The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner

Summary

As the French Revolution descends into nightmare, Yann Margoza, a mysterious and extraordinary practitioner of magic, uses his skills to help spirit refugees out of France. If he fails, their fates lie under the blade of the guillotine. But the question of Yann's true identity and the kidnapping of his true love, Sido, expose him to dangers that threaten to destroy him. With Paris on the verge of collapse, Yann must summon all his strength and courage to rescue his beloved Sido and outwit the devil's own--this time for good.

Number of pages: 362

Review

My dear Sally Gardner has done it again with this amazing and extremely vivid telling of the French Revolution. Last time we left Yann and Sido to those times of Terror, Sido was safely deposited in England while Yann used his super duper gypsy powers to smuggle all kinds of people from the bloody lands of France into England. So it seems Yann has a secret reputation as the Silver Blade, but he doesn’t take much notice after mooning over Miss Sido who it seems isn’t answering his latest letter. Of course many of the original characters are in this new story. It really does complete the story of Yann and Sido. I was really excited to read it, though I find it hard to say which book is better The Red Necklace or The Silver Blade. Very tough decision indeed.

You do need a good attention span, though, because there is a very good chance that you might get lost a bit. There are so many twits and turns in this novel, and while those are what make a good story, there are times where getting “lost” in a story might not be a good thing.

The history part was very interesting. I can’t say that I know much of the French Revolution, but from what I read here I think it was accurate. It was really intriguing especially about how people escaped the country. The measures they took were incredible. But hey, to find out the tricked their way out, you’ll just have to read the book. So taking all that into consideration . . . from 1-10? I give The Silver Blade a 6.

The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Summary

The winds of change are blowing through Paris in 1789, both for France and a mysterious Gypsy boy named Yann Margoza. He was born with a gift for knowing what people are thinking and an uncanny ability to throw his voice, skills he uses while working for a foolish magician. On the night of a special performance, he meets shy Sido, a lonely heiress with a cold-hearted father. Though they have the shortest of conversations, an attachment is born that will influence both their paths. While revolution is afoot in France Sido is being used as the pawn of the fearful villain Count Kalliovsky. Some have instead called him the devil; and only Yann, for Sido’s sake, will dare to oppose him.

Number of pages: 378

Review

Sally Gardner has done the amazing task of creating a historical fiction that I am sure will captivate anyone who is up for it. I, personally, love historical fiction books, but I am confident in saying that those of you who don’t like those types of books will love this French Revolution story. There’s action, magic, romance, mystery. What could be better? Some times it did get a little creepy and disturbing, what with beheading and such things. The people of France were quite gruesome at this stage of the Revolution. The characters were wonderfully created. You really got a sense of each essence of the characters. It gives you a look at those dark times in France from both an aristocratic point of view (Sido) and the point of view of Yann the Gypsy fellow with charming looks and amazing abilities. basically, this story was intriguing from start to finish. I can’t wait to read the sequel, The Silver Blade! From 1-10? I give this book a 8.