Sovereign (The Shardlake series, 3)

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SOVEREIGN, the third book (out of seven) in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor mystery series, is a good read, but the mystery the text centers on is not as strong as the first two in the series. As with its predecessors, author C.J. Sansom take a historical event and weaves a fictional plotline/mystery into events that feels like a plausible explanation for things that really happened. In this text the historical event the mystery is integrated into is Henry VIII’s Great Progress to York in 1541 and the subsequent downfall of Queen Catherine Howard.

What is still true – astonishingly, in the twenty-first century – is that Queen Elizabeth II retains the title Henry VIII took for himself: Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Defender of the Faith and – in theory at least – God’s chosen representative in England. Shardlake badly misjudges the motives and characters of Jennet Marlin and Giles Wrenne for much of the novel. What in his personal life made him so vulnerable to their deceits? I can't say I ever looked at King Henry VIII as a likeable figure, but I've come to despise him. Over the course of three Shardlake books, he's solidified in my mind as a rather vile and detestable man; the power he had was quite absurd and wildly misused. However, I would like to learn more about him at some point, though I admit his predecessors and successors interest me more. The Times A serial killer is using the Book of Revelation for his murders in this outstanding whodunit featuring the bestselling Tudor lawyer Matthew Shardlake.After settling into their living quarters, Shardlake witnesses a man fall to a terrible death and, on hearing his last words, feels sure it was more than an unfortunate accident. Since this is a mystery series, you get what you paid the admission price for. Murder..or is it accidental death? I shall not tell. Aggravating antagonists. Miserable creatures. Miserable dungeons. And mystery abounding. One of the reasons I'm such a fan of the Matthew Shardlake series is the thoroughness of the research done by the author, which enriches the story in ways that stimulate the intellect while satisfying the emotions. Googling Sansom, I found he has had scholarly articles published in professional journals regarding the King's Northern Progress, because so little research has been done on this topic by history academics. Always in his Afterwords, Sansom indicates his references and suggests further reading for those interested in the issues. Kudos, Mr. Sansom, for keeping the story strong and highly entertaining. I cannot wait to see what you have in store next, so I’ll rush to get my hands on another novel. The third in the Matthew Shardlake series takes us to York , in the midst of Henry VIII's brutal supression of Northern England known as the Progress.

When an old friend is horrifically murdered Shardlake promises his widow, for whom he has long had complicated feelings, to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him to both Cranmer and Catherine Parr –and with the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation. Craig, Amanda (20 August 2006). "Sovereign by C J Sansom". The Independent . Retrieved 13 October 2023. Resumiendo, libro espléndido, quizá lo más flojo es el desarrollo de la intriga, no tiene mucho margen y es bastante previsible, pero es lo suficientemente solvente para mantener las 5 estrellas, porque, vuelvo a repetir, el marco histórico y la ambientación es de 10.I find I also have to forgive some glaring anachronisms in dialogue. I don’t know how I get past them, but I do, and I remain just as immersed in the story as before the jolt of a modern phrase (e.g. “the penny has dropped” – from the 1930s). The rest rings so true that it compensates for any lapses. It does mean I rounded down to 4 stars instead of up to 5, though.

When it comes to intriguing Tudor-based narratives, Hilary Mantel has a serious rival' - Sunday Times Q. Some have suggested that the Islamic world is undergoing its own violent Reformation/Counter-Reformation, similar to what occurred in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. Has your research in the period helped you to better understand certain religious conflicts today? He has also written Winter in Madrid, a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Even if heart-pounding suspense and stomach-tightening tension were all Sansom's writing brought to the table, few would feel short-changed. Added to these gifts is a superb approximation of the crucible of fear, treachery and mistrust that was Tudor England, and a memorably blood-swollen portrait of the ogreish Henry's inhumane kingship. A parchment-turner, and a regal one at that. * Sunday Times *Not only a great detective novel but also a fabulous insight into the historical happenings of the Tudor period, this book is an absorbing read. * Tesco Magazine * Kemp, Peter (27 April 2008). "A review of 'Revelation' ". The Sunday Times. UK. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. I have enjoyed C. J. Sansom's series of historical novels set in Tudor England progressively more and more. Sovereign, following Dissolution and Dark Fire, is the best so far . . . Sansom has the perfect mixture of novelistic passion and historical detail. -- Antonia Fraser * Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year *