Black Opera

Apr 13, 2013 Jim Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am a big fan of Mary Gentle's work, despite being alternately dazzled and frustrated by some of the ideas she throws around. We all know that music can influence mood. Gentle takes this a stage further, setting out the main premise of a mid-1830's world where music (specifically the Sung Mass and opera) has the power to change the physical world through either miracle or natural disaster. An extremely dangerous and secretive esoteric society is looking to trigger a major volcanic event across...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Janice rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book began well, with an interesting hook (music influences the natural world) and an unusual character (a librettist who also happens to be an atheist with an interest in the new field of Natural Philosophy, AKA science), but the second half of the book fails to live up to the promise of the first, in my opinion.

*SPOILERS BELOW*
One of my biggest complaints is how Gentle treats the major premise of the book. It is never entirely clear what the rules are for how music influences the natural...more This book began well, with an interesting hook (music influences the natural world) and an unusual character (a librettist who also happens to be an atheist with an interest in the new field of Natural Philosophy, AKA science), but the second half of the book fails to live up to the promise of the first, in my opinion.

*SPOILERS BELOW*
One of my biggest complaints is how Gentle treats the major premise of the book. It is never entirely clear what the rules are for how music influences the natural world. On its own, that would be OK, but our hero, who occasionally insists that these are not miracles but rather natural phenomena that we don't yet understand *never makes any attempt to figure out these rules*. This is especially puzzling since he is attempting to write an opera that will counteract another opera which is supposed to cause volcanic eruptions. How can you counteract something when you don't know how the firs thing acts? One of his own operas has apparently already cause a lightning strike. He ends up rather feebly trying to use a happy ending and forgiveness to counteract the negative emotions of the Black Opera, but this seems like a last minute idea, which is perplexing given his own stated goals. Also, it apparently doesn't work. So. Huh?

My other major gripe is the love story. It is the eternal love triangle, which Gentle seems to want to give a new twist. So the woman, the object of the obsessive love of two men, is actually a kind of zombie! Also, she is the lead singer of the Black Opera! And one of its masterminds! And thus responsible for wiping out Naples! So what does our hero do, when he discovers that his One True Love, whom he hasn't seen in five years, is 1) married to his composer, 2) dead, 3) a liar, having conducted a secret affair with said composer the entire year that he and she had lived together, and oh, yes, 4) A MASS MURDERER, as in responsible for MANY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE BEING SLAUGHTERED? Forgives her, of course. Isn't that moving? What's more, he decides its OK that she will not choose between him and his rival, and the three of them form some kind of dysfunctional triad of evil polygamous love. Isn't that a beautiful story? Um. No.

If I could rewrite this book, I would have it turn out that there is no Black Opera, or rather, that our hero's "counter-opera" IS the Black Opera, and the King who commissioned it is actually the mastermind, tricking his opera company into creating the wave of destruction. Which would make sense given that opera within the book (as opposed to Church chanting) seems to only result in natural catastrophes. Also, the historic Frederick II of the Two Sicilies was originally hailed as an enlightened and liberal monarch, but eventually bombed his own cities when they rebelled against his increasingly unpopular policies. So having him willing to destroy his own city would have a nice historical resonance. And the villains, the mysterious "Prince's Men," would actually have been serving a prince (who became a king). It would make so much more sense!
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Aug 11, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set in 19th-century Italy, 'The Black Opera' is a fantasy/alternate history piece in which a lyricist is tasked with a creating an opera that will produce enough magical power to counteract the sinister spells of a cult out to spread destruction.

Told from the point of view of a person steeped in the opera world, the book is lush with musical terminology, an enjoyable story 'staging' if you will that may appeal to anyone who's passionate about music. Music's inherent ability to affect things is...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is 1835-ish, Naples, with a twist: the Church has miracles down to a science. Or a reliable consequence of the Sung Mass, anyhow; their choristers can cure disease and reshape metal, praise God for His blessings. Only it's not just them. Any opera-goer will tell you that, just occasionally, the *secular* music of the opera-house will *also* invoke a supernatural result -- albeit without the control and direction that the priests can muster.

The Church probably isn't happy about that, but, hey,...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Hannah Cobb rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fantasy

In a world where music has power, an opera can become a dangerous weapon. Conrad Scalese is on his way up as a librettist in the turbulent world of Italian opera. Then lightning strikes the theater that had housed the performance of his first hugely successful opera, and the Inquisition comes down on him like a ton of bricks. When Conrad is rescued by the king of Two Sicilies, he finds himself agreeing to undergo a series of impossible tasks--including writing an opera in six weeks--to save the...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Jacqie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: didnt-finish

I have loved Mary Gentle's Ash series and liked her Sundial in the Grave as well. I had high hopes for this one, but I think I'm going to put it aside in frustration for now. Maybe I'll go back to it when my book club book isn't calling to me.

The problem I had with this book was that it just didn't seem to generate much tension. Our POV character is an atheist librettist who seems to have accidentally caused a miracle with an opera. There are a bunch of Satan worshippers who are planning to put...more I have loved Mary Gentle's Ash series and liked her Sundial in the Grave as well. I had high hopes for this one, but I think I'm going to put it aside in frustration for now. Maybe I'll go back to it when my book club book isn't calling to me.

The problem I had with this book was that it just didn't seem to generate much tension. Our POV character is an atheist librettist who seems to have accidentally caused a miracle with an opera. There are a bunch of Satan worshippers who are planning to put on an opera to raise their god, and our hero is tapped to write a counter-opera to stop them. In this world, music can work miracles, but no one has ever bothered to find out how or why. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Although the Prince's Men (the bad guys) have achieved a similar miracle before, I was never really convinced that anyone knew enough about what they were doing to be able to pull this evil miracle off.

The first 300 pages of the book are set up. That's too long. We get our hero and his composer, the opera company, the king of Naples, the loyal ex-soldier manservant, and the cross-dressing sister. There's quite a lot of dressing against gender expectations in this book actually, but that idea doesn't really go anywhere for me either. There's lots of opera practice and maybe a little bit of sabotage, but nothing dire, at least to me.

The opera itself seems so steeped in convention that I don't see how it could possibly inspire the audience enough to cause a miracle. All standard characters and standard plotlines. No one seems to be thinking about how miracles work, or how to cause them, it's just another opera. It seemed so... commercial. I was very disappointed in this. Probably there's some symmetry between the opera plotline and the book plotline, but I never really cared enough to tease out the similarities. Was there a statement being made here about commercial fiction? That idea is actually more interesting than the plot itself.

SPOILERS*********************************************

Then we find out that our librettist and composer loved the same woman, at the same time, and she is one of the Prince's Men!!! She holds them both at gunpoint and disappears to work her evil magic. What's her motivation? I really don't know right now. She is Returned Dead (another extremely cool concept that just lies there on the page) and as far as I can tell, she just returned to sing the coolest opera ever. Because she is Dead, she can sing anything. Literally anything. Her voice goes from bass to ultra-high soprano. After the exposition scene for this was when i put the book down. There are many physical reasons why women can't sing men's parts and vice versa. And being Returned Dead would not change that. Women's voiceboxes are physically differently constructed from men's. Just like a bass violin is constructed differently from a viola. They do not and cannot sound the same. This, plus the description of ranges, pulled me out of any suspension of disbelief. I know, opera miracles and Returned Dead couldn't do it, but music theory can. I have sung and accompanied for singers, and I've never ever seen anything remotely like what the author is describing. I've never heard of a soprano being able to hit that high of a note, and I've never seen anything written for it.

And now there's 6 hours until Bad Miracle, and I'm still not feeling any tension! I don't care much about the characters or what happens to them, because I'm not convinced there's a good explanation behind any of it. I don't feel like reading another 200 pages to find out what happens right now.

The style reminds me of a Barbara Hambly fantasy in style ( a hat is even described as a fantasia!) but I think Hambly would have made me care more about the characters and plot.

3 stars, because maybe in another 200 pages all could be forgiven, and there are some good ideas here. But the ideas I was interested in were not expounded upon, and the plot seemed strangely mundane for all the fantastical setting.(less)

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May 07, 2012 Sineala rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, fantasy, fiction, historical-fiction, alternate-history

I have heard good things about Mary Gentle's writing for years now, though this is the first book of hers that I've read. And I have to say, if she is consistently this good, I will definitely be reading more. I was very impressed.

It's Naples in the alt-history 1800s, and magic is real. Not just any magic -- music is magic. A Mass can raise the dead, and, on the more secular side of things, an opera can bring the house down. Literally. As the novel opens, our hero, librettist Conrad Scalese, has...more I have heard good things about Mary Gentle's writing for years now, though this is the first book of hers that I've read. And I have to say, if she is consistently this good, I will definitely be reading more. I was very impressed.

It's Naples in the alt-history 1800s, and magic is real. Not just any magic -- music is magic. A Mass can raise the dead, and, on the more secular side of things, an opera can bring the house down. Literally. As the novel opens, our hero, librettist Conrad Scalese, has just fallen into the clutches of the Inquisition, who are understandably a little angry about the heresies that were surely involved when his most recent opera got the place struck by lightning. Oh, and he's a atheist. Conrad is then rescued by the king, who commissions him to write an opera that will counteract the titular Black Opera being planned by a group of Satanists. Their previous successes included triggering a volcanic eruption in Indonesia, and given that this is Naples, I am sure you can guess what they've got planned for Italy. (Hint: Vesuvius.)

Conrad's personal life is also, shall we say, complicated. Ghosts and the reanimated dead are involved. But mostly he's got six weeks to write an opera while a bunch of Satanists are trying to make his life very difficult.

Okay, I acknowledge that in summary this sounds a little strange. But it is really, really good. Fantasy epic is a hard thing to get right -- and until this I don't think I've seen historical fantasy epic done in quite the same way -- and the stakes kept rising and rising, and there was an excellent plot twist I didn't see coming. The final operatic showdown was just right (bonus points for the location!), and basically I just really loved the plot. If it had any flaws, it's that it could have been trimmed maybe a bit and had some of the religious discussions done with less of a heavy hand, and that the characters other than Conrad were often not very distinct, personality-wise -- but this was more of a plot-driven book than a character one, so I'm not complaining too much.

Recommended wholeheartedly.(less)

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Jul 10, 2012 Barbara Deer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked The Black Opera up after a seeing a recent rec in a friend's blog, mainly on the strength of my memory of reading Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed when I was in high school.

As it turned out, I didn't have a clear memory of Gentle's style, and this book is more AU history/fantasy than science fiction. And apparently I am a lot older now, because it just wasn't what I wanted it to be.

Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT concept - an atheist librettist is hired - no, make that conscripted - to...more

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Aug 02, 2012 K. Bird rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mary Gentle has created an alternate 19th Century Naples afrenzy with the power of Bel Canto opera and the debate between natural philosophy and religion.

We have the King of the Two Sicilies, King Ferdinand facing French and Italian intrigues; the inquisition, Darwin's theories, and of course the magical melodies of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini slowly giving way to Wagner and Verdi.

In the midst of this hot mess we meet Conrad Scalese, atheist librettist celebrating his first (he's not popular...more Mary Gentle has created an alternate 19th Century Naples afrenzy with the power of Bel Canto opera and the debate between natural philosophy and religion.

We have the King of the Two Sicilies, King Ferdinand facing French and Italian intrigues; the inquisition, Darwin's theories, and of course the magical melodies of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini slowly giving way to Wagner and Verdi.

In the midst of this hot mess we meet Conrad Scalese, atheist librettist celebrating his first (he's not popular being an atheist during the inquisition) Operatic success. But then lightning strikes his opera house causing it to burn down, he wakes up with a migraine headache that gives him visions of fiery eruptions, and the inquisition arrives at his rooms to drag him to the dungeon.

He ends up with King Ferdinand, instead, who charges him with a vital project. A conspiracy in Naples is attempting to put on a "black opera", using the power of musicodramma to tap into the galvanic power of human brains/emotions to raise a powerful entity. The King desperately needs to stage another opera as an antidote to this opera and he wants Scalese to write and produce it.

Scalese, along with his trusted servant Tullio, his transvestite sister, a cast of amazingly varied operatic singers with fiery personalities, and the King's soldiers will brave sabotage and murder to see that the antidote opera is sung.

This is an alternate history with fantastic elements. The emphasis here is on HISTORY. Gentle takes us deep into the heart of the creation and staging of a bel canto opera.

For opera fans, or European history/philosophy buffs, this is a terrific book. The extended dialogues about the nature of god, creation, music, and the soul is definitely an intellectual delight.

If you're looking for action/adventure, there's a bit of that, too, but its completely overshadowed by the slow unfolding of the opera amongst political intrigue.

As I'm an opera fan, you can guess how much I enjoyed going along with Scalese for his opera ride. I did have a little problem following the flow of action sometimes as the characters have the habit of starting to think or say something, get cut off, and then say something else. I had to go back and reread bits of dialogue sometimes to follow thoughts, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment that much.

This Book's Snack Rating: Buffalo Blue Cheese Kettle Chips for the heavy, distinctive flavor of bel canto and philosophy on the backs of truly crunchy/delicious characters

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Jan 17, 2013 ♡ Half Blood Prince ♡ marked it as girl-hold-my-purse

have this on hold... it's interesting enough, but for some reason i'm finding it hard to keep my attention on it.

it's only been a couple days but i'm finding events are already slipping from memory. so just as a reminder for myself for when (or if) i do pick it up again in the future, i am up to the point where (view spoiler)

the characters are actually enjoyable, so fo...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Althea Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read this for book club... well, that and because I really like Mary Gentle.
Here, in an alternate 19th-century Italy, we encounter Conrad Scalese - a professional opera librettist. Unfortunately, right now, he's being unexpectedly pursued by the Inquisition. You see, last night the hall where his latest opera was being performed was struck by lightning, burned to the ground - and the Inquisition blames his music. Because, as it's well known, religious music can often cause miracles to occur - an...more Read this for book club... well, that and because I really like Mary Gentle.
Here, in an alternate 19th-century Italy, we encounter Conrad Scalese - a professional opera librettist. Unfortunately, right now, he's being unexpectedly pursued by the Inquisition. You see, last night the hall where his latest opera was being performed was struck by lightning, burned to the ground - and the Inquisition blames his music. Because, as it's well known, religious music can often cause miracles to occur - and, sometimes, secular music can do the same, although this is an occurrence the Inquisition would like to avoid at all costs.
As an atheist, and firm believer in the natural sciences, Conrad has no truck with miracles. However, he admits that unexplained phenomena - such as the Returned Dead, when deceased people walk, vampire-like, and other 'miraculous' events do occur. Regardless, like most people, he'd rather not be in the hands of the Inquisition.
So when no less than the King himself offers Conrad an unusual assignment which would let him out of his arrest - of course he takes the commission. He is to write an opera - but not just any opera. A mysterious group of Satanists are embroiled in a plot to write a Black Opera which will cause volcanoes to erupt, wreak ecological devastation, and moreover, summon Lucifer and put evil in charge of the world. Conrad's job is to write an opera that will stop this from happening - a "counter-opera."
A countdown-style thriller proceeds to unfold...
The book is just full of wonderful details. Structurally, the plot of the book mirrors the plot of an opera itself, which is fun. There are tons of throwaway lines, which are just amazing (like the one about who Darwin married). The timeline plays fast and loose with history - although the background is vivid and thoroughly researched. I didn't care. It may bug some people.
It's not a perfect book. I often feel that Gentle's characterization is a bit opaque - I'd like to see more of her characters' interior lives. The whole race-against-time plot device is a little old, and the Grand Climax is a bit over-the-top.
However, the ending of the book made me up my rating from 4 stars to 5. I nearly cheered. I feel like I've read literally hundreds of stories just waiting to see this obvious solution to a common dilemma proposed. Gentle finally did it.
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Jun 23, 2012 Fence added it · review of another edition

Shelves: sff, historical

Conrad Scalese’s latest opera was a great success. Unfortunately the theatre in which it was performed has just been stuck by lightening. And since the composer and many of the performers have fled Naples the church decides to blame him. As the librettist his words caused God’s wrath to strike down the building.

But, as the Inquisition come calling, King Ferdinand II has other plans for him. The King of the two Sicilies has heard reports that a secret society are planning to use the miracle of th...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Burgoo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Initially, I was intrigued by the concept. An alternate history with magical operas? Awesome. Unfortunately, some structural problems kept me from enjoying this book as much as I would have liked.
The book opens slowly, with lots of tell don’t show. I did not find the religion vs science debate(s) compelling. And as the book continues, the discussion becomes more polemicized & repetitious. I was reminded of Heinlein, and his characters being obvious mouthpieces for the author, giving long spe...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Kandice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012, fantasy

This is a totally unique book about the power of opera to destroy or save the world. As one group, The Prince's Men, write and rehearse a black opera to raise the devil, their opponents frantically write an opera that will do the opposite – cause love and goodness to overcome all destruction. Written in an alternate history, where the dead live again and ghosts give unsolicited advice, Gentle has provided a richly detailed world of opera, love, and sacrifice. While the concept of this book deser...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Miw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, historical, fantasy

4/5 Enjoyable, engrossing novel. Nicely written, though uneven pacing and missed opportunities pull it downl. It isn’t the equal of her 1999 novel “Ash: A Secret History” but it is well worth reading.

Atheist opera librettist Conrad has to write and stage an opera in six weeks! It better be good enough to save the world or Italy is toast! As usual, Mary Gentle delivers meticulous, living historical detail, lovely prose, a strongly humanist outlook and loads of great transvestites.

(view spoiler)...more 4/5 Enjoyable, engrossing novel. Nicely written, though uneven pacing and missed opportunities pull it downl. It isn’t the equal of her 1999 novel “Ash: A Secret History” but it is well worth reading.

Atheist opera librettist Conrad has to write and stage an opera in six weeks! It better be good enough to save the world or Italy is toast! As usual, Mary Gentle delivers meticulous, living historical detail, lovely prose, a strongly humanist outlook and loads of great transvestites.

(view spoiler)[
The first 20% of the book is exposition. It is a few characters sitting in a nice room speculating about what this nefarious group of baddies have probably done 20 years ago on the other side of the world and about what they ought to do about them now. It isn’t terrible exposition, and it isn’t a chore to get through, but it is an awful lot of telling rather than showing. The second half of the novel is spectacular, rather mental, non-stop action.

I understand that Gentle knows what she is doing and she is poking fun at opera structure and conventions; wading right into knee-deep exposition, letting the pleasure of reading lovely prose and fun conversations make up for contrived or far-fetched elements in the plot… and it succeeds up to a point. I can’t help thinking that these stylistic choices Gentle made resulted in missing out on a better book. A novel’s great strength is that it doesn’t need pots of cash to have varied locations, any special effects you want and so on. In the light of that, having the fifth of the book where the King of Sicily explaining gorgeous superspy Adriano’s shenanigans in infiltrating the nefarious King’s Men and seeing them bring about the eruption of Tamborra, and at least a further 10% of Conrad thinking about how he feels about his memories of Venice, it all seems to be a waste when we could have gone with Adriano to Tamborra and watched Conrad’s love affair in Venice.

What was the deal with Adriano, anyway? All that buildup and he is killed off screen before he even turns up. I kept expecting him to pop up as a ghost or something, or to have faked his death and be hiding under a pile of petticoats somewhere. My bet is that the tenor or contralto who was hired to play him skipped town and they couldn’t get a replacement in…

As it is, though, the focus is undilutedly on the process of putting together the opera which is fascinating, from casting to plotting to rehearsing to opening night. The romantic plot is full of twists and turns, and I was convinced before the end that how the romantic plot was concluded was the best way it could have concluded- I'd have raised a glass to that too.

About the ending... were those kids back at the miracle production already? How else did she manage to swing Governor of Naples? A mass murdering former zealot with access to her own personal magic-opera writing dream team isn’t so much as given a slap on the wrist, as command over vast areas of land! (hide spoiler)]
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Feb 09, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, fiction, fantasy

I'm classifying The Black Opera as fantasy, but it's not as fantasy-driven as one might expect. Essentially, a king hires an atheist librettist whose (supposedly) lightening-inducing opera skills might combat the sinister Black Opera that will summon The Prince (Satan) to rule the world. As an atheist, Conrad offers a skeptical-but-heartfelt perspective on this entire endeavor, fully committing to the opera regardless of his questions of faith.

I nearly suffered reader failure in the beginning of...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Katie Montgomery marked it as i-might-read-you

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 03, 2013 Ubiquitousbastard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, europe

First off, the end was pretty much crap. I almost would lower it a star, but this wasn't really a two star book, so it gets off light. Like the whole last 150 pages were just not very good. At all. Actually, the book is REALLY slow like other people have said. Uneventful. Full of huge swathes of rambling dialogue.
To be fair, I liked some of the dialogue until it started to go into the fifteen page territory. I liked a few of the characters too. For being as slow as it is, it's still well-writte...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Plot twists and turns and local color galore as a young librettist for bel canto opera in early 19th Century Rome struggles with an arrogant amateur compower to write the opera that will save southern Italy from volcanic eruptions planned by The Prince's Men who need massive human sacrifices to awaken God (or god?). The dead return (quite naturally and normally), the Enlightenment struggles against the Catholic Inquisition, and Verdian melodrama contends with Rossinian happy endings - a wedding...more

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Mar 09, 2012 David Marshall rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a completely entrancing big idea fantasy set in an alternate version of our history. The Black Opera will not be for everyone because its theme concerns a plot by a Satanist cult to provoke a volcano into life by singing to it and only an atheist librettist can stop them. People uneasy with debates about the relationship between faith and the lack of it should not attempt this book. Everyone else should find it thought-provoking and, at times, genuinely amusing.

http://opionator.wordpress ...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Brenda Clough rated it 3 of 5 stars

This fastmoving novel has a mouthwatering premise -- combat opera! -- and lots of expertly-handled twists and turns. I think that it fails at the end, however. It feels like she wrote it on a wing and a prayer, hoping to light upon the exact right conclusion to the plot, and failed to stick the landing. Also, unless you are totally a fan of opera minutiae, you're going to bog down in the middle, when the ardors of composition and staging come to the fore. Still a fascinating work, with its balan...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Catherine Siemann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group-books

I was really in the mood to read something that was alternate history, 19th century, and *not* steampunk, and this totally fit the bill. Set in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during Napoleon's first exile, it's the story of two competing operas, one meant to raise the devil and bring down a purification of the earth (a black opera, as opposed to a black mass), and the other, libretto by an atheist, which is meant to counteract it.

I like Mary Gentle's books enough that I keep reading them, despi...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Christina rated it 2 of 5 stars

About 400 pages into this 500 page tome, I finally figured out who this book was written for: undergraduate philosophy students who are convinced, CONVINCED that their skills at debating metaphysical matters could save the world.
Okay, it was also written for opera fans, but we'll get to that in a minute.
Back to the philosophy students, didn't we all know one of those guys in school? I was a philosophy minor so I know whereof I speak: bucketloads of guys who could not stop debating, no matter the...more About 400 pages into this 500 page tome, I finally figured out who this book was written for: undergraduate philosophy students who are convinced, CONVINCED that their skills at debating metaphysical matters could save the world.
Okay, it was also written for opera fans, but we'll get to that in a minute.
Back to the philosophy students, didn't we all know one of those guys in school? I was a philosophy minor so I know whereof I speak: bucketloads of guys who could not stop debating, no matter the situation and sometimes no matter how trivial the topic (to be fair to philosophy majors, after school I met an MPH student who insisted on trying to debate three women on whether men putting the toilet seat down after use was anti-feminist. Even though the three of us were pretty clear that this was a dumb thing to debate, he persisted). They were, however, also the ones who'd jump on anything related to their favorite topic and drive it into the ground. They were smart, good people, don't get me wrong, but they were also possessed of extraordinary tunnel vision.
Such a guy is Conrad, the protagonist (I can't say hero about this guy. I just can't. I know he does actually do something kind of heroic towards the end and I actually found it moving when other people called him a hero, but for everything except approximately ten pages, I kind of wanted to punch him) of "The Black Opera." He is an atheist in a very religious society, and very conscious of how fish-out-of-water this makes him; however, other than some over-extended debate at the beginning, the whole "everyone else is religious but me" situation gets mostly dropped, leaving Conrad reacting with intellectual, oppressed outrage to differences of opinion that don't seem terribly severe. In other words, for much of the novel, Conrad seems like kind of a pill.
Underdevelopment was a major issue in this novel: certain key aspects of this world, such as religion, the Returned Dead (ESPECIALLY the Returned Dead), the Prince's Men (oh, especially them, too. ESPECIALLY the villains), Conrad's writing (we got, what, maybe two lines of it? Ever?) and the main female character Leonora were tragically underdeveloped.
Why this was written for opera fans: even aside from the novel revolving around the act of writing and producing an opera (one with extremely high stakes), there was something operatic about the whole thing. It was easy to picture the novel as an opera itself, something like Ariadne auf Naxos with a play-within-a-play deal. Conrad is even a tenor. The female lead is named Leonora, which has got to be the most popular opera heroine name ever. There were two love triangles in the opera they were writing: there were kind of two love triangles in the story. I get it! I do! But "operatic," unfortunately, does not necessarily equal "good." In this case it didn't. It really, really didn't.
Before I venture into the spoiler html, I have to pick on a couple of smaller things: first of all, pacing. Pacing was a problem. Even considering the "climactic scene" start and end points as conservatively as I can, the scene was 80 pages long. CONSERVATIVELY. And let me tell you, I felt every one of those pages. It was supposed to be intense, but it was really just monotonous.
Also, and this is terribly nitpicky of me, it was hard not to throw the book across the subway car when I read a 19th-century count telling someone "you need to lay down." Excuse me? The snobby, let-me-point-out-my-good-breeding-and-education aristocrat made a grammatical error that I suspect wasn't even too common back then?
Venturing on to the various revelations that were supposed to be shocking, or something: (view spoiler)[ smallest first. Sandrine is male-to-female transgender. Okay, fine. But wait - not fine. She's a mezzo-soprano. How...how is that supposed to work? You already have a castrato singer, and there are high counter-tenors, but a male tenor/counter-tenor is different, no, really, really different, from a female mezzo. We even find out she used to be a BARITONE. How...what...WHY...this DOESN'T WORK.
On to the next, speaking of ridiculous vocal ranges: allow me to introduce Leonora. She is presented to us as the woman Conrad loves. Loves passionately, recklessly, enough to endanger his working relationship with her husband the composer with the fate of the entire world resting on them being able to work together. There's a history between Conrad and Leonora. Okay, but we never get a really good look at that history, except that it turns out she was seeing both of them at the same time (ah, l'amour). Why is he so in love with her, exactly? Then it turns out SHE IS THE VILLAIN WHO IS TRYING TO CAUSE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING AND HE'S STILL IN LOVE WITH HER ANYWAY. He's still in love with her, as is her husband, although her husband (who was sort of a traitor I guess kind of for a while) switches sides to the "good guys" when he finds out she still cares for Conrad (and that was a charming "bros before hos" moment that also made me want to throw the book). Why does Leonora want to deal out all this death and disruption? ...*crickets, crickets*...it's never entirely clear. I have never rooted as hard for a character to die as I have for Leonora to kick it, and she did go ahead and die a couple of times (the first time before we even met her), but wouldn't you know she just kept coming back to life? Twist the knife, Mary Gentle, just keep twisting it. Oh, and then she doesn't get executed for being a mass murderer (King Ferdinand, you let me down), everyone's still in love with her, she becomes governor of a city of Returned Dead (which could be a cool story if we knew what their deal was, but no, we don't)and she still loves both men and the love triangle NEVER GETS RESOLVED. She says "oh, let me take care of the Returned Dead to make up for having caused their deaths" which we NEVER KNOW WHY SHE DID THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Leonora was a central character about as well-defined as an extra in a horror movie and she was presented to the reader as a complex, interesting anti-heroine. That's what pissed me off. Honestly, if she'd died and stayed dead, I would probably have given the book three stars instead of two. (hide spoiler)]
End of rant. I think the main reason this book raised such rage in me is that it could have been good. I love music, and I love fantasy, and I wish someone would write a GOOD book where music and magic are combined. This could have been it, but oh, it really wasn't.(less)

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May 09, 2012 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012_release_read, genre-fantasy, read_2012, review_fbc, t2_recommended_2012

FBC RV:

INTRODUCTION: Mary Gentle has written a couple of the most memorable sffnal novels I've read, namely the two alt-history novels A Sundial in the Grave: 1610 and Ilario, both deserving a place on my all time "more favorites list". She also has written the somewhat (in)famous Orthe duology of which the final volume Ancient Light courageously follows the logic of the story to its more natural conclusion, rather than the more standard "it'll be alright in the end" that even last year's Embass...more FBC RV:

INTRODUCTION: Mary Gentle has written a couple of the most memorable sffnal novels I've read, namely the two alt-history novels A Sundial in the Grave: 1610 and Ilario, both deserving a place on my all time "more favorites list". She also has written the somewhat (in)famous Orthe duology of which the final volume Ancient Light courageously follows the logic of the story to its more natural conclusion, rather than the more standard "it'll be alright in the end" that even last year's Embassytown - which follows the same kind of story - presented. So any new novel by her is a priority for me and I've been impatiently waiting for The Black Opera since it was announced a few years ago.

Here is the blurb which is generally accurate though it does not really convey the richness of the book:

"Naples, the 19th Century. In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, holy music has power.

Under the auspices of the Church, the Sung Mass can bring about actual miracles like healing the sick or raising the dead. But some believe that the musicodramma of grand opera can also work magic by channeling powerful emotions into something sublime. Now the Prince's Men, a secret society, hope to stage their own black opera to empower the Devil himself - and change Creation for the better!

Conrad Scalese is a struggling librettist whose latest opera has landed him in trouble with the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Rescued by King Ferdinand II, Conrad finds himself recruited to write and stage a counter opera that will, hopefully, cancel out the apocalyptic threat of the black opera, provided the Prince's Men, and their spies and saboteurs, don't get to him first. And he only has six weeks to do it."

ANALYSIS: While Ilario and 1610 were clearly sfnal, The Black Opera is fantasy-nal as it has souls, returned dead, ghosts and music as magic. It is also lighter and the least "serious" of the three with action that resembles an operatic plot in many instances. I am not that familiar with opera terminology and customs but I enjoyed the parts set into its world - bare-bones plot - bad guys want to use a special opera to bring down society for the greater good of course, good guys have to write/compose/perform a "counteropera" to stop the bad guys, though of course things are subtler in many ways.

The main characters of the book are part of the opera world in a role or another with a few kings, emperors, cardinals and soldiers added in since we are in sff hence we deal in saving the world and they are quite vivid and stand out with different personalities.

The action takes place by and large in the 1820's South Italy - home of the opera after all - though there is some backstory and some detail about the rest of the world. As mentioned above the operatic touch means that the novel balances between over-the-top fun and more serious stuff, but the author's skill is such that it is always a pleasure to read as the dialogue is crisp and funny - with occasional touches of subtlety and depth - and you slowly get to care about the characters and their fate. In traditional operatic mode there are powerful emotional scenes - while Mary Gentle's storyline twists and turns quite a lot.

If there is a weakness beyond the general lightness, "this is a story and it cannot be truly real" and of course assuming that the balancing act mentioned above works for you - I would say it is the choice of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as the focal point of the movers and shakers of the action which of course makes sense from an opera point of view but not really from a sffnal point of view so to speak.

Overall The Black Opera is a highly recommended novel for 2012 but its ultimate lightness will keep it from my top of the year.(less)

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Oct 06, 2012 Kali rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Nicely written, with a lot of believable detail drawn from historical research. Gentle clearly loves opera, and writes about it with passion. But in the end, neither the plotting nor the characters were first-rate. The heroine simply wasn't compelling, and I couldn't figure out how one of the protagonists, much less both of them, could be so in love with her. What was terrific, though, was the treatment of malleable gender, and the castrati and cross-dressing chars were the best in the book.

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Jan 11, 2013 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

A highly enjoyable read.

The only caveat is that it is alternative history/fantasy. Those novels can require a high level of suspending belief as there will be something in what the author has chosen for her story that will cause you to shake you head is disbelief. This novel is no different and there were a few moments in the book that threaten the flow of the story, but if you can survive them it is a lot of fun.

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Jan 17, 2013 Mike Zinn rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really like Mary Gentle. I first became aware of her through the Books of Ash. I thought she got a bit lost with the Ilario books, but with Black Opera she is waaaaay back on track. Who else would make opera the centerpiece of a story that included the undead and battling opera troupes in the midst of the volcanoes of Italy. My oh my.

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Jul 10, 2012 Jose Perez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: To anyone who loves a good read

I picked this book up three weeks ago at my library as a "fast read" I have now read it three times. Admittedly If you don't like operas you might find a hard read but this book does seem to have a little of everything from murder to the undead. I am looking forward to reading more of Ms Gentle's works.

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Apr 01, 2013 John D. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Superbly written book, totally mind-blowing concepts, great characters, and a plot torn out of the libretto of the most absurd opera you ever heard. A triumph. A real bravura display of writing from Mary G. A story about opera told in a hugely operatic way, and it all works fantastically well.

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Mar 16, 2013 Evan Jensen rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was good, but could seriously have used another round of reviewer edits. Just awash in typos and weird syntax. I'm normally a fan of Gentle, so it must fall squarely on the publisher here. Doesn't detract from the fun story, but I did have trouble getting into any of the characters.

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