Customer Reviews
"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. Based in 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 Shardlake in 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, but in history the formula had been lost long ago. What a war weapon to behold, not to mention it would put Cromwell back in 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 either in 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 politics in 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 names in 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
Highly Enjoyable! - By: jflood, 21 May 2008 
Dark Fire is set in 16th century London. In this story the main character, lawyer, Matthew Shardlake has to recover the formula of a mysterious flammable liquid, known as 'Dark Fire', for his master, Thomas Cromwell, & at the same time prove a young girl is innocent of a horrible crime.
This book is a highly enjoyable read. The author reallly brings the Tudor era to life, with his detailed descriptions of the sights, the sounds, the clothes, the people, the London streets, & the political/religious strife of the time.
A great storyline, with great characters. I would highly recommend this book & it predecessor, Dissolution.
Cracking follow-up - By: P. Yates, 20 Mar 2008 Matthew becomes more of an action hero than in the first novel, Dissolusion, as his life is threatened more frequently & intensly. However, he now has a dashing new assistant, Barak. There are two mysteries to solve. His own personal desires are also in need of attention. The pace of the novel is intense as he is under continual pressure from Lord Cromwell who is keen to save his own head.
The atmosphere of Tudor England is evoked with great skill & the reader experiences the vulnerabilities of alll, from the lowest to the highest on the social ladder.
Some of the escapes from situations which Matthew & Barack become entwined in are quite fanciful, & will make better film (hopefully this will happen), than written word.
I enjoyed the first novel more, but this is a fantastic read. The plot is incredibly clever as the task Cromwell sets him has massive implications for the military power balance of a very tense Europe.
FABULOUS.............................................. - By: L. Hay, 19 Mar 2008 I am rapidly becoming a fan of Matthew Shardlake!
This book is a worthy successor to "Dissolution".
Lord Cromwell, now Earl of Essex, is in a panic as he has promised to demonstrate a horrible substance which could prove to be the ultimate war weapon, to Henry VIII & as he is not in Henry's good books, his head is balancing on the block. However, the secret substance has gone missing & Cromwell is in a sweat.
He callls on Matthew to find it. Before long, our hero finds himself deep in dead bodies & mystery & up to his eyes in suspects.
He is ably assisted by Cromwells representative, Barak, & Guy the apothecary is back from the first book.
This is a very promising series & I look forward to it going on for a long time.
There has been talk of a TV series, with Kenneth Branagh in the role of Matthew, well it cannot come quickly enough for me.
I couldn't lay this book down.
READ IT!!!!!!
Supoib - By: Pushkin, 21 Dec 2007 I was delighted to find another historial murder mystery author & this book did not dissapoint. The only annoying point was I realised about a quarter of the way through I had picked up the second in the series although its great there is a series & I can read the rest. An un-putdownable page turner one is cast into Tudor London with its tense politics & huge rich/poor divide. The descriptions of the city & characters are so evocative I was hard pressed to get up & make a cup of tea. A brilliantly drawn out suspense with an unexpected ending, even with a history degree I was expecting the 'goodies' to triumph completely, a la Suzanna Gregory, its a riveting read only not recommended if you do not have a good long period of time to devote utterly to it.
