Aphelion

This was a strong entry in the gothic supernatural romance category that Anne Rice made popular with her Lestat series. The fights reminded me of scenes from the old Forever Knight series, crossed with Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels ...<br><br>There were a few moments when things seemed to be leaning toward satire (when Catherine's chest was heaving with emotion -- one wondered if her heaving bosom would rip her bodice ;)), and some (to me) peculiar phrases and oddly-applied words ("All this was bane congruity"??; "sugar plumb" (a 'sugar plum' is a sweet or candy; 'plumb', however, comes from the same root as the chemical symbol for lead, Pb (hence a 'plumb bob', 'plumbing', etc.); missing words, typos, etc., that will no doubt be cleaned up in the expanded version for paid publication.<br><br>Overall, an entertaining read, enhanced by the sense of place and period detail. (Had cigarettes been invented by then, or was Wolfram deliberately ahead of his time thanks to his sorcerous abilities?)<br><br>Robert M.

Sugar of Lead is one of the staples of the Borgia kitchen, Robert. Hence the "sugar plumb" (which is probably a typo as you suggest) is correct if one were making a pun about a poisoned sweet.

Dan

<br>I guess it was Catherine's magical powers that let her hear the "b" at the end of "plumb" ...<br><br>Robert M.