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A review by lauraellis
The Armor of Light by Lisa A. Barnett, Melissa Scott
4.0
3.5 stars. I read this book partly to fulfill the “alternative history” slot in the 2019 Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge.
This tells how Sir Phillip Sidney, with the aid of Christopher Marlowe, is sent by an older Queen Elizabeth to save young King James of Scotland from the Wizard Earl of Bothwell. Magic is alive and well and rooted in folk beliefs and Catholic rites and beliefs, and Virgil as well. It is very dense and the first third or so of the book was rather slogging for me. I’d not have predicted i would end up giving it 4 stars.
I found myself rooting hard for Marlowe.
I wish that the authors would go back and write the alternate history of Sidney’s and Marlowe’s younger years, which are so frequently referenced here.
The cover does not do this book justice. It makes it look like a light-hearted romp, which it is not at all.
This tells how Sir Phillip Sidney, with the aid of Christopher Marlowe, is sent by an older Queen Elizabeth to save young King James of Scotland from the Wizard Earl of Bothwell. Magic is alive and well and rooted in folk beliefs and Catholic rites and beliefs, and Virgil as well. It is very dense and the first third or so of the book was rather slogging for me. I’d not have predicted i would end up giving it 4 stars.
I found myself rooting hard for Marlowe.
I wish that the authors would go back and write the alternate history of Sidney’s and Marlowe’s younger years, which are so frequently referenced here.
The cover does not do this book justice. It makes it look like a light-hearted romp, which it is not at all.