1635
The Papal Stakes

I really dislike Virginia DeMarce as an author. I'm pretty sure that I could properly label the writer of each chapter in this book by how painful I found it to read. The fact that the story spends more time describing the different familial arrangements for Thanksgiving dinner then it does the reac......more

I like the Ring of Fire, but good God, this was tedious. The writing isn't totally clunky or anything, and there are some decent bits - anything relating to the actual plot was just fine. But a very large chunk of the book is devoted to the kind of infinitely boring family dynamics that are only of......more

This story was on a par with the Ram Rebellion, tho had it's moments! I never thought I'd see Nasi riding off into the sunset on a motorcycle!......more

I really loved the 1st couple books of the series (1632 and 1633) but since it's become a franchise with different writers, things have gone down hill a bit. It's simply too ambitious as far as big ideas and plot goes, and still tries to have good characters and character moments. While it succeeds......more

2018 re-read: About 2/3rds of this is drudgery comprised of who won't attend Easter diner with who, how obnoxious old crones hate each other, their family, and the world, mixed inwith familial strife and chapter after chapter of familial minutiae. The last 15% or so makes it worth skimming ove the e......more