Firedrake's Eye

An Elizabethan Day Of The Jackal, written with wit and flair and an engaging cast of characters, Firedrake's Eye is the first in a brilliant trilogy of historical espionage thrillers to feature swordsman David Becket and clerk Simon Ames.

Poor Tom O'Bedlam narrates the tale, once a respected courtier, now madman begging on the streets of London. A Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Queen Elizabeth comes via a circuitous route from Spain, heralded by the ballad written by Tom years before and sent to his brother in the Netherlands. The eyes of the Queen's spymaster are fixed on France, however, and as doors are kicked in and priestholes discovered and conspiracies unmasked, it is Becket and Ames who find themselves on the track of the show more real danger.

It's a terrific read, strongly reminiscent of the likes of Dorothy Dunnet, Neal Stephenson and Mary Gentle, so fans of any or all of those will find much to enjoy here. show less

I *loved* this book! It absolutely does take a bit of concentration and effort to get all the characters and various plotlines lined out ... but once that is done (1st 50 or so pages), then away we go.

The mystery is very well-developed and the writing is almost lyrical. (Ms. Finney knows thing or two about stringing words together!) In terms of writing style & complexity, I would loosely compare Ms. Finney with Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond Chronicles).

She does a masterful job of setting her scenes, some of which will stay with you long after the book is gone - one that leaps immediately to mind involved "Harry Hunks" a kind-of-tame bear used in bear baiting entertainments for the London populace. Not only is the scene vividly written, it's show more also quite humorous! (Not to give anything away, but the bear is not hurt and actually becomes a bit of a hero.)

I adore the main character - David Becket - a master swordsman/teacher who has a dry, cynical view of the world, but remains a patriot and a true, trustworthy friend to those deemed deserving of such loyalty.

The book is set in Elizabethan England with all the glory at the top and squalor at the bottom that these times were rife with. It was particularly interesting to me to read about the art of intelligence-gathering in these days. None of today's spy agencies have a thing over Lord Walsingham and his network of informants and spies! AND, it was all done without the aid of computers and cell phones!

Highest recommendation for anyone looking for an intelligent, complex, well-written Elizabethan mystery.

(Review written by LoisAnn, Lindymc's daughter.) show less

I really love the narrator of this book, a man from a noble family who went mad and was sent to the asylum at Bedlam (Bethlehem), later rescued from there by a friend. Now he wanders the streets, by turns sane and raving, tormented by hearing the song "Mad Tom O'Bedlam"--which he wrote, as a taunt to the brother who had him locked up in the first place--popularized in the streets with a chorus he didn't write. When "Tom" isn't wrestling with his angels or devils, the "Clever One" is helping his friend Becket and his employer Simon Ames foil a plot to assasinate Queen Elizabeth through more a series of coincidences than actual detective work...but how else would you discover it if you're looking for trouble in the wrong places?

I love show more the language of this book, chosen not to accurately represent Elizabethan English, but to give a hint of the color of its speech. I also really liked the various struggles in the book, between Tom's madness that brings visions of the truth and the Clever One struggling to articulate these to his friends, between the clash of religions and Simon's struggle between religion, politics, and morality. In the end, the sentiment that it does not matter what faith you believe in as long as you have faith in something comes across: “When all is ended it makes less than a fragment of a fragment of infinity, the length of our life on this earth.” I find this very comforting, especially given the situation in Afghanistan where a man who converted from Islam to Christianity is in danger of being killed according to Muslim law there. Somehow religion is becoming embroiled in politics these days…and I don’t know if that’s healthy, given that your religious identity does not automatically correspond with your political identity, despite what some politicians and/or religious leaders are saying. show less

Narrated by a madman named Ralph, this is a mystery set in Elizabethan England. Who is trying to assassinate Elizabeth I this time? This is the business of Sir Francis Walsingham and the men who work for him, very much like a Tudor version of the CIA.
The language in this book reads very true to the time period and took a few pages for me to get into. Once I found the rhythm of the writing, it was easy to follow, and the ending was a bit of a surprise. I love a book I cannot completely figure out during the first chapters. I'll be reading the other two books in this series and hoping they are just as entertaining as this one.

An enjoyable historical novel in which tha narrator gets entangled in a Catholic plot to assassinate the Queen because his brother who sent the narrator to Bedlam as insane is somehow involved in it. It did take me some time to understand who was telling the story and how he knew the protagonists but I liked the narrator and the language once I got a better grasp of the story.

When I read this book way back when, I said I enjoyed it more than Restoration by Rose Tremain. I think I have to stick by that.

Elizabethan mystery, antique language, great writing