James Heitz Jackson

This is the third book in the trilogy centred around the rivalry between the fictional Christian Hardy, an agent of Sir Robert Cecil, King James I's Secretary of State in the early years of the 17th century; and the English renegade and Spanish agent "Realm", a callous and utterly amoral individual who seeks to frustrate and destroy the interests of his mother country whom he blames for the deaths of his parents in a Catholic uprising decades before. After the first two novels were set around the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot, this one is set around the English colony of Jamestown in Virginia which struggles for existence against marauding native American tribes, but which is here also undermined not only by Realm as part of Spain's ocean-spanning war against England, but also by Sir Robert Cecil himself for reasons I wasn't entirely clear about, but which seem to be because King James apparently suspects Jamestown will grow into a powerful colony of religious and political dissenters to challenge the English state. Another central character backing Hardy was Prince Henry, elder son of King James.

While this is a fascinating historical backdrop, I did not enjoy this novel. Aside from the grim nature of much of the plot and what I thought was the rather gratuitous use of set piece violence, a major fault is that the dialogue often seems too unrealistically theatrical. While witty banter and verbal sparring are often fun to read, every character in this book talks in exactly the same way, such that I sometimes forget whether I was reading about the doings of Hardy or of Realm. And important and dramatic incidents were described in very matter of fact terms, e.g. "To furious shouts and residual violence, the mutiny was quelled and the exodus halted". And although John Smith and Pocahontas both feature in this story (the former particularly prominently), the famous scene where she intercedes with her father to save Smith's life is only mentioned in passing in a throwaway line after the event. So overall, rather disappointing.… (altro)

This is a richly written novel of the Spanish Armada, based on the real historical events, but centred around the rivalry between the fictional Christian Hardy, an agent of Sir Francis Walsingham, creator of England's first real secret service; and the Spanish agent "Realm" an Englishman totally devoted to the Spanish Catholic cause, after his parents died during the Northern uprising against Queen Elizabeth nearly 20 years earlier. The novel, like its successor Treason which I read three years ago (not realising it was part of a series), it starkly portrays the poisonous religious rivalry and cruelly ruthless treatment of Catholics in England and Protestants in Spain. There are some horrific set piece scenes. Despite the Armada (obviously) being defeated, Hardy finishes the novel having lost several family members and dear friends.… (altro)

This is a novel of the gunpowder plot, based on the historical events and the real plotters, but centred around the rivalry between the fictional Christian Hardy, an agent of Sir Robert Cecil, King James I's Secretary of State; and the Spanish agent "Realm", a callous and utterly amoral cold hearted individual who supports the plot, but makes good his escape at the end. It is very well written, evoking the atmosphere of the times, especially the poisonous religious rivalry and the horrific violence. The dialogue is rich, but reads quite theatrically (Shakespeare and Ben Jonson appear as minor characters, by the way). The grim nature of the themes and their stark depiction to some extent limited my enjoyment of the book, but it is a worthy historical novel, and I have downloaded an earlier novel that tells of the rivalry between Hardy and Realm at an earlier stage in their careers.… (altro)