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thegoblinempress's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Hmmm I have very conflicted feelings with this one. I do love the Shardlake books and I love the way Sansom brings Tudor London to life, but this novel didn't feel like a mystery the way previous books in the series have. There was an awful lot of filler--in fact the book as a whole feels like a 'filler episode' implementing enough change in Shardlake's life so Sansom can move on from Catherine Parr and get Shardlake into Elizabeth's employ for future books in the series .
This isn't necessarily a bad thing because I still enjoyed reading this book and I still have a real fondness for Shardlake and Barak. Barak, in particular, is a real favourite of mine, which is another reason why I didn't enjoy this instalment quite as much.There's nothing wrong with Nicholas as a character, but I'm really going to miss Barak being Shardlake's sidekick. I'm sure he's still going to pop up in future books, and it wouldn't be realistic if nothing changed, but they've had so many adventures together and I want them to stay together. I don't know if I'll find Nicholas as compelling.
Also, while every book in this series does always include interesting women, I'd really like Shardlake to develop a friendship with a woman who sticks around. Sansom has said in previous interviews that Shardlake will never get married and settle down, which is fair enough, but so much of his adventures end up including the scheming and politics of the court that I don't understand why we can't have a woman who serves at court acting as another source of information for Shardlake. I know this is the 16th century and women didn't have as much freedom as we do now, but if women like Gráinne O'Malley existed in the 16th century then I don't see why we can't have an interesting woman in this series who assists Shardlake in his adventures.
Lastly, I guessed where the missing book was about half-way through, and I was so disappointed when I was right. It made perfect sense for the story, I just wish I hadn't come to the right conclusion so soon and I was surprised that no one looking for the book considered it.
All in all, this is a strange one. I enjoyed reading it and I'm excited to see what comes nextespecially now that Henry VIII is dead , but I think this novel was probably longer than it needed to be.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing because I still enjoyed reading this book and I still have a real fondness for Shardlake and Barak. Barak, in particular, is a real favourite of mine, which is another reason why I didn't enjoy this instalment quite as much.
Also, while every book in this series does always include interesting women, I'd really like Shardlake to develop a friendship with a woman who sticks around. Sansom has said in previous interviews that Shardlake will never get married and settle down, which is fair enough, but so much of his adventures end up including the scheming and politics of the court that I don't understand why we can't have a woman who serves at court acting as another source of information for Shardlake. I know this is the 16th century and women didn't have as much freedom as we do now, but if women like Gráinne O'Malley existed in the 16th century then I don't see why we can't have an interesting woman in this series who assists Shardlake in his adventures.
Lastly, I guessed where the missing book was about half-way through, and I was so disappointed when I was right. It made perfect sense for the story, I just wish I hadn't come to the right conclusion so soon and I was surprised that no one looking for the book considered it.
All in all, this is a strange one. I enjoyed reading it and I'm excited to see what comes next
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Gore
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