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The Master of Heathcrest Hall
(Mrs. Quent #3)
by
Even as her husband is about to attain undreamed-of power, Ivy Quent fears for her family’s safety. With war looming and turmoil sweeping the nation of Altania, Ivy finds the long-abandoned manor on the moors a temporary haven. But nowhere is really safe from the treachery that threatens all the Quents have risked to achieve. And an even greater peril is stirring deep with
...more
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Paperback, 718 pages
Published
March 27th 2012
by Spectra
(first published January 1st 2012)
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Start your review of The Master of Heathcrest Hall (Mrs. Quent, #3)

Overall, I rate the whole series as five stars for its originality and the captivating characters. The finale of the trilogy packed an emotional punch, yet could have been stronger at the end had, as other reviewers complained, the author shown the crucial moments rather than merely summarized them after the fact. The reader has stood shoulder to shoulder with Ivy and Rafferdy through three novels; we want to be right there with them as they finally save the world. The book could also use a bit
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More of the same from book 2: overwritten, draggy, repetitive, & so freakin’ slow. It’s a shame, really, because the first book was entertaining, funny, & unique—but once the author tried to strike out on his own, explaining the magic & daytimes & trees & whatnot, everything fun or gripping just ground to a halt with endless discussions about Altanian politics & Ivy bemoaning how she can’t decode her father’s journal & Eldyn angsting over his gayness.
[SPOILER PARAGRAPH]
Speaking of romance, I re ...more
[SPOILER PARAGRAPH]
Speaking of romance, I re ...more

In The Master of Heathcrest Hall Beckett brings his trilogy to a satisfying conclusion as Ivoleyn and her husband Lord Quent, Lord Rafferdy, Eldyn Garrett and their allies are forced to confront the growing threats to Altania. Lord Quent goes up against the plotting of powerful politicians, Ivoleyn struggles to solve the puzzles her father has left her and find answers in her dreams of Altania's past, while Eldyn finds new uses fir his skills as an illusionist and Lord Rafferdy struggles to beco
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A stunning and emotional conclusion to the trilogy that began with The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, The Master of Heathcrest Hall kept me glued to the pages for hours.
The war in Altania is drawing to a head. The king is dead, and the princess has yet to ascend the throne. The rebels are gaining strength. And Cerephus, the red planet, draws ever closer. As Ivy, Rafferdy and Eldyn go about their daily lives, events conspire to involve them in the fate of their nation... and the world at large. To sto ...more
The war in Altania is drawing to a head. The king is dead, and the princess has yet to ascend the throne. The rebels are gaining strength. And Cerephus, the red planet, draws ever closer. As Ivy, Rafferdy and Eldyn go about their daily lives, events conspire to involve them in the fate of their nation... and the world at large. To sto ...more

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

After a brief interlude in the distant past - which has a bearing later on in the story - MASTER OF HEATHCREST HALL opens following the events of the previous book, THE HOUSE ON DURROW STREET.
The old king is dead, and his daughter not yet crowned. Political machinations vie with those magickal and delay her coronation. The new Lord Rafferdy has joined another magical society, this one bent on preserving the Wyrdwood from those who would destroy it, leaving Altania to be devoured by its otherwor ...more
The old king is dead, and his daughter not yet crowned. Political machinations vie with those magickal and delay her coronation. The new Lord Rafferdy has joined another magical society, this one bent on preserving the Wyrdwood from those who would destroy it, leaving Altania to be devoured by its otherwor ...more

Ok, so I thought this book was great. It was horribly sad though in certain spots, and I cried for a minute, not gonna deny it. I had just gotten so attached to Mr. Quent... But I don't want to say to much. I'll focus on what I liked most. I liked how things finally came together, and things were explained. I liked the feel of rushing down the hill to the conclusion, even if that rush was occasionally not that fast-paced. In fact, it even sort of moved slowly for a while in the middle, but it ne
...more

I have been charmed and captured by this series since reading the first two pages of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent while sitting at a chair in Chapters. I have evangelized the trilogy to all of my friends, bought copies for gifts, sent (largely ignored) fanmail to the author. I went from being charmed at the flawed Magicians to dazzled by the brilliant The House on Durrow Street. With the massive leap in quality between the first book and the second, and the sheer amount of love and affection I h
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I've greatly enjoyed Galen Beckett's Mrs. Quent trilogy, of which The Master of Heathcrest Hall is the final volume. At the start of the series it felt like a Jane Austen era romance with magic added in, but by the end it is clear that it is the reverse: it is epic fantasy, but clothed in the style and manners of a regency novel. It's a delightful departure from a typical sword and sorcery tale, but lacking none of the magic and adventure.
Heathcrest Hall brings back all of the usual cast: Ivoley ...more
Heathcrest Hall brings back all of the usual cast: Ivoley ...more

I have really enjoyed this series. Beckett as a writer able to invoke imagery is by far one of the best that I have encountered. That he blends this with the background of a society well founded in Regency and Victorian times, with the romance from books that we now write for those eras amazes me.
Why this series deserves your notice is founded on those reasons. We have a strong series of fantasy work, excellent writing, and a storyline that is entwined with regency romance and victorian motifs a ...more
Why this series deserves your notice is founded on those reasons. We have a strong series of fantasy work, excellent writing, and a storyline that is entwined with regency romance and victorian motifs a ...more

Wow. This was a brilliant end to the trilogy! Very meaty and with excellent pacing, and satisfying endings (though not without sadness).
Despite my usual need to understand hot things work, Beckett pulls off a world with irregular days and nights, and unpredictable planetary motions in a way that encourages me to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy it; it's so matter-of-fact.
The world, too, is interesting- it's the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (sort of), and there is a "peasant rebellio ...more
Despite my usual need to understand hot things work, Beckett pulls off a world with irregular days and nights, and unpredictable planetary motions in a way that encourages me to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy it; it's so matter-of-fact.
The world, too, is interesting- it's the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (sort of), and there is a "peasant rebellio ...more

I enjoyed the other two books and the world that was created. This third book however was frustrating through and through. I often felt that the author was trying to be clever and rather than let the reader deduce the cleverness themselves, was shouting it from the pages.
I also hated how much he explained. I understand that you need to bring a reader up to speed if this is the first book they've picked up in a series that is already going. However, you need not tell me things that have already o ...more
I also hated how much he explained. I understand that you need to bring a reader up to speed if this is the first book they've picked up in a series that is already going. However, you need not tell me things that have already o ...more

Love this book! It is over 700 pages, and I was worried, but finished it in no time because it was just so darn good! Wonderful treatment of re-introducing you to the main characters and storylines in a natural, unforced way. Great action and mystery throughout. Always keeps you guessing and reading! Described as a combination of Bronte sisters meets magic it is an excellent world that Galen Beckett has created with interesting characters who struggle with what is right and what is wrong in a ve
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I wanted so badly to like this third book in the series, but I just couldn't.
It's dull and predictable. The first book had the clever homages to Austen and Bronte, but the continued series tries too hard. I still wish I'd liked it.
I received this book for free through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. ...more
It's dull and predictable. The first book had the clever homages to Austen and Bronte, but the continued series tries too hard. I still wish I'd liked it.
I received this book for free through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. ...more

The speed with which I consumed all three of the Mrs. Quent books attests to my fondness for them. Why? Magic. Sentient trees. Planetary alignments. The mannered life of past periods. Romance between people I liked - and examples of love that are not standard he+she on teen hormones! I had a hard time putting this down until I finished with a satisfied sigh.

*Special Content only on my blog, Strange and Random Happenstance during Regency Magic (March & April 2016)
Night and day start and stop when they wish. No almanac can predict the umbrals and lumenals. The red planet Cerephus grows brighter in the sky, easily seen during even the sunniest of lumenals. Despite all evidence to the contrary a grand conjunction looks imminent in the heavens. Ivy is convinced that she and Rafferdy have stopped the Ashen by trapping Gambrel behind one of the doors in t ...more
Night and day start and stop when they wish. No almanac can predict the umbrals and lumenals. The red planet Cerephus grows brighter in the sky, easily seen during even the sunniest of lumenals. Despite all evidence to the contrary a grand conjunction looks imminent in the heavens. Ivy is convinced that she and Rafferdy have stopped the Ashen by trapping Gambrel behind one of the doors in t ...more

How do you write a review when the ideas about the book that hooked you in the first place are also the ones you find most troubling? This is sort of a review of all three books in the series but does so in light of the revelations at the end of the third book (and thus will be spoiler-tagged).
On the face of it, this series is wildly up my alley. Second-world fantasy that's a mashup with drawing-room romances/comedy of manners, with a dash of Lovecraftian horror sprinkled in? Actual onscreen qu ...more
On the face of it, this series is wildly up my alley. Second-world fantasy that's a mashup with drawing-room romances/comedy of manners, with a dash of Lovecraftian horror sprinkled in? Actual onscreen qu ...more

I really did enjoy this series, but it's tough to recommend because it's so long. All of the POV characters ended up having something interesting to contribute to the plot, even if it wasn't obvious from the start. I was annoyed that the main point of writing a book like this - to come up with a fantasy reason for the excessive manners and oppression of women present in a Regency setting - wasn't really obvious until halfway through the third book. Otherwise, I'm glad I finally finished this ser
...more

A great ending to a lovely trilogy. While moving more into the realm of fantasy and abandoning some of the victorian vibe of the earlier books, The Master of Heathcrest Hall ends the series rather perfectly, with enough pain to balance out the happy endings and make everything feel earned. A great series, and I'd love to read more books set in this world.
...more

This trilogy was pretty good. It was set around the 1800's. It was about witches, magicians, and illusionists coming together to save the world from the evil Ashen. I loved the characters and the time period and the story line. But I felt the author was too wordy. I felt the books could have been shortened by half.
...more

It takes a lot of pages to tie up all the loose ends from the other Mrs. Quent books, making this book perhaps 1/3 longer than I'd prefer. But Beckett delivers on his promises and throws in a number of twists to create a satisfying and beautiful ending to the trilogy.
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

The characters in this series are all very dynamic and well done.

This book makes the series complete. much better than the first two and is unpredictable as predictable. great plot twist and imagination. The story line is seems forgotten but isn't and a must read.
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Dec 19, 2011
colleen the convivial curmudgeon
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
historical-fantasy,
romantic
I was just looking over my review for the prior book in the trilogy, The House on Durrow Street, and this book has a lot of the same stylistic issues that I had with that book - namely that a lot of things happen off-screen, so to speak, and the things that happen on-screen are often repetitive.
As we switch perspectives from one character to a next we often, also, experience a passing of time, and then we get a summary of what happened in that time - which removes and and all tension from these ...more
As we switch perspectives from one character to a next we often, also, experience a passing of time, and then we get a summary of what happened in that time - which removes and and all tension from these ...more

The last book of this trilogy was a huge improvement on the second. A lot of things actually happened! The author consistently made some really weird choices that I'm not sure what to think of, however.
I'm just not sure what was going on with the LGBT themes in these books. (view spoiler) ...more
I'm just not sure what was going on with the LGBT themes in these books. (view spoiler) ...more

This is the third and final instalment of the great trilogy by Galen Beckett. It all started when the author asked himself the question: “What if there was a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brönte?” And in the first instalment (The Magicians and Mrs Quent) you clearly feel this mix of fantasy, astrology and magic combined with classics. I think it worked very well. In the second instalment, Galen
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The third installment in the trilogy brings us back to our three major characters. Ivy is living on Durrow Street with her two sisters and her beloved husband, Mr. Quent, and still trying to puzzle out messages left her by her father. Rafferdy has become fully involved in the Assembly, as well as a clandestine group of magicians, working to protect the Wyrdwood. Eldyn is performing as an illusionist, and learning how to make impressions (a kind of magical photo). All their lives are going along
...more
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Sinopsis en Español // Synopsis in Spanish | 1 | 1 | Feb 24, 2015 02:48PM |
What if there was a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë? Galen Beckett began writing The Magicians and Mrs. Quent to answer that question.
The author lives in Colorado.
An alias for Mark Anthony. ...more
The author lives in Colorado.
An alias for Mark Anthony. ...more
Other books in the series
Mrs. Quent
(3 books)
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