Books : Dark Fire (Shardlake)

Rating: - A gripping and convincing novel of Tudor London
"Dark Fire" is the second novel in C.J. Sansom's series set in King Henry VIII's England, following the career of the hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake. It is the summer of 1540, a time of political and religious turmoil as various factions at court vie for the king's attentions. When Shardlake is asked to defend a girl accused of murder, the case brings him into contact once again with his old employer, Earl Cromwell. The earl has a new assignment for him, of vital importance to the state: the long-forgotten weapon of Greek Fire has been unearthed in London, but now the formula is stolen and the alchemists involved, killed. It is down to Shardlake to discover who the perpetrators are and recover Greek Fire - before it is too late. For the king himself is interested in the substance, and Cromwell's own career and life hang in the balance if it is not found soon.

I arrived at "Dark Fire" without reading "Dissolution", the first book in the series. However, since each volume is intended as a separate episode in Shardlake's career, at no point did I feel that I had missed out on any essential details. At approaching 600 pages, this is the longest of the four Shardlake novels thus far, and some perseverance is required through the first half of the book, which does at times make for difficult reading. Part of the problem is that a large number of characters are introduced very quickly, and it is often difficult to differentiate between them. Nevertheless, as the book progresses, things are made easier. Indeed in the second half, as Shardlake discovers more about Greek Fire and his task becomes more concrete, it is much easier to feel drawn into the story.

The sights and sounds of Tudor London are brought out in full, with everything from the heat of the summer to the undertones of political unrest realised on the page. Sanson holds a PhD in History, and it is clear that he has transferred that academic intimacy with his period to great effect here. The dialogue is well crafted, suggesting an antiquated 'period' fell but without being heavy-handed about it, and rarely slipping into modern speech. Likewise the characters are well-rounded and feel of their time. In particular the addition of Jack Barak to the cast, as Shardlake's assistant, is a welcome one: his grit and no-nonsense approach prove to be an excellent foil to the lawyer.

All in all, despite a difficult start, "Dark Fire" is an entertaining and immersive read. The paperback edition also contains the first chapter of the next volume in the series, "Sovereign", to whet the reader's appetite.

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Rating: - 16th century murder mystery
Having read "Dissolution" and thoroughly enjoyed it, I thought I'd give "Dark Fire" a go. I must admit I didn't enjoy it so much. It was a little pedestrian in places - I wanted it to move a little quicker. Also the plot got a little convoluted in places.

But... I DID feel I was "living" in the 16th century with Thomas Cromwell and his ilk. Sansom is good at scene setting. For this alone it deserves the four stars!

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Rating: - Brilliant
I have just finished this book and, after Dissolution, I am well and truly addicted to this series. I really like the lead character of Matthew Shardlake and the other characters in this and the previous book. Will be starting on Sovereign asap and can't wait to read Revelation from what I've read on Amazon about that story. There seems to be a plethora of murder-thriller type books set in the 15th-16th century around at the moment but this is without doubt the best of them all.

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Rating: - pure pleasure
This was such a pleasure to read. I always appreciate novels whose authors work hard on evoking a particular setting, and Sansom does this both in terms of the location and the period. It's great to see Shardlake on his home turf, and the pacing of the plot is just superb. An almost perfect piece of storytelling.

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Rating: - "The King found her so different from her picture... that... he swore that they had brought him a Flanders mare."
In this Second novel Dark Fire, two stories have been entwined over a twelve day period; C. J Sansom has brought us forward three years to 1540, the hottest summer of the 16th century. Based in London where brutality of life is harsh, noisome, sweat, stench and greed is everywhere. Thomas Cromwell's position as chief of staff for King Henry VIII is filled with great uncertainty, for the King is preparing to dump yet another wife Anne of Cleves. Sansom has also questioned Hunchback London lawyer Matthew Shardlake views after his Dissolution experience, he is now less sure of his political position, religious convictions and more sceptical of others.

Shardlake had been trying to keep a low profile; business had not been great since he had been out of favour with Cromwell. A case had come his way unexpectedly by helping an old friend's niece. Even though the Judge ruled against Shardlake in court, he suddenly had a change of heart outside of it; the Judge agreed to a stay of execution for two weeks. But Shardlake was about to realise darker forces had intervened, Cromwell's network had been doing overtime and the girl was only to keep a longer life span if Shardlake was to help his old nemesis, another pressing matter awaited.

Cromwell had witnessed with his own eyes a demonstration of Greek fire or Byzantine fire of liquid. It was capable of discharging a stream of burning fluid effective on both sea and land, inextinguishable, dreaded and feared by any enemy on attack. The secret behind Greek fire was handed down from one emperor to another and no one else had been able to produce it, but in history the formula had been lost long ago. What a war weapon to behold, not to mention it would put Cromwell back in favour with the King, whom he'd already promised a demonstration to, in two weeks. The problem was these men who had held the liquid formula were shrewd, willing for it to go to the highest bidder either in England or overseas; this was conspiracy against the King. Shardlake's commission was to find out about these men, quietly, also obtain the formula and source of Dark Fire, Cromwell appointed a minder for this dangerous mission one Jack Barak, the chase across London Begins.

Fantastic! Sansom gives us a broad view of politics in the Tudor era, conspiracies of court, a political system based on birth not merit, the division between church and state, prisoners who are tried without representation, housing and sewage problems, even Jack Barak is mocked for being the descendant of Jews. Shardlake is given plenty of scope to debate the morality of the world. Sansom does a great job of weaving real history with fiction so it flows remains easy to read and understandable.

This book is longer than Dissolution, but it's so enjoyable it's not noticeable, with its history and mixes of real names in history such as Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Norfolk even an overview of Henry VIII and his wives entwined with fictitious characters. Mathew Shardlake is a great fiction character at last given the opportunity for some sexual tension between him and a lady of higher standing. But adding the character Jack Barak to this novel is a wonderful touch of writing; Shardlake and Barak complement each other. Shardlake's quiet, logical and has formality, Barak's younger, slightly arrogant, rough and ready with touches of violence if needed and an eye for the ladies, the two get into no end of trouble.

Thoroughly enjoyable History. Highly Recommended!

Andrea Bowhill