The Eight by Kathrine Neville

[LillianSaire]

Has anyone here read The Eight?  

[Beckygan]

No, sorry.  

[beaulolais]

but if you tell me about it,

then mayhap i shall!  

[LillianSaire]

It is a 1980's-ish era quest/adventure based around and stylized like chess with a legend/past that breaks up the main story (so basically two parallel stories in different times) and slowly sheds light on what is happening. It started a bit odd and slow but apart from sporadic slow portions was surprisingly enjoyable for a book I got from GoodWill.  

[beaulolais]

i am a fanatic for used books meself!

and as for 80's, well, that would be me too, so yeh, i'll give it a test drive or so  

[The Sycamore Lady]

This book was actually given to me as a gift from a Spanish-speaking friend of mine who told me it resembled a "DaVinci Code-esque" thriller. Since it is from the 1980s, and since she is not a native English speaker, I was willing to forgive her not noticing some of the more...obvious...instances of cultural ignorance.

I mean, it was compelling, but at times I felt it was uncomfortably insensitive about modern - or 1980s, as it were - Algerian culture. I don't have instances on hand to cite here, but reading it I would get a hint at it every now and then.

Not to mention that part where Quaddafi shows up. Note, I read this about a week after he was killed. Just freaked me out.

But despite that it was okay. Not great in my opinion, but a nice beach read maybe.  

[LillianSaire]

About Gaddafi, consider that there is a squeal set after 2000 with Kat's kid. (The Fire). The pair are open that the modern part is not intended to not age but instead to be true to the historical story and genealogy.

Speaking of which, I never quite understood the family tree that connected the two brothers and their mother to Charlemagne.  

[beaulolais]

heh.

it seems to me that if someone cannot link to Charlemagne by way of geneology they will do so by claiming some connection in a "past life".

same goes for Cleopatra, it seems to me.