Nectar from a Stone by Jane Guill
Started Reading: August 2, 2007
Finished Reading: August 3, 2007
This is a romance set in the 14th century, where we also have murder, betrayal, madmen, soldiers, and politics weaved into a single story. I enjoyed it, yes. =) It had been a wonderful read since I thoroughly enjoyed and liked the characters.
Elise was an orphaned young woman but was abused by her husband. She had been enduring the abusive marriage for two years until one night, in defense she almost killed him. She and her faithful servant, Annora, threw the good-for-nothing man into the river and started a journey to a faraway town.
Of course, all heroines have a hero and for this novel, hers is a rake and a rogue, dark and tall, stereotypically, who’s out for revenge. They meet, fall in love - or in lust, get into trouble, bleed, almost die, and then finally the two live happily ever after.
The end.
But, more than that, the best parts of the novel and the main reason I loved it is when Sir Nicolas was involved (and, no, it has nothing to do with the name, LOL). He’s probably one of the few villains I actually came to like and love. In this case, I might have been more interested to to read what had happened if things actually went the way he wanted them too. And he isn’t even actually the Master villain - he’s more like another pawn of a worse character. But because he was actually insane, I liked him even more. I just had to laugh at the contradictory aspects of his dynamic character.
He is a noble, dependent on his loyal follower named Dexter (who’s as blind to his master’s faults as his master to what connotes as “sin”). Despite the crimes of Sir Nicolas, he remains to be terribly superstitious and somewhat religious - in his own twisted way. It makes his character all the more interesting to read. He regards the heroine of the story as his “sister”, a kindred spirit, in a naive way (and in a sense he seems to be naive and jaded at the same time). He may be terribly mad and wicked, but he can’t see a lie when someone says it to his face. He’s handsome, fashionable, yet he isn’t just a fool. He can be smart, but he’s also weird to a point that he actually seems foolish. He’s a very complex character, and very insane. I can’t even say if he can be held responsible for all his crimes given the fact that he wasn’t sane to start with.
Apart from him, I also enjoyed Gwydion’s dry humor and sarcastic remarks. More than the plot itself, I liked the characters more. Though the plot wasn’t poor. It developed a little suspense, some action, a little more romance and attraction, and a good deal of character development (especially in Thomas). The shifting scenes gave the reader more understanding of the story, though there were parts (mostly during Maeldwyn’s recuperation) that were a bit dragging, some were necessary for the plot.
This was a good read and I’m glad Power books went on sale that I was able to buy it. 
(It was priced at Php715, originally. My poor pocket would burn a hole into it if I had bought it at that price. But at P214, it was more “buyable”.)
Tags: Jane Guill