In this rich and engrossing tale, Vonda N. McIntyre proves once again that her plotting and mastery of language are among the best in the business. The Moon and the Sun, which won the 1997 Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is the story of Marie-Josèphe, a young lady in the court of Louis XIV. When her brother Yves returns from a naturalist voyage with two sea monsters (one live, one dead), Marie-Josèphe is caught up in a battle of wills involving the fate of the living creature. The king intends to test whether the sea monster holds the secrets of immortality, but Marie-Josèphe knows the creature to be an intelligent, lonely being who yearns only to be set free. In a monumental test of the limits of patience and love, Marie-Josèphe defies the will of the king, her brother, and the pope in defense of what she knows is right, at any cost. McIntyre's atmospheric prose envelops the reader in a fully realized world--sights, smells, and sounds are described in great detail. The author completely represents the Sun King's court at Versailles--her research for the book must have been quite extensive. The blend of history, science, and fantasy makes for a book you will want to gulp down. --Therese Littleton

From Library Journal
A successful sf writer takes a stab at alternate history in this Gothic tale featuring a captured sea monster in 17th-century France.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
A Jesuit scientist, dispatched on an expedition by Louis XIV, brings a female "sea monster" back to the court. The king thinks the creature will enhance his glory and may hold the secret of immortality. But the Jesuit's younger sister, Marie-Josephe, newly come to Versailles, soon discovers that the newcomer is anything but monstrous. The revelation brings both females into collision with the Jesuit, the pope, and Louis himself. McIntyre has done her historical homework, as is evident in a superbly realized setting, and she executes the plot with superior skill. But her characterization is uneven, with the sea lady rising head and shoulders above the human protagonists, who are a trifle wooden and occasionally tainted by didacticism. But this is the only weakness in a splendid historical fantasy that shows sf star McIntyre admirably opening new territory. Roland Green

From Kirkus Reviews
Historical fantasy set in 1693 at the court of Sun King Louis XIV of France, from the author of Superluminal (1983), etc. In an age when the king's slightest whim has the force of an absolute command and the underclasses stand at the palace gates pleading for bread, Louis orders the natural philosopher and Jesuit priest Yves de la Croix to capture certain sea monsters that, he hopes, will yield the secret of immortality. Yves returns with a male corpse and a live female: She's of human aspect except for her green hair, webbed fingers and toes, and twin tails in place of legs. As the king observes closely, Yves dissects the dead male, seeking the organ of immortality. Yves's sister Marie-JosŠphe, convent-raised and nun-educated, sketches the procedure and attempts to train the captive female in her pool. Marie-JosŠphe, whose many flourishing talents bring her into conflict with the Pope and with Louis's courtiers, comes to understand the sea woman's eerily beautiful singing language; meantime, she also falls in love with soldier, Arab expert, king's advisor, and atheist Count Lucien the dwarf. Typically, however, despite Marie-JosŠphe's pleas, Louis rejects the sea woman's intelligence and humanity, and agrees to free her only after she has paid an enormous ransom; while for defying the king, Marie-JosŠphe and Lucien face exile and impoverishment. A dazzling and spirited evocation of the passions, intrigues, and preconceptions of the age, along with a dandy pair of misfit, star-crossed lovers: an enchanting slice of what-if historical speculation. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
Diana Gabaldon A wonderful book! Adventure, love, history, magic -- it's an engrossing story with magnificent characters, balanced perfectly on the edge between enchantment and belief.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By the fiftieth year of his reign, Louis XIV has made France the most powerful state in the western world. Yet the Sun King's appetite for glory knows no bounds. In a bold stroke, he sends his natural philosopher on an expedition to seek the source of immortality - the rare, perhaps mythical, sea monsters. For the glory of his God, his country, and his king, Father Yves de la Croix returns with his treasures: one heavy shroud packed in ice...and a covered basin that imprisons a shrieking creature. The living sea monster, with its double tail, webbed hands, long tangled hair, and gargoyle face, provides a grotesque yet intriguing experiment for the king and his natural philosopher. And Marie-Josephe de la Croix looks forward to assisting her adored brother Yves in its scientific study. Yet the creature's gaze and exquisite singing foretell a different future.... Soon Marie-Josephe finds herself contemplating choices that defy the institutions which power her world - king, country, church, even her brother. Somehow she must build the courage to follow her heart and her convictions - even at the cost of changing her life forever.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Inspired by tales of ancient sea-monsters, McIntyre The Crystal Star spins a marvelous alternative-history fable about greed and goodness, power and pathos set at the 17th century court of Louis XIV, France's glittering Sun King. At breathtaking (and chilly) Versailles, Louis pays for his glory by sacrificing his comfort and privacy. He lusts after bodily immortality and unending treasure, and he hopes to find both by devouring the entrails of a sea-woman trapped by Jesuit explorer Yves de la Croix. Enthralled by the creature's songs and telepathic tales, Yves's musician sister Marie-Josphe must defy brother, king and Pope to save the sea-woman from the court butcher. Marie-Josphe isn't alone in her proto-ecofeminist struggle. She finds an ally (and lover) in Lucien, Comte de Chrtien, a great-hearted dwarf whose inner pain and essential nobility recall Cyrano and Quasimodo. Drawing on deep research (detailed in an afterword), McIntyre vividly re-creates a Versailles poised on the cusp between alchemy and modern science. Her imaginings enliven her history with wonder, but, as in the best fantasy, they serve less to dazzle by their inventiveness than to illuminate brilliantly real-world truths about humanity's responses, base and noble, when confronting the unknown.

Library Journal

A successful sf writer takes a stab at alternate history in this Gothic tale featuring a captured sea monster in 17th-century France.

Kirkus Reviews

Historical fantasy set in 1693 at the court of Sun King Louis XIV of France, from the author of Superluminal (1983), etc. In an age when the king's slightest whim has the force of an absolute command and the underclasses stand at the palace gates pleading for bread, Louis orders the natural philosopher and Jesuit priest Yves de la Croix to capture certain sea monsters that, he hopes, will yield the secret of immortality. Yves returns with a male corpse and a live female: She's of human aspect except for her green hair, webbed fingers and toes, and twin tails in place of legs. As the king observes closely, Yves dissects the dead male, seeking the organ of immortality. Yves's sister Marie-Josèphe, convent-raised and nun-educated, sketches the procedure and attempts to train the captive female in her pool. Marie-Josèphe, whose many flourishing talents bring her into conflict with the Pope and with Louis's courtiers, comes to understand the sea woman's eerily beautiful singing language; meantime, she also falls in love with soldier, Arab expert, king's advisor, and atheist Count Lucien the dwarf. Typically, however, despite Marie-Josèphe's pleas, Louis rejects the sea woman's intelligence and humanity, and agrees to free her only after she has paid an enormous ransom; while for defying the king, Marie-Josèphe and Lucien face exile and impoverishment.

A dazzling and spirited evocation of the passions, intrigues, and preconceptions of the age, along with a dandy pair of misfit, star-crossed lovers: an enchanting slice of what-if historical speculation.