In 1880, Russia yet rumbles with unrest and rebellious underground plans to overthrow the tsar. Amid the turmoil, the saga of two families—the aristocratic house of Fedorcenko and the peasant Burenin family—continues in Travail and Triumph by authors Michael Phillips and Judith Pella.

Travail and triumph are right, although considering the novel's length and the time it commits to each, it's super-heavy on the travail (close to a Shakespearean dramatic tragedy level in key respects) and ultra-light on the triumph.

There's still much along the lines of melodramatic caricature in the characterizations, from overdone sweetness in one to overdone evilness in others, along with an overuse of exclamation points at times, which can make the dialogue and narration hard to take seriously. Due to the redundancy and the tale often idling in different characters' bleak ruminations and circumstances, I feel this same story could have been told in significantly fewer pages without losing anything fresh or crucial.

Yet, while the storytelling style isn't my favorite, I've gotten used to it enough to roll with it for the sake of the aspects that have me all in: the locations, the time period, and the historical context and events. Moreover, despite the characterizations, the personal events involving the cast have kept me intrigued. Perhaps with continued development, a character or two might grow on me yet.

After this is where Phillips bows out and Pella takes over the series solo for the last four novels. I'm interested in seeing what she does with it. ( )

This was a hard story to read because there was just not a lot of joy or happiness taking place in this story. But sometimes life is very hard for people, especially the people in Russia during the time this story was written (1880-1182). It is book three in this series and I am definitely hooked and wanting to know what is happening in the life of these people. This story picks up with great anticipation with the marriage of Princess Katrina, the anticipation of their new baby and Prince Sergei's return. But it is not a happily ever after story at all. You have two families, the aristocrats (the Fedorcenko family) and the humble peasants (the Burenin family). You have the uprising in St. Petersubrg, the frozen wasteland of Siberia and the humble home in Katyk. You will see how God brings all things together in His timing. Life will be hard in this story, but there is always hope and faith to see them through. As the back of the book says, "Phillips and Pella weave a story that demonstrates how God's sovereignty extends over all human experience." ( )

The saga of the royal house of Fedorcenko and the Burenin peasant family continues.