Rose Sea

by Holly Lisle and S.M. Stirling

Struggling for freedom, New Empire officer Bren Morkaarin and rancher's daughter Kara Grenlaarin find their destinies intertwined as they battle side-by-side through the Imperial Sea toward the capital of the wizard kings.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671876201
• ISBN13: 9780671876203
• Release Date: August 1994
• Publisher: Baen Books
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Fluff, but *good* fluff. 4.5 stars.

____________________________________________ It's a pretty standard setup - the Tykissian Empire (a Romanalog) is invading Tarin Tseld (Aegypt). The XIXth Imperial Foot is understrength, so a press gang rounds up some recruits in a tavern -- a young horse-trader, a cat-woman, a lawyer. The Tykissian Grand Admiral is scheming with Darkist(!), Yentror of Tarin Tseld & a Mighty sorcerer -- well, you get the picture. Holly & Steve don't let us down. The women are strong, the men are good-looking, the dialog is snappy... We're in the Hall of Forgotten Gods: Amourgin stared at the god the spirit had found... The idol was formed of some dull grey metal; the subject was a priapic, round-cheeked statue with a leering grin and vacant eyes ... "He's Heinous." "Yes, he is - but what does that have to do with me?" "He's the *god* Heinous, you idiot..." "Right, I'll wake him." He sighed. "*How do I wake him?" "You worship him..." "Just what sort of worship does old Heinous prefer?" "Candles, hymns, dancing girl, sacrifices... the usual sort of thing." "No doubt. And here I am, not a candle or a dancing girl to my name --" "SING... TO... HIM" "O Heinous, O Heinous," sang Amourgin, improvising fast, "How heinous is your name... " The battle-gore gets pretty graphic, but the heros are smart & sassy, the villains are, well, villainous, and the action is non-stop. If you've read solo books by Stirling & Lisle, you'll be able to pick up pretty well (I think) on who wrote what - which I thought was fun. Recommended for a few hours of light entertainment. Don't be put off by the generic Baen cover & jacket copy (as I was - this one sat on my to-read shelf for a *long* time). review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman [note: this is a repost of an old review, which I posted under a long-defunct account. Ignore the older one...]

Well-done sword-and-sorcery. Fluff, but *good* fluff.

It's a pretty standard setup - the Tykissian Empire (a Romanalog) is invading Tarin Tseld (Aegypt). The XIXth Imperial Foot is understrength, so a press gang rounds up some recruits in a tavern --The battle-gore gets pretty graphic, but the heros are smart & sassy, the villains are, well, villainous, and the action is non-stop. Full review at

Not to compare with Stirling's best, but fun!

This was a very amusing little novel. It certainly doesn't compare with S.M. Stirling's best work (I haven't read enough Holly Lisle to say how it measures up to hers) but it makes for pleasant light reading. The cultures are reasonably well worked out, the magic is believeable (in context), the primary characters are likeable (the villains come off just slightly flat, but this novel doesn't pretend to such weightiness that all sides must be equally fleshed out), and the writing is excellent. The most refreshing aspect is the fact that this fantasy world is not the usual quasi-Medieval setting. Instead, the protagonists are representatives of a culture which seems to be, roughly, Renaissance-equivalent, in both social structure (seems to be some antipathy between traditional landed elites and rising urban ones) and technology (mid-to-late sixteenth century firearms, with a few changes). As an added plus, the authors have even included some rather pleasant humour (the bit about the ensorcelled flask "ever-full of fresh spring water, with little bubbles and a hint of lemon in it" is a near-classic.)

great book

I think this book is very good.It is probably one of the best books I've ever read(and I've read lots of books).