The Series
News
Titles
Reviews
The Series
The country of Talia, where the Stravaganza novels are set, is an Italy of a parallel dimension, in the sixteenth century. It is just a bit over the top – more Italian even than Italy, which is how my oldest daughter says I see that country.
The idea for the series, which I first had ten years ago, was originally for a trilogy. But there are at least six books in the sequence now and might one day be more: there are twelve city-states in Talia and each has its own story.
City of Masks (2002)
City of Stars (2003)
City of Flowers (2005)
City of Secrets (2008)
City of Ships (2010)]
City of Swords (2012)
The books are now published by Bloomsbury as paperback originals in the UK and as hardbacks in the USA. Every time a new book comes out I write a new story for the Stravaganza website (new window) and bring the site up to date.
Bloomsbury have produced a Stravaganza leaflet and bookmark. If you would like one, please email childrensmarketing
bloomsbury.com
If you are a Facebook user, you can find the Following pages by typing them into the search box:
Official Stravaganza Page
Luciano and Arianna Page
www.fanfiction.net now has a Stravaganza thread. Please do read it and write some of your own.
There a lot about Stravaganza on the Mary Hoffman page of the Chronicles network:
To find out about the possibility of more Stravaganza books or a film, be sure to visit my FAQs page.
News
Stravaganza: City of Ships has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
Titles
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For a synopsis of the first books, click here: http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/5118/Stravaganza-City-of-Ships-by-Mary-Hoffman.html See also the extra information. |
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Reviews
City of Masks
The book teems with operatic intrigue, murder, masks, mortality and love. A deftly handled novel with constantly shifting images.
I can only say that I wish I’d thought of it first.
Linda Newbery, TES Teacher, 2002
Hoffman has created a viable alternative world with a Venice that is not quite Venice but that still retains all the romance associated with exquisite masquerades and court politics.
Bulletin of the centre for children’s books, 2002
....one of the most exciting adventures I’ve read in years.
Wendy Cooling, The Children’s Bookseller, 2002
This is a highly entertaining, full-blooded fare for readers who love a drama. Hoffman builds a complex narrative framework for her involved and involving plot, but includes space for genuine emotional engagement with characters at both ends of the timeline.
The Guardian, 2002
This competent time-travel-alternate-world novel scores high marks for world building.
VOYA, 2002
City of Stars
…storytellling at its best.
The Bookseller, 2003
This is a children’s book… but I defy anyone not to get hooked on it.
Daily Express, 2005
City of Flowers
I was barely allowed to finish it before my god-daughter snatched it away with breathless excitement. “It’s all so real!” she drooled.
The Independent, 2005
…the consistently interesting and versatile Hoffman has caught up all the threads from her first two books to weave a baroque thriller about art, murder, love and family, and does not descend into escapism.
The Times, 2005
The novel is a rollercoaster of a ride through the perfume and poison making of the city, to the plots and political marriages of the rulers. The sword fighting seems very realistic and the resultant slaughter appropriate for the 16th century. Talia is unforgettable – these novels, and particularly this third volume, are written with huge imagination, obviously based on meticulous research.
School Librarian, 2005
City of Secrets
This is the fourth book in a series that has already attracted great praise in these pages – ‘impossible to put down’, ‘An absolute triumph’ – all of which holds true for City of Secrets. I hadn’t read the previous books but, like Hoffman’s new hero, I found myself immediately transported into the fantastic parallel world of Renaissance Italy and couldn’t wait to get back to it every night.
Dyslexic Matt has just turned seventeen when he discovers, like fellow pupils before him, that he is a Stravagante and can travel betwen the modern world and sixteenth-century Padavia (Padua). There he is apprenticed to Professor Constantin in the University Scriptorium, printing radical texts and books of spells.
He meets the eccentric Elizabethan Englishman, Dr Dethridge, and is befriended by Luciano – a young nobleman destined to marry the duchess Arianna but forced into hiding after killing one of the powerful di Chimici clan. The vengeful di Chimici are also set on stamping out all unorthodox practices and these are dangerous times for anyone associated with the world of magic.
If that were not enough, back home Matt is also on the verge of losing hs girlfriend! The dual life conceit is elaborately and ingeniously executed but it is the Talian world that really enthrals. This is the world of Shakespearean tragedy, brilliantly imagined, rich in period detail and peipled with a wonderful cast of characters. A celebration of Italian Renaissance culture and the power of the printed book, City of Secrets is a thrilling read and an exciting addition to an acclaimed fantasy series.
Adam Sherratt School Librarian 56-3 Autumn 2008
City of Ships
I suppose we all want to be one of those teenagers in Barnsbury. The one who thought they were nothing special, who wakes up somewhere very strange one morning, and discovers they are very special indeed. A whole new life in Talia, four hundred years ago, and with an important role to play in Talia’s history.
The Bookwitch
see http://bookwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/city-of-ships/ for full review
This is a breathtaking time-travel story to a parallel world that’s packed with non-stop action, pirates and drama. It’s the fifth in the Stravaganza sequence and it will electrify and delight. Intrigue, adventure, magic and excitement are the trademark ingredients for this series and for those new to it it’s not absolutely essential to read the first four particularly as the author, Mary Hoffman has very kindly provided a snapshot of the story to date.
Julia Eccleshare, www.lovereading4kids.co.uk