Mary Hoffman

Stravaganza — (2002-2010) Young adult. Publisher: While sick in bed with cancer, Lucien begins making journeys to a place in a parallel world that resembles Venice, Italy, and he becomes caught up in the political intrigues surrounding the Duchessa who rules the city.

City of Masks

I wasn't sure what to expect with the first book in Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series, but what I got was a suspenseful, exciting, imaginative and satisfying tale populated by vivid characters and set in a beautifully realized alternative-world. If you enjoy the world-traversing adventures found in The Chronicles of Narnia, then City of Masks and its sequels will be right up your alley.

Lucien is recovering from intensive chemotherapy when he's given a marbled notebook by his father to help him communicate if his throat is too sore to speak. With the book clasped in his hands, Lucien dreams of a beautiful city of columns and fountains, cathedrals and basilicas, canals and courtyards — and even stranger, a young girl dressed as a boy who insists that he's in grave danger. Her name is Arianna, and she's disguised as a boy because she wants achieve her ambition of being chosen as a mandolier (what we would call a gondolier) to the Duchessa, sole ruler of the city of Belleza.

Arianna tells Lucien that on this particular day, only citizens of Belleza are allowed in the city, and both of them are risking their lives by being there. Still convinced that the whole thing is a dream, Lucien tags along with Arianna to where that year's candidates are selected by the perpetually-masked Duchessa. In this world, Lucien's dark curly hair and handsome face have been restored to him, and both successfully catch the Duchessa's fancy.

From there the story flows back and forth between the two worlds. By day Lucien succumbs to the aftereffects of his cancer treatment, but by night he is free and healthy in the wonderful country of Talia, the otherworldly version of sixteenth century Renaissance Italy (with Belleza standing in for Venice). He learns that he is a Stravagante, someone who has the ability to transport (or "stravagate") himself between worlds with the help of a talisman; in this case, the marbled notebook. Under the tutelage of the Duchessa's scientist and former lover Rodolfo, Lucien begins to explore his powers, and thanks to the companionship of Arianna, he learns more about the beautiful city of Belleza and the intrigue that seethes below its surface.

Things just get more interesting as Lucien finds himself drawn into the world of political espionage, assassination attempts and rival factions working against the Duchessa. With the added dangers of his stravagating abilities, Lucien struggles to help his new friends whilst retaining a relatively "normal" life the waking world.

Mary Hoffman has written a fantastic story that ticks all the boxes of what makes a satisfying read: an interesting premise, a range of likable characters, a rollicking story, and a world that you wish you could explore for yourself. Hoffman's gift is her wonderfully rich and descriptive writing. You don't just read about Belleza, you visit it along with Lucien, and are just as impressed by its beauty as he is.

Likewise, it's hard not to fall in love with her characters; not just the spunky Lucien and Arianna, but the wise and gracious Rudolfo, Arianna's long-suffering parents, the conniving Rinaldo di Chimici, and of course, the grand, charismatic, imposing, ruthless Duchessa. There's even room for the real-life historical figure of Doctor William Dethridge, a man who disappeared mysterious in 1556 after facing charges of witchcraft and who is here made out to be the first Stravagante to appear in Talia.

Equally innovative are the rules and restrictions that encompass "stravagating." Whilst visiting Belleza in his sleep, Lucien's body remains comatose, meaning that it's only safe for him to stravagate at night when no one will notice. Whilst in Belleza, he has no shadow and so must be careful not to attract undue attention to its absence. Finally, the Stravaganti must remain a secret, for there are those that would exploit their powers to import technology and knowledge from other worlds that is far beyond their ability to control or understand. Naturally, each one of these problems is faced by Lucien during the course of the book.

To top it all off is an unexpected and bittersweet ending that will stay with you long after you've closed the book. Much like Philip Reeve and Meredith Anne Pierce, Mary Hoffman is a fantasy writer for young adults who is woefully unrecognized. —Rebecca Fisher

City of Masks

City of Masks is an "other world" novel, one where characters from our world can travel back and forth to another, in this case an alternate history 16th century Italy known as Talia. These travelers (and it works both ways) are known as "stravaganti," thus the series title. While this book takes places in this world's version of Venice (Bellezza), others in the series will range elsewhere (City of Stars, for example, is set in an alternate Sienna).

City of Masks is young adult fiction and has the thinness that one expects from books aimed at younger readers. One pleasant exception to this is the detail of the city of Belezza itself and later Venice itself as the main character first reads up on the parallel city then visits it with his parents. The physical descriptions of Belezza, its festivals, and some of its rituals and religion are all vividly drawn, allowing the reader to truly feel he/she is entering a solid place along with Lucien, the young teen main character.

Unfortunately, the underlying magic which allows for Lucien's travel isn't handled as strongly. He enters Belezza via a "talisman," an object from Belezza brought by a Talian stravaganza to our world for this purpose. Beside the difference of four centuries between Talia and our world, the movement of time itself isn't always dependable; one may spend a day in the real world while a week passes in Talia. All of is covered a bit sketchily, as are other examples of magic (viewing mirrors, teleportation, etc.). The same scarcity of detail is evident in the discussions of the "brotherhood" of stravaganti, who are aware of one another and meet now and then. Young adult doesn't necessarily mean things have to be stripped down or simplified, witness the very detailed and precise explanations of magic in Leguin's Earthsea series or Harry Potter or Bartimeus. This book suffers in comparison to those in its fullness and depth.

Characterization is solid if a bit thin. Lucien, one of two main characters, has cancer in our world and so his journeys to Talia, where he is hale and healthy, are not simply adventures to be enjoyed but something much more important to him personally. On his first visit, he meets 15-year-old Arianna, a vibrant, headstrong girl who has little care for stultifying rules and regulations, such as ones saying only boys can be "mandoliers" (gondoliers for the Duchessa) or that young unmarried women have to wear masks. He also meets the Duchessa and Rodolfo, the Stravaganza who brought Lucien's talisman to earth and the Duchessa's lover and advisor.

Lucien has entered Belezza at a time of great danger for the Duchessa, who is trying to keep her city out of the clutches of Talia's most powerful family, the di Chimici, who have managed to force all other cities under their rule. There is a lot of political maneuvering (including use of violence) between the Duchessa and the di Chimici ambassador, and Lucien finds himself repeatedly caught up in the middle, sometimes willingly and sometimes accidentally. On top of the politics, the di Chimici are aware of the Stravaganti (though not of specific ones) and wish to turn this ability to travel between worlds to their own nefarious ends. Like the magic, this facet of the book, the di chimici's knowledge and their purposes, suffers from being overly vague. The political infighting, however, is fully and clearly explained. So Lucien and Arianna find themselves taking part in the fight to keep both Belezza and the Stravaganti independent. Meanwhile they have their own personal issues to work out, both individual ones as well as the question of their own attraction to one another. Finally, there is Luciens' plight back home with regard to his illness.

The female characters truly stand out as the more vivid and interesting, particularly Arianna and the Duchessa, though a few others as well stand out despite their small roles. Lucien's character is a bit weak and somewhat predictable, and Rodolfo as well isn't as strong a presence as it seems he's meant to be. The political intrigue is exciting and interesting, the background battle over the magic less so, mostly due to the lack of detail. Older readers will probably see much of the plot coming, but in a sign of some strong writing, that won't really detract much from some of the book's later emotional impact.

Overall, City of Masks is solid with its weaker points well-balanced by the strength of the rich description of Belezza. It isn't a great compelling start, but it is interesting enough and shows enough flashes to keep you reading along.

The second book, City of the Stars, shifts locale and main character somewhat (though Lucien, Arianna, etc. all play large roles in it, just not as the major characters) but continues at about the same level. The plot is stronger and more compelling, the characters a bit less so, and the descriptions of parallel Sienna equally as rich as those of Belezza.

If the third book, City of Flowers, can employ that same vividness with regard to the characters and story of the third book, it will be a winner. As is, City of Masks is somewhat recommended (more strongly for those seeking strong female characters), but it isn't as strong a young adult fantasy as some others out there such as Leguin's Earthsea, McCaffery's Dragonsinger, The Amulet of Samarkand and Gregor the Overlander. —Bill Capossere

City of Stars

The Duke is in a Dangerous Mood...

City of Stars is the second in Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series (of which there are currently five installments), following on from City of Masks. The basic premise of the story is based on people known as the Stravagante: a select group of individuals from our world who can transport in their sleep to the country of Talia, an alternative version of Italy in the sixteenth century. Armed with a unique talisman that enables passage between the worlds, the young Stravagante inevitably find themselves caught up in the political intrigue and power-mongering that goes on in the beautiful cities of Talia, whilst simultaneously trying to deal with the repercussions of their normal lives in the waking world.

The previous book centred on a terminally ill boy called Lucien and his permanent transition into the city of Bellezza in which he is able to live out his life free of cancer, even if it means leaving his family behind him. In this sequel the perspective shifts to a shy, quirky girl called Georgia O'Grady who is trying to cope with her mother's remarriage and the presence of a bullying stepbrother in the house. She has just saved up enough money to buy a beautiful winged horse ornament at the local antique store. Unbeknownst to her, it is a talisman that allows her to transport to Talia that very night.

Specifically, to the capital of Talia: the city of Remora. Here the city is divided up into twelve wards, each aligning to a sign of the Zodiac. Rivalry between the factions is rife. This unrest provides a breeding ground for the likes of the ambitious di Chimici family to work their manipulations. They have long since desired to add the free city of Bellezza to their ever-growing republic, and are all set to rig the annual Remoran horse race in order to consolidate their reputation of superiority among the people.

But on the same night that Georgia appears in the city, a miracle is born in the stables of the Ram: the first winged foal in over a hundred years, one that bears an eerie similarity to the small model that Georgia carries with her.

What follows is a story of horse-racing, political machinations, family dramas (in both worlds), and a coming-of-age story for our young protagonist. In fact, it's quite a mish-mash of several disparate story-threads which are only tangentially related to each other, making it not quite up to the standard of City of Masks. To be honest, I found the plot rather slow-going considering the narrative kept switching from one arc to the next, with no real sense of urgency in any of them. Though it's certainly as vibrant and sensory as the previous book, it would have helped had there been one central storyline instead of half a dozen subplots, including Georgia trying to deal with her stepbrother's bullying, the upcoming horse race, the Duchessa of Bellezza's marriage propositions, the theft of the winged horse, and the meeting of the Stravagantes with two young members of the di Chimici family, including one that is desperate for Georgia's help.

Falco di Chimici is a young boy crippled by a riding accident who is entranced by Lucien's tale of recuperation in Talia. He believes that could he travel to Georgia's world he would be able to overcome his injuries with the help of the more advanced healthcare, and hatches a plan with Georgia and Lucien to leave his family and find a place for himself in their world. In what is a nice reversal of the previous book's scenario, it is someone from Talia who must learn to cope with the 21st century, and like the previous book, Hoffman manages to make it a difficult, poignant transition for everyone involved.

Another interesting development that is built on from City of Masks is that the di Chimici family is now painted in shades of grey rather than the straight-up villains they were in the previous books. Characters like Falco and his brother Gaetano are sympathetic young men who disapprove of their family's political wrangling, and even the likes of patriarch Duke Niccolo di Chimici is allowed to show a softer side in the affection and grief he feels for his son.

Hoffman always shows a deft touch with her characterization throughout, for even the horrid Russell (whose use of strong derogatory terms throughout the story may raise a few parental eyebrows) gets a glimmer of redemption at the book's conclusion. Of further interest is Hoffman's afterword in which she discusses some of the similarities between our world's version of certain Talian traditions, and how they were reshaped for the novel. She's clearly put a lot of time and effort into research and consistency, and it may pique the interest of many young readers into learning more about the Renaissance.

Lastly, the whys and wherefores of the Stravagante phenomenon are shrouded in mystery, but there are a few hints scattered throughout City of Stars that suggests there is a rhyme and reason for certain people finding their way into Talia. I certainly hope this is explored further in previous books. In light of the final paragraph, I couldn't help but feel that much of what happens in City of Stars is setup for the next book, City of Flowers. Though that left me a little cold, I'm still looking forward to what else is in store for this particular series. —Rebecca Fisher

City of Flowers

They Want To Take All My Sons!

This, the third book in the Stravaganza series, is almost twice the size of the first installment, City of Masks, and I can't help but feel that its pacing suffers as a result. Though still rich in detail and description, City of Flowers feels rather sluggish at times, with none of the intrigue or urgency that filled the pages of its predecessors. It picks up considerably toward the end of the novel, with weddings and feuds and floods and murders most foul, but the getting there seems to take forever.

The Stravaganza books are built on the conceit that certain people from our world are able to "stravagate" in their sleep to an alternative-world version of Italy, a country made up of several city-states known collectively as Talia. There are several conditions in place for stravagation to occur: travellers first have to be in possession of a talisman specially chosen to allow transportation, they cannot stay in Talia overnight due to the fact their earthly bodies are in a comatose state whilst they are away, and once they reach Talia they are identifiable by their lack of a shadow. Likewise, Talian citizens are able to stravagate into our world, and throughout the series Mary Hoffman has explored the implications and consequences of such journeys back and forth, adding new characters each time.

This time the new Stravagante is Sky Meadows, a teenager who is being raised by a single mother. He has never met his father, a famous rock-singer known as the Rainbow Warrior (and how a rock singer builds a career on that name is a mystery to me). Older than his years, he struggles with his mother's mental illness as well as the usual tribulations of teenage life. But all that is about to change when he discovers a small glass bottle on his doorstep and falls asleep with it in his hands.

He awakens in the city of Giglia among a brotherhood of scientist-friars who inform him that he is the latest in a line of Stravaganti, brought to the city for an important though as yet unknown reason. It probably has something to do with the power-hungry Duke Niccolo and the rest of the di Chimici family, the antagonists of the previous books. Here in Giglia they are rivals with the equally wealthy Nucci family, and the upcoming joint-wedding of Niccolo's sons seems a perfect opportunity for the feud to break out. The Stravaganti band together in order to protect the wedding ceremony, little knowing how deep and bitter the rivalry really is between the two families.

Meanwhile, Sky has his own problems back in the real world, what with his girlfriend getting suspicious over his new friendship with other Stravaganti, his mother's ongoing illness, and his estranged father's unexpected arrival back into his life. As well as this there are other little subplots concerning various other characters, including the Duchesse Arianna of Bellezza and her unwelcome proposal from Duke Niccolo, Luciano's struggle with his secret feelings for Arianna, Nicolas's desire to return to Talia, and a young orphan boy's tribulations in the employment of a long-time di Chimici spy: the man known as the Eel.

Juggling all these plot-threads is a challenge that Hoffman handles admirably, but as mentioned, City of Flowers is the longest book yet, and sometimes gets bogged down with its vast array of characters. A family tree and dramatis personae have been included at the back of the book in order to keep track of everyone, and any reader who skips the previous two books will find themselves hopelessly lost.

Sky himself, ostensibly meant to be the protagonist, is practically superfluous to the plot and doesn't really seem to do anything that could not be handled just as easily by the other Stravaganti (who are given certain powers hitherto unmentioned in the previous books) and not even Hoffman herself seems particularly interested in his backstory. He's certainly a much blander character than the others, and I wonder if it would have been better to just stick with Luciano, Arianna, Georgia and Nicolas as the protagonists, since they all had much more poignant and interesting stories to tell.

Still, Hoffman's world-building is still the main draw-card, as she vividly describes the city of Giglia and its surrounding area, filled with buildings, vineyards, churches, rivers and friaries. In her afterwords, in which she explains the inspiration for the di Chimici family was the de Medici, and the template for Giglia was Florence, I wasn't surprised to learn that she was actually in the city when writing the book. Also noteworthy is the way in which no character is purely good or evil, but rather a particular shade of grey. Even Duke Niccolo has his weaknesses and moments of genuine warmth, fear and humanity. Rather than a typical fantasy scenario of good versus evil, the Stravaganza books concern a human drama.

Plenty of threads are tied up in this book, with the death of a significant character and definitive endings for at least two others. Nevertheless, there are more books that follow this one, and I'll be interested to see whether Hoffman continues with this massive cast, or whether she cuts down for the sake of simplicity. I loved reading City of Masks and I hope that the series gets some of that first magic back again. —Rebecca Fisher

City of Secrets

It's Always Somehow Connected to the di Chimici...

City of Secrets is the fourth book in Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series, but by this stage they're wearing a little thin. They're still very well written, but the freshness and originality of the first couple of books are long gone and what's left is just formulaic.

The concept itself is great and somewhat reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. A select group of young adults chance across talismans that allow them to travel in their sleep to the world of Talia. This alternative version of Renaissance Italy and its cities allows the protagonists (known as Stravaganti) to experience a sense of freedom and to gain the strength and skills they need to face the difficulties in their everyday lives. Each book introduces a new Stravagante (both from this world and from Talia) and is set in a new city (in this case Padavia, an alternative Padua).

But where previous books used this setup to good effect, by City of Secrets, it just feels stale. Lucien was a great protagonist, as was Georgia. Sky was a little bland, but Matt is just plain boring. Where the first two characters had to deal with a terminal illness and a sadistic step-brother, Matt's only obstacle is dyslexia and his subsequent insecurity about his girlfriend Ayesha. Now, dyslexia is a perfectly viable difficulty for a character (or indeed, a real-life person) to have; the only problem is that it barely makes it into the story. Ayesha is never developed properly as a character, leaving the reader indifferent as whether her relationship with Matt is worth worrying about, and though it's revealed that Matt's dyslexia disappears whenever he's in Talia, this never has any bearing on the plot. He finally comes to terms with his dyslexia at the end of the story, in a near-perfect case of telling-not-showing.

Things are more interesting in Talia, where the Stravaganti of the previous books are forced to deal with the perpetual threat of the di Chimici family, despite the death of their patriarch in City of Flowers. A warrant is out for Luciano's arrest after Niccolo di Chimici's suspicious death, and the Duchessa Arianna is constantly risking her safety by visiting her fiancé in secret. The two young lovers have been separated by Luciano's desire to attend the University of Padavia, but they find an unexpected ally in the form of Enrico Poggi, a former spy of the di Chimici who now has his own score to settle.

When Matt begins to stravagate into Padavia's Scriptorium he is thrown headfirst into this intrigue, particularly when the current heads of the di Chimici family realize that he too is a Stravagante. Desperate to learn the secrets of the brotherhood, they send out their network of spies at the same time they begin to enforce new anti-magical laws that are designed specifically to target the Stravaganti. The book also includes the persecution of a group of goddess-worshipers, Matt putting the evil eye on a school rival, the kidnapping of two major characters, and the threat of a fire in the city. It's all written in an episodic manner, leading to rather choppy pacing in which one crisis is resolved only for another to arise directly afterwards. It tends to kill the suspense rather than build up to a satisfying climax.

The di Chimicis make for interesting villains, for though some are certainly worse than others, none of them are wholly evil. Likewise, they have understandable reasons for being suspicious of the Stravaganti given their dealings with each other in the past. Even though the major nemesis of the Stravaganti is no longer among them, it seems that his son Duke Fabrizio will match his father in cunning and ruthlessness, all the more so because he truly believes himself to be in the right.

Finally, the city of Padavia simply isn't as vivid or interesting as Bellezza, Remora or Giglia. Reading the afterword that Mary Hoffman provides, she reveals that Padavia is the most different from its Italian counterpart, perhaps leading to the lack of detail and color that was so prevalent in the previous books. Places like the university and the anatomical theatre seem to have been included mainly because of famous existing buildings in Padua, and don't seem quite integrated into the plot.

I still enjoy and recommend the Stravaganza books, but they're certainly weakening as the series goes on. The formula of introducing a new protagonist and city for each new book means that the dizzying array of characters is difficult to keep track of (needless to say, you'll be lost if you start the series here instead of with City of Masks) and though the deepening circles of intrigue and espionage are well-plotted and certainly interesting, they don't quite seem to go anywhere. It's as if Hoffman has a plan in place, but that this particular installment is just filler before we get to the really good stuff — and I hope it gets here soon. —Rebecca Fisher