Time travel is a staple of speculative fiction. When done wrong, it’s infuriating. When done right, it’s fun, and I’m all in. When I first picked up The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., I didn’t know what to expect. But soon I was all in for the ride. It’s focus on office mundanity, mixing witchcraft with science, and a distinct cast of characters won me over as a fan. So when I saw that its sequel, Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland, was coming out. I had to get it into my hands as fast as possible. Galland succeeded in furthering the adventures of the time traveling team. Master of the Revels puts D.O.D.O. operatives on the path to fixing the changes in reality their meddling caused.
Disclaimer: I was provided an eARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR
Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland is a welcome return to the world of D.O.D.O. This fun story recaptured all the joy D.O.D.O. brought us. New missions, new characters, and more Erzsébet Karpathy make this a must read for D.O.D.O. fans. Highly recommended.
© 2021 by Primmlife.com
From the Publisher
In this brilliant sequel to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.—an enthralling, history-bending adventure traversing time and space, fact and fiction, magic and science co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson—a daring young time traveler must return to Jacobean England to save the modern world.
This fast-paced sequel to the New York Times bestselling near-future adventure The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. picks up where the original left off, as Tristan Lyons, Mel Stokes, and their fellow outcasts from the Department of Diachronic Operations (D.O.D.O.) fight to stop the powerful Irish witch Gráinne from using time travel to reverse the evolution of all modern technology.
Chief amongst Gráinne’s plots: to encrypt cataclysmic spells into Shakespeare’s “cursed” play, Macbeth. When her fellow rogue agents fall victim to Gráinne’s schemes, Melisande Stokes is forced to send Tristan’s untested, wayward sister Robin back in time to 1606 London, where Edmund Tilney, the king’s Master of Revels, controls all staged performances in London.
And now Gráinne controls Tilney.
While Robin poses as an apprentice in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Mel travels to the ancient Roman Empire and, with the help of double-agent Chira in Renaissance Florence, untangles the knotted threads of history while the diabolical Gráinne jumps from timeline to timeline, always staying frustratingly one stop ahead—or is it behind?
Historical objects disappear, cities literally rise and fall, and nothing less than the fate of humanity is at stake. As Gráinne sows chaos across time and space, the ragtag team of ex-D.O.D.O. agents must fix the past—in order to save the future.
Critically acclaimed author Nicole Galland brings her deep knowledge of history and signature wit to this gripping romantic adventure.
Review: Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland
Master of the Revels picks up soon after Tristan Lyons, Melisande Stokes, Frank Oda, Rebecca East-Oda, Erzsébet Karpathy and Mortimer Shore leave the official D.O.D.O. This small resistance group creates a rogue D.O.D.O. to thwart Gráinne’s plans. The main plot of the story is a battle between Gráinne and rogue D.O.D.O. to influence the creation of William Shakespeare’s MacBeth. Tristan’s sister, Robin, is brought into replace him when he goes missing. Her knowledge of theater and its history make her an apt, if untested, agent. Her role is to befriend William Shakespeare and seek employment with the master of revels, Edmund Tilney. But Gráinne has multiple plots going. One involves a tiled floor in a Roman city, and another takes place in 1397 Florence around the freeing of a Tartan slave.
I loved The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. It was a solid story told in a unique way. It took the form of epistolary fiction, i.e. diary notes, emails, and persistent chat logs. Master of the Revels keeps up this same form, and it worked just as well for me this time. The history suffuses the plots but doesn’t over shadow the action. In fact, I’d say this book was a bit more focused than its predecessor. The Shakespeare mission receives most of the page time, and it was fun. The other two missions were a little more straight forward but went off the rails more quickly than the Shakespeare mission. I thought there was good balance between the three; the mix kept me turning the pages.
Characters
Master of the Revels maintains the same strength that I loved in The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., the characters. Erzsébet is my favorite character hands down, and she gets a little page time here, not enough, but I really enjoyed her few moments. In addition to the carryover characters, we get new D.O.D.O. operatives, new historical characters, and the bard, himself, William Shakespeare. Master of the Revels has a broad cast of characters that all seem distinct. Whether its Roman sisters or a Florentine wagoner, even the minor characters are distinct and memorable. Too often, minor characters can fade into the background, but in Master of the Revels, they stand out without overshadowing the plot.
History
Much of Master of the Revels takes place in the past. There is a lot of excellent historical detail in here. How much is real and how much is made up for the story? I have no idea, and I think that’s great for alternate history fiction. I loved the settings, but of the three, the England of King James felt the most flushed out. Florence and Sicily had enough details to satisfy but not enough to be immersive.
Robin
Master of the Revels succeeds or fails based upon a new character, Robin Lyons. Robin is Tristan’s sister. She’s a theatre nerd who likes the history of English theatre. While she is different than Tristan in many ways, she has his same determination and quickness of thought. Seeing her go through Elizabethan England, we learn that she’s as much a survivor as Tristan. Her transition from innocent theatre nerd to Rogue D.O.D.O. operative is quick but enjoyable. Frankly, she was the more interesting choice to follow through the staging of MacBeth. I don’t think Tristan would have had as many adventures as his sister. Master of the Revels succeeds because Robin is likable, smart, and able to navigate a world foreign to our own.
Gráinne
In this book, we get a number of letters from Gráinne to a potential ally, who happens to be in the employ of the Fuggers. I loved this insight into Gráinne and her plans. Throughout much of the book, she seems like an extremely powerful force, and yet she’s not all powerful. Her advantage of initiative is countered by D.O.D.O.’s ability to operate as a team. Where Gráinne has to ensure the main D.O.D.O. branch and their operations conform to her plans, Rogue D.O.D.O. is able to dedicate multiple minds to various plans, which gives them better solutions and better operational work.
Gráinne is an excellent villain because we understand – though don’t agree with – her reasoning for sabotaging technology. Her letters might be my favorite, non-Erszebet parts of the book. Part of it is the view into her process, but part of it is her reaching out to a fellow witch, seeking one of her kind in a foreign world. Those letters made her seem isolated in a way that I don’t think I got from the first book.
Fuggers
I love the Fuggers. They are so mysterious, and they are playing some sort of hand in the background that we don’t get to see. This multi-generational banking company is somehow the mediating force in present day Boston between Rogue and Gráinne’s D.O.D.O. operations. We got some explanation in the last book, but I feel like there’s more there. I’d love to know more about the Fuggers. Are they witches? Do they have some sort of magical role to play? Or are they just like other bankers, controlling the flow of information in order to profit? Hopefully, if there’s more books, we learn more about this organization and how they’re able to enforce a neutrality in Boston’s present.
Conclusion
Nicole Galland’s Master of the Revels is a fun and welcome return to the odd world of D.O.D.O. The lovable cast of characters gets expanded in a book that heavily features historical missions. Master of the Revels left me wanting more D.O.D.O.
Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland is available from William Morrow on February 23rd, 2021.
© 2021 by Primmlife.com