The Eight

Nov 03, 2012 Diana rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was told by several people whose books tastes I generally respect that I would love this book - sadly, that wasn't the case. I found it tiresome, hard to follow, and the writing was almost impossible to slog through in several places. The characters were never fully developed, I never got invested in any of the characters, and I found the book too plot-driven to an irritating degree - with too many historical elements "dropped in" (almost like name dropping) in order to tie the events to histo...more

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Jan 23, 2008 Robert Beveridge rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

Katherine Neville, The Eight (Ballantine, 1988)

This novel has achieved almost cult status in some circles, and many people consider it one of the best adventure novels ever written. It's a useful way to separate folks you know into two categories: those who are more interested in plot, and those who are more interested in writing.

The plot is pretty darn good, when it comes right down to it. The novel takes place in two parallel times, the first being 1972 and the second the years during and afte...more Katherine Neville, The Eight (Ballantine, 1988)

This novel has achieved almost cult status in some circles, and many people consider it one of the best adventure novels ever written. It's a useful way to separate folks you know into two categories: those who are more interested in plot, and those who are more interested in writing.

The plot is pretty darn good, when it comes right down to it. The novel takes place in two parallel times, the first being 1972 and the second the years during and after the French Revolution. Both plot lines center around the search for a mystical chess set and attempts to discover the human counterparts to various pieces (the hero and villain in each time line are the Black and White Queens, respectively; very nice little twist, that). The board, once complete, will supposedly impart unlimited power to he who possesses it, and thus leaders from Marat and Catherine the Great to Muammar Khaddafi run throughout the book, looking to get their hands on it. The pace is quick, the action almost nonstop (the present-day time line is quicker-paced and much more compelling, but the past ain't all that bad).

The writing, on the other hand, is almost painful in places. Neville descends in to the realm of cliché at least once per chapter, at times more than once per page. Clumsy attempts at foreshadowing (you know the type: "but I never thought, when I woke up in the morning, that this day would change my life forever!") are more commonplace here than in a whole shelf of novels by Bulwer-Lytton. It's possible that Ms. Neville took the nineteenth-century definition of "romance novel" a tad too seriously for being a twentieth-century writer. And this is certainly an unique experience in that regard; a classic nineteenth-century romance novel written, all too often, like a Harlequin circa 1985.

All in all, it is a fun little book requiring great suspension of disbelief. I'd have given it another star if part of my suspension of disbelief didn't have to be in the author's writing ability. (less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book for the first time in 1992 when I was fourteen. I just finished rereading it. I dug up my copy when I moved to NYC 2 years ago and had been curious to pick it up again since then - partly because I had vague recollections of a couple of hot sex scenes, but largely because over a decade after I originally read it, there was a complete cultural explosion centering around another book featuring ancient secrets playing out amid high-paced modern day intrigue, namely The Da Vinci Cod...more I read this book for the first time in 1992 when I was fourteen. I just finished rereading it. I dug up my copy when I moved to NYC 2 years ago and had been curious to pick it up again since then - partly because I had vague recollections of a couple of hot sex scenes, but largely because over a decade after I originally read it, there was a complete cultural explosion centering around another book featuring ancient secrets playing out amid high-paced modern day intrigue, namely The Da Vinci Code. Since I myself basically hated The Da Vinci Code and resented all the attention it got, I found myself wondering if The Eight hadn't deserved some of that attention.

Well, it did. The books are actually quite similar in a number of important ways. Not only are they both about modern-day murder mysteries leading to quests for ancient relics of great power, but they both involve a good deal of decoding of multi-layered messages and creating of mythic narratives connecting different eras by playing a little fast and loose with history. This review is really a side-by-side comparison of the two books.

The Eight is a high-paced mystery/adventure, but it is not quite as effective a page-turner as The Da Vinci Code since it lacks the latter's dastardly manner of ending every chapter on a cliff-hanger and then switching to a different story line, leaving you (me) with no choice but to read on and be introduced to a new cliff-hanger before getting satisfaction in the old one. I consider this a virtue of The Eight by comparison, since at the end of The Da Vinci Code I basically just felt like my curiosity had been taken advantage of. However, it's also a function of the fact that The Eight regularly goes into a bit too much detail. This is the one meritocratic reason I can think of why The Eight never got the attention of its successor.

Other than that, every weakness of The Eight - hackneyed exposition, a romantic subplot not really justified by the main story, a tendency to overhype its revelations, an inevitably unsatisfying denouement after all the intricate build-up, and a lingering impression that the author is engaging in a bit of wish-fulfillment - is an equal if not deeper weakness in The Da Vinci Code. Meanwhile, The Eight has a good deal to recommend it:

First of all, it's quite intellectually ambitious, much more so than TDVC. In fact it's a veritable nerdfest. The action takes place both in the late 18th century and the 1970s, in locations ranging from the USA to France, England, Algeria, and Russia. The narrative manages to tie together not only a number of players in the French Revolution - Talleyrand, Robespierre, Marat, and a young Napoleon - but a vast number of other 18th century notables, political and intellectual: Catherine the Great, Benjamin Franklin, the mathematicians Euler and Fourier, the poets Wordsworth and Blake, the philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau, and the chess player Andre Philidor, among others. The history of which the narrative makes referential use has a much wider scope still. But it doesn't stop with history: math, science, and music are involved as well. Meanwhile somehow everything gets connected to the game of chess, metaphorically or literally. (Actually, from a literary point of view, much of this, especially the math and the science, is actually kind of troublesome - c.f. "hackneyed exposition", above - but you gotta give author Katherine Neville credit for what she's trying to create.)

Secondly, The Eight's 2 female leads (one in the 18th century and one in the 70s) both completely drive the plot, exercizing substantial smarts, resourcefulness and determination in addition to considerable hotness. This is 2008 and this shouldn't really be anything to get excited about. However, since in The Da Vinci Code, which purports to be a sort of feminist book since it's supposedly all about uncovering the Church's repression of the divine feminine, there is only one important female character (Sophie Neveau) and she, although ostensibly a cryptographer, doesn't do or figure out almost anything important in the course of the plot, I found myself reading The Eight with a feeling that it was sort of an antidote to TDVC's fake feminism.

Overall, I don't think I can really claim The Eight is a "good book". I certainly didn't find it satisfying. (And see the list of its sins shared with TDVC in paragraph 4 above.) But now that The Da Vinci Code has legitimated the genre of hamhanded ancient-secret codebreaker thrillers, I find myself wanting to fight for The Eight's place at this table.(less)

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Jul 16, 2008 Jamal rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Three weeks ago I held a yard sale. To pass the time I picked up this book I'd never seen from a box of books none of which I'd ever read and none of which I remember buying.

Of the many surreal happenings of that day one of the most strange was when, immediately after reading the first page, a well-groomed homeless man or a poorly groomed homed man rode past on a bike. He looked over and upon seeing The Eight lurched off his bike stumbled to my gate and, grasping it with all the force and desper...more Three weeks ago I held a yard sale. To pass the time I picked up this book I'd never seen from a box of books none of which I'd ever read and none of which I remember buying.

Of the many surreal happenings of that day one of the most strange was when, immediately after reading the first page, a well-groomed homeless man or a poorly groomed homed man rode past on a bike. He looked over and upon seeing The Eight lurched off his bike stumbled to my gate and, grasping it with all the force and desperation of a kindergartener being left by mommy, bellowed, "That book! Man! That book, man, is the biggest fucking mind trip it's the best book you'll ever read. That woman [the author] used to be an executive at Bank of America until those Southern fuckers came in and they fired EVERY woman in the company. God damn mother fuckers! But man, she's beautiful too man, like a triple threat. And let tell you something..." and here he became quiet and conspiratorial, "....it'll never NEVER be made into a movie. I won't tell you why. 2/3 into the book BAM! [he yelled] it's a fucking bomb on your brain! She just fucking drops that bomb on your brain and it'll NEVER be a fucking movie!"

How could I do anything but read this book after such an endorsement?

It's pretty typical of the genre. A collection of mostly tropes -- the mysterious and reclusive genius somehow at the heart of the mystery; the one no-one including his co-commiserators can trust has a hidden agenda that has to do directly with the heroine? No way! After he takes a personal interest in her, we find out he's tall, handsome, devilishly charismatic, seductive and, wait, can't be completely trusted? Didn't see that one coming! -- including the drunken socialite, the clueless petty bourgeoisie, the quirky but lovable math/ computer whiz, the evil and menacing foreign intelligence agent, the surprisingly Western and enlightened foreign man incredibly open, and the revelation that the Other is actually more welcoming than We...to name a few. Anyway, this collection are interwoven into a story that touches on Charlemagne, OPEC, Chess, the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon among other things and which is mostly entertaining if much too long.

The double narrative serves an obvious purpose but makes the book cumbersome and unnecessarily obtuse. When one story line enthralls, Neville switches to the other forcing the reader to reinvest; a tiring exercise. It's an unfortunate thing really, because both narratives on their own are interesting and could have been fun, if forgettable adventure books on their own. Should have been. Very much should have been.

2/3 of the way through, the heroines of both narratives go to Algeria and meet tall, dark, handsome and capable men who save them from vile agents of the bad guys. There's also an Erich Von Daniken moment which is probably what the lurcher was talking about. It was a mind bomb about as much as the turn in the new Indiana Jones movie.

I am ambivalent about this book. I'd be more enthusiastic if it had been about one story or even one more so than the other.(less)

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Oct 05, 2007 Sarah Sammis rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: released

I've had The Eight on the TBR shelf next to my bed for two or three years. I got it right around the time I had just finished reading The Da Vinci Code and the blurb on the back compared it to Brown's book and the Bookcrosser who gave me the book had liked the intricacies of the plot.

This 600 page mystery involves a formula for an elixir of life, a rare chess set and some Cold War era espionage. The story jumps between the close of the 18th century and "modern day" 1972. To make the chess theme...more

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Sep 12, 2008 LJ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense, new_york_city, france, middle-east, contemporary_post_1945, georgian_1714-1811_1820-37

The Eight - Ex
Kathleen Neville

The Montglane Service, an ornate, jeweled chess set given to Charlemagne by the Moors, is said to hold a code which when deciphered will bring great power. Nations and individuals have schemed to possess all the pieces. As the set is dispersed during the French Revolution, a young novice risks her life to safeguard it. Alternating with her story are the present-day efforts of a U.S. computer expert and a Russian chess master to assemble the set and solve its mystery...more

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Jun 26, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fluff

The two more recent books that most closely resemble The Eight are The Da Vinci Code and Kate Mosse's The Labyrinth, but I found The Eight a more enjoyable read than either of them. The novel is utterly audacious in its (ab)use of historical characters, completely, joyfully implausible in its plotting, and I'm not certain whether the language of Romantic page-turners the author makes frequent use of ("dear reader, little did I know that in two hours' time I would be running for my life trying to...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Ray rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sometimes you read a book and find yourself wishing it'll never end. If you want that, this is a book for you. I thought it'd never end, and I don't mean that in a good way. The book has been compared to the DaVinci Code, but I think that's an unfortunate comparison. The story alternates between the 1970's and the late 1700's, both periods linked by the individuals quest for lost ancient knowledge. To me, the action and dangers are contrived, as is the object of the search. If you can get caught...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Gail rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: losers

I was given this novel to read, as a similar level of enjoyment as The DaVinci Code.
I'm here to say, not even close.
It has all the hallmarks that lead to an enjoyable read for me - historical figures, layered storylines, small details that add to great importance as the story develops, and zzzzzz.....

Let me state that I enjoy playing chess. However, reading about it is something of a completely different nature. Figures, playing methodologies, inside references, et al just made my eyes glaze ove...more

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Nov 25, 2008 Barry rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Barry by: Laura

The story was not bad, although quite contrived and some interesting twists. The style was laborious - I wish someone could just walk into a room instead of entering the room lit by the amber glow of an oversized fireplace, in front of it were arrayed couches in a floral fabric and overstuffed pillows strewn on an leather ottoman. I mean sometimes you just walk into a room. The excessive floral and overstuffed language got in the way of the plot. And I was waiting for the Velis = Lives anagram t...more

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Apr 17, 2007 ruzmarì rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romansdegare

The Eight accomplishes what Da Vinci Code aims for - a sweeping, quasi-religious collaboration between historical, supernatural and scientific forces. The novel traces the history of chess, and uses the game as an allegory of sorts for the modern (and anient, and postmodern) world. Not terribly believable, as plotlines go, it is nonetheless a gripping page-turner of a book, a wild ride through history and mystery, from the desert of Algeria to the cobblestone courtyards of Paris.

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Dec 23, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, novels, romance, science-fiction, suspense, ultimate-reading-list

Blurbs on the cover compare this to The DaVinci Code, although it was written well-before, in 1988. I can see the resemblance. Like The DaVinci Code there are various kinds of puzzles involved--crosswords, cryptograms and mathematical puzzles. Like The DaVinci Code there is a mystery of great historical import and a sinister conspiracy. The book shuttled between Revolutionary France and contemporary times to tell the story of a chess set owned by Charlemagne whose owner could change the world.

Ad...more

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Jul 26, 2009 Anastazija rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this book worth reading it. And it is as worth it as the Da Vinci Code does. Or even more. The only questionable side of the book is that too many well known things are put together into this pot - almost all famous historical persons, events etc. When you meet more than two of them on one page you start to suspect that you are reading something unreal. And it this contradicts with one of the main feature, from my point of view, of the so called "intellectual detective".People like intel...more

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May 23, 2008 Adam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you liked The Da Vinci Code type of international/historical mystery then this book is for you. Although it is far from The Da Vinci Code, it's interesting enough as it jumps between 1973 and the 1790's while centering on the mystery and quest for an ancient chess service that once belonged to Charlemagne. If you like chess, then you'll probably love this book.

But Neville's writing style turned me off from really getting into the story. While I appreciated the depth and detail of the history...more

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Jan 07, 2008 Keith rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: afficionados of European history

"The Eight" reads like a student attempting to wow her professor by using as many similies as she can (irony intended). I think Neville chose the name "The Eight," because there are roughly eight sentences per chapter that don't contain a forced, awkward similie.

At least that was true for the first 90% of the novel, which was almost Dickensien in its detail. For the last 10%, it is writen more like a short story, with months of time being skiped and important, climactic scenes being rushed into...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Deda Makinde added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favourites

This book is a lovely read. It actually uses flashbacks very effectively, and the author is a genius - she did her research very very well to be able to involve almost every major thing that has happened in the world in the story. The fibonacci number series, The Egyptian Pyramids, The French Revolution, Napoleon's rise and fall, Bach and other famous composers and many more. Name it, its in there, and its all linked to the present. Now. I could not put it down, and after all this time I still r...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Mia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, audiobooks

The story was great! Made me wish I had the mind for chess, and a friend with a Rolls, and a mystery to run around the world solving. I don't know if the hard copy has maps in it, but I had to read with the Algeria map open. In fact there were quite a few things history wise I had to look up, which is always fun. There were a few things left unexplained, which I still don't understand... Maybe in the follow up? I just wasn't a complete fan of the writing, to much of, "...we are making this decis...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Bogdan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

приключенческий роман, написанный явно по следам «кода да винчи» дэна брауна, однако намного более талантливо и с большей выдумкой. две параллельные истории в 18 и 20 веках, которые постепенно сходятся в одной точке, из которой и исходят: поиски таинственных шахмат монглана, – легенды, связанной с одной стороны с карлом первым и с другой стороны – с маонским движением: приятное разнообразие после тамплиерской истерии большинства интеллектуальных романов 90-х годов.
главные герои: с одной стороны...more приключенческий роман, написанный явно по следам «кода да винчи» дэна брауна, однако намного более талантливо и с большей выдумкой. две параллельные истории в 18 и 20 веках, которые постепенно сходятся в одной точке, из которой и исходят: поиски таинственных шахмат монглана, – легенды, связанной с одной стороны с карлом первым и с другой стороны – с маонским движением: приятное разнообразие после тамплиерской истерии большинства интеллектуальных романов 90-х годов.
главные герои: с одной стороны – мирей, воспитанница аббатства монглан, которая становится главной охотницей за шахматами в европе и африке (алжир, горы тассилин), и кэтрин вэлис, естественно, девица, естественно, молодая (23 года), компьютерщица, которая помимо своей воли оказывается втянутой в огромную шахматную игру, разыгрываемую как самими шахматами, так и людьми, ассоциированными с шахматными фигурами (без тени «фламандской доски» переса-реверте не обошлось).
роли черных и белых шахмат равномерно распределены между кэтрин и людьми, с которыми она знакома. черные, как говорится, начинают и выигрывают. места действия романа в 18 веке охватывают францию, англию, корсику, алжир, россию, в 20-м веке все скромнее, америка и алжир (хотя не обходится без трансатлантического плавания, однако оно сдобрено большой долей эротических настроений вперемешку в шахматной игрой). персонажи, появляющиеся в романе, заставляют вспомнить греческий роман с бесконечными потерянными родственниками и постоянными узнаваниями, что, однако, не отображается на лихо закрученном сюжете. в одну компанию охотников соединяются екатерина вторая, талейран, жак луи давид, уильям блейк, павел первый, александр первый, шарлотта корде, марат, робеспьер, бах и прочая, прочая, прочая.
естественно, все начинается со знаков, продолжается философским камнем, а заканчивается эликсиром молодости. если бы бога не было, его следовало бы выдумать.
немного насмешливый тон моего комментария ничуть не умаляет качества произведения. это не перес-реверте, который о несуществующей картине пишет так, словно ее видишь перед собой и не забывает о связи с реальностью, но это и не дэн браун, у которого смысловые швы настолько беспомощны, что хочется погладить его и дать конфетку. у нэвилл бешеная фантазия и она ее употребляет с пользой. огромный сюжет, под стать какому-нибудь сериалу у нее компактно размещен на довольно небольшом пространстве романа, а сплетение огромного количества знаков вокруг числа восемь вообще заслуживает преклонения. не только исторические персонажи выглядят закономерно в своих знакомствах и внешнем виде (как, например, марат, обезображенный экземой), но и перемещения героини вэлис по алжирским территориям: горы тассилин славятся своими фресками, где есть и доисторический период, и египет, и античные фрагменты, а также эта белая дама, вокруг которой крутится сюжет. пусть лингвистические изыски вокруг корня «кар-» в топонимах несколько натянуты, но зато оправданны.
резюме: стоит, стоит и еще раз стоит, особенно после дэн-брауновского разочарования.
(less)

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Feb 15, 2012 Alyson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What do King Charlemagne, a gaggle of nuns, just about every historical celebrity from late 18th century Paris to Venice to St. Petersburg, more than a few chess prodigies, and the formation of OPEC have to do with each other? More than you could imagine. Katherine Neville out-Dan-Browns Dan Brown, skipping across continents and centuries, connecting far-fetched dots, and name dropping all along the way.[return][return]The book starts strong--the classic cryptic fortune telling of doom, a stubbo...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Published in 1988, the same year as Umberto Eco� s Foucault� s Pendulum, which is more or less in the same genre, The Eight was a forerunner of thrillers such as The Da Vinci Code. It is set in two time frames� the � historical present,� meaning 1972, and at the time of the French Revolution, during the Terror, in 1790 and beyond. The plot, which revolves around a mysterious, fabulous chess set that once belonged to the Emperor Charlemagne and which is credited with unknown but terrifying powers...more Published in 1988, the same year as Umberto Eco� s Foucault� s Pendulum, which is more or less in the same genre, The Eight was a forerunner of thrillers such as The Da Vinci Code. It is set in two time frames� the � historical present,� meaning 1972, and at the time of the French Revolution, during the Terror, in 1790 and beyond. The plot, which revolves around a mysterious, fabulous chess set that once belonged to the Emperor Charlemagne and which is credited with unknown but terrifying powers, flips back and forth between these two periods in a very effective way. Because of its hidden location for a thousand years, the chess set is dubbed the Montglane Service.[return][return]Chess itself is the matrix for the plot; the modern story involves two Grand Masters, a Russian and an American woman, and the game itself becomes important from time to time. [return][return]But mainly the plot is a showcase for history and for puzzles. The puzzles are imbedded mainly in interpretation of symbols, rather than in word play, although numbers play a role. However, the main tension in the story is the race, by two different sides that have deliberately taken on identities as the Black and White � teams� in chess, to collect the pieces of the Montglane Service which were scattered, as a precautionary measure during the French Revolution. Murders occur in both periods during this struggle for obtaining a means to what is thought to be unlimited power.[return][return]There are plenty of twists and turns to the plot; Neville uses exposition fairly effectively both as a way of introducing plot twists and as a way of forwarding the story. This is no mean feat, because the amount of exposition that she uses can be deadly in an adventure-type story. With a few exceptions, she manages to avoid that problem. However, the device does weaken the plot to a certain extent, since it makes it difficult to keep track of all the different threads. In fact, it can be said that the plot verges on too many sudden twists that many times leap out of nowhere.[return][return]Neville really uses history and historical figures quite cleverly as a means of generating and maintaining interest in the story. The two main figures are Talleyrand of France and Catherine the Great of Russia. While the historical basis for these figures seems accurate, the rather romantic treatment leaves a lot to be desired.[return][return]In fact, there are two main defects to this book, one of which is the treatment of characters. Most of them are not very credible, and they never really attain much more than one-dimensional status. Part of that is due to the second defect: the writing. If the story weren� t so interesting, the style would have been enough to have me out the book down after about a quarter of the way through. Frankly, it lacks such sophistication that it appears to have been written for 10 year olds by someone not much older. It detracts heavily from the book. The � sex scenes� are so badly written that I wanted to laugh out loud� when I wasn� t wincing.[return][return]Unfortunately, these two weaknesses really detract so much from the book that it becomes a good but far from outstanding read. That� s a pity, because the premises, the historical settings are really clever. In the hands of a better writer, this book would have been outstanding.(less)

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Mar 04, 2009 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first time I read this was back in the early 90s. It was actually an assigned reading book for my Modern European History class. I have to say I am so glad we had to read it because it became one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve re-read it so many times my copy is near falling apart and I just bought a replacement copy.

I loved both the story lines although I have to say following Cat’s story was my favorite. She along with the help of a friend, Lily Rad, and the handsome chess champ, S...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Harish Puvvula rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Enjoyed reading this book.
The plot is intricate, or should I say labyrinthine? It has plot within a plot. Story within a story. Flashback with in a flashback. This novel though enchanting (like the Arabian Nights), it is by no means an easy read - it demands ample time and concentration.

What makes the novel interesting as well as complicated is the timelines. The novel has two timelines1) late 1700s during the time of the French revolution 2) 1970s. This timeline is narrated in the first person....more

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Jan 17, 2013 Kristin Lundgren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: artifact-thriller, historical, thriller

Hard to classify, impossible to put down, Katherine Neville's 1988 book , to me, stood the test of time. A cult classic, long in print, it has been on my shelf for over 20 years. I first ran across it in a list of recommended books. Over the next couple of years, I ran across it again and again, so I eventually found a copy, and put it in my TBR (to-be-read) pile, and there it sat for another few years, as more books got added to the pile (a perennial problem).

But one day I decided to take a cha...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Booknblues rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An intriguing puzzle of a story, Katherine Neville's novel The Eight is a tale about an ancient mystery involving a chess set given to King Charlemagne for his birthday and originating in the middle east. The set gives clues to mysteries of life that great scientists and mathematicians have labored to discoverer over the centuries. Because of these ancient mysteries the set brings inherent danger and intrigue along with it and because of that it was hidden in the French convent Montglane Abbey u...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, fantasy, fiction

There was a lot that I liked about this book, and a few things that annoyed me. I really enjoyed the characters and definitely got caught up in the plot, which involves chess and a mysterious chess set. But I'm not a big fan of jumping back in forth in time, as this book does: There is a story in the 20th century and another in the 18th, and we're hearing them both at once. To me, it detracted from both of the stories. And, in unfortunate personal timing, I read this right after I'd finished Cry ...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Simone Sinna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Along with Shantaram, reviewed previously, this is a book that spoke to me. Grabbed me and wound its magic around me, seeping into my soul. I have probably read it at least ten times and several sections more than that.
Is it literary genius? No. Is it well written and engrossing? Yes. Fast paced, can’t be put down? Yes. Is it perfect? No. The concept is so good though it had me wanting to rewrite and re-imagine parts of it, trying to think of ways of making the chess game metaphor stronger.
In br...more Along with Shantaram, reviewed previously, this is a book that spoke to me. Grabbed me and wound its magic around me, seeping into my soul. I have probably read it at least ten times and several sections more than that.
Is it literary genius? No. Is it well written and engrossing? Yes. Fast paced, can’t be put down? Yes. Is it perfect? No. The concept is so good though it had me wanting to rewrite and re-imagine parts of it, trying to think of ways of making the chess game metaphor stronger.
In brief – and it’s a longish book – the story is in two halves, woven together throughout. There is a current time section where the protagonist is a sassy 23 year old female computer whizz who from the first page I just totally became, entering into her world as though it was mine (I should add I am technologically challenged in real life). Reading about the author she has clearly borrowed a lot from her own life for this character. Including some of the less likely things the character does (like working in Algiers) which KN actually did.
The other section is historical, weaving just about everyone in history from Charlemange to Napoleon into the narrative. Farfetched? At times, but it’s too interesting to spend too much time agonising over. Part of the beauty of the book is it takes you to a different place and you really don’t want to leave.
I read years after first reading this book that Katherine Neville had written it in a tree-house on the Californian coast. She described the house – think mansion wrapped around a huge tree trunk and on a cliff with miles of ocean before you – and it made me think how important where you write can be. I know ‘Power of One’ author Bryce Courtney ties himself to a chair for hours in the evening to write, but me, put me in that tree-house and I think I could write a best seller too...
She has written, years later, a sequel, The Fire. Same voice but this time it’s the daughter of the original heroine. We get a glimpse of the mother and I longed somewhat nostalgically to see ore of her, but the pace picks up and you’re away again. Both books you need a week free with a glass of wine and a fire – or a view of the Californian coast ¬– and it will be as if you’ve been to all the exotic places and times without having to pay for the airfare (or time travel).
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Feb 01, 2012 Φλεγύας rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I do love Neville's writing. It's griping, there's always something happening, the plot is always pulling me in, everything seems perfect. However, the "the Eight" was not as enjoyable as the "a Calculated Risk" was.
The reason for that? Too many characters, too many historical events intertwined, in general, too much going on to keep track of and recall. Not that the reader will get confused about what's going on. That's perfectly clear. But, if the reader is like me, reading the book on and off...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Indiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, did-not-keep, fiction, historical, mystery

Enjoyed it!! I somehow missed hearing about this book when it first came out. Then last summer someone I know mentioned it and I thought it sounded interesting so I picked it up. This is a fun fast paced book that weaves back and forth between the 1970s and the 1790s. There are many characters both real and fictional and I think the real have been woven pretty seamlessly into the fiction without bastardizing their real characters…with one exception. The story revolves around a chess set that onc...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Joanna (J.F.Penn) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Full video review: http://mysterythriller.tv/the-eight-k...
The Eight is the story of the Montglane Abbey service, a chess set belonging to Charlemagne that carries a secret and a curse. There is a code embedded in the board and the pieces which must be scattered to prevent anyone from discovering the hidden power.

In the past, we follow two nuns from Montglane Abbey, cousins Mireille and Valentine, as they are sent away with some of the chess pieces to Paris to live with their godfather. There th...more Full video review: http://mysterythriller.tv/the-eight-k...
The Eight is the story of the Montglane Abbey service, a chess set belonging to Charlemagne that carries a secret and a curse. There is a code embedded in the board and the pieces which must be scattered to prevent anyone from discovering the hidden power.

In the past, we follow two nuns from Montglane Abbey, cousins Mireille and Valentine, as they are sent away with some of the chess pieces to Paris to live with their godfather. There they meet with Talleyrand, the Bishop of Autun who becomes entwined in their future.

In the present, Catherine Velis is a computer expert sent to Algiers to work on modelling for OPEC. She finds herself embroiled in the hunt for the pieces with the mysterious Russian chess genius Solarin and her mad cousin Lily, whose character I enjoyed the most in the book.

The two parallel stories have plenty of murder and mystery and eventually combine in a twist that finally reveals the secret of the chess set. The book was written in 1988 but is still a good read. Someone recommended it to me as an example of a female thriller writer. I don’t think it’s fast-paced enough to be a thriller, but it’s a mystery in the vein of Kate Mosse, and just as long!

I did find the book to be a little long, I skipped over quite a bit of it, but still read to the end. Like a chess-set, there are a lot of characters and some patience is needed to follow it through. I don’t have the patience for playing chess so that probably has something to do with it!

What keeps you reading:

Interesting historical events weaved into the story. The Terror of the French Revolution and Napoleon as well as Catherine the Great of Russia are woven into the plot. I like bits of historical fiction and they are very well written so there is no jarring sense of jumping across centuries.

Information about chess and moves in the game. In the book, the game is played across centuries and the chapters relate to various moves. I can play chess but know practically nothing about it so it was interesting to learn more about it.

The mystery – what is the secret of the board? Can the characters collect all the pieces and unravel the chess game in order to reach the prize?(less)

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May 12, 2011 Ms.pegasus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense, fiction

Elements for a intense thriller: A fortune-teller's warnings, numerology, unwritten secrets so old some believe them only to be myths, coded texts and a convergence of coincidence. All of these and more are skillfully interwoven with historical currents linking Charlemagne, the French Revolution, and Middle Eastern intrigue in THE EIGHT by Katherine Neville. Each link is mobilized into a spiral of associations. The number eight squared enumerates the positions on a chessboard; each player has 8...more Elements for a intense thriller: A fortune-teller's warnings, numerology, unwritten secrets so old some believe them only to be myths, coded texts and a convergence of coincidence. All of these and more are skillfully interwoven with historical currents linking Charlemagne, the French Revolution, and Middle Eastern intrigue in THE EIGHT by Katherine Neville. Each link is mobilized into a spiral of associations. The number eight squared enumerates the positions on a chessboard; each player has 8 x 2 pieces and of those, 8 are pawns. Eight is one of the Fibonacci numbers. In music the eight becomes the octave. And finally, eight nuns are selected as the emergency contingents when a fabled chess set is dispersed from hiding. One of these eight select are Mireille and her cousin Valentine, dispatched with their precious secret to their uncle in Paris.

Neville begins by laying a meticulous foundation in reality. The contemporary part of the story begins in 1972 (the book was published in 1988). Catherine, working at one of the Big 8 accounting firms, is ordered to rig a contract bid for one of their consulting clients, to insure that the bid is awarded to one of their big auditing clients. The scenario clearly presages the kinds of conflicts of interest rampant in an industry where consulting and auditing services provided lucrative streams of revenue to the same accounting company, culminating in the Enron scandal. When she refuses, she suddenly finds herself assigned to a low level backwater assignment in Algiers. The historical part of the story is told with equal realism. It opens in 1790 on the eve of the French Revolution at Montglane Abbey founded in the 9th century by Charlemagne. Historical figures such as the artist David, Voltaire, Rousseau, Talleyrand and Robespierre play key roles in the story. Neville here demonstrates a gift for endowing them with believable human passions: Love, idealism, fear, political acumen and above all, the drive for power. From this perspective it seems only natural that these intellects would have had the kind of intimate international contact that Neville's novel suggests. Having sparked these historical figures to life, Neville taps into the reader's knowledge of history to focus on the inevitable catastrophe. Then, just as we are about to avert our eyes, she supplies some clever twists that can only astonish.

Neville is equally in command of the many locales in this book. New York, Paris, Algiers, the Sahara, and the even more barren wastes of the Mali desert are described with conviction.

Catherine Velis, a precocious systems analyst with an interest in mathematics, and the courage to stick to her ethics – its not surprising that she is surrounded by some interesting friends and meets more along the way. Cajoled by Lily Rad, the daughter of an earlier employer and friend, Harry Rad, to attend a critical chess match, she stumbles into a mysterious disappearance, a possible murder, and the acquaintance of a shadowy chess grand master named Solarin. From this point, “...the game is afoot!”

Neville extends her chess analogy in several interesting directions. Structurally, this is not a thriller about confronting faceless cabals of evil. Each character is endowed with a distinctive identity – even if we do not know which side they are on. Thus, history becomes the consequence of a series of choices made by key characters; and the drama is in the confrontation of wit and wills between individuals. In addition, each chapter is framed by a few apt quotes about the game of chess. Sources range from instructional tomes on strategy to surprisingly articulate quotes from past international grand masters of the game.

This is an intellectually compelling literary thriller. When you finish you'll thirst for more information – about mathematics, the French Revolution, and especially, about chess. I've already added a book on
the Golden Mean to my “to read” shelf!
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