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A review by sweetestwindmill
Revelation by C.J. Sansom
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
CJ Sansom continues to impress in Revelation, the fourth in his Tudor murder mystery series. I didn't find the latest Matthew Shardlake story quite as compelling as the last one, but it was still an intelligent, entertaining read with twists and turns that kept me turning the pages avidly right up until the end.
Matthew Shardlake is by now pretty world-weary, having lived through the tumult of Tudor politics with danger on every side for many years. One of the things that I consistently enjoy about Sansom's writing is the immersive quality to his portrayal of the political landscape during the reign of Henry VIII, and this was on point in Revelation as well. I'm not a novice to this era of history, but I'm confident that if I were, Sansom's intelligent narrative style would be sufficient to fill in the gaps. As always, it is clear that a huge amount of research has gone into his writing, and yet this is always woven in effortlessly without unnecessary exposition.
In this instalment of the Shardlake story, we are given insight into the rather terrifying treatment of patients at the Bedlam hospital in London, and Shardlake takes a deep dive into the Tudor understanding of mental health as he tries to catch a serial killer in a time when that term was not known or understood. Sansom has a way of making readers think about elements of history that you might not otherwise consider, and I found myself fascinated by the historical context of Revelation as much as by the plot. As always, the book was fast-paced and tense, with clever plot twists that kept me guessing and a high-drama resolution. I also absolutely adored the sub-plot with Jack Barack and his wife Tamasin - Barack is fast becoming my favourite character, and I liked that Tamasin maintained her backbone throughout.
So why did I not enjoy Revelation as much as Sovereign, the third and to date my favourite of the Shardlake series? There were a few little gripes. First of all, the retconned affection between Shardlake and his oldest friend's wife felt forced and irritating - in all the other books, we've been told that Shardlake is still in mourning for a different doomed love, and now we're supposed to buy into the idea that he had a second one as well? I'm frankly bored by Shardlake's romantic entanglements, the self-pitying bullshit that keeps him from actually proposing to any of these women even though in each case it's clear that she would totally have been into it if he'd only get over himself enough to ask. It's a hovering, passive kind of courtly romance that feels uncomfortable in its self-imposed martyrdom. Additionally, it added nothing to the story! Shardlake's romantic affection for Dorothy was completely unnecessary - everything he did for her could have been done in the name of friendship. All it did was add an extra layer of woe-is-me to the ending that anyone could have seen a mile off.
The second thing that is starting to irritate me is the constant negative reference to homosexuality. I first noticed this is Dissolution, but it's coming up enough now to warrant a comment. Yes, of course, the Tudor stance on being gay was that it was a sin, and I don't expect Shardlake to start spouting unrealistically progressive viewpoints just for the sake of a modern audience - but is it really necessary to include multiple conversations describing how sickening and terrible the characters find the concept? It's completely irrelevant to the plot, and it feels jarring. The sub-plot with Guy and his apprentice in particular suffered here - like Shardlake's feelings for Dorothy, the problems with Piers could have been included without this uncomfortable element.
Anyway, it's certainly not enough to put me off the series entirely, and for the most part I'm still really enjoying the Matthew Shardlake series - but I'll definitely be looking out for these elements going forward.
Matthew Shardlake is by now pretty world-weary, having lived through the tumult of Tudor politics with danger on every side for many years. One of the things that I consistently enjoy about Sansom's writing is the immersive quality to his portrayal of the political landscape during the reign of Henry VIII, and this was on point in Revelation as well. I'm not a novice to this era of history, but I'm confident that if I were, Sansom's intelligent narrative style would be sufficient to fill in the gaps. As always, it is clear that a huge amount of research has gone into his writing, and yet this is always woven in effortlessly without unnecessary exposition.
In this instalment of the Shardlake story, we are given insight into the rather terrifying treatment of patients at the Bedlam hospital in London, and Shardlake takes a deep dive into the Tudor understanding of mental health as he tries to catch a serial killer in a time when that term was not known or understood. Sansom has a way of making readers think about elements of history that you might not otherwise consider, and I found myself fascinated by the historical context of Revelation as much as by the plot. As always, the book was fast-paced and tense, with clever plot twists that kept me guessing and a high-drama resolution. I also absolutely adored the sub-plot with Jack Barack and his wife Tamasin - Barack is fast becoming my favourite character, and I liked that Tamasin maintained her backbone throughout.
So why did I not enjoy Revelation as much as Sovereign, the third and to date my favourite of the Shardlake series? There were a few little gripes. First of all, the retconned affection between Shardlake and his oldest friend's wife felt forced and irritating - in all the other books, we've been told that Shardlake is still in mourning for a different doomed love, and now we're supposed to buy into the idea that he had a second one as well? I'm frankly bored by Shardlake's romantic entanglements, the self-pitying bullshit that keeps him from actually proposing to any of these women even though in each case it's clear that she would totally have been into it if he'd only get over himself enough to ask. It's a hovering, passive kind of courtly romance that feels uncomfortable in its self-imposed martyrdom. Additionally, it added nothing to the story! Shardlake's romantic affection for Dorothy was completely unnecessary - everything he did for her could have been done in the name of friendship. All it did was add an extra layer of woe-is-me to the ending that anyone could have seen a mile off.
The second thing that is starting to irritate me is the constant negative reference to homosexuality. I first noticed this is Dissolution, but it's coming up enough now to warrant a comment. Yes, of course, the Tudor stance on being gay was that it was a sin, and I don't expect Shardlake to start spouting unrealistically progressive viewpoints just for the sake of a modern audience - but is it really necessary to include multiple conversations describing how sickening and terrible the characters find the concept? It's completely irrelevant to the plot, and it feels jarring. The sub-plot with Guy and his apprentice in particular suffered here - like Shardlake's feelings for Dorothy, the problems with Piers could have been included without this uncomfortable element.
Anyway, it's certainly not enough to put me off the series entirely, and for the most part I'm still really enjoying the Matthew Shardlake series - but I'll definitely be looking out for these elements going forward.