Customer Reviews
A gripping and convincing novel of Tudor London - By: J. Aitcheson, 06 Nov 2008 
"Dark Fire" is the second novelin C.J. Sansom's series setin King Henry VIII's England, following the career of the hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake. It is the summer of 1540, a time of political & religious turmoil as various factions at court vie for the king's attentions. When Shardlake is asked to defend a girl accused of murder, the case brings him into contact once again with his old employer, Earl Cromwell. The earl has a new assignment for him, of vital importance to the state: the long-forgotten weapon of Greek Fire has been unearthedin London, but now the formula is stolen & the alchemists involved, killed. It is down to Shardlake to discover who the perpetrators are & recover Greek Fire - before it is too late. For the king himself is interestedin the substance, & Cromwell's own career & life hangin the balance if it is not found soon.
I arrived at "Dark Fire" without reading "Dissolution", the first bookin the series. However, since each volume is intended as a separate episodein Shardlake's career, at no point did I feel that I had missed out on any essential details. At approaching 600 pages, this is the longest of the four Shardlake novels thus far, & some perseverance is required through the first half of the book, which does at times make for difficult reading. Part of the problem is that a large number of characters are introduced very quickly, & it is often difficult to differentiate between them. Nevertheless, as the book progresses, things are made easier. Indeedin the second half, as Shardlake discovers more about Greek Fire & his task becomes more concrete, it is much easier to feel drawn into the story.
The sights & sounds of Tudor London are brought outin full, with everything from the heat of the summer to the undertones of political unrest realised on the page. Sanson holds a PhDin History, & it is clear that he has transferred that academic intimacy with his period to great effect here. The dialogue is well crafted, suggesting an antiquated 'period' fell but without being heavy-handed about it, & rarely slipping into modern speech. Likewise the characters are well-rounded & feel of their time. In particular the addition of Jack Barak to the cast, as Shardlake's assistant, is a welcome one: his grit & no-nonsense approach prove to be an excellent foil to the lawyer.
Allin all, despite a difficult start, "Dark Fire" is an entertaining & immersive read. The paperback edition also contains the first chapter of the next volumein the series, "Sovereign", to whet the reader's appetite.
16th century murder mystery - By: Uncle Barbar, 21 Oct 2008 Having read "Dissolution" & thoroughly enjoyed it, I thought I'd give "Dark Fire" a go. I must admit I didn't enjoy it so much. It was a little pedestrianin places - I wanted it to move a little quicker. Also the plot got a little convolutedin places.
But... I DID feel I was "living"in the 16th century with Thomas Cromwell & his ilk. Sansom is good at scene setting. For this alone it deserves the four stars!
Brilliant - By: PH, 29 Aug 2008 
I have just finished this book and, after Dissolution, I am well & truly addicted to this series. I really like the lead character of Matthew Shardlake & the other charactersin this & the previous book. Will be starting on Sovereign asap & can't wait to read Revelation from what I've read on Amazon about that story. There seems to be a plethora of murder-thriller type books setin the 15th-16th century around at the moment but this is without doubt the best of them all.
pure pleasure - By: Colin Macintosh, 05 Aug 2008 This was such a pleasure to read. I always appreciate novels whose authors work hard on evoking a particular setting, & Sansom does this bothin terms of the location & the period. It's great to see Shardlake on his home turf, & the pacing of the plot is just superb. An almost perfect piece of storytelling.
"The King found her so different from her picture... that... he swore that they had brought him a Flanders mare." - By: Andrea Bowhill, 03 Jun 2008 In this Second novel Dark Fire, two stories have been entwined over a twelve day period; C. J Sansom has brought us forward three years to 1540, the hottest summer of the 16th century. Basedin London where brutality of life is harsh, noisome, sweat, stench & greed is everywhere. Thomas Cromwell's position as chief of staff for King Henry VIII is filled with great uncertainty, for the King is preparing to dump yet another wife Anne of Cleves. Sansom has also questioned Hunchback London lawyer Matthew Shardlake views after his Dissolution experience, he is now less sure of his political position, religious convictions & more sceptical of others.
Shardlake had been trying to keep a low profile; business had not been great since he had been out of favour with Cromwell. A case had come his way unexpectedly by helping an old friend's niece. Even though the Judge ruled against Shardlakein court, he suddenly had a change of heart outside of it; the Judge agreed to a stay of execution for two weeks. But Shardlake was about to realise darker forces had intervened, Cromwell's network had been doing overtime & the girl was only to keep a longer life span if Shardlake was to help his old nemesis, another pressing matter awaited.
Cromwell had witnessed with his own eyes a demonstration of Greek fire or Byzantine fire of liquid. It was capable of discharging a stream of burning fluid effective on both sea & land, inextinguishable, dreaded & feared by any enemy on attack. The secret behind Greek fire was handed down from one emperor to another & no one else had been able to produce it, butin history the formula had been lost long ago. What a war weapon to behold, not to mention it would put Cromwell backin favour with the King, whom he'd already promised a demonstration to,in two weeks. The problem was these men who had held the liquid formula were shrewd, willing for it to go to the highest bidder eitherin England or overseas; this was conspiracy against the King. Shardlake's commission was to find out about these men, quietly, also obtain the formula & source of Dark Fire, Cromwell appointed a minder for this dangerous mission one Jack Barak, the chase across London Begins.
Fantastic! Sansom gives us a broad view of politicsin the Tudor era, conspiracies of court, a political system based on birth not merit, the division between church & state, prisoners who are tried without representation, housing & sewage problems, even Jack Barak is mocked for being the descendant of Jews. Shardlake is given plenty of scope to debate the morality of the world. Sansom does a great job of weaving real history with fiction so it flows remains easy to read & understandable.
This book is longer than Dissolution, but it's so enjoyable it's not noticeable, with its history & mixes of real namesin history such as Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell & the Duke of Norfolk even an overview of Henry VIII & his wives entwined with fictitious characters. Mathew Shardlake is a great fiction character at last given the opportunity for some sexual tension between him & a lady of higher standing. But adding the character Jack Barak to this novel is a wonderful touch of writing; Shardlake & Barak complement each other. Shardlake's quiet, logical & has formality, Barak's younger, slightly arrogant, rough & ready with touches of violence if needed & an eye for the ladies, the two get into no end of trouble.
Thoroughly enjoyable History. Highly Recommended!
Andrea Bowhill
