In 1989, Ariel Behn, a nuclear security expert from Idaho, finds
herself heir to a mysterious pile of manuscripts when her beloved cousin
Sam is killed. (Or is he really dead?) The manuscripts, it seems, hold
the key to an ancient and powerful secret. Shortly after Sam's funeral,
Ariel's boss sends her to Europe with the handsome, mysterious Wolfgang
Hauser, with whom Ariel falls in love at first sight. But is Wolfgang to
be trusted? As Ariel is soon to find out, nothing is as it seems. With
every step of her journey through Europe, Ariel discovers something new
about her extremely complex family, all of whom were involved in the quest
for the secret behind the manuscripts. The story of the Behn family and
their lives in Europe between the World Wars, told in flashbacks, is
really at the heart of the book.
Besides the story of Ariel and the Behn family, there is a parallel
(but much shorter) plot set in ancient Rome, Jerusalem, and Britain,
involving the apostles, the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius,
and Nero, as well as many more historical figures, all of whom were in
search of the same secret contained in Ariel's manuscripts. Part of the
fun of The Magic Circle is figuring out how all of this is tied
together.
The Magic Circle is a wonderful book. Ariel is a complex
character, who has faults and makes mistakes. Of all Katherine Neville's
heroines, she is the one who seems most like a real person. I also loved
the incredible complexity of this book. Katherine Neville's knowledge of
history is amazing. I learned so much from reading this novel! For
example, did you know that "Ariel" was another name for Jerusalem? Did
you know that the tradition of hunting for Easter eggs did not start with
Easter, but with a Greek festival in honor of the goddess Artemis? I
didn't, until I read this book, and there are many more examples I could
have given.
The book is so complex that at first I was not sure how everything
would fit together. At the end it does, but to say too much would be to
spoil the book. I did find the ending slightly anticlimactic, but that is
only a minor complaint.
The only other problem I had with The Magic Circle was with
Ariel's family relations. The Behns have one of the most convoluted
family trees I have ever seen, and I found some of the revelations about
the family, particularly towards the end of the book, a little hard to
take. Interestingly, the Roman imperial family also had an extremely
convoluted genealogy, and I'm sure that Katherine Neville chose this
parallel on purpose. But, again, this is only a minor problem with what
is otherwise a wonderful book.
Is it as good as The Eight? In my opinion, not quite, but
that's not saying much, since The Eight is my favorite novel of all
time. I would still consider The Magic Circle one of my favorite
books.
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