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Title: ILARIO: THE LION'S EYE |  |
Ilario was born a true hermaphrodite, good for not much more than to play the freak for an Iberian king's pleasure. Finally freed from slavery, Ilario heads to Carthage, in hopes that the permanent darkness of the Penitence will provide inspiration to become one of the great painters of the age. But fortune doesn't smile on Ilario who is drugged and sold into slavery once again, and followed by the mother that abandoned Ilario as a baby.
Rosamunda is out to kill the embarrassment that is Ilario and save herself and her husband's reputation and possible expulsion from the wealth and luxury offered by their positions in the king's court. Ilario's new owner, the enigmatic Alexandrian, has other ideas and uses his influence to have Rosamunda sent back to Iberia in a diplomatic incident.
Ilario must be taken to safety, and Rome, with its reputation for painters that are breaking with tradition beckons. Ilario yearns to paint like the masters, not using the old traditions of iconography but to paint in the realistic style. It will be dangerous, yet there are compensations as Ilario's true father gets to meet, and befriend his long lost son-daughter. While the relationship gets off on a rocky start, Ilario is surprised and pleased that the rich soldier is a compassionate and loving man who will do everything within his power to compensate for the time lost between father and child.
Ilario is set in the world of Ash, an alternate history where the Papal Chair of Rome has stood empty for centuries, and Carthage lies under the permanent darkness of the Penitence. While an interesting concept, the story seems to meander along and the intrigues often seem unreal or at least unconvincing. While it is meant to be a stand alone novel, some of the story (like the Penitence) is presented with little or no explanation, presumably as it was covered in the companion novel.
I have no doubt that there will be a willing and eager readership of this book, however, despite the obvious skill of the writer it just didn't grab me. It came across as a single plot point (the hermaphrodite) being explored at an indecent length to stretch it into a novel.