The Eight - Katherine Neville

Today I am reviewing The Eight by Katherine Neville, a book I absolutely loved. As usual, I'll try to avoid spoilers, but be warned, their may be some minor ones. I'm going to stick with the format I tried out in my last post, since I really liked it. Please remember that these are my opinions as a reader, and that they are based on my experience reading this and other books.

Summary (From Amazon.com)

New York City, 1972—A dabbler in mathematics and chess, Catherine Velis is also a computer expert for a Big Eight accounting firm. Before heading off to a new assignment in Algeria, Cat has her palm read by a fortune-teller. The woman warns Cat of danger. Then an antiques dealer approaches Cat with a mysterious offer: He has an anonymous client who is trying to collect the pieces of an ancient chess service, purported to be in Algeria. If Cat can bring the pieces back, there will be a generous reward.

The South of France, 1790—Mireille de Remy and her cousin Valentine are young novices at the fortresslike Montglane Abbey. With France aflame in revolution, the two girls burn to rebel against constricted convent life—and their means of escape is at hand. Buried deep within the abbey are pieces of the Montglane Chess Service, once owned by Charlemagne. Whoever reassembles the pieces can play a game of unlimited power. But to keep the Game a secret from those who would abuse it, the two young women must scatter the pieces throughout the world. . . .

My Review

Let's start with characters. I really liked the characters in this book. I felt like they were really well fleshed out, and they all had unique personalities. This pretty impressive considering the sheer number of characters in this book, considering both timelines. I felt pretty connected to both Mireille and Cat, as well as many of the other characters including Talirand, Lily, and the Abbess.

About the plot... This is a big one. The plot is really quite complex and enjoyable. With that said, (and some minor spoilers ahead for those worried about that sort of thing), the ending was a bit of a let down for me. The build up was impressive, and keeping track of all the players got a bit complicated at times, but I was a bit disapointed by the ending. That's all I'll say on that for now.

The writing was enjoyable, and I don't have any complaints about it, but I also don't have any other real comments about her style. My mom and I were reading this at the same time, and there are some things that almost became jokes that it can be fun to look out for when reading. The first is references to the number eight. Many of them don't even directly influence the plot, which is fun. To get you started, one is that Cat works for a Big Eight accounting firm. The second thing is the number of famous people in this book. I mean, any famous person who MIGHT have been passing through Paris in the late 1700's is there. The third thing is the "stories." Whenever another character is telling their story to another character, it is headed with the words "The Abbess's Tale" or "Lily's Tale" and so on. The last thing is the way she uses phrases like "little did she know how different her life would be in just three short hours." Or "She had no idea how much that one simple phrase would change her life." Watch out for those as you read.

Who Should Read It?

I think people who like chess would like this book. I'm not into chess and I loved it, but I think you would get even more out of it if you got all the chess references. People who like mystery and intreuge would like this book as well. It's not a short book, so be prepared to be in it for the long haul.


What about you? Have you read this book? If so let me know what you think. Do you agree with my comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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