Unicorn's Blood

Rating:
Summary: Elizabethan Confusion
Review: As many have already said, this book has wonderful characterization, but for those who aren't really familiar with the way England was during the 16th century, everything can be rather confusing. Finney obviously has an excellent understanding about her topic and characters, but the term "user-unfriendly" comes to mind when reading between the lines for some of the plot. In some cases, I found myself wanting to put the book down, but preservering because I was reading it for and Independant Studies class. For those who like to have headaches after they read, and those who study Elizabethan times, this is a wonderful book. Everything is terrifically accurate. But for those who like an easy, clear plot and simple characters without many levels, this is not the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful for lovers of historical fiction
Review: Finney does a great job of describing court life in Elizabethan times. The characters are fascinating and the plot keeps you moving. Narrated by the Virgin Mary, you get an interesting aspect into the religious conflicts surrounding the nation. The hunt for the book is enthralling and keeps you on the edge of your toes. A great read for anyone who is interested in 16th century England and Queen Elizabeth.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful for lovers of historical fiction
Review: Finney does a great job of describing court life in Elizabethan times. The characters are fascinating and the plot keeps you moving. Narrated by the Virgin Mary, you get an interesting aspect into the religious conflicts surrounding the nation. The hunt for the book is enthralling and keeps you on the edge of your toes. A great read for anyone who is interested in 16th century England and Queen Elizabeth.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and fresh!
Review: From the opening line: "To rise from Virgin to Queen is one thing; to be cast down from Queen to Whore is quite another," I was riveted by the fascinating and unique approach to Finney's Elizabeth I and her turbulent, treacherous world. Though it features the characters presented in her first novel of this triolgy, unlike "Firedrake's Eye," which requires an unwavering focus from the reader, UNICORN'S BLOOD also presents a mystery within a mystery surrounding a vanished diary penned by a young Elizabeth in her lean years, and the adventures of a host of characters as they attempt to reclaim the diary and protect the now aged Queen from the shattering secrets it contains.

Lush with the energy and corruption of Elizabethan London, seeded with such wonderful details as the bleaching of sheets in the palace, and dominated by the coiffed and volatile monarch herself, this is a marvelous and original depiction of the redoubtable Queen Bess, on par with the works of Dorothy Dunnett, Morgan Llewellyn, C.W Gortner and Sharon Penman for its authenticity of period detail and rendering of a distant era that, still, somehow, reflects our own. Though not as well known as other writers, Patricia Finney is in a class all her own.

Rating:
Summary: So-So
Review: It's one of her better books, but I still was not completely convinced by it. Partly good research, but all in all, too bizarre.

Rating:
Summary: Patricia Finney Triumphs Again.
Review: Patricia Finney writes wonderful books. This one is no exception. Her characterization and plot development are wonderful. This book is a sequel to Firedrake's Eye, which I read a few months ago. This book is more of Elizabethan cloak and dagger like Firedrake's Eye, but it's not so much espionage as a "hunt" book with many nefarious characters trying to stop our heroes - Beckett and Ames from finding the book they're looking for. We see Beckett and Ames four years after Firedrake's Eye and they have not lost their appeal. The narrator in this instance is quite unique - the Virgin Mary, and that helps put a female perspective on things. My only wish is that Ms. Finney would write more books about these two characters

Rating:
Summary: Totally Engrossing, Completely Satisfying
Review: The Elizabethans loved to plot and intrigue, and Patricia Finney sends a most unusual cast of characters after a very unusual quarry-a small velvet book with a unicorn embroidered on the cover in which the young Princess Elizabeth wrote of how she could not possibly now be the Virgin Queen. Persecuted Catholics, Protestant courtiers wanting to control the now mature, cranky and very savvy Queen, enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots, a defrocked nun and a midget acrobat are some of those whose causes need that diary. Finney (Firedrake's Eye) weaves a tight, complex plot that is skillfully revealed through surprising and marvellously developed characters. Readers beware: no one and nothing is safe in Unicorn's Blood, and Finney's willingness to risk characters we have become very fond of makes this the kind of book you either stay home from work to read or lose several nights' sleep over.

Rating:
Summary: Unicorn's Blood
Review: This book is a continuation of the same author's FIREDRAKE'S EYE, but the writing is even better. The premise is fascinating: the Queen of England once wrote down information in a diary that, if found by her enemies, could destroy her and bring down her reign. Many of the characters from FIREDRAKE'S EYE return in this reprise, but the plotting is more intricate, the characters even more sophisticated. And Queen Elizabeth is worth the price of the book herself. Highly recommended. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was that the same narrative style that Finney used in FIREDRAKE'S EYE (which allows characters to view the proceedings as if from heaven) is rather stilted and takes some getting used to. Other than that, it's a great historical novel.

Rating:
Summary: Holy Tudor cloak and dagger narrator!
Review: This is the first book by Finney I've read, but she really is an excellent writer. Her prose is just beautiful. Her characters are complicated and intriguing. She may be the John Le Carré of Elizabethan historical novelists, but this daring Tudor spy novel also happens to be narrated by the Virgin Mary herself (that takes guts) and depends on the actions of a former nun who was disenfranchised during the Great Schism and is now an ex-prostitute, old, haggard, drinking her life away and a cleaning woman at the royal um, outhouses, who just wants to aquire a dowry for her great-granddaughter. Between the outhouses and various prisons Unicorn's blood has a bleak feel, but there is much adventure combined with holiness, and Queen Elizabeth's moments are priceless.