Specify Books Toward City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Original Title: | City of Masks |
ISBN: | 1582349177 (ISBN13: 9781582349176) |
Edition Language: | English URL http://bloomsbury.com/Stravaganza-City-of-Masks/Mary-Hoffman/books/details/9780747595694 |
Series: | Stravaganza #1 |
Characters: | Leonora, Arianna Rossi, Rodolfo Rossi, Silvia Bellini, Guido Parola, Francesca di Chimici, Enrico Poggi, Lucien Mulholland, Rinaldo di Chimici, Paola, Giuliana, Vicky Mulholland, David Mulholland, Alfredo, William Dethridge |
Setting: | Bellezza, Venice(Italy) |

Mary Hoffman
Paperback | Pages: 345 pages Rating: 3.91 | 15221 Users | 635 Reviews
Declare Out Of Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Title | : | City of Masks (Stravaganza #1) |
Author | : | Mary Hoffman |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | First Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 345 pages |
Published | : | September 9th 2004 by Bloomsbury (first published December 8th 2002) |
Categories | : | Fantasy. Young Adult. Science Fiction. Time Travel. Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction |
Commentary During Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boy's clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessa's lover, and saving the Duchessa's life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps.Rating Out Of Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
Ratings: 3.91 From 15221 Users | 635 ReviewsCommentary Out Of Books City of Masks (Stravaganza #1)
This was my favourite book as child, and it still holds up as a good read. I found it initially difficult to get into because the language is very simple, and jarring after reading more adult novels, but I quickly became accustomed to it.The plot can be predictable at times, but more in a good way, than bad. Each scene is interesting and adds to the story, and there are different levels of clues that can be found for younger and older readers.I like that Bellezza is based on Venice and a certainThis is a book from my childhood (circa age 11) that I am so happy to have picked up again now! I'm not even really that interested in Italy, but I certainly dig the idea of inter-dimensional space and time travel! I'm re-reading all of the books in the Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman in accordance to the release of the newest sequel, "City of Sercrets". So far, I've read City of Masks and I started City of Stars last night. This is, as I recall, the best book in the series as of yet.
Unfortunately, this is another example of a great concept ruined by bad storytelling. Our 'protagonist' (and I use that lightly) is Lucian, a boy with cancer who discovers he can travel to a different world (a pseudo-Venice as it were) through the acquisition of a magical notebook. However, this ability is never really the foundation of the plot; instead, Miss Hoffman tends to write where the wind takes her, forming a mix-match of elements that are never deeply explored, into a plot sequence

Love. So much love. STRAVAGANZA: CITY OF MASKS was such a surprise. I read the summary, and was like yea, it sounds good, but oh manit was so much more than good. This book had me trapped in its story from the first word and I was so content by the end of the epilogue. Happy little sigh and clutching the book to my chest? Yupp, that was me.Basically, our main character Lucien is bedridden from chemo treatments to try and cure his brain cancer. His father gives him a book, and suddenly when he
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (maybe even 3.5)Wait, what?!? Quite a low rating to be on an all-time-favourites list, I know. I wont lie: objectively this series may not be the best ever written. Frankly, I am not even sure I am capable of judging them in that aspect. I read these books together with my mother when I was probably 11. My mother was already very sick and the memories we spent taking turns reading pages to eachother are ones that I will treasure for life now that she is no longer with
This year I'm doing a Reading Challenge; so I have 26 books with specific subjects that I need to read.Book 24: A book set somewhere you really want to visitIt's been long since a dream for me to visit Venice. As a little girl I was always mesmerized by the beauty of its watery streets, colorful city scape and mosaics. This wanderlust have not since diminish.City of Masks gave me an opportunity to visit not only Venice(Italy) but also its counter part - Bellezza(Talia). The country of Talia is
This book was an excellent and gripping read with great characters and a new and original story. I have loved reading this book and it is a new favourite but I'm trying to be way less liberal with my five star reviews so it only gets four. The main characters are Arianna and Lucien; Arianna is a girl who lives near to the city of Masks (Bellezza), sick of the rules imposed against her gender and breaks the rules entering the City of Masks on a day when she isn't supposed to. There she meets
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