Customer Reviews

The Armor of Light

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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This is the best work of historical fantasy, and one of the best works of historical fiction, which I have ever read. Although the universe (an alternate history Elizabethan England where magic works and where Sydney and Marlow survived the events which killed them in our time line) is fantasy, the approach is basic science fiction "what if", extrapolated on a magical rather than physcial technology. Rather than overlaying modern concepts of magic onto their characters and history, the authors present magic as it was understood by the various classes of Tudor England, and in so doing create a world that feels like reality and avoid the one-dimensionality common to much contemporary fantasy. All this, and a great read, too.

I'm the cover illustrator, and I don't always like everything I read. Often, even if I liked a story the first time, I don't like it when I have to read it about the fifth time to check on the color of someone's shirt. Or I start noticing the lapses in historical detail or logic or characterization.

This book I still read for pleasure, even after I finished the cover. I read a lot of alternate history, and this surely ranks among the best.

This is a very well-structured, well-written book set in an alternate version of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. The settings are finely drawn, the characters are engaging, and the plot is gripping. I reread this book about once a year just for the pleasure of it, and I snapped up this hardcover when it came out. If you like alternate history and fantasy, and don't mind them mixed together, read this book. If you just want to read about people living in Elizabethan England, read this book. And if you just have to have any book with Shakespeare as a character... you, too, have some reading ahead of you.

Not being a fan of alternative history I admit I let this book lie on my bedside table long months before going beyond the blurb on the fourth cover: was the horrid bronze of the same cover contributing to such hesitation?

As many others it is set in England during the reign of Elizabeth the Great: the brightest and yet the most putrid age of British history, a time when history itself could have changed its course and did but unfortunately only to a certain extent, giving all the troubles to come for the British Isles a most sound reason.
It cannot be chance that so many authors choose this age for their alternative history novels: so many chances were there and so many of them were not exploited.

One could add cursorily that also many fantasy novels seemed to be set in an Elizabethan-like kingdom; different settings came to vogue only recently enough.

The authors (a third is quoted here on Amazon, but I see only two on the cover) seem to have done their research. Everyday life is detailed but they do not overindulge, except perhaps where clothes are concerned: a pity because every other real life reference is serviceable to plot and characterization, not a mean feat indeed.

The plot is interesting, sensible, well contrived. Characters are too but with less proficiency: Elizabeth is adorable (for a harridan) but everyone else is either shallow or unremarkable or inconsistent or obnoxious for some reason. Sidney is far to obsessed with his protestant faith to be likeable; Marlowe, goes without saying, could have been a great character and is, sometimes; James is not ill portrayed. All the others play choir when they should have been side kicks. Villains are non existent, the real ones being the main characters very personal demons.

Writing is serviceable but not distinguished: several passages are rich of humour or interesting in a way, but there are a constant shift of POV never signalled by a new paragraph; a constant shift of language register within the same utterance of the same character; some inconsistencies, not least the wrong use of pluralis maiestatis; some outright grammar mistakes.

Marlowe is a gay character (James too even if he seems devout to Queen Anne) so gay sex is mentioned but never graphically. From that POV the book can be considered safe for teens. Somehow I doubt less than very mature teen would be interested in the several moral and metaphysical digressions and conflicts.

A nice read, enjoyable and out of print: I recommend you buy it if you find it in some second hand bookstore.

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what I expected when I checked this out from the library, but it sounded interesting, so I thought I'd take a look. The story was fairly slow-going at first. In fact, I would say that it wasn't until about 1/2-way through the book that the plot actually got 'moving' so-to-speak. That's not to say that it wasn't interesting, it just seemed like there was lots of information that wasn't really connected to the plot. There were also times where I felt that certain scenes were written just to display the authors' historical knowledge, which isn't something I find particularly appealing in novels.

Also, although touted as a historical fantasy, this book is probably about 80% historical, 15% fantasy and 5% alternate reality. Honestly, if I had known nothing about Elizabethan England when I read this I would have been completely lost and, while reading, I still felt out of the loop occasionally. There were a lot of historical names and places, and it was difficult keeping them straight in my head, especially at the beginning. I can't really recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have at least a little previous knowledge of this time period, but I can say that it would be worth it to do some research for the sole purpose or reading it.

If you don't want to read about the time period, take a look at these two movies: Elizabeth w/ Cate Blanchett and Shakespeare in Love w/ Gwyneth Paltrow. They will give you a historical basis to work off of and both will give you most, if not all, of the names you need to know.

This nifty little novel assumes that magic in Elizabethan times worked exactly like Elizabethans thought it did, that devils are real and spells efficacious (and some folks thought witches weren't necessarily in league with them).

Oh, and in this novel Sir Philip Sidney and Christopher Marlowe aren't dead (well, yet). Sir Philip survived his wounds in the Netherlands and was therefore alive to save Marlowe from that knife in the tavern (a foiled assassination attempt).

The authors, Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett, have a pretty good understanding of Elizabethan history and culture, and it shows. You can smell danger just where you should (non-magical danger, that is; I have no experience with magic, so I couldn't say), courtiers are trying to get influence (or laid), Catholics are out of favor in a dangerous way and life is pretty miserable all around. In this uncertain time, Elizabeth's horoscopist predicts the beheading of her successor, touching off Sir Philip's trip to Scotland to see James safe from magical threats.

Complicated? You bet. Detailed? Yup. Fun for Elizabethan geeks? Absolutely.

Did I mention Marlowe is a spy?

The Armor of Light by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett is published by NESFA Press, who bring you people like Terry Pratchett.

I discovered this book in its first printing, and The Armor of Light forever lit my interest in historical fantasy. Together, Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett pulled off a triple-crown performance by writing an Elizabethan Age fantasy novel in which the magic felt real and period-specific, the historical details, right down to the proper descriptions for clothing and the habits of the day, felt right and natural, and the story, really about the shaping of a king, took flight on the wings of great personal dramas.

There is so much fun to be had in this book (the scene where Mephistopheles tempts Christopher Marlow is priceless), and the intrigue and political maneuverings will be enough for anybody who likes the historical in historical fantasy. The co-authors do a good enough job on the characters that even readers completely unfamiliar with most of the dramatis personae will enjoy getting to know them. While it is a little slow in places, the layered plotting and personal dramas demand a leisurely pace, and there is plenty of conflict and danger to carry it along. The magic is Elizabethan magic, depending on virtues and correspondences and inseparable from the magical and religious practices of the day. It is a treat on all levels.

The full review can be found on my blog, Marion Harmon, A Writer in Vegas.