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Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom
The Blurb On The Back:
It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister - and a new assignment ...
The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastry. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered - the formula has disappeared.
Now Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while trying at the same time to prove his young client's innocence. But very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems ...
Having enjoyed Sansom's debut novel featuring Matthew Shardlake, 'Dissolution', I was delighted to find this sequel to be of the same quality. As you would expect from an author with a Ph.D in history, Dark Fire really brings the Tudor period to life. I can think of several authors (cough-Kate Mosse-cough) who could learn from his approach because he manages to incorporate necessary details of how the legal system operated at the time, without making it seem like he's just reproducing a load of research notes. He is particularly effective in conveying the effect of this heatwave on London, recreating how the streets would have smelt (absolutely awful) and the impact on the day-to-day lives of people (and one particularly good example of this is a scene where a character mentions how he had to treat a man for poisoning after he drank untreated water, which brings home to you how lucky we are today).
The plot itself rattles along nicely. Whilst there is no doubting the innocence of Shardlake's client, Elizabeth Wentworth, the way he resolves that mystery nicely fits in with his main investigation into Greek Fire. If I had one criticism, it's the denouement to that plot strand - having worked out who the culprit is and why they did it, it seems a little out-of-character for the normally cautious Shardlake to accept a glass of wine from them and whilst Sansom gets his hero and forced sidekick, Barak, out of it with a neat tie-in to a previous conversation about emetics, I did find this to be a little too pat for my tastes.
The main investigation itself is satisfyingly complex and full of twists and turns. I was delighted to be thrown off with one of the culprits (although I guessed the other) and the way in which Sansom ties this plot strand in with the ultimate downfall of Cromwell is ingenious and (for a totally fictional work) actually quite plausible.
As I mentioned, Shardlake has a sidekick, Barak, foisted on him by Cromwell in order to conduct his investigation. On the whole, I thought the character was well portrayed. He provides the muscle that the hunchback Shardlake lacks, but Sansom has been wise enough to give him wits of his own, thereby rising him above a convenient sounding board. The end of the book has Barak joining Shardlake's legal practice and I found this to be very pleasing and look forward to seeing him in future works.
Shardlake himself remains consistent. Whereas Dissolution allowed us to see his doubts at the Reformation and his suspicions as to Cromwell's motivations, Dark Fire sees the lawyer having answered his own doubts and made the necessary adjustments to his career. I think that it's a good choice to have him so afraid of Cromwell (who was clearly a ruthless man) and Shardlake's moral dillemmas and subtle consideration of the current political climate makes him a well-rounded protagonist. I was a little disappointed to see more angst on his part concerning his looks and had hopes for a potential romance between him and Lady Honor. Whilst it is in keeping with the historic times for Shardlake to not be seen as a catch and for him to be aware of the fact, I am so fond of him as a character that I find it frustrating to see him kept artificially single. If I had a request for the future adventures, it would be to expand that vulnerability and give him a better romantic pay-off than to be constantly dissed and dismissed.
I can't talk about this book and not mention the way that Sansom uses real people from history to flesh out his world. His Thomas Cromwell is well drawn and credible - ruthless, efficient and devoted to the Protestant cause - but the way Sansom portrays his desperation at the knowledge that his choice of Anne of Cleves for Henry VIII's fourth wife has been an absolute disaster is superb and this is why the Greek Fire plot is so effective - Cromwell knows that to regain the King's good favour he needs to play to his passion and Henry has a passion for warfare. Telling him of Greek Fire and promising him a demonstration is an excellent way of regaining his favour whilst he finds a solution to the Anne of Cleves problem and you can see him willing this last throw of the dice to work, thereby making you feel peculiarly sorry for him when it all comes to naught.
By contrast, I found the Duke of Northumberland to be something of a cartoon. Sansom does not seem to view him as deserving a person in history as Cromwell, or at least, Northumberland does not inspire him to the same degree. This is disappointing. Whilst I do not doubt that Northumberland was a religious fanatic, a bully and a complete son-of-a-bitch towards women, it would have been nice to have some hint of his political brain and the calculating way that he sought to exploit Cromwell's weakness and shore up his own favour with the King by using his niece, Catherine Howard. It is no surprise to read Northumberland's role in the Greek Fire plot, but his two-dimensional portrayal makes it difficult to care.
The Verdict:
Satisfying, intelligent, historically fascinating and well-written. I can officially be classed as a fan of C. J. Sansom and am very much hoping to see a third book with Matthew Shardlake.
It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister - and a new assignment ...
The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastry. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered - the formula has disappeared.
Now Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while trying at the same time to prove his young client's innocence. But very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems ...
Having enjoyed Sansom's debut novel featuring Matthew Shardlake, 'Dissolution', I was delighted to find this sequel to be of the same quality. As you would expect from an author with a Ph.D in history, Dark Fire really brings the Tudor period to life. I can think of several authors (cough-Kate Mosse-cough) who could learn from his approach because he manages to incorporate necessary details of how the legal system operated at the time, without making it seem like he's just reproducing a load of research notes. He is particularly effective in conveying the effect of this heatwave on London, recreating how the streets would have smelt (absolutely awful) and the impact on the day-to-day lives of people (and one particularly good example of this is a scene where a character mentions how he had to treat a man for poisoning after he drank untreated water, which brings home to you how lucky we are today).
The plot itself rattles along nicely. Whilst there is no doubting the innocence of Shardlake's client, Elizabeth Wentworth, the way he resolves that mystery nicely fits in with his main investigation into Greek Fire. If I had one criticism, it's the denouement to that plot strand - having worked out who the culprit is and why they did it, it seems a little out-of-character for the normally cautious Shardlake to accept a glass of wine from them and whilst Sansom gets his hero and forced sidekick, Barak, out of it with a neat tie-in to a previous conversation about emetics, I did find this to be a little too pat for my tastes.
The main investigation itself is satisfyingly complex and full of twists and turns. I was delighted to be thrown off with one of the culprits (although I guessed the other) and the way in which Sansom ties this plot strand in with the ultimate downfall of Cromwell is ingenious and (for a totally fictional work) actually quite plausible.
As I mentioned, Shardlake has a sidekick, Barak, foisted on him by Cromwell in order to conduct his investigation. On the whole, I thought the character was well portrayed. He provides the muscle that the hunchback Shardlake lacks, but Sansom has been wise enough to give him wits of his own, thereby rising him above a convenient sounding board. The end of the book has Barak joining Shardlake's legal practice and I found this to be very pleasing and look forward to seeing him in future works.
Shardlake himself remains consistent. Whereas Dissolution allowed us to see his doubts at the Reformation and his suspicions as to Cromwell's motivations, Dark Fire sees the lawyer having answered his own doubts and made the necessary adjustments to his career. I think that it's a good choice to have him so afraid of Cromwell (who was clearly a ruthless man) and Shardlake's moral dillemmas and subtle consideration of the current political climate makes him a well-rounded protagonist. I was a little disappointed to see more angst on his part concerning his looks and had hopes for a potential romance between him and Lady Honor. Whilst it is in keeping with the historic times for Shardlake to not be seen as a catch and for him to be aware of the fact, I am so fond of him as a character that I find it frustrating to see him kept artificially single. If I had a request for the future adventures, it would be to expand that vulnerability and give him a better romantic pay-off than to be constantly dissed and dismissed.
I can't talk about this book and not mention the way that Sansom uses real people from history to flesh out his world. His Thomas Cromwell is well drawn and credible - ruthless, efficient and devoted to the Protestant cause - but the way Sansom portrays his desperation at the knowledge that his choice of Anne of Cleves for Henry VIII's fourth wife has been an absolute disaster is superb and this is why the Greek Fire plot is so effective - Cromwell knows that to regain the King's good favour he needs to play to his passion and Henry has a passion for warfare. Telling him of Greek Fire and promising him a demonstration is an excellent way of regaining his favour whilst he finds a solution to the Anne of Cleves problem and you can see him willing this last throw of the dice to work, thereby making you feel peculiarly sorry for him when it all comes to naught.
By contrast, I found the Duke of Northumberland to be something of a cartoon. Sansom does not seem to view him as deserving a person in history as Cromwell, or at least, Northumberland does not inspire him to the same degree. This is disappointing. Whilst I do not doubt that Northumberland was a religious fanatic, a bully and a complete son-of-a-bitch towards women, it would have been nice to have some hint of his political brain and the calculating way that he sought to exploit Cromwell's weakness and shore up his own favour with the King by using his niece, Catherine Howard. It is no surprise to read Northumberland's role in the Greek Fire plot, but his two-dimensional portrayal makes it difficult to care.
The Verdict:
Satisfying, intelligent, historically fascinating and well-written. I can officially be classed as a fan of C. J. Sansom and am very much hoping to see a third book with Matthew Shardlake.