- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Orion (4 Sep 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752860623
- ISBN-13: 978-0752860626
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,766,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"One of the most extraordinary novels that I've read this year. [Finney] keeps her plot driving forward, combining terrific suspense with a kind of wild history safari... The muscular poetry of her writing lights up with the sheer glee of invention and gives readers a rare feeling of living other lives in other times." Mat Coward, MORNING STAR, 22/12/04 'an action-packed historical thriller...' WOMAN'S OWN 15/9/03 'A substantial and historically-satisfying book' tangledweb.co.uk, September 2003 'Finney takes us into the 16th century with conviction, giving us a vivid account of the sights, sounds and smells of London, Lisbon and life aboard the Spanish galleasses, while building up to a soaring denouement as the Spanish fleet makes its way towards the English Channel. A superb piece of historical writing.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE, 1 October 03 '[Finney writes] wonderfully atmospheric Elizabethan thrillers... Finney explores how very differnt England would be had the Spanish invasion succeeded' GLASGOW EVENING TIMES, 4 October 03 '... the books' language is a triumph... [Finney] is good at villains with complex motives. Her unpreparedness to compromise with her prose is yet another of her passionate intensities.' THE INDEPENDENT, lead review by Roz Kaveney, 26 November 03
Book Description
Third in a trilogy of acclaimed historical novels set in the glorious reign of Elizabeth I.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, beautiful, sad, marvellous,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gloriana's Torch (Hardcover)
Finney's Elizabethan series goes from strength to strength. This book carries forward characters introduced in "Firedrake's eye" and "Unicorn's blood" in a fascinating and terrifying adventure set in the midst of the Armada's attack in 1588. Finney combines the ability to make the sixteenth century and historical characters like Elizabeth I feel (and smell) completely real with a magical-realist approach that increases readers' ability not only to empathize with the characters but also to apply the issues (lively ones, such as the brutality of power and religious persecution) to our own day. The switch of viewpoint forces readers to see all the characters as people, neither angels nor devils. Read the series in sequence or just get this book; you may have to put more effort into reading than usual, but the rewards are more than worth it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A work-out for the mind,
By
This review is from: Gloriana's Torch (Paperback)
This is another intricate but masterly detective novel set in Elizabethan times (Gloriana was the name given by Edmund Spenser to Elizabeth in his poem The Faerie Queen) by Patricia Finney, the third in the series featuring Simon Ames and David Becket, parts one and two being "Firedrake's Eye" and "Unicorn's Blood". Contrary to those two this one isn't entirely set in England but also in Lisbon, where Simon Ames has been captured by the Inquisition. Those weren't the friendliest of people as I'm sure you know, so David Becket sets out to rescue his friend while the Spanish Armada is preparing to invade England...
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well Written, Oddly Structured,
By
This review is from: Gloriana's Torch: A Novel (Paperback)
Ruth Rendell, according to the quote featured prominently on the dustjacket, called Patricia Finney `the le Carre of the sixteenth century' - after reading this, I think I'd've preferred a touch more of Forsyth about the book.
As other reviewers have noted, the story is structured so that different chapters are told from the perspective of different characters. This approach has advantages in drawing us into the private worlds of the protagonists. It also, in Finney's use, slows the pace dreadfully at times. Effectively, we get the whole story from each of the viewpoint character's perspective, which can include lengthy recaps of the story we've already read from another character's point of view. Some incidents, which involve more than one of the characters, can be repeated two or three times. Conventionally, authors interchange between points of view more regularly and achieve the effect of giving different perspectives on the same incident by telling it once allowing other characters to reflect on significant acts to show their attitude. That tends to heighten pace and tension. Finney's technique serves to hold back both and removes any real feeling of climax from the book's dénouement, due to it being split between more than one narrative. All of which is a shame because, if you can make it past an irritating introduction, where the author speaks to us directly as a modern reader, there is some terrific writing here. The horrors of the slave ship, the rower's bench on a galley and the paranoia of the secret world of Elizabethan politics are effectively captured. There are justifiable complaints one could make - contrary to the assumption here galleasses were a well known class of ship for both the English and Spanish, a member of the Inquisition is likely to recognise the signs of Jewish heritage just as easily as the reader, the central mystery rather too easy to guess - but these tend to be forgivable. Something of mixed bag, then.
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