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michelle_leitheoir's review
5.0
This book is for everyone who ever said, "You know what William Shakespeare needs more of? Explosions. Explosions and James Bond-esque action."
We had good old Will Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe serving as agents for the Ordnance Office - or "Double-O," thus making them Double-O operatives - thwarting the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot. We had Thomas Walsingham as an M-like spymaster. We had Francis Bacon providing our brave hero with all kinds of gadgets, a la Q. Even the horses were named after British cars, with Shakespeare's shiny silver mount named Aston.
Plenty of humor, plenty of action, some very Shakespearean tragedy, and believe it or not, the author even takes a break every so often to teach REAL history. I just enjoyed this book SO MUCH. If nothing else, it's just fun to play "spot the James Bond reference" while reading this book! I definitely recommend this for anyone who has a sense of humor and likes spy thrillers and geeking out over Shakespeare and English history.
We had good old Will Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe serving as agents for the Ordnance Office - or "Double-O," thus making them Double-O operatives - thwarting the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot. We had Thomas Walsingham as an M-like spymaster. We had Francis Bacon providing our brave hero with all kinds of gadgets, a la Q. Even the horses were named after British cars, with Shakespeare's shiny silver mount named Aston.
Plenty of humor, plenty of action, some very Shakespearean tragedy, and believe it or not, the author even takes a break every so often to teach REAL history. I just enjoyed this book SO MUCH. If nothing else, it's just fun to play "spot the James Bond reference" while reading this book! I definitely recommend this for anyone who has a sense of humor and likes spy thrillers and geeking out over Shakespeare and English history.
matteldritch92's review
4.0
A very engaging read, avoids being just "James Bond in King James era England" by having fully developed and engaging principal characters in Shakespeare, Marlowe and Bianca the Dark Lady and well written secondary characters such as Penny, Walsingham and the Dragoman.
The history is well researched and you almost wish the fictional accounts of history and this novel were genuinely based on long forgotten and covered up facts, ones hidden for centuries and the author played the role of a treasure hunter uncovering the truth.
If I had any actual complaints, I would say that the ending leaned maybe too heavily on a downer ending. Not that can be a bad thing and it was a well written downer ending, but I felt too bad for all the characters by the end (which might be what the best option for a downer ending if its one that keeps you thinking of the story and the sad fates of the characters).
The history is well researched and you almost wish the fictional accounts of history and this novel were genuinely based on long forgotten and covered up facts, ones hidden for centuries and the author played the role of a treasure hunter uncovering the truth.
If I had any actual complaints, I would say that the ending leaned maybe too heavily on a downer ending. Not that can be a bad thing and it was a well written downer ending, but I felt too bad for all the characters by the end (which might be what the best option for a downer ending if its one that keeps you thinking of the story and the sad fates of the characters).
_vanessa's review
3.0
An inventive remix that makes the man with the golden quill into a Double-O operative. The Ordinance Office that is. Against the backdrop of the Gunpowder Plot and the composition of the Scottish Play, Shakespeare and Marlowe are holding back demons and Catholic conspiracies at bay in London and Venice alike. The plot is well-researched with footnotes and a further reading list, but goes slightly to seed in the middle. It reignites towards the end and snuffs out in a rush leaving the question of a second folio unanswered and the reader a little shaken rather than stirred.
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