Masques (Sianim Book 1)

Okay, This book is pretty bad. I've heard nothing but good things about this author, but she was brave and honest to re-release this book, because it doesn't reflect her current expertise and craft. As far as craft goes, there is quite a bit of passive language, unneeded adverbs glutting the flow up, and very stiff dialogue. As far as plot, the love story is forced, many characters aren't given the page time to really develop into their own, many of the high emotional points fell flat, there were too many info dumps, many plot points that were meant to be hidden were actually easily figured out, the love story was awkward...but there was a dragon! :D

Regardless, I will read the sequel to this book, and will pick up another Briggs' novel in the future. She was honest to re-release this title, in the state it is in. That I find refreshing and honorable. There are no airs about this book. It is what it is.

Summary: Although born into nobility, Aralorn is now a mercenary and a spy. Having been born half shapeshifter, she possesses powerful green magic that allows her to sense the magic in other people and places, as well as transform into a variety of different living creatures. Her talents are unique because very few shapeshifters still exist, and as a result, she must be very secretive about what she can do.

Aralorn's long time companion is a wolf whose life she saved years earlier. She knows that Wolf if more than just an animal, but she never pushes him to divulge his true identity. Only after they team up with the King to fight a powerful enemy does Aralorn learn the truth about Wolf and his past. But by that point, nothing can sway her loyalty and affection toward her Wolf. The same is true of Wolf's feelings for Aralorn.

In order to fight the evil Geofrrey ae'Magi, Wolf must face a past that he hoped to never visit again. As much as he wants to protect Aralorn from his own destiny, she refuses to let him fight alone. Can they both survive the battle and save the true King?

Review: I read the more recently released version of this book. It was originally published in 1993 and went out of print shortly afterward. However, after achieving success in the writing world through her other series, Briggs decided to revisit and re-release this book. In the introduction to the book, Briggs talks about how bad she was at writing when she originally published this story. She says that she made some minor revisions (mostly by adding detail to the beginning of the story) and left the rest of the book intact. Granted, I have not read the original version. But having read the updated version, I think she was being unnecessarily hard on herself. I thought the book was really good.

Masques has all of the elements of a traditional fantasy novel. It is set in a make-believe world with all of the creatures and magic that you would expect to see in a book like this. The heroes are strong, loyal and brave. The villain is despicably evil. The storyline puts the heroes in dire circumstances, but allows them to prevail with help from the most unlikely people and places. In this regard, the story may not seem especially unique, but it was definitely memorable in its own right.

I liked all of the primary characters in this book; even the evil ones. They were all true to their natures throughout the entire book. There were no ridiculous misunderstandings, unnecessary bickering, or love triangles. These characters had a job to do, and none of them wasted time on frivolity.

With that being said, there was still a love story. It just wasn't the overly-sexed overly-dramatic kind of love story that we often see in paranormal romance. This one was sweet, honest, and pure throughout the entire book. It was such a wonderful change of pace to read such a straight-forward love story that I would have liked this book for that element alone. I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel.

"Masques" is a traditional fantasy novel. The 1993 version is one of my favorite novels, and I finally decided to read this re-written version. The author mainly added descriptions to the existing dialogue and action.

I love to read the 1993 version whenever I feel down because Aralorn has a wry sense of humor and can find humor in even the worst situations. And she loves to cheer other people up, too, and make them laugh at themselves for being so serious. She's a woman of action. Even when she knows there may be very bad consequences for her actions, she still does what's right. She risked her life to help others when she knew they wouldn't even thank her for it.

Due to the additions in the new version, Aralorn's humor is more muted. It's also a mask for her true feelings of terror and uncertainty about what to do and for her horrible nightmares. This is a more realistic reaction to the things she goes through (including torture), but it also isn't a book I'd read when I feel depressed about the world.

Though slower-paced than the original version, the new version still had a good level of suspense due to physical danger and relationship tensions. The added detail did bring the world more vividly alive, and the main characters still came across as intriguing, nice people.

There were no sex scenes, though it was implied that the bad guys raped women. There was a very minor amount of explicit bad language. There was torture, but the focus was more on healing the damage rather than the actual torture, so it wasn't very gory. There was fantasy magic and shape-shifters. Overall, I'd recommend this new version as an enjoyable fantasy.

Aralorn, a short, plain, and outspoken young lady who always hated to "sit and sew" in her father's court, works as a mercenary and spy. She's not particularly good with the sword (the staff is her weapon of choice), but her shapeshifting ability is a pretty useful skill. She's sometimes aided by the wolf she saved a few years ago. He comes and goes and Aralorn knows that he's more than he seems. When the evil mage Jeffrey starts planning world domination, Aralorn and Wolf plan to stop him.

Masques kept me entertained for 9 hours and 48 minutes (I listened to Brilliance Audio's version). Though there's nothing new in Patricia Briggs' debut novel, and not much that surprised or inspired me, it was pleasantly diverting. Masques is definitely predictable in places and it relies on a few too many convenient occurrences as well as several too-common fantasy elements, but Aralorn and Wolf are likable and well-developed. I'm not exactly attached to them, but I'd enjoy hearing more of their story in the sequel, Wolfsbane.

For me, one of the most interesting parts of Masques was the introduction by Patricia Briggs. She describes the history of the book (she started it in college), how she wrote it before she knew anything about writing, how she was shocked that it sold, and how poorly it did. It went out of print, but started selling for hundreds of dollars on the used market after she became successful with her other novels, including the very popular Mercy Thompson series. (I remember seeing those astounding prices for Masques when I constructed this page 3 years ago!). When Ace decided to publish Wolfsbane (out next week), they decided to reprint Masques (ha ha to all you folks who paid $250!) and invited Ms. Briggs to revise her debut novel. When she sat down to work on the first chapter, she was "squirming uncomfortably all the way through." She makes it clear that she's not completely enamored with her first effort, but that if she changed it to how she'd write it today, it would no longer be Masques. Thus, she polished it up a bit but left it mostly the same.

This audiobook was read by Katherine Kellgren who I admired when she read Tobias Buckell's The Executioness. She has a pleasant enthusiastic voice and speaks at a nice quick pace. I especially like her female voices because they're not too high-pitched. I didn't care too much for her voice for Wolf, though. His voice is supposed to be rough, so I think that's what she was going for, but it just sounded old to me. However, this issue is not enough to keep me from listening to Wolfsbane.

Masques is a must-read for Patricia Briggs fans -- they'll definitely be interested in this debut novel. It's a fun story and makes a nice bit of history.

Having read so many positive reviews, I hoped for some good fantasy writing and a new author to follow. But this is something one might submit for a class assignment. After having read 1/3 of the book one would think the plot would have begun to gel but it has not. Plenty of trite fantasy stuff but little character development or meaningful dialogue, something she likes to do is have a character say something in a way which surprises the person who is speaking! Now THAT is confusing! "I can't believe I said that the way I did" etc. It comes across as being very awkward as well as wordy, unclear and unnecessary. And that just scratches the surface of the problems with her writing and writing style. Not very interesting either.

Masques is the first book written by Patricia Briggs. Once you hear this book (or read it), you'll want to read everything else she publishes. The author is a very talented writer and even her very first book is well done. I will warn you that Masques is really a stand alone book, though it was written as the first in her Sianim Series. The other stories in the series do not deal with the main characters of this book and will be a disappointing read if that is what you were hoping for.
On to Masques. Aralorn is a main character. She has left her privileged life to be come a mercenary spy and with the help of her magical abilities becomes a fabulous one while attending the "academy." She is assigned to watch the AeMagi, Geoffrey, to unmask a plot that seems to be forming around him. Everyone believes that Geoffrey is a good mage, including Aralorn, until some secrets are revealed during her stay in his castle that shows just how evil he really is. Aralorn is not alone, however, in her pursuit to discover the truth and end Geoffrey's reign of terror. She has a faithful companion, Wolf, who she is sure is more than he seems. She rescued wolf from a trap and he's been her companion ever since, yet he doesn't fully act like a wolf should. Wolf's identity will be revealed before the end of the story. I was not prepared for it. Masque is full of danger, suspense, thrills, monsters (literal and otherwise) and mystery. You'll find you want to finish the story in one sitting whether it be listening to the wonderful audio version or reading the book. The only downside to the story is a few of my favorite characters do not make it to the end of the book.

I was looking for good audiobooks that would keep my wife and I entertained. We both are fantasy/sci-fi junkies, and when I say junkies, I mean junkies. We are voracious readers, and we love the brainy cerebral stuff, but we also love fluffy, more formulaic stuff. I thought that this would be a fluffy novel with not much new to offer, especially when I found out that it was a previously out of print first novel from a now established writer. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. The story is not very original--if you have grown up reading fantasy, nothing here is new. But what it does, it does really well. Fantasy should never be completely about the magic or quests--it should, at it's heart, be about people. What this book is, ultimately, is an engaging adventure about two friends, and their surprising relationship. The two lead characters (a strong, likeable heroine and a very interesting wolf creature) have a very interesting friendship, and an interesting evolution to their relationship as a whole. The adventures that adorn this relationship are always interesting, and there is a lot of excitement. The villain is delightfully over the top, an excellent target for the wrath of our heroes, and if the relationship between the good guys and the bad guys is not the mystery that I thought it was going to be, it was still good.

This is the second audiobook I have had with this reader (the other being the Excellent (and far more substantial) Blackout by Connie Willis), and I must say that she switched from literature quality sci-fi to teenage fantasy with great success here. Her voices are wonderful and her narration has just the right amount of wonder and humor to keep you listening.

If you are already a fan of Patricia Briggs, I think that this book could be a little odd--I understand that her style has smoothed out considerably and she is now a much more complex writer. But if you have never read her before, I have to say, this book will likely leave you ready to read more! I intend to dive into the Mercy series next!

3.5 Feathers
Reviewed by Francesca(Under the Covers Book Blog)

I want to mention a couple of things before I start getting into the story of this book. I read the revised version that Ms. Briggs re-released in 2011, not the original version of the book. This book is really more fantasy than urban fantasy, so it's good to make the distinction with readers. Now here's what I thought of Masques.

The first thing that I loved was the intro that Ms. Briggs did telling the reader a bit of the story of how she came to work on this book again and re-release it. It does seem like a project that was dear to her heart, as it was her first real book published, and the old issues had become a bit of a treasure to find. For us new Briggs fans it was a nice visit into a completely different world than what I'm used to reading by this author.

I'm not really big on fantasy books but this one had an element of connection that worked really well. Who? Aralorn and Wolf. She's a mercenary and she happens to rescue Wolf from certain death. From that point on they've been emotionally attached and he will go with her and cross her path when she needs him most.

Aralorn is also a shapeshifter and works as a spy as well as a mercenary. She is assigned with spying on a sorcerer. Amidst the spying and the inevitable war, Alanorn and Wolf learn more about each other. I loved their banter and their easy companionship. They felt effortless together.

I did feel the writing was a bit choppy and the scenes changed a bit abruptly at times, but it didn't take away from enjoying the story. I am looking forward to Wolfsbane.

I don't usually listen to audio books, mostly because I'll get frustrated because I read so much faster than the narrator performs. However, the advantage of audio books is that a good performer can make any book better with their inflections & various voices. That's kind of what I think happened here. I enjoyed the book but overall I feel that if I'd read it myself I might not have liked it as much as I liked the audio version.

This book already has several excellent synopses of it on here, so I'll not bother giving another one. The story dynamics will be familiar to those who have already read their share of high fantasy, although it is interesting to see Briggs' spin on everything. While this isn't the strongest of her books, it was fun to see how much promise her earlier self had. There's quite a bit of detail put into this world & Briggs did a good job of shaping it. I would have liked to have seen more of the side characters & details explored, but there is another book in the series. I can only hope that we get more answers in that book.

People who are looking for another Mercy book (or something similar) will be sort of disappointed. You can see where she drew upon the characters & situations in this book as inspirations for future characters, but for the most part this book stands by itself. There's really nothing new here as far as high fantasy goes, but it's still pretty fun to read. I'd just recommend either checking this out from the library before plunking down the money to buy the audio version or just go for the paperback. I'm curious to read the follow up book, but I'll admit that I'm not burning a path down to the bookstore to buy it.

I am terribly partial to Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series for a wide variety of reasons you can read in my reviews of its novels. Yet I managed to really dislike her spin-off Alpha and Omega stories. Funny how that works eh? Keeping that in mind please understand, dear reader, that I am primarily an urban fantasy fanatic, not a rabid reader of high fantasy. I do enjoy it, I just find most of it too epic to hold my interest for extended periods of time. How could I pass up the chance to try a favorite author's debut novel as an audiobook though?

Masques is one of those stories filled with the usual tropes and trappings consistent with epic fantasy. Very little of this story is particularly original (and this is coming from a reader who hasn't dabbled deeply into the "traditional" fantasy shelves). Aralorn is annoyingly "Mary-Sue", seeming to be good at everything with very few flaws or weaknesses, yet I found it to be a little strangely endearing. Knowing this is Briggs' first published novel it is easy to excuse some of these type of "no-nos", having read much of her later work it's enjoyable to see her growth as a writer.

The story itself is a little tedious, the villain is grossly villainy. The hero is oh-so-mysterious and a little bit creepy. I honestly couldn't see any chemistry between them but I was listening to the book and perhaps it translates better in print. And there in lays what I think won me over to giving this story an "I liked it" rating. The audio version is very well performed, the voices and accents adding a certain amount of characterization that the writing itself seemed not to have. The tale's pacing was a bit staggered and some of the actions chosen felt a bit unrealistic but overall this was a great listen.

If you're not a big high fantasy reader and you really want to give this one a try I do highly recommend giving the audiobook a chance. I think fans of her later work would especially enjoy seeing the dramatic growth Briggs has made in her writing.

I have the unabridged audio version, and when it first started, I wasn't expecting much. The story begins with a foreword by the author in which she explains that, basically, this isn't her best work. That was followed by the first few minutes of the story that, with the narrator's reading, I had a bit of trouble following and getting interested in. I considered just shutting it off...but I'm glad that I didn't!

After the first few minutes, I found myself starting to care about the characters and wanting to hear more. Honestly, I was a bit sad when the story ended because I wanted it to keep going. There are some main characters that I found quite interesting, and the villian of the story is a credit to villians everywhere.

I took away a star because I liked it but didn't love it. Here are some additional thoughts on that:
- The narrator is mostly enjoyable, but it wasn't easy for me to always follow who was speaking or transitions in the story. It would take me a few seconds to catch up when there would be a transition in the story that switched from one substory to another because there would just be a brief pause. Also, her character voices weren't the best, IMO, but they are generally good enough to follow. I agree with other reviews that trying to hear her voicing of Wolf was sometimes difficult in a car without turning up the volume - followed by quickly turning it down when she transitioned to another voice or the story.
- The story kept me interested, but it felt a bit superficial as there seemed to be a lack of description in a lot of places. This happened to be a bonus for me because I was listening in my car. I could follow the plot really easily even while driving, and a lot of descriptive elements might have made it more difficult. If I was just relaxing and listening for enjoyment, I think that I might have gotten bored with it and wanted some more details.

I had the privilege to try this for free, and for free - it's pretty good. At over twenty dollars (currently) for the CD version, I wouldn't recommend it. For me, that's a bit too much to spend on this version of the story. If it were read better or were more engaging, then perhaps. In its defense, though, I'd really have to love a book to recommend that anyone spend twenty dollars on it.

Masques has a long, rather irritating author's note in the beginning where Briggs almost seems to be apologizing for Masques. (Actually, she is) It is especially irritating because the performance artist uses Aralorn's voice to read the letter. Huh. I wish Briggs had. Anyway, what you need to know is that 1) Masques was her first work, and is therefore full of the nuances of a writer learning her craft and 2) Briggs has highly edited Masques from its original version.

Masques itself tells the story of Aralorn, mercenary, half-shifter, storyteller - and her Wolf - who battle a powerful and corrupt leader of Mages. Aralorn is the kind of character I expect from Briggs - tough with self-depreciating humor - definitely not a perfect beauty with unerring aim. Rather, Aralorn gets dirty, has a temper, is not physically perfect, and has moments of absolute terror. In short, Aralorn was my kind of girl.

Wolf is broken. I have no other way to describe him. He is lost within his own nightmare, unable to break free until Aralorn forces him to. He has so many layers that I was never sure what to expect.

That said, Masques is not her finest work. It was very choppy - which made me grateful it was an audiobook. At some points, Aralorn breaks from current events to musings, and it was hard to catch the transition. There are a lot of details that can be overwhelming and seem superfluous (a dragon, an unlikely love story in a mountain). However, in the greater work they have a purpose.

Bottom line: I love Briggs - but I'm glad this isn't the first of her work I came across as it could be a little long-winded at parts. She resurrected Masques to write its sequel, Wolfsbane (Aralorn) - and I will definitely be reading it. Masques was definitely a page turner that revved up my imagination. Definitely recommended.

Many reviewers remark on how this is her early work and it's not quite up to her standards. What nonsense! The characters are lovable the character development is interesting and appropriate for the time frame. The mythical stories of the realm are fun and it's a great fantasy. I've enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to wolfsbane

Many reviewers remark on how this is her early work and it's not quite up to her standards. What nonsense! The characters are lovable the character development is interesting and appropriate for the time frame. The mythical stories of the realm are fun and it's a great fantasy. I've enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to wolfsbane

Patricia Briggs starts out this novel with a background on where Masques has started and come from in her career as a writer. She provided an overview on how she has learned a great deal since writing it originally and once given the chance she added to the story to help mature its style without detracting or changing the story from its original.

As is true of all her stories, Patricia Briggs creates, through Masques, a situation of intrigue and mystery that has the reader engaged and filled with desire for a specific outcome before she slowly brings the story to exactly the outcome desired, but without it being predictable.

In this story a character is introduced as simply, "Wolf" and is later revealed as none other than... well I don't want to spoil it but needless to say he is tied to one of the most unlikely characters in one of the most unlikely ways. Through skillful foreshadowing, the author uses the nature of the heroine Aralorn to give the reader a glimpse into the possibilities of the other mages and wizards and innocent (some not so innocent) by-standers and players in the game. The author and the characters take you through the full gambit of emotion and skillfully plays out a story you will want to experience over and over again.

This is my first experience with Katherine Kellgren, who narrates the book, although she has recorded over 75 books and won multiple audio book awards. I found that it took a little for her voice to grow on me to the point where it seemed unnatural to drive my car without hearing her voice. This story is worth experiencing in any format, but it is a unique experience when the intonations of Ms. Kellgren are added into the mix.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book. The narrator did a great job.

This is a fun romp, a page-turning adventure, suitable for beach reading. A playful attitude is the best approach.

The characters were engaging, interesting, well written. In particular, I appreciated that the heroes were not perfect, and showed a sense of humor.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, exceeding my expectations. In the introduction to this newer edition, the author gives some background, and is so humble, almost apologetic about this book, which she had written many years ago, as an untrained, unpolished, non-mentored amateur at the time. Her modesty was refreshing in today's world of excessive hype where too many persons make exaggerated claims in self promotion. I found the book to be fairly well written; I would not have guessed that it was a first work.

The author explains, in the introduction, that she made some limited updates for this reissue, to fix some issues from the original version. The first few pages of the story were changed, but other changes were very minor. She chose to leave the plot and characters as they were.

I like to read fantasy stories occasionally, but not as frequently as real fans. This book is one of the more enjoyable.

I am looking forward to reading (or hearing) the sequels.

I seldom listen to audio books. Like others I read much faster than others speak (and heck I can speak fast too lol) and I usually find my mind drifting too much. However I do have a commute so thought I'd give a try.

I was surprisingly engaged in this one from the beginning. I really enjoyed the narrator - the pace was good, voices were well done, and I only found myself wandering rarely. I've read the later works of Patricia Briggs and enjoyed them immensely. I liked that the forward to the book had Ms. Briggs addressing when this book was written and stating outright she decided to keep much in on an edit - this helped me understand.

The story was excellent - true not as polished as later works but no less fun for me. Most of my fantasy is the urban type so this was a refreshing change. I enjoyed the world that was built, although some more fleshing out of it would have been nice. The descriptions were vivid - I could see much in them and it gave free reign to my imagination. There weren't any sudden jarring moments - everything flowed smoothly. The magic was interesting and gradually laid out - a mix of telling and showing which is my favorite way to obtain info.

Overall I very much enjoyed this. I will be picking up whatever else is offered by this author. Her writing, even in this earlier stage, is gripping and powerful but not overwhelming. It doesn't reach out and smack you but more just seeps in. Aralorn as a character is really exciting - kick you know what but not obnoxious, honest but tactful, resourceful, and yet oddly vulnerable at times. A win all around!

Patricia Briggs writes wonderful Urban Fantasy. Until I read Masques I had almost forgotten that she also writes really great Fantasy as well. Masques is the first book in a new series by Patricia Briggs and a great start.

Aralorn is a pretty cliche heroine for a Fantasy novel except that the's not pretty. As the bastard daughter of a powerful noble, Aralorn has all makings of your typical girl hero. She follows the script pretty well...she's got magic, she is good in a fight and she doesn't take orders from her boss. It's funny because it's the normal character sketch for a Urban Fantasy character as well. Briggs is so good a writing this character type that Aralorn is really great to read.

Set in a classic Fantasy world, Aralorn and her companion Wolf are faced with the task of spying on the most powerful Wizard, the ae'Magi. Using her magical powers, Aralorn is able to find out thing about this powerful magic-user that forces her to oppose him. Briggs does a good job of giving us fairly straight forward plotlines to follow while keeping a good pace to keep things interesting.

I really enjoyed Masques because it was like reading good Urban Fantasy that left out the Urban. Briggs is very good at giving you interesting characters that you can really like and for me that is central to a good story. Masques isn't truly High or Epic Fantasy because the level of plot complexity and the scope of events is pretty simple. That makes for a nice niche where you don't have to re-read things over and over to be able to ensure that you really understood everything going on. I am looking forward to Wolfsbane in November 2010.

Aralorn the shapechanger has been a spy for Sianim for years as the money is great. She is assigned to penetrate the Kingdom of Reth where the powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi has established a cruel dictatorship; her mission is to assess how potent the mage is and what he is scheming on beyond this beleaguered land. To Aralorn accompanied by Wolf, this is another easy task.

However, once inside she realizes how dangerous and powerful Geoffrey is. Aralorn quickly completes her mission and rushes back to Sianim to report. Only she now learns how far Geoffrey has ties as his insidious control reaches everywhere. With Wolf at her side, Aralorn the mercenary takes her first stand without a thought of money when she joins the resistance.

This is a revision of Patricia Briggs' first fantasy from the early 1990s; the sequel never released before will soon follow. The rebellion against magical evil story line is entertaining even without Mercy although the cast comes across stereotypical of the sub-genre. Still fans will root for Aralorn as she goes from avarice give me the money realist to rebel with a cause idealist.

Harriet Klausner

This is a rerelease of Patty's first novel, Masques. It's a bit rougher than her later work, but if you're a Patty Briggs fan, you'll enjoy it.

I know Patty, so I'm kind of biased. She's a really nice person, so when I heard the reader on this audiobook, I was taken aback. The reader sounds haughty and the first several minutes, I spent wondering why on earth I should listen to this story.

Well, I'll tell you why I did. For a first novel, it's pretty good. It's rough at the start with a fair amount of narrative and backstory that could've been woven in more adeptly with experience. There are relationships to characters that should've been foreshadowed earlier in the book but pops up at the time they're needed, giving a bit of a contrived feel. And there are some happy coincidences that pull you out of the suspension of disbelief. There's also some POV switches that are a bit clunky.

Despite all of this, the book is engaging. I kept listening because I wanted to know what happens. The characters are memorable and even though Aralorn comes off a bit as a PollyAnna, I still liked her. The book is fun and enjoyable, and while not up to Patty's later work, it's still work listening to. Don't expect the same polish as her later works, but you'll find it a worthwhile read.

Patricia Briggs can write and, even though this is one of her first popular ventures, her points of view of the characters and the in-depth portrayal of each major person in her story always shows through clearly. This novel is no exception.

However, the lack of a 5-star rating is due to the reader of this novel. While Katherine Kellgren has a clear reading voice, she has an out of step inflection that persists throughout the story that was so distracting at times I lost the story. Could be a personal preference, yet the reader is clearly articulate and easy to hear. In my case, however, her rhythm and inflection seemed out of step with the story.

Pretty good story. By the way, the author has a preface in which she explains how this is a newer and somewhat fresher version of the original story, based upon a more mature Patricia.

Patricia Briggs is a very successful novelist, known mostly for her urban fantasy series featuring the character Mercy Thompson. "Masques" was her first novel, first published in 1993 and now she has re-written it, smoothing out many of the first-time author clumsiness. I have not read that first version so I can't speak to the changes and improvements but the author herself, in the forward to this volume describes her love for that first novel and her great desire to make it better.

I found the novel to be a good read, nothing too sophisticated, and not so "literate" that it becomes boring. The heroine, Aralorn, is a shape-shifter and a spy and along with her companion, Wolf, she gets in several adventures during the course of this novel. The plot is fairly straight-forward and includes some intrigue, fights, and romance. I would recommend this for readers who like their fantasy light, their characters endearing, and appreciate follow-on novels in a series.

I'm updating my review to include masques-beta (as another reviewer called it). For non-Briggs fans, let me explain:

Masques was Patricia Brigg's first published book published approximately 15 years ago. It went out of print and not many copies are left (at one point the book was selling for $1,000). After 15 years, Patricia was allowed to not only re-release Masques, but re-edit it.

The differences:
The underlying story is the same. All the scenes from Masques-alpha are present in Masques-beta. A prologue was added to Masques-beta that wasn't present in Masques-alpha: the story of how Aralorn and Wolf first met (I loved that!). Patricia didn't make any huge overhauls, but did elimiate the POV-jumping, smoothed out transitions, changed some "telling" to "showing," and generally corrected all the "beginner" mistakes from masques-alpha. Masques-beta is longer, but it's still a small book. Somehow, Masques-beta seemed darker, and I'm not sure I liked that. I know there are dark characters and events, but Aralorn always seemed to easily spring back from anything. I'm worried she isn't going to be as spunky and playful in the sequal. I really don't want Aralorn to become dark and emotionally tortured.

I'm torn. I'm a loyal fan of Masques-alpha, but I do like Masques-beta. I almost wish Patricia had made more changes, rather than less.

My original review of Masques-alpha:
I bought this book back when it was first released from a second-hand bookstore for about $1. I just recently got around to reading it again and I was shocked to look on the store and see what it's going for now! Even so, I like the book enough that I think I'll keep my copy.

I understand that this was the author's first book. The book is very short, and even the author admits on her website that it suffers from errors commonly made by new authors (nothing really stood out too much to me other than the occassional mid-scene jump in perspective). I think the book would have been better had it been longer. The book talks about Wolf's backstory, and it sounded like a very interesting one (which I'll avoid so as not to give away spoilers). I would love to see the author write a prequel focusing on Wolf.

If you are a big fan of Ms. Briggs and like collecting her work, it might be worth the money, just so you can have the complete Briggs collection. Otherwise I'd suggest trying to find someone to loan it to you.

Masques tells the story of Aralorn and Wolf as they fight against an evil high mage. They both use magic, shape shifting, and their fighting skills to overcome the many obstacles they face. I like that they can be very serious and also have a good sense of humor.

MASQUES is an update/rewrite of Briggs' first published novel; this version is an unabridged audio CD. Caveat Emptor: I don't generally listen to audio books as they have, in the past, uniformly put me to sleep. This book did not. Katherine Kellgren was never boring to listen to, handled the various voices of a wide variety of characters in a manner that was not confusing to the listener. The story is fairly typical - bad magician taking over his world, good magicians fighting him, a romance that is obvious but not insipid. Fans of Briggs' more recent works will probably enjoy this. Fans of the genre ditto. I listened to it in small chunks of time (usually around 20 minutes or so) with a few longer trips of 45 minutes to an hour. I never lost track of where I was in the story. This has almost converted me to audio books, which was a pleasant surprise.

Masques was the first book Patricia Briggs published, and it went out of print a long time ago. This reissue was reworked and released to support a sequel she wrote. The story has been updated to fix some of the issues found in the original version, but overall the author seems to have only added descriptives and some minor cosmetic changes. Overall, the story is about the same.

Masques isn't Patricia Briggs's best book by any stretch of the imagination. The story is full of cliches and is obviously an early work. However, it is a fun story and I would recommend it to friends.

For me, the best part of the book was the introduction where the author talks about her publishing experiences and the reworking of Masques. I found it inspirational.

This edition of Masques includes an introduction by the author, and it's worth listening to. We get the story of the story, then the story itself. The story itself promises to be a good old traditional fantasy story, but the plot goes places I hadn't anticipated, but places where, on reading, it feels right that it should go. The characters are strong, likeable, and human. The magic is consistent with itself; it's an interesting system. There is something especially appealing about the closeness that our heroes have with nature and with the animal world. Old Wolf is about as far from a classic werewolf as I can imagine.

I'll be listening to this again, and probably again and again, from time to time. There's something satisfying about a well-crafted fairy tale, and this is one.

I'm a fan of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and I had known that she had an earlier series of which Masques was the first book, but I never obtained a copy of its first incarnation. I liked at the beginning of the audiobook there is an introduction from the author explaining the background regarding the original publication and this subsequent revision. Not having read the original, I can't compare this version to that one.

What I can say is that this story quickly sucks the reader into its world. In the beginning, as the characters and settings were being introduced, there was a hint of familiarity about it - but then again, I've read a lot of fantasy stories with a female warrior/spy in the lead so that was probably the cause of the sense of deja vu. But as the story progressed I realized that this was a new story for me. Others have already summarized the plot, so I won't repeat their effort. Let me just say that Aralorn is an interesting character and I appreciate the fact that her only striking physical feature is her eyes. I'm not usually fond of animal lead characters in stories, but then again, Wolf is not quite that, is he? ;->

I enjoy Ms. Briggs' writing; she knows how to tell a story and how to write convincing dialog. Whatever changes she might have made to the original story just serves, IMO, to bring it up to her current level of writing expertise.

Since this is the audiobook version that I am reviewing, I want to say that initially, the narrator's voice seemed to be a bit sharp to me - not annoyingly so, but noticeable. I just adjusted the EQ setting on my radio to compensate for it. She does a good job of trying to differentiate the character voices and give them their own personalities, something that I always appreciate in a narrator. I also appreciate the fact that the CD's came in a plastic case, with slide-in pages for each CD; I don't know if that is just how the review copy was issued or if it is also how the retail version is being released. Another thing that I appreciate is that this is an unabridged version; IMO, unabridged versions are a waste of everyone's time and have no reason to exist.

I have to say, it is hard to leave the audiobook down in the car and wait until the next day to continue to listen to the story. I'm glad there are more books in this series.

Every great author has to begin somewhere -- and with Patricia Briggs, it started with "Masques." Briggs' first novel is pretty obviously a first novel, since she hadn't yet gotten a solid grip on her pacing and her characterization, but there are flickers of brilliance in her shapeshifting heroine and vivid writing.

Aralorn is a shapeshifting spy who gets sent on some various dangerous missions with her friend Wolf, even to spy on the lethal Geoffrey ae'Magi (who uses magic to make people adore him... kind of like a politician). When the crown prince Myr is accused of murdering one of his guards, she knows that the ae'Magi has somehow framed Myr -- and she and Wolf quickly join a small, ragtag rebellion that Myr is forming.

But Aralorn soon discovers that Wolf has some horrendous secrets in his past, some of which involve the ae'Magi and his bloody magic. With zombielike Uriah and a dragon waiting outside Myr's caves -- and the ae'Magi intent on capturing some of their party -- Aralorn and Wolf must find a way to defeat the magician before he gains control of the whole country.

When reading "Masques," it's pretty obvious that this was a very early Briggs work -- the narrative is rather choppy, the worldbuilding is fuzzy (what are these countries again?), and everything bounces from crisis to crisis at a breakneck pace. It's definitely not a bad novel, but it has all the earmarks of an early work, written before the author's rough edges had been rubbed off.

But there are hints of Briggs' future brilliance in the story -- her prose is vivid and colorful ("led by a small, grey fox with ageless, sea-green eyes"), and it has moments of dry humor ("Nothing's going to get us but ghosts and vampires and other nice things that feed on stupid people who ride in the woods after dark"). And she evokes some feelings of pure horror, such as when Aralorn sees an old buddy turned into one of the Uriah.

And the storyline slows down and becomes smoother in the book's second half, as Briggs works out various storylines (the ae'Magi's master plan) and weaves together the various subplots.

There's also a nice romantic subplot for Aralorn and Wolf, both of whom are oddities -- she's a young shapeshifting spy with a lot of guts and kindness, and he's a cynical, scarred magician with some nasty ties to the ae'Magi. There are also some nice supporting characters such as the magic-immune Myr, the dignified dragon, and a spattering of others.

"Masques" is a pretty immature piece of work, compared to Patricia Briggs' later fantasy books. But it's still an entertaining, action-packed little novel with a likable heroine.

There's something that is charming about Patricia Briggs' novels and I did really enjoy this book. Though she re-released this book (with new editing and writing), most of the story is from the original source material. I will admit that the story isn't the most original and there's a lot of similarities between this and her later works, but the characters she creates are just so entertaining and endearing to me, that I just don't care. I love her characters and even though the main character in this is identical to Mercy from the Mercedes Thompson series, I still loved reading about her.

So, no, this isn't the most original of her books and it's very similar to many of her other books, but it doesn't matter--it's still a fun read.

I love Patricia Briggs. She writes short -but vastly entertaining - reads...It is a refreshing change to see strong female leads in fantasy novels. Briggs also has a natural gift for adding just the right amounts of humor and suspense to her tales. I am so glad that publishers have woken-up and decided to re-print her earlier works like Masques, and Steal the Dragon, as they are both masterpieces. Buy this book about this sexy and mysterious shape shifter, and then witness your life change for the better.

Also, look forward to a sequel coming soon!

Thank you Mrs. Briggs

Relic113

This is how Masques should have been from the start! The unabridged version of Masques is deeply enthralling and exquisitely entertaining. Combined with the excellent narration of the audio book version, which is an absolute pleasure to listen to, it is hard to want to take a break until the very end. The story is rich with melodrama, and doesn't take itself too seriously. It is wonderful to find such a work that doesn't mind having a little fun with not only the reader, but with the story itself. I couldn't help but find myself wanting to delve back into the story whenever I had the time. Such a fast-paced, exciting story that is sure to keep you on edge.

Masques (1993, 2010) is the first Fantasy novel in the Sianim series. This version was revised and published in 2010.

In this novel, Aralorn was the Staff Page, Runner and Scout for the Sixth Field One Hundred when she discovered Wolf. She now works for the spymaster of Sianim. She is a Shapeshifter and has some Green Magic talents.

Wolf was ill when he was discovered by Aralorn. He was using his wolf identity when she found him. Over the past four years, she has discovered that he also can use the identity of a human. He is a wizard with great powers.

Sheen is a warhorse. Aralorn's father had left him to her.

Geoffrey is the ae'Magi. He is the premier wizard in the land.

Myr is the new King of Reth. His parents were recently killed.

Ren is the spymaster of Sianim.

In this story, Wolf was being sought by his master. He had fallen into a pit, but the stakes were rotten. However, he broke a leg in the fall.

Aralorn was returning to her unit when she found Wolf in the pit trap. She couldn't lift him out of the pit, so she used Sheen of pull him out. Then she took him to her unit.

Now Aralorn has an assignment spying on the ae'Magi. She frees a slave and takes her place. Yet she is kept in captivity for several weeks. She has learned much about the cruelty of the ae'Magi.

Now she is kept in a silver cage and wears the illusion of a snow falcon. The new King has been observing her. He wanders over and asks if he can do anything for her.

She is shocked that he can see the human under the disguise. Then she remembers that he is immune to magic. Geoffrey joins him and they talk about the falcon.

After Myr leaves, Geoffrey addresses Aralorn. He promises her a bit of torture when the crowd departs. Geoffrey is a charming man even when he is applying the lash.

Aralorn decides to escape that evening. The servants soon clean up the ballroom. Aralorn changes to a mouse and escapes through a drain pipe.

When she gets out of the castle, Wolf confronts her. He has brought Sheen to her. She rides him through the woods.

This tale takes Aralorn back to Sianim. She reports to Ren. Then she finds some friends and engages them in weapons practice.

Aralorn learns that Geoffrey has subverted her friends. Only Wolf is aware that Geoffrey is a beast. Even Ren seems to be caught in Geoffrey's spell.

Aralorn discovers the extent of Geoffrey's spells the hard way. The next installment in this sequence is Wolfsbane.

Highly recommended for Briggs fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of political intrigue, shapechangers, and wizardry. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

In the Introduction Patricia Briggs, herself sums up this completely average fantasy novel as a first attempt lucky enough to get published. Despite being revised from it's original 1995 version this is still very much a typical "C-average" fantasy cribbed 90% from Tolkien and 10% from C.S. Lewis.

That being said, this review is for the audio version of this book:

So little is new here that even the narrator, Katherine Kellgren, who speaks with a clipped uppercrust voice begins to grow undisguised in her own boredom and impatience. As the book is unabriged, well before the nine hours are up Ms. Kellgren's voice becomes increasingly arrogant and grating. Her intonation for Aralorn (yes, the names do sound like they were lifted from Lord of the Rings.) is so girly it's difficult to remember that the character is not only a grown woman but a worldly mercenary/spy. While her vocals for Wolf is so low as to only be heard clearly when the volume is turned up. Afterwards your eardrums will be blown out when Ms. Kellgren resumes her natural narative voice.

Before the first disc is over the lisener may feel that Ms. Kellgren's vocal talent's are perhaps a bit much for this type of story and might lend themselves better to the pulpit of an Honor's English class lecturer.

Passable - but just barely.

I began listening to this CD audiobook & had a really hard time turning it off. It was that engaging. Basically finished it in 2 listenings, one in the afernoon & the other the next day. The narrator was very good with her delivery & interpretation of the story. I'll be listening to other audiobooks by this author very soon plus recommending this audiobook to others.

Patricia Briggs writes books filled with characters you can't help but like. They have a sense of humor about themselves, aren't omnipotent, care about others, and have fears and flaws that enable us to relate to them. Masques is her first book and I've read on her Web site that a sequel is planned, possibly sometime in 2006. The world of Masques is interesting and original and her characters Alalorn, the shapechanging female lead who has a gentle sense of humor even during times of intense stress, and Wolf, the enigmatic and powerful male lead, are wonderful characters you want to learn more about.

Based solely on the introduction by the auther at the beginning of this book, I did not begin to read it with high expectations. I have since decided that Ms. Briggs seems to be overly self-critical of her first work. I loved this book as much as I love her later novels. She is an excellent storyteller, and the characters & relationships are always well-developed.

I really liked this story, it was simple and predictable, but it was still a cute and interesting story. No this isn't a literary masterpiece, but it's a nice clean story that's definitely interesting and kept my attention. I really liked this and the sequels that follow are good as well.

Aralorn is a shapeshifter - and a spy. However, she would be in deep trouble if it weren't for her friend Wolf. Having rescued Wolf years earlier, she only knew him as a wolf, until she happens upon a subversive plot on an assignment and finds him to be a powerful sorcerer and shapeshifter. Drawn into a plan to save the royalty of her country as well as the people from a powerful sorcerer, Aralorn and Wolf have to work together and trust each other - something that doesn't come easily to either one. This is a Great Story! I love Briggs' books.

I obtained this book through my library (through interlibrary loan - borrowing it from another library at no charge to myself).
I've read half of it now (it's only 200 pages in length) and I can't say it'd even be worth buying at $7.99. At least 60 pages of the books (so far) involve library research and training to fight in camp (not overly exciting stuff to me). It reads more like a comic book to me, with character history that has little depth to it.
I loved When Demons Walk and Moon Called, but not Steal the Dragon (which has the spymaster Ren in it, which this book also has)or many of Ms. Briggs' other books.
The books I tend to buy are those I will read again and again, but this is not one of those!

Patricia Briggs creates a magical realm that is full of captivating characters, logical order and therefore believable. There is so much more to learn about Aralorn and Wolf. I look forward to reading more of the series.

I do not usually select audiobooks but I have recently discovered that they are so nice to do while getting that dreaded cardio workout in. This story has action, mystery and suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed it!