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Revelation (Shardlake) | 
 enlarge | Author: C.j. Sansom
Publisher: Macmillan
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £8.99
You Save: £9.00 (50%)
New (24) Used (8) Collectible (4) from £5.28
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 831
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 549
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.1 x 2.1
ISBN: 1405092726
EAN: 9781405092722
ASIN: 1405092726
Publication Date: April 4, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Shardlake back in action - but radical religion is the problem at every turn April 8, 2008
Mark Meynell (London, UK)
114 out of 123 found this review helpful
Having thought that Shardlake hung up his detecting laurels after the traumas of the last book (Sovereign), we thought we had seen the last of him. But his reappearance has got hearts racing and excitement levels raised - because Sansom is undoubtedly a great thriller writer - with an incredible eye for historical detail and nuances to boot. What more could you want in an historical novel. As Colin Dexter said in his review of the earlier books, Sansom makes the past feel like the present.
This book drags Shardlake, Barak & Guy into a grizzly world of a religious fanatic serial killer who is driven by a scary misreading of the Book of Revelation. These three are modern heroes - they are our guides in a world that is at one level so alien from ours (with the twists and turns of religious battles affecting the lives of countless mortals, from London butchers caught selling meat during Lent to the priggish hypocrisy of reformist clergy dominating the lives of their parishioners); and yet as Sansom mentions in his afterword, one which bears uncomfortable resonances in to our era, intimidated as it is by the terrorism and implacable hatred of zealots.
I suppose as someone who is a Christian, and who is equally horrified by the lengths people's principles enable them to go, I am disappointed that there are few sympathetic characters in London's religious world. Perhaps that is accurate. Cranmer is the only one who seems really to draw our empathy in this murky world - forced daily, even hourly, to exist in the tension between principle and pragmatism.
But that is not so much a criticism of the book as an observation - because historical novels tend to say more about the era in which they are written than the period they describe. And that is very much the spirit of the age. It doesn't detract from the book, though. It was gripping as ever - and investigates some serious problems and questions - such as the nature of madness, the cruelties of those in power, the absurdities of a monarch's marital whims causing societal earthquakes. But above all - this is all weaved into a great story. And that is what makes Sansom such a satisfying writer. Let's hope Shardlake returns for more! And that they don't go and ruin it by trying to make a TV series of them all, and thus obliterate all the skillful complexities!
Man's Eternal Folly: the "...corruption of our leaders" Ch 4 March 31, 2008
W. H. Keery
78 out of 84 found this review helpful
I've only recently discovered the real treasure of being able to immerse oneself in the 16th century world of Matthew Shardlake and what fascinates me about Sansom's magnificent achievement is his evocation of a society which truly senses it is out of control following the destruction of the monasteries during King Henry's reign of greed and terror.
Shardlake and characters like Guy Malton are the beacons of logic and light in a London which still believes in demonic darkness. Yes, this is a cracking character-based murder mystery which could sit comfortably alongside anything written by P.D. James and much of Ruth Rendell but, for me, the real heart of the Sharldlake series (and Revelation certainly doesn't disappoint!) is the writer's ability to dig deep into the dark motives that have always urged men to do what they feel they must in order to gain fulfilment. In relation to the religious fanaticism that pervades Sharlake's time, one is tempted to scoff from our so-called safe position nearly five hundred years on but we know it's not that black and white.
That's a big part of the joy of Sansom's series: we are made aware that life has always been chaotic and that "...our leaders" will always be driven by avarice and self-preservation.
A Tudor Treat. March 29, 2008
Mr. Andrew Francis Gray (EYE, Suffolk United Kingdom)
68 out of 74 found this review helpful
Sansoms complete grasp of the minutaie and wider politico/religious issues that dominated the Tudor period is a delight. It is this knowledge that enables him to create believable and accurate backdrops against which his plot lines are set and proceed. Throughout his four books there is no diminution in the standard of his narrative skills. Although dark his stories are never less than a joy to read.
Entertaining, educational escapism April 24, 2008
Cazzandra (Guildford UK)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
They don't sound like Tudor people and some of their attitudes are very obviously 21st century but the detail is cleverly done and the plots hang together. Sansom is good at creating characters that are believable and fixing the story firmly in the politics of the time; there is no doubt about it, the series is a very entertaining one which has been scrupulously researched. In any case, having studied Tudor literature, I am very certain that if they sounded Tudor the books would be unreadable.
Out of the four novels so far (and I hope there are more) this is probably the most interesting and harrowing. I found `Sovereign' a little thin plotwise but whatever was lacking there is made up for here. This has a strong sense of direction towards the final denouement. I worked out who the serial killer had to be very early on (I'm afraid I've worked out every story so far; I'm irritating like that) so it was amusing to watch Matthew gradually catch up with me but perhaps it was easier for me because he knew by then who the killer is and left sufficient clues - perhaps unconsciously (see how believable it is).
I can recommend the series. Matthew is not a detective who gets things right all the time, he has faults and flaws and a bad temper but it is the fact that he isn't perfect that makes him so appealing and realistic. What is appealing too is that the waifs and strays he picks up along the way are woven into the history. He has developed a better relationship with the horse Genesis who in `Dark Fire' he complains about as having not much of a personality but by `Sovereign' the horse is clearly pleased to see him. By now, Matthew has learned to appreciate his strength and sees him as a friend. Guy too has developed and is gradually becoming a more accepted part of the community.
Matthew doesn't have much luck with women though and I wonder if Sansom will relent and give him a break. The poor guy seems to have very little going for him and as each novel appears he seems to become more and more physically frail. Again, given that each novel has a space of a year or more between them in Matthew's life, this is well captured by Sansom.
I very rarely read novels these days, preferring fact so I'm choosey about what I spend my time on. But I have to say, this is an author I look out for. His books are fun, pure escapism and some history along the way so that even whilst I'm being entertained , I can pick up some facts along the way.
I read the novels in order and I recommend doing that if you want to get the impact of the characterisation but in fact each of the novels stands very well alone and Sansom explains sufficient of his background for a reader to start the series anywhere. Highly recommended.
I'm fairly addicted to Shardlake. CJ Sansom is on a real winner. June 19, 2008
R G Swale (North Yorks)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This, the fourth novel concerning Matthew Shardlake, is superb. The characters are more developed (and the longer the series go on, the bigger and more developed the supporting cast becomes). The plot is cleverer and different - here we see Shardlake dealing with a serial killer, and although the politicians are involved this is a different kettle of fish to the rebellions and political plots that our favourite hunch-backed Tudor lawyer has found himself involved in before.
And in my opinion it's for the better - C J Sansom's writing has always been addictive (but not in an obtrusive way) and has always had totally convincing historical contexts (at least to a moderately informed one such as I). But in the past the plots have been slightly predictable - more so the classic whodunit, with a list of suspects and a ticking-clock before some disaster happens or the heroes are knocked off. In a way, that is all still true of this book (in fact, maybe it's impossible to write a whodunit without that!) but its better concealed amidst an excellent premise.
The pages and chapters fly by, and this opens an exciting future for Shardlake. I hope it won't be too long till we hear from him again!
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