Mary Hoffman

Chloé Vesseron sur Stravaganza - la cite des masques - vol01 de Mary Hoffman

un livre passionnant qui nous transporte au coeur d une Venise magique! un bon moment de lecture qui donne envie de lire la suite...

Laraemilie W sur Stravaganza - la cite des masques - vol01 de Mary Hoffman

City of masks is the first book of Stravaganza series and introduces us to Talia, a country similar to Italy situated in another world and another time. Everything starts in England, in the twenty-first century. Young Lucien suffers from cancer and cannot move from his bed. But when his father...
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City of masks is the first book of Stravaganza series and introduces us to Talia, a country similar to Italy situated in another world and another time. Everything starts in England, in the twenty-first century. Young Lucien suffers from cancer and cannot move from his bed. But when his father gives him an Italian notebook, he travels to a strange sixteen’s century city, Bellezza, where he learns that he is a Stravagante, someone who can travel between England and Talia. In this world, he is as strong and healthy as he was before, but he will soon find out that it is a dangerous place, especially when the di Chimici try to acquire more power in order to dominate the city.
During the whole book, we follow Lucien, or Luciano in Talia, as he discovers a city very similar to Venice, as he will notice himself. The descriptions are nicely written and help us imagine this wonderful sixteenth-century setting. The story starts quietly, as Luciano meets young Arianna and they discover the city together. Once the basis of the story is set, more characters appear and the tension quickly builds up until the last pages of the book.
Every chapter is divided in various parts, each of them telling about one character and his actions or about the events occurring either in Talia or in our twenty-first century world. I liked Mary Hoffman’s narrative choice, because we can then compare the two dimensions and it enables us to know a lot more than the characters. Nevertheless, this does not mean there is no suspense; quite often, we witness actions that we can only understand later on in the book, and this strategy makes it very difficult not to read the whole story in one go.
We also get to know characters which are extremely important in the other books of the series, such as Rodolfo, the Chimici family, Professor Dethridge, Guido Parole, etc. Each of them is developed enough to make us like them (or hate them) but enough mystery is kept in order to keep the reader’s attention.
As the story goes on, we become aware of the author’s great knowledge of Italia. Although Talia is a fantasy world, its similarities to Italy are striking and everything is constructed according to reality. The cities mentioned all resemble a real one in Italy and we are at the same time drawn into another world and brought back to the past, but a different past, where silver is more precious than gold and science looks like magic.
We also learn about the Stravaganti and their history, how the first traveller arrived to Talia, what their role is and why they have to keep their brotherhood secret from the powerful Chimici family. A real history lesson! These details are cleverly mixed with the actions and we never actually notice how much information is included in the story. The end arrives far too quickly and is unexpected – a real good one!
City of masks is a really thrilling book and a promising start for the rest of the series, which I hope will have many more books published. We are introduced to important characters and presented central concepts about stravagation and Talia in general. The writing style is simple, alternating description of the wonderful setting with rapid actions, thrilling scenes with more romantic ones and contrasting two different worlds and time. The story is a blend between history and fantasy, court intrigue, cheerful celebration scenes among the nobles and tragic family drama.
Stravaganza is a young adults’ novel, which explains why some of the characters and actions could have been developed more, but it will no doubt please a much wider audience, especially people interested in Italy, history and fantasy.

Couverture du livre « Stravaganza - la cite des etoiles - vol02 » de Mary Hoffman aux éditions Pocket Jeunesse

Laraemilie W sur Stravaganza - la cite des etoiles - vol02 de Mary Hoffman

City of stars takes us to sixteenth-century Talia again, but this time we visit Remora, a city similar to Siena.
Georgia loves horses, but she is unhappy because her stepbrother persecutes her. The day she saves up enough money and manages to buy the model of a winged horse, she cannot imagine...
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City of stars takes us to sixteenth-century Talia again, but this time we visit Remora, a city similar to Siena.
Georgia loves horses, but she is unhappy because her stepbrother persecutes her. The day she saves up enough money and manages to buy the model of a winged horse, she cannot imagine that it will transport her to another world which reminds her of Italy, but has evolved in quite a different way. There, in a city full of intrigues and dangers, she must find what her mission as a Stravagante is before it is too late.
Although the concept is the same as in the first book of the series (and the following ones) – an unhappy twenty-first century teenager who finds themselves sent to Talia by their talisman and has to accomplish a mission – the story is very different, and even more thrilling. A different setting, new characters amongst the ones we already know, more intrigues...
Horses are central in this book, not only because they are what Georgia loves most. In Remora, they are extremely important and every year a famous race takes place, the Stellata, which can be compared to the Palio our Siena. The way Remora is organised is extremely interesting because it mixes reality with belief, history and magic, and everything revolves around horses and the preparation of the Stellata. We are drawn into this strange universe and introduced to several Remorans such as Cesare and Paolo.
At the same time, other characters from the first book reappear –and their meeting could be full of surprises. However, the plot is understandable even for those who have not read it – I actually started the series by City of stars – because the main events and concepts are repeated as an introduction to Georgia in Talia. We also get to know better an extremely important family: the di Chimici. The first pages in which their names appear might be quite difficult to understand to start with, but there is no need to worry about forgetting who they are as the protagonists will later meet with each of them – and develop relationships from hatred to friendship.
Again, the descriptions are vivid and full of colours, sounds and emotions. It is interesting to meet new characters, but also to see how the ones we already know have developed since their adventures in Belleza finished. We follow the Stravaganti and their friends of course, but also their enemies – most of the di Chimici and their spy Enrico – as well as more neutral characters, for example the Manoush. I liked the fact that, contrary to many children or young adult novels, there are not only ‘good’ and ‘bad characters’, although they are sometimes a little simplified and predictable.
After the introduction, the story unfolds quickly, full of twists and turns – which are most of the time unexpected. In the middle of the court intrigues, love stories develop or evolve, as well as friendships. We get to know more historical details – be it because of the comparisons between Italy and Talia and their differences – and more about the Stravaganti, which are a really fascinating brotherhood. I particularly enjoy the character of Rodolfo, who seems very human and realistic.
City of Stars is the first book I had read of the Stravaganza series – quite a long time ago – and probably my favourite one. With scenes full of tension, the plot is well built and the ending quite surprising. The amount of historical references is incredible, as well as more hidden morals and theories, and every re-reading will bring some more details into light.

Couverture du livre « Stravaganza - la cite des secrets - vol04 » de Mary Hoffman aux éditions Pocket Jeunesse

Laraemilie W sur Stravaganza - la cite des secrets - vol04 de Mary Hoffman

Nous voici de retour en Talie avec le quatrième tome de la saga Stravaganza, La cité des secrets. Il s’agit de l’histoire de Matt, un jeune adolescent dyslexique. Quelle n’est pas sa surprise lorsque, le jour de son anniversaire, il est attiré par un livre écrit dans une langue étrange qu’il ne...
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Nous voici de retour en Talie avec le quatrième tome de la saga Stravaganza, La cité des secrets. Il s’agit de l’histoire de Matt, un jeune adolescent dyslexique. Quelle n’est pas sa surprise lorsque, le jour de son anniversaire, il est attiré par un livre écrit dans une langue étrange qu’il ne peut déchiffrer. Grâce à ce talisman, il est alors transporté à Padavia où il rencontre le professeur Constantin et apprend qu’il fait partie de la confrérie des Stravaganti. Toutefois, la ville n’est pas sans danger et de sombres complots s’y trament.
Une fois de plus, Mary Hoffman nous livre un roman entraînant et passionnant, mélangeant aventures, fantaisie, danger et amour. Comment aurais-je pu ne pas être séduite par la Cité des mots et le monde des livres que nous sommes amenés à découvrir. Dans le scriptorium de Constantin, les secrets de l’imprimerie nous sont dévoilés petit à petit et nous prenons rapidement conscience des périls que cela peut impliquer.
Padavia est une ville apparemment semblable à la Padoue que nous connaissons mais, contrairement aux cités décrites dans les tomes précédents, je ne l’ai pas visitée, ce qui ne me permet pas de tirer de conclusions quant aux différences et similitudes existant. Les descriptions, bien que moins présentes qu’auparavant, sont toujours aussi imagées et nous plongent réellement dans la Talie du XIVe siècle. Un vrai bonheur !
J En ce qui concerne l’action en elle-même, je l’ai trouvée une fois encore très bien construite, même s’il y avait moins de suspense que dans les tomes précédents. Tout commence doucement, ce qui nous permet de rencontrer de nouveaux personnages et d’en retrouver des anciens, puis le rythme s’accélère, mélangeant les lois contre la magie, l’anatomie, l’impression et édition de livres et l’astronomie. La fin est particulièrement forte et comporte quelques retournements de situation inattendus qui compensent les premières pages quelque peu prévisibles. Une combinaison gagnante qui permet que la tension culmine dans le dernier quart du livre. Il est alors impossible de le lâcher.
Le développement des personnages, qui m’avait un peu déçu dans La cité des fleurs, a compensé l’intrigue un peu trop simple à mon goût. Nous pouvons observer d’une part que le héro a une réelle personnalité et d’autre part que les personnages que nous connaissons déjà ont pour la plupart évolué – bien évidemment, Rodolfo, qui a déjà atteint un certain âge, change moins que Luciano, qui est en pleine adolescence. Autant du côté des Taliens que des Anglais, j’ai apprécié le fait d’avoir autant de détails sur les protagonistes. Les changements vécus par Enrico, l’espion, sont particulièrement intéressants.
Ce quatrième volume de la série confirme une fois de plus le talent de l’auteur et son idée de génie lorsqu’elle a inventé la Talie, les Stravaganti et les talismans. Nous découvrons une nouvelle ville, rencontrons d’autres personnages tout en retrouvant les anciens et sommes entraînés dans de complexes intrigues de cour. De plus, les livres sont omniprésents, ce qui séduira sans aucun doute tous les amoureux de la lecture et de ses mystères !