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Prophecy
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Review
• ‘Impossible to resist … Parris creates a convincing sense of the past, woven with so much intrigue that the head fairly spins’ Daily Telegraph
• ‘Parris writes with confident ease of Tudor London … The dialogue balances nicely on a tightrope of period phrases and cut-to-the-chase colloquialisms. More, please’ The Times
• ‘Parris’s plot is well crafted and full of surprises, an imaginatively satisfying addition to the many real intrigues surrounding the imprisoned Mary Stuart and the threats to Elizabeth’s security’ TLS
• ‘Tense and lively, a welcome follow-up to Heresy, fully living up to its predecessor’s promise’ Daily Mail
Praise for Heresy:
• ‘Heresy has everything – intrigue, mystery, excellent history and haunting sense of place. The beginning of a wonderful new detective series’ Kate Mosse
• ‘Fascinating … The period is incredibly vivid and the story utterly gripping’ Conn Iggulden (bestselling author of Bones of the Hills and The Dangerous Book for Boys)
• ‘Heresy is a riveting read. Rich in both historical detail and ingenious twists, S. J. Parris has created a character in Giordano Bruno that will endure. A true rival to C. J. Sansom’ Sam Bourne (bestselling author of The Righteous Men)
• 'Parris paces her yarn perfectly' Daily Telegraph
Review
/ 'Impossible to resist ! Parris creates a convincing sense of the past, woven with so much intrigue that the head fairly spins' Daily Telegraph / 'Parris writes with confident ease of Tudor London ! The dialogue balances nicely on a tightrope of period phrases and cut-to-the-chase colloquialisms. More, please' The Times / 'Parris's plot is well crafted and full of surprises, an imaginatively satisfying addition to the many real intrigues surrounding the imprisoned Mary Stuart and the threats to Elizabeth's security' TLS / 'Tense and lively, a welcome follow-up to Heresy, fully living up to its predecessor's promise' Daily Mail Praise for Heresy: / 'Heresy has everything -- intrigue, mystery, excellent history and haunting sense of place. The beginning of a wonderful new detective series' Kate Mosse / 'Fascinating ! The period is incredibly vivid and the story utterly gripping' Conn Iggulden (bestselling author of Bones of the Hills and The Dangerous Book for Boys) / 'Heresy is a riveting read. Rich in both historical detail and ingenious twists, S. J. Parris has created a character in Giordano Bruno that will endure. A true rival to C. J. Sansom' Sam Bourne (bestselling author of The Righteous Men) / 'Parris paces her yarn perfectly' Daily Telegraph
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is a really well written and entertaining story. The principal characters (both historical and fictional) are well rounded and believable. Although, from the little I know of the real Bruno, I suspect he was not quite as nice a chap as S J Parris would have us believe - he seemed to manage to annoy everyone he came into contact with eventually. But that's being picky - this fictional Bruno is a likeable, intelligent spy/detective.
The cast of historical characters is pretty much a who's who of Tudor politics and alchemical proto-science: Walsingham, Burghley, Sidney, Mary Stuart, Howard, Dee, Kelly all make an appearance. The details are spot on and historically accurate - or plausible guesses where the truth isn't known (there is no evidence that Bruno met Dee for example but it seems highly unlikely that he didn't and it makes the story work so what the heck).
Historical fiction is quite difficult to pull off, in my view. How much were people in Tudor England quite like us in their day to day lives and relationships, and how much were they entirely alien in their world view? Parris's characters seem to be a little more modern than I suspect the real people were - but I think she generally gets the balance right and mostly steers clear of overtly anachronistic dialogue and motives.
I will be going back and reading the first in this series and will be hoping for many further volumes - maybe even a TV series with someone like Joseph Fiennes as Bruno, or would that be too much to ask?
The cast of historical characters is pretty much a who's who of Tudor politics and alchemical proto-science: Walsingham, Burghley, Sidney, Mary Stuart, Howard, Dee, Kelly all make an appearance. The details are spot on and historically accurate - or plausible guesses where the truth isn't known (there is no evidence that Bruno met Dee for example but it seems highly unlikely that he didn't and it makes the story work so what the heck).
Historical fiction is quite difficult to pull off, in my view. How much were people in Tudor England quite like us in their day to day lives and relationships, and how much were they entirely alien in their world view? Parris's characters seem to be a little more modern than I suspect the real people were - but I think she generally gets the balance right and mostly steers clear of overtly anachronistic dialogue and motives.
I will be going back and reading the first in this series and will be hoping for many further volumes - maybe even a TV series with someone like Joseph Fiennes as Bruno, or would that be too much to ask?
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Having read and enjoyed Giordano Bruno's first outing in Heresy, I was looking forward to reading about the disgraced monk's next case. 'Heresy', a run-of-the-mill historical crime novel, was set apart from other books in this burgeoning genre by good quality writing, and a thoughtful analysis of religious intolerance. In 'Prophecy', both are present again, but the book is badly let down by lacklustre crime solving.
'Prophecy' centres on the brutal murder of one of Elizabeth I's ladies-in-waiting. The political atmosphere is once again tense, and Catholic agitators are decrying the 'Bastard Queen'. With murder plots being hatched in every corner, Bruno and his boss Lord Walsingham, have to pinpoint the true nature of the threat. The murder even has an occult dimension, with aspects of the death corresponding to a prophecy that predicts the demise of the monarch. Increasingly isolated within the French Embassy, Bruno must work out which, if any, of the embassy staff are involved in a plot to replace Elizabeth with the Catholic Mary Stuart.
Though slow at first, the plot of Prophecy is solid. Based in some interesting history, the novel feels authentic and well-researched. Once again, Parris has been able to use history to mirror current affairs. In this case the torture of 'terrorists'. Walsingham believes that torture of the occasional innocent victim, is a price worth paying to keep his nation safe. Bruno disagrees entirely. The portrayal of religious intolerance and antagonism is once again very well done.
The problem for me is that Bruno, likeable though he is, is almost entirely useless. Instead of solving any of the crimes, he blunders about, jumping to the wrong conclusions. He only gets the bottom of things, because when the criminals capture him, instead of killing him immediately, they take the trouble to explain their plot to him. Like James Bond, Bruno then proceeds to escape in an implausible manner, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
This would be bad enough if it happened once, but twice is unforgivable. To compound matters, A third party, who is otherwise barely in the novel, turns up unprompted, just to give Bruno the answer he needs. Similarly, Bruno's life is saved a number of times, by a shadowy figure; again a third party, that plays almost no part in the rest of the novel. My final moan is that whenever Bruno is out and about on the streets of London, he keeps 'feeling a pair of eyes' on him, or 'catching a shadow in the corner of his eye.' This quickly becomes tiresome, doing little to maintain tension.
With its slow pace at the beginning, and weak plotting, 'Prophecy' fails to build on the excellent foundations laid with 'Heresy'. An opportunity missed.
'Prophecy' centres on the brutal murder of one of Elizabeth I's ladies-in-waiting. The political atmosphere is once again tense, and Catholic agitators are decrying the 'Bastard Queen'. With murder plots being hatched in every corner, Bruno and his boss Lord Walsingham, have to pinpoint the true nature of the threat. The murder even has an occult dimension, with aspects of the death corresponding to a prophecy that predicts the demise of the monarch. Increasingly isolated within the French Embassy, Bruno must work out which, if any, of the embassy staff are involved in a plot to replace Elizabeth with the Catholic Mary Stuart.
Though slow at first, the plot of Prophecy is solid. Based in some interesting history, the novel feels authentic and well-researched. Once again, Parris has been able to use history to mirror current affairs. In this case the torture of 'terrorists'. Walsingham believes that torture of the occasional innocent victim, is a price worth paying to keep his nation safe. Bruno disagrees entirely. The portrayal of religious intolerance and antagonism is once again very well done.
The problem for me is that Bruno, likeable though he is, is almost entirely useless. Instead of solving any of the crimes, he blunders about, jumping to the wrong conclusions. He only gets the bottom of things, because when the criminals capture him, instead of killing him immediately, they take the trouble to explain their plot to him. Like James Bond, Bruno then proceeds to escape in an implausible manner, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
This would be bad enough if it happened once, but twice is unforgivable. To compound matters, A third party, who is otherwise barely in the novel, turns up unprompted, just to give Bruno the answer he needs. Similarly, Bruno's life is saved a number of times, by a shadowy figure; again a third party, that plays almost no part in the rest of the novel. My final moan is that whenever Bruno is out and about on the streets of London, he keeps 'feeling a pair of eyes' on him, or 'catching a shadow in the corner of his eye.' This quickly becomes tiresome, doing little to maintain tension.
With its slow pace at the beginning, and weak plotting, 'Prophecy' fails to build on the excellent foundations laid with 'Heresy'. An opportunity missed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having adored Heresy I wanted to know more about Bruno's world. I was deterred by one of the reviews, but still intrigued. To start with it drove me insane as Bruno was narrating in the past tense, which I hate, especially in historical writing. ( Parris's other Bruno books are narrated in the past tense- Thank you SJ!) The plot was more complicated, gripping & politically important, in this book. And the murders were equally disturbing. I must confess that I am even more taken with Bruno than I was before. It's because he's a bit of a bumbler, a Copernican, a heritic, and links his philosophy to ancient Egypt- he is starting to explain his memory technique more in this book. The plot is so exciting - I couldn't put the book down reading through two days and the night! I couldn't put it down even to have a bath. At the end I smelled as bad as Bruno when he came out of the Thames & had a painful rash! Hopefully other readers will have more self control, enjoy!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Religious Upheaval in Queen Elizabeth's Kingdom
I enjoyed this book on two levels. First of all, it is an entertaining murder-mystery story populated by interesting characters. Read more
Published 20 hours ago by Gareth Monteath
An excellent second meeting with Bruno
S.J.Parris has made excellent use of the real Giordano Bruno to create a character that possess all the skills needed in a hero but with all the human weaknesses of someone who... Read more
Published 11 days ago by Andrew
Really good read
If you are a fan of Shardlake you'll love this book, it's full of historical description and twists and turns. It's a page turner.
Published 24 days ago by Loobylish
Outstanding, gripping, couldn't put it down...
I read the first book, having read all the CJ Samson books and thought it was 'good'.. the first book was one of those bed time readers however that you end up reading a few pages... Read more
Published 1 month ago by chris s
A slightly jarring read
Like some of the other reviewers, I am not particularly impressed with Bruno's 'sleuthing' in this book! Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. Jones
Prophecy
This was compelling reading. It was evocatively written and a good plot, which encouraged me to read through to the end.
Published 2 months ago by daipen
S J Parris
My review of this book does not require a lengthy comment.
FOR ME!!! This is the most beautifully written book i have read for a long time. Read more
FOR ME!!! This is the most beautifully written book i have read for a long time. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Don S
Prophecy S J Parris
This is the second book by S J Parris about Tudor London. The first book being 'Heresy'. The main character is a de-frocked Italian monk called Giordano Bruno who has been sent... Read more
Published 4 months ago by TRENDYWENDY
So-so from S.J.
Having been very disappointed by C.J.Sansom's last effort,I thought I'd give another set of initials a go and pulled this down from the shelf. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Valentine Gersbach
very well researched and readable
This was the second novel in this series featuring Giordano Bruno as the sleuth in exile in England from the Inquisition and working for Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's... Read more
Published 6 months ago by John Hopper
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