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Revelation (Shardlake)Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! Rating:  - A gripping read - but annoyingly error-strewnI think this is a big improvement over 'Sovereign', which I found very laboured. There's no doubt this is a gripping read, even though it's a rather improbable Tudor serial killer story. Once again, it was also pretty easy to work out mid-way through whodunnit - think Mr Sansom needs to get a bit better at keeping us guessing, but this doesn't detract from the read overall. You certainly want to get to the end, and the characters are generally well drawn and involving. What's really annoying is that the anachronisms and silly errors persist from the earlier books in the series. At one point, Shardlake (the hero) describes the killer as 'a sadist'. How can a Tudor person 250 years before de Sade, possibly use the term 'a sadist'? It just spoils the otherwise generally authentic flavour. Someone else (Sir Thomas Seymour, a rather pantomimic figure) describes the type of young man he favours in his household as 'sporty'. This is just so comically Blackadderish ('well, young Bob, you're a sporty young feller and no mistake') that it screams inauthenticity. These occasional gaffes take the shine off what should otherwise be a well written novel. Worse still are major plot bungles: at one point, the killer is nearly apprehended and has to abandon something - a very large item - I won't spoil it by saying what - in the street. And yet several chapters later, when the killer's lair is eventually found, said large item is found there. How? Seems the author forgot the killer had already legged it and abandoned the item concerned in the street several chapters earlier. There were similar boo-boos in the previous books. Are these down to the author, or to lazy, over-hasty editing? Or are these books, clearly commercially successful, just getting churned out a little too fast? It's a shame, because these could be great books. As it is, they're are undeniably enjoyable, but spoiled by odd little mistakes and a lack of attention to detail. A good read nonetheless, but I wish Mr Sansom's editor would raise his or her game a bit. Rating:  - Entertaining, educational escapismThey don't sound like Tudor people and some of their attitudes are very obviously 21st century but the detail is cleverly done and the plots hang together. Sansom is good at creating characters that are believable and fixing the story firmly in the politics of the time; there is no doubt about it, the series is a very entertaining one which has been scrupulously researched. In any case, having studied Tudor literature, I am very certain that if they sounded Tudor the books would be unreadable. Out of the four novels so far (and I hope there are more) this is probably the most interesting and harrowing. I found `Sovereign' a little thin plotwise but whatever was lacking there is made up for here. This has a strong sense of direction towards the final denouement. I worked out who the serial killer had to be very early on (I'm afraid I've worked out every story so far; I'm irritating like that) so it was amusing to watch Matthew gradually catch up with me but perhaps it was easier for me because he knew by then who the killer is and left sufficient clues - perhaps unconsciously (see how believable it is). I can recommend the series. Matthew is not a detective who gets things right all the time, he has faults and flaws and a bad temper but it is the fact that he isn't perfect that makes him so appealing and realistic. What is appealing too is that the waifs and strays he picks up along the way are woven into the history. He has developed a better relationship with the horse Genesis who in `Dark Fire' he complains about as having not much of a personality but by `Sovereign' the horse is clearly pleased to see him. By now, Matthew has learned to appreciate his strength and sees him as a friend. Guy too has developed and is gradually becoming a more accepted part of the community. Matthew doesn't have much luck with women though and I wonder if Sansom will relent and give him a break. The poor guy seems to have very little going for him and as each novel appears he seems to become more and more physically frail. Again, given that each novel has a space of a year or more between them in Matthew's life, this is well captured by Sansom. I very rarely read novels these days, preferring fact so I'm choosey about what I spend my time on. But I have to say, this is an author I look out for. His books are fun, pure escapism and some history along the way so that even whilst I'm being entertained , I can pick up some facts along the way. I read the novels in order and I recommend doing that if you want to get the impact of the characterisation but in fact each of the novels stands very well alone and Sansom explains sufficient of his background for a reader to start the series anywhere. Highly recommended. Rating: - This book is educational but highly entertaining and engaging.I am absolutely hooked on the Shardlake novels by C J Sansom. Being born in 1977, my state education did not seem to see it fit to teach me anything of Tudor England, I therefore feel shamefully ignorant over my own country's political/social history and are lazily filling in the gaps about the Tudors by reading novels like this! I'm reliably informed by the author himself that he has researched the novel with historical accuracy wherever possible..that's good enough for me. I am of the view that these novels get better and better. Sansom manages to weave breathtakingly 3 dimensional descriptions into his prose without you ever thinking "here we go i am now reading a huge paragraph of description about this scene." It feels like I am following Shardlake around the whole time and that he is sharing all his thoughts and worries with me; this suits me down to the the ground I am a 'people person' and feel privileged to be let in on their inner most thoughts and understanding what makes them tick. Sanom's use of part of the prophecy of revelation in the book (don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read it) is a stroke of genius as it also allows the author to explore the climate of Christian views at the time both of the domineering "religious leaders"and the ordinary folk of the day which then had a profound influence on both peoples mind sets, attitudes and relationships. It is here that we really feel for Matthew as he struggles in his personal relationship with God and has to deal on a professional capacity with people with fervent views of a certain stance in the biblical understanding of Christianity. I would recommend this book for anyone but especially folks like me with poor knowledge of Tudor England and for those interested in biblical theology as it helps us in some way understand how the bible was interpreted and used at this time in history. Rating: - Shardlake back in action - but radical religion is the problem at every turnHaving thought that Shardlake hung up his detecting laurels after the traumas of the last book (Sovereign), we thought we had seen the last of him. But his reappearance has got hearts racing and excitement levels raised - because Sansom is undoubtedly a great thriller writer - with an incredible eye for historical detail and nuances to boot. What more could you want in an historical novel. As Colin Dexter said in his review of the earlier books, Sansom makes the past feel like the present. This book drags Shardlake, Barak & Guy into a grizzly world of a religious fanatic serial killer who is driven by a scary misreading of the Book of Revelation. These three are modern heroes - they are our guides in a world that is at one level so alien from ours (with the twists and turns of religious battles affecting the lives of countless mortals, from London butchers caught selling meat during Lent to the priggish hypocrisy of reformist clergy dominating the lives of their parishioners); and yet as Sansom mentions in his afterword, one which bears uncomfortable resonances in to our era, intimidated as it is by the terrorism and implacable hatred of zealots. I suppose as someone who is a Christian, and who is equally horrified by the lengths people's principles enable them to go, I am disappointed that there are few sympathetic characters in London's religious world. Perhaps that is accurate. Cranmer is the only one who seems really to draw our empathy in this murky world - forced daily, even hourly, to exist in the tension between principle and pragmatism. But that is not so much a criticism of the book as an observation - because historical novels tend to say more about the era in which they are written than the period they describe. And that is very much the spirit of the age. It doesn't detract from the book, though. It was gripping as ever - and investigates some serious problems and questions - such as the nature of madness, the cruelties of those in power, the absurdities of a monarch's marital whims causing societal earthquakes. But above all - this is all weaved into a great story. And that is what makes Sansom such a satisfying writer. Let's hope Shardlake returns for more! And that they don't go and ruin it by trying to make a TV series of them all, and thus obliterate all the skillful complexities! Rating:  - Good but not compulsiveFor CJ Samson fans like myself who eagerly await his books I was disappointed by Revelation. The main protagonist, Matthew Shardlake the crook back lawyer remains the same, and other familar characters (Guy the former Monk, Jack Barak and Tamasin)are all developed. However, I felt Revelation lacked the level of suspense of Dissolution, Dark Fire and Sovereign. It was gripping but not as gripping as Sansom's previous works. Shardlake is brought back into political intrigue again against his inclination and is driven by a promise to the widow of a murdered friend. He is involved in tracking down a brutal serial murderer who appears to select his victims on the basis of their religious beliefs. At the end he elects to return to his "ordinary" life which he does on the completion of each story... However whilst the plot seemed to follow a forumla the descriptions of Tudor London continue to be intriguing. The smells, the people, the buildings are all brought to life. The sub plots involving Guy and his assistant and a young boy in Bedlam also add to the richness of the story. Had this been the first novel I had read by CJ Sansom I would probably have been delighted but as it is my 5th, my high expectations were not fully met. Go back to: Revelation (Shardlake) You might also be interested in the following great products:
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