Paula Volsky

Paula Volsky's Historical Fantasies — These novels take place in the same world and their plots parallel events in our own world.

Illusion — (1991) Publisher: Arriving in the capital city of Sherreen to take her place at court, Miss Eliste vo Derrivale is suddenly stripped of her rank, home, and family during v'Aleur's reign of terror.

Illusion: Now this is what I call a wonderful historical fantasy!

A fictionalization of the French Revolution set in the invented kingdom of "Vonahr" and laced with a little bit of magic, Illusion is a gem of historical fantasy and ought to be a classic. Paula Volsky combines epic ideals, all-too-human characters, and lovely prose to create a book I couldn't put down and will never forget.

The events of these turbulent times are seen through the eyes of a high-born young woman, Eliste vo Derrivalle. Eliste is at first a product of her society and upbringing, a spoiled brat who doesn't think to question her class's superiority over the serfs and working class. She is only willing to respect one serf, the brilliant Dref Zeenoson, whose talents belie everything Eliste has been taught about the inferiority of his kind. When Eliste's father shows himself as a cruel master, and Dref defies him, only Eliste can save Dref from a terrible fate. She frees him and then tries to put this subversive incident out of her mind.

Eliste is appointed as a maid of honor to the Queen herself. She travels to the capital and is trained in courtly ways. But the fairy-tale court is not long for this world; a revolution is beginning. When Eliste loses everything she had taken for granted, she will have to learn to survive just like everyone else. But she will not always be without help — for there is one person who has never forgotten Eliste's first act of heroism. This is an enthralling, heartbreaking, and suspenseful story, made all the better by its wonderfully drawn characters: the ingenious Dref, the stubbornly dignified grand dame Zeralenn, the incorrigibly shallow Aurelie, the so-sweet Kairthe, and even the terrifying Whiss v'Aleur, who lays waste to a nation to assuage his childhood feelings of inadequacy. But most of all, Eliste, who matures into a very different sort of woman than she had planned to become.

Illusion is not just a good fantasy. Though its setting is invented, it holds its own with the best sort of straight-up historical fiction, illuminating a place and time from its hovels to its palaces, as seen through the eyes of memorable characters. If you like fantasy, read Paula Volsky's Illusion. If you don't normally go for fantasy, but like a good romantic historical epic, suspend your disbelief about the magic and read it anyway. And if you're like me, and like both genres — don't hesitate another moment.
—Kelly Lasiter

The Wolf of Winter — (1993) Publisher: From the panorama of history and legend, Paula Volsky weaves a spellbinding tale of magic, conspiracy, and desire in the frozen land of Rhazaulle, where the living and the dead live peacefully side by side...until now. Of all the excesses indulged by the decadent Rhazaullean nobility, only one is forbidden-necromancy. It is to these black arts that Prince Varis is addicted, hoping to usurp the Wolf Throne. his greatest challenge comes in the person of his beautiful niece Shalindra, grown to womanhood in the shadow of exile and dedicated to brining her brother Cerrov-the rightful heir-to the throne. Seized and brought to her uncle's mountain stronghold, Shalindra is both repelled and fascinated by the mysterious Varis, master of the dead. As winter approaches, their encounter threatens to shape for both of them a destiny far different-and more dangerous-than either could have imagined.

The Gates of Twilight — (1996) Publisher: In a fragile alliance, the natives are stirring uneasily under their foreign rulers. Rebellion is brewing, and at the heart of the conflict lies the bloody and powerful cult of the god Aoun, whose followers will stop at nothing to rid their land of alien domination. So civil servant Renille vo Chaumelle, scion of a proud, conquering line mingled with native blood, is conscripted as a spy and ordered to penetrate the fortress-temple known as the Fastness of the Gods. There he is to discover the secrets of the priests of Aoun and — if the chance presents itself — assassinate the lead priest, named in legend as the god's own son. But in the holiest depths of the temple, Renille finds there is more to the cult than his superiors suspect — far more than they will ever believe. What he learns leads him to the beautiful princess Jathondi, daughter of the native ruler, who is fated to be the crux of a violent confrontation between the fanatic followers of a flesh-hungry god and their arrogant overlords. Together, Jathondi and Renille must brave a whirlwind of revolution and apocalyptic magic that could shatter a nation, and open the long-sealed portal between heaven and earth.

The White Tribunal — (1997) Publisher: Despite the warnings of a childhood love, a man makes a Faustian bargain to avenge the execution of his family by the infamous White Tribunal, a decision that could redeem his nation or destroy it.

The Grand Ellipse — (2000) Publisher: Volsky shines in what is unequivocally her best work to date, presenting a wondrous journey across a world torn by war, a world so enraptured by its technological advances that it now frowns upon magic as ancient superstition. Yet a new magical discovery — Sentient Fire, which obeys the will of its creator — could well prove the only weapon against the expansion of a greedy Imperium.