy and Treason

"To Auriel, I will give the gift of gold. After the night of long and false captivity, the golden SUN is about to rise, and all this by the power of the Stone, lapis ex caelis; for be sure that as Auriel rises the LION shall fall." So began the letter that would change Ned Warriner's life, that winter of 1609. He found it inside a leather volume that he had won at dice; after a bit of research, he determines it to be an alchemist's letter, the recipe for gold. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, though, and this letter had the uncanny ability to bring death to those who saw it and talked about it. Ned has just returned to London from exile and his former patron isn't as patronizing as Ned had anticipated, the love of his life has married one of his ill-wishers and his brother's business-and life-is in danger. Not exactly the homecoming he had expected. His interest about the Auriel letter goes no farther than curiosity, but as he soon discovers, there are others that find it of much more significance. Ned finds that he has endangered his friends and family and a whole host of innocent others as this search for Auriel's gold becomes the center of political intrigue. Having read Redfern's first novel (The Music of the Spheres), I was pleased to see the publication of her second novel. The plot of Auriel Rising is sound and thorough, bringing together many different points that seemed to have no possible connection. Ned Warriner is a likable protagonist, he and most of the other characters are convincing and on the whole the novel was fully credible. As an mix of alchemy and treason, it makes an intriguing read and I rate it a solid four out of five.

Excellent historical in the traditionof The Alienist

In 1609 London, King James I wants peace with Spain while his son and heir Prince Henry, a staunch anti-papist wants England freed of Catholics. After helping the Dutch fight the Spanish in the Low Countries, Ned Warriner returns to England to see the now married Kate Pelham, the only woman he ever loved. During his first week back in the country, he wins a letter in a dice game that he later finds out is written by the dead alchemist Edward Dee.The letter is a formula to create the Philosopher's Stone, which many people believe will turn any substance into gold. Whomever Ned talks to about the letter winds up murdered by a group of men who have the protection of someone powerful. Ned tries, for reasons unknown even to him, to create the Philosopher's Stone. He also deals with enemies who want nothing more than to see him dead for the knowledge he has in his possession about plots, gun shipments and gold making its way into the prince's coffers.Cross Caleb Carr's THE ALIENIST with any work of Charles Dickens and one will have a feel for the historical mystery AURIEL RISING. The protagonist is a good man who finds himself in dangerous situations but is willing to pursue that course even though it might mean his life or his freedom. Elizabeth Redfern captures the mood of England less than a decade after the death of Elizabeth I adding background depth to a one-of-a-kind fascinating reading experience.Harriet Klausner