Dark Fire: A Novel
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/2/2017
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/2/2017 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this fair-condition ex-library hardcover from Better World Books. I enjoyed Dissolution, the first book about Tudor-era lawyer Matthew Shardlake, and liked the audiobook version of this one, so I was glad to find a releasable copy.
After the events of Dissolution, Matthew withdrew from the service of Thomas Cromwell - by mutual consent, more or less - and hoped to stay away from the doings of the great and mighty in future. But when he's asked to take on the defense of a girl who's accused of murdering her young cousin, he finds himself at Cromwell's beck and call again. The girl refuses to plead either innocent or guilty, indeed, to say anything at all, and this means she'll be pressed (tied down, with increasing amounts of heavy stones put on top of her) until she pleads - or dies... Cromwell offers to allow a stay of this punishment if Matthew will undertake a task for him - to find the formula for Greek fire, a highly flammable substance that would make England even more powerful than it's ever been. And, incidentally, would cement Cromwell's reputation with King Henry VIII, who's currently displeased with Cromwell over the marriage with Anne of Cleves...
Matthew tries to work on both cases, with the assistance of the dashing, roguish Barak, Cromwell's agent, and both men wind up in serious trouble more than once. Greek fire is such a powerful secret that there are immense forces vying to retrieve it - but who's behind the theft of the first formula and the murder of the alchemists who knew about it?
And did Elizabeth Wentworth really murder her cousin - and why won't she say a word about it? [That case seemed more obvious to me from the beginning, though the details were more appalling than I'd imagined!]
While I did find that parts of the story stretched belief a good deal - the number of times our heroes put themselves in peril, even under circumstances when one or both of them should have known better, were significant - overall I enjoyed another visit to Matthew and his times. The historical detail is impressive, sometimes horrifying and sometimes fascinating, and the social and political ups and downs always of interest.
[There's a very good audiobook version of this novel.]
After the events of Dissolution, Matthew withdrew from the service of Thomas Cromwell - by mutual consent, more or less - and hoped to stay away from the doings of the great and mighty in future. But when he's asked to take on the defense of a girl who's accused of murdering her young cousin, he finds himself at Cromwell's beck and call again. The girl refuses to plead either innocent or guilty, indeed, to say anything at all, and this means she'll be pressed (tied down, with increasing amounts of heavy stones put on top of her) until she pleads - or dies... Cromwell offers to allow a stay of this punishment if Matthew will undertake a task for him - to find the formula for Greek fire, a highly flammable substance that would make England even more powerful than it's ever been. And, incidentally, would cement Cromwell's reputation with King Henry VIII, who's currently displeased with Cromwell over the marriage with Anne of Cleves...
Matthew tries to work on both cases, with the assistance of the dashing, roguish Barak, Cromwell's agent, and both men wind up in serious trouble more than once. Greek fire is such a powerful secret that there are immense forces vying to retrieve it - but who's behind the theft of the first formula and the murder of the alchemists who knew about it?
And did Elizabeth Wentworth really murder her cousin - and why won't she say a word about it? [That case seemed more obvious to me from the beginning, though the details were more appalling than I'd imagined!]
While I did find that parts of the story stretched belief a good deal - the number of times our heroes put themselves in peril, even under circumstances when one or both of them should have known better, were significant - overall I enjoyed another visit to Matthew and his times. The historical detail is impressive, sometimes horrifying and sometimes fascinating, and the social and political ups and downs always of interest.
[There's a very good audiobook version of this novel.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Kearsarge Way in Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, March 2, 2017
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Kearsarge Way in Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, March 2, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (3/3/2017 UTC) at Little Free Library, Kearsarge Way in Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the handsome little LFL roofed with pennies at around 3 or so; hope the finder enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
*** Released for the 2017 4 Elements release challenge. ***
