Firedrake's Eye

Rating:
Summary: Firedrake's Eye
Review: A cast of characters which include a noble scion gone mad, a mercenary fallen on hard times and a soft-hearted Inquisitor must foil a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.

Wonderfully styled and characterized, with an active, emotionally moving plot and a genuinely period feel, Firedrake's Eye is an intelligent, sophisticated novel which will probably appeal to readers of Dunnett, Gentle and Kushner. Its inventive narration and its clear yet Elizabethan-feeling prose help it to stand out.

Rating:
Summary: A gripping story and a historical glimpse
Review: A terrific look at Elizabethan England. The characters are sharply drawn and the plot, with its many twists and turns, finds its way to the end with surefooted purpose. My only quibble is the "deus ex machina" device of characters who discuss the proceedings from bird's eye view. The plot tries to make clear why this device is used, but in the midst of what is mainly a grand achievement in historical storytelling, the narrative style is the only thing that does not ring absolutely true. Still and all, that's only a quibble. It's a wonderful experience. Don't miss UNICORN'S BLOOD by the same author, which is almost a continuation of these events.

Rating:
Summary: No Bed Of Roses for Elizabeth I
Review: An extensive cast of characters are used in this tale which happened, not in fact but partly based on history of the Elizabethean period, which this author seemed to dislike. Only 36 or the 90 people who populate her imagination were historical, the rest as she called them "invented." She didn't find much good or decent to write about these "not very nice people" who were cruel to animals and each other.

Using the ballad, 'Tom O'Bedlam's Song' about a beggar from Bedlam who is crazy and sees things in the night, the author of which is unknown, but she innovates her own version thus. It seems that Tom 'Bedlam in his drug addled roaming had learned that his brother was highly involved in the scheme. But he's not believed, as a large float in the form of a dragon called a 'firedrake' is to be used during the festivities commemorating her accession to the throne. The assassin would shoot a poisoned arrow from the dragon's eye when it get to the Queen's balcony where she is standing.

The best known of the factual personages was Sir Walter Raleigh, who she labels as Elizabeth I's new favorite. As historical background, the author explains how Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII's second wife) became Queen of England and the mechanizations involved to hold on to the throne. At the age of fifty, in 1583, she still had not chosen a King. The mores of the time required that whoever she wed would become her 'lord and master' and she had no intention of handing over any of her power.

Due to England's rivalry with Spain, and the pirates looting of the Spanish ships, Elizabeth's life was daily in danger. Sir Francis Drake captured so much valuables during the later 1500s he made her, as one of his investors, a very rich woman. The costume she wears on the cover of this book is elaborate and colorful.

Using actual events during that time about counter espionage capers and tales of assassination plots, especially Throckmorton's (a Catholic traitor) plot in 1582 and Walsingham's (head of Elizabeth's secret service) success provided the author with the inspiration to use the records of those accounts. She wrote this fiction of the 1583 Accesion Day assassination attempt which didn't happen.

Ms. Finney is an Oxford scholar where she studied history in the 1970s; she states that she reads history for pleasure and adventure. She is steeped in this early history giving a long list of nonfiction she used for her knowledge of the Tudor politics. She discovered in her research that Walsingham and his son-in-lar, Phillip Sidney, were in Paris during the Saint Bartholomew's Eve massacre and had been forced to hide from the mob.

She revels in the details of the dangers, savagery and treachery in that time period (as in the movie, 'Braveheart'), comparing it to VietNam. Part of this book is about an Ames family, one of the sons being clerk to Walsingham, based on a real merchant and his family in the 16th century London, which is well documented.

This story describes the towers, where Elizabeth's own sister is a prisoner, torture chambers in the royal palaces, and other unpleasant and ugly things. Only a true historian could appreciate all this hypothesis of what might have been. And what happened to Philip's Great Armanda as a result.

The stilted and flowery language, which makes little sense to our American ears, brings back the English Lit I suffered through at Martin College 400 years after the facts they wrote about, not understanding much. My favorite, as I recall, was 'Abou Ben Adhem,' but that's a different story altogether.

The Elizabethean language was such that she included a glossary to define strange things like 'close stool': chamber pot hidden inside a seat with a lid (we had those here, I believe); 'gossip': old friend, especially female; 'melancholia': depression (used in America to describe Lewis' ailment when he was found dead in Tennessee); 'duds': clothes (I've heard that before, thought it was American slang); and 'winding up a jack': winding the clockwork mechanism for turning a spit in the kitchen. She even said that tobacco had been introduced into England from America by Hawkins and combined with the leaves of the hemp plant.

This book has been compared to Eco's THE NAME OF THE ROSE.

Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining, informative and well-paced
Review: As an performer who protrays Elizabeth, I found this book a very entertaining and informative glimpse into daily life in Elizabethan times. The writing style the author uses gives a flavor of the period while still being understandable. The characters are colorful, sympathetic and skilfully drawn. The plot weaves through historical fact and political intrigue so cleverly that the reader ingests a great deal of the historical period without even being conscious of being taught (a hallmark of a skillful writer). I highly recommend this historical novel which is more authentic than many so-called scholarly historical books. This is a great read for anyone with an interest in Elizabethan times. However, do not expect to learn much about Elizabeth the person, for although the book deals with an assassination plot against her, she is only in the background of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Good book spoiled by telltale dust jacket and reviews
Review: Book reviews and dust jackets balance on the fine line of titillating the prospective reader without giving away too many plot twists & turns.

"Firedrake's Eye" concerns a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and the efforts of 3 major characters (adventurer Becket, cryptographer Ames, and madman Tom O' Bedlam) to foil the plot. That description was enough to spark my interest but I made the mistake of reading the dust jacket which gave me the "how" and "when" of the assassination plot. The Kirkus Review reveals the "who". Because of these revelations, I always knew more than the characters did and could not unravel the mystery along with them.

I suspect that Finney's publisher was worried that people would get too lost in the intricate plot and/or initially confusing hybrid of Elizabethan and modern English so they gave away crucial plot details to keep the reader going. I admit that I was pretty lost until about page 40 but from then on I began to get a hang of the language (and got used to using the glossary and character list).

Even though I knew most of the plot, I still enjoyed "Firedrake's Eye" for three reasons:

1) Finney's masterful blend of history and fiction that give the novel a very definite place and time.

2) Finney fills her book with strong characters, both fictional (the 3 protagonists mentioned above) and real (particularly Secretary Walsingham).

3) Finney's vivid descriptions of Tudor England show that the author really did a lot of research and did not just set her book in this time period because it would be a neat concept.

Some reviewers have labelled Finney as the LeCarre of the 16th century. It reminded me more of Frederick Forsyth's "Day of the Jackal" as various characters attempt to unravel a complicated assassination plot against an unknown deadline.

It took me over a month to get through this relatively short book but if you are fan of historical mysteries, "Firedrake's Eye" seems like a sure bet.

Rating:
Summary: Major disappointment
Review: I couldn't make head nor tail of it all and got rather upset about it. What a waste of time and energy!

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Entertaining and Fast Read
Review: I have always been fascinated with the Elizabethan age and this book is a terrific story set in an extraordinary era. The depiction of Sir Francis Walsingham is particularly interesting in light of the character played by Geoffrey Rush in the movie "Elizabeth." I generally don't read thrillers, but this novel was a wonderful read in so many other aspects.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Well-Researched Spy Thriller
Review: Ms. Finney never ceases to amaze me with her books. She does a tremendous amount of research for each one and it really shows. In this particular case, the book transports the reader back to the reign of Elizabeth I. She paints the picture of life in England at this time so realistically. We see the squalor and the corruption. We fully realize that, as Ms. Finney states in her introduction, that the Elizabethan people were not very nice people. Ms. Finney's love of history shows in her writing, and this book is no exception. She sees things and tells things like they were, with no frosting or frills. This book is about a terrorist plot to kill the queen, and all the intrigue and ferreting of information that was required to uncover the plot. We see two very different protagonists in this book - Simon Ames - the bookish, Tower inquisitor, who shows really endearing qualities in his friendship with Becket (the other protagonist), and Agnes Fant whom he imprisons in his tower. Mrs. Fant is the pregnant wife of a rich merchant and is the sister of one of the plotters. Becket is entirely the opposite - a hard drinking, whore visiting, trained soldier who befriends Simon, and takes him under his wing after he saves his life at the beginning of the book. What really makes this book special is the narrator, who is mad street beggar, who has very telling episodes of lucidity. Because Ms. Finney tries to make the language more realistic to the era, the reader may find the book difficult to read at first, but if you persevere, you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Great Elizabethan thriller, excellent prose style...
Review: This book has very well conceived gritty characters. The three main ones are David Becket, a toughened gentleman and swordmaster who fell on hard times fighting in the Netherlands; Simon Ames, a Jewish Portuguese agent of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, and 'Tom O'Bedlam' an old law school buddy of Becket's who has given way to madness, who sees angels and devils everywhere, and has an alternate personality called "The Clever One." The story has action and intrigue which is made all the more compelling since it is narrated, at least mostly, by "The Clever One," who because of Tom's discourse with angels can see events as they happen to others. The Elizabethan color permeates the text in an attractively idiosyncratic way. Walsingham makes for the most lively Historical character. In the beginning of the book he is suffering from kidney stones, and Ames' uncle, Dr. Hector Nunez, attends him. Finney takes the time to delve into Walsingham's psyche pondering the effect that being present at St. Bartholomew's massacre when he was Ambassador to Paris may have had on him. This only adds to our understanding of both his role and the intrigue which is the main portion of the story. Other historical characters presented, include Walsingham's son-in-law Sir Phillip Sidney who is working on a procession float for the Queen in the shape of "The Dragon of Discord." And another not so well known historical character, Laurence Pickering, 'the King of Thieves', makes an important contribution to the plot. There are still more interesting characterizations and relationships developed, many quite sad, but I don't want to give too much away. The writing style, above all, impresses. It is really effective and poetic. I felt as though every word was being read to me and didn't want to miss a single one.

Rating:
Summary: Great Elizabethan thriller, excellent prose style...
Review: This book has very well conceived gritty characters. The three main ones are David Becket, a toughened gentleman and swordmaster who fell on hard times fighting in the Netherlands; Simon Ames, a Jewish Portuguese agent of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, and 'Tom O'Bedlam' an old law school buddy of Becket's who has given way to madness, who sees angels and devils everywhere, and has an alternate personality called "The Clever One." The story has action and intrigue which is made all the more compelling since it is narrated, at least mostly, by "The Clever One," who because of Tom's discourse with angels can see events as they happen to others. The Elizabethan color permeates the text in an attractively idiosyncratic way. Walsingham makes for the most lively Historical character. In the beginning of the book he is suffering from kidney stones, and Ames' uncle, Dr. Hector Nunez, attends him. Finney takes the time to delve into Walsingham's psyche pondering the effect that being present at St. Bartholomew's massacre when he was Ambassador to Paris may have had on him. This only adds to our understanding of both his role and the intrigue which is the main portion of the story. Other historical characters presented, include Walsingham's son-in-law Sir Phillip Sidney who is working on a procession float for the Queen in the shape of "The Dragon of Discord." And another not so well known historical character, Laurence Pickering, 'the King of Thieves', makes an important contribution to the plot. There are still more interesting characterizations and relationships developed, many quite sad, but I don't want to give too much away. The writing style, above all, impresses. It is really effective and poetic. I felt as though every word was being read to me and didn't want to miss a single one.