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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Robert Harris has done it again. I was worried that Conclave was just going to be a stroke of genius but this book was amazing. The care taken to craft characters you care about with internal machinations all separate but equally compelling is no easy task.
Some of the pacing was interesting and it does take a minute to get into place. Thankfully, each time you think the narrative may be losing you, you’re yanked back in. I cried, gasped, and threw down my kindle multiple times.
Almost a perfect book except for the aforementioned pacing nitpicking and .25 stars off for mistakingly calling it the Old State House in Boston, which at that time would have been the Town House (I worked there and am allowed to be grumpy at this oversight in an otherwise meticulously researched book)
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A dark, sinister true story that took place during oppressively gloomy times. Unbelievable the fanaticism behind this men hunt, the suffocating soberness of the puritans. I learnt a few more things about this period, the historical research behind is impressive, but I could develop no sympathy, neither for the hunted puritans nor for the hunters. Too much blood on everybody’s hands, too much absolutism.
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Act of Oblivion explores the notorious Regicides Edward Whalley and William Goffe in 1660 following the murder of King Charles 1. They are identified as committing treason and regicide. They flee to the new world on a tedious journey to the unknown. They travel to Cambridge Massachusetts and Boston sheltering with sympathetic Puritans. They are pursued by Richard Naylor, Secretary of the regicide committee of The Privy Council is appointed to bring those deemed responsible for the King's murder -all 59 of them under the Act of Oblivion. Naylor is determined and driven Royalist with a personal grudge against Goffe & Whalley.
Religion is a backdrop and Harris captures the issues of the time within the story and really contextualises the differing views of the two sides. With a great eye for detail, he describes the awful conditions that individuals undertook travelling to America, not knowing if they would reach their destination.
A great insight into this period of history. Harris is a master storyteller who is the king of characters. Goffe and Whalley will stay with you long after you finish reading this. He never disappoints.
Religion is a backdrop and Harris captures the issues of the time within the story and really contextualises the differing views of the two sides. With a great eye for detail, he describes the awful conditions that individuals undertook travelling to America, not knowing if they would reach their destination.
A great insight into this period of history. Harris is a master storyteller who is the king of characters. Goffe and Whalley will stay with you long after you finish reading this. He never disappoints.
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book, I don't give 5 stars easily, but the Act of Oblivion deserves it in my opinion. I always liked Rober Harris's writing style, I find his narrative compelling. He does thorough research for his historical novels and he's able to thrust me into the periods in history that he is writing about. While I was reading I felt as if I was adventuring in late seventeenth-century New England, post-Mayflower America with puritans looking out for each other to provide hiding for these two famous regicides.
The historical period is also dense with events of marked importance, both in the old and new world. The plague and the fire in London, New Amsterdam becoming New York, and some unhappiness of the new world citizens that seems to plant the seed for a future revolution against oppressive rulers.
The historical period is also dense with events of marked importance, both in the old and new world. The plague and the fire in London, New Amsterdam becoming New York, and some unhappiness of the new world citizens that seems to plant the seed for a future revolution against oppressive rulers.