The Grand Tour : Being a Revelation of Matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, Including Extracts from the Intimate Diary of a Noblewoman and the Sworn Testimony of a Lady of Quality, hereinafter simply referred to as Grand Tour or even just GT, if I'm feeling laz, is a sequel to one of my all-time favorite books, Sorcery and Cecelia.

It came out several years after S&C, and I was surprised and somewhere between pleased and apprehensive to see it. On the one hand, as I've mentioned before, I love Sorcery; it was and is one of my most-reread books, and a sequel might mean more of the same lovely, light fun reading. On the other hand, the end of Sorcery hardly called for a sequel and the uncalled-for sequel often fails to live up to its predecessor.

This one doesn't.

It isn't a complete waste of time--the plot has some good twists to it--I did wonder what happened next, and I still like and Lady Sylvia.

On the other hand, this is a book that could do with some serious pruning. Where the first used details with a light hand as two characters recounted their daily experiences to each other, making it clear that, yes, Kate had some reason to care what color her dress was, this one has far too many such details. That, and the characters are far less enthusiastic. By and large, they were thoroughly enjoying themselves all through Sorcery and I enjoyed everything along with them. The occasional complaint about cold toast and the odd description of the night's gown simply added to the enjoyment.

This time, one or the other of them(to be honest, I lost track of who was doing what fairly often) kept fretting about her cold feet, the screaming innkeepers, and setting up proper magical wards against fleas. This may, perhaps, be more realistic, but it is a good deal less fun and not particularly in keeping with the previous book.

Knitting messages to one another is interesting, and odd rituals involving the Grove of Nemi are much more fun, like the first book, but in the end, Grand Tour does not have what it takes to become a keeper. I've too little shelf space for something I'll never read again.