Heresy (Giordano Bruno Novels Book 1)

First Sentence: The outer door was thrown open with a crash that resounded along the passage, and the floorboards shook with the purposeful marching of several pairs of feet.Philosopher and mathematician Giordano Bruno has come to Oxford, supposedly to debate on the theories of Copernicus. However, Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster to Queen Elizabeth I, has sent him to seek out Catholics who seek to assassinate the Queen. He did not expect having to solve a series of murders where the victim has been styled to represent a Catholic martyr.For some reason, I had in my mind that this book would be slow and the plot would drag. Oh, was I wrong. From the opening paragraph, I was involved and wanted to know more.Parris writes with wonderful detail; I repeatedly thought that as I read. It was not that the detail distracted me, but it made the story richer. The sense of place detail is often thought of in broad, terms; here it was the small details of a room--I particularly loved the description of the bookbinder's room--or setting; such as an almanac that contained both the prevalent calendar and the new Georgian calendar mandated by the Church for use in Catholic states, and of people. Then there was the historical detail. This was a time of great turmoil between Rome and Protestant England, where the books you read and/or the people with whom you associated could lead to expulsion from England or death. There are some very insightful statements made about religion and the divisions and hatred it can cause and the effect its power and instillation of fear has on people..."the way it makes men believe they alone are right."The protagonist, Giordano Bruno, was a real, historical figure. Normally, I am strongly opposed against using either actual figures or iconic fictional characters created by others, as protagonists. I must confess, I was not familiar with Bruno so, in this case, it didn't matter to me. However, in doing research on Bruno and in spite of there being references to actual events, the character still felt fictional; a good thing in this instance and he absolutely held his own in the story. The other most interesting character to me was Sophia Underhill, daughter of the rector. She was smart, gutsy and privileged beyond what was normal for women of the time, yet still subject to the prejudices and constraints of the time. She was very well written.Fortunately, the author did not attempt to write the dialogue in the vernacular of the period. Even though there may have been anachronisms, I did not notice any. I was too busy reading.Finally, we come to the plot and the overall quality of writing. The former I enjoyed. The story moved right along, there were no significant slow spots; it was certainly suspenseful and gripping. The quality of writing, however, suffered a bit. There were portents and way too many large coincidences, almost to the point where I started counting them.I very much enjoyed "Heresy," but don't know that I would read another book in the series.HERESY (Hist Mys-Giordano Bruno-England-1583/Elizabethan) - G+Parris, S.J. - 1st in seriesDoubleday, ©2010, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780385531283

_Heresy_ is the first of S.J. Parris' Giordano Bruno thrillers, set in the late 16th century. Mixing elements of historical fact (such as Bruno himself) with the mayhem and religious violence of the Reformation had its attraction for me, as did my curiosity as to how Parris would portray the excommunicated Dominican friar, poet, scientist and eventually executed heretic.Set largely in Oxford, Bruno is recruited by Sir Francis Walsingham to root out Catholics in Oxford and threats to Queen Elizabeth I. Following a particularly brutal murder (with echoes to the martyred death of an early Christian saint), Bruno becomes involved in solving this crime as well. The characters are well developed and the whip-saw loyalties of the time make them sympathetic as Oxford at the time was a hotbed of recalcitrant Catholics and half-hearted converts to the Church of England. Parris' Bruno is witty, charming and compelling, making for a more than less historically accurate historical fiction and a better-than-average series of murders and intrigue for Bruno to navigate (and sometimes bumble) through. Discovering the murderer and the motive behind the killings and the larger political and religious issues behind the crimes was cleverly put together.The significant flaw, however, was a subplot involving Bruno's attraction to a young lady that served as a distraction from the broader narrative, and unresolved or open-ended plot points - I assume perhaps these loose threads will be addressed in future novels, but here they detracted from a more tidy resolution, hence the 4 stars. Nonetheless, I will be back to see more by Parris. For readers of historical fiction and fans of a espionage thrillers and mysteries, this is a recommended read.

I enjoyed Heresy. I’m a fan of historical mysteries, especially those set in England. I’ve read all of Brother Cadfael and the Shardlake series, and individual books in a few other series. I don’t tell myself they are great literature, but the good ones are fun and the accurate historical references add a bit of spice that I like. Heresy is in this mold - Elizabethan England, fairly well-written, engaging characters (except, surprisingly enough, some of the women), decent plot and good reveals. I liked it so much that I jumped right into the second one, Prophecy, and that was a mistake. It’s too similar to Heresy in many important ways, particularly plot structure and characterization, plus it is so close in time to Heresy - about four months have passed since the Heresy murders were solved in Oxford - that there is no legitimate way for the continuing characters to have grown. Even though the setting was moved to London, a dramatic change, in some important ways I felt as though I was reading the same novel again. I have set Prophecy aside though I will likely return to it one day. Meanwhile, if you like the genre, I recommend you give Heresy a read.

On the run from the Holy Inquisition, Giordano Bruno arrived in England and travelled to Oxford, seeking professorship with Oxford University. SJ Parris used these historical facts to spin a fast-past and intricate crime thriller set in 1583 – during the turbulent reign of Elizabeth I when assassination plots, religious persecutions and political intrigue ruled the day.Bruno is recruited by Walsingham to act as his spy and to uncover any catholic conspiracies against the queen. It is suspected that such conspiracies are operated by those of the prestigious Oxford academia who secretly adhere to the old faith and refuse to recognise Elizabeth’s legitimacy. Bruno has his own personal reasons to visit Oxford University library – he is searching for a prohibited occultist manuscript he believes may have found its way to England.As soon as Bruno sets foot at the College a body of one of the Fellows is found mauled viciously by a diabolical dog, the death disturbingly resonant of the martyrdom of St Sebastian. At the insistence of the College Rector, the death is dismissed as an unfortunate accident. But soon another death follows and its similarity to yet another martyred saint cannot be ignored. Bruno is requested to investigate. He ventures into the secret world of sectarian Oxford and over the next few, action-packed days, risking his own life – and heart – follows the clues to make stunning discoveries and not only find the killer but also learn hard-hitting truths about devotion, love and passion, obsession and the all-destroying power of religious convictions.The historical setting of the tumultuous Elizabethan era in general and the scholarly Oxford in particular provides a rich and intriguing background for a gripping thriller with a multi-layered and complex plot, vivid characters and a historically accurate theme. Bruno is an interesting protagonist: a man possessed of an open mind in the world rife with bigotry and dogmatism, a humanist and scientist, a survivor and a pragmatic idealist. I will be reading more of this series.

I really enjoyed Dissolution and bought this as I fancied something in a similar vein. It was quite similar with it's background of religious & political paranoia and murder in a small, cloistered community.The murder story at the heart of this novel was quite satisfying but I was somewhat put off by finding every single character deeply unpleasant and unsympathetic. Every last one was mad or bad or dangerous to know. Most importantly, I disliked the main protagonist, Bruno, and therefore would not be particularly tempted to read any more of this series. He spends a lot of time hinting - or just telling us outright - about how brilliant he is and yet his progress through the investigation is frequently inept and any discoveries he makes are generally happy accidents. At the end, despite being repelled at how Walsingham's regime works, he still has his hand out for the cash & will continue to work for him. I was happy to see the last of him by the end of the book.As I said at the start the murder mystery itself is gripping, with no shortage of suspects among the large cast of horrible characters. It's pleasantly creepy, the murders have a hint of serial killer about them and the author manages to generate a real feeling of menace. This novel is not for the faint hearted or those with delicate stomachs. There's a lot of gruesome detail about the murders, methods of torture, and the punishments visited upon heretics and traitors - there's an execution described towards the end in which someone being hanged, drawn and quartered is described in what I can only call loving detail. It literally gave me nightmares. Less would have been more here.Solid murder mystery that gripped from the beginning but failed to convince me that I wanted to read more of this series.

The premise of this book is fine, even good: Bruno, seeker after the hidden truths of Hermeticism, becomes a seeker of other kinds of truth as a detective. The execution, though, is really quite poor. There are moments when the writing is frankly terrible (there are sentences I would strike through in red if one of my students presented them) and I had difficulty believing the author writes for a living. Moreover, the pacing and narrative is notably clunky, such that the whole felt surprisingly amateur. Did the author dash this off quickly? I assume the five star reviews were from friends, for even if you liked the premise, the action, and so on, objectively this is just not five star material. I would give this one and a half stars if I could, but here give it two to err on the side of generosity

I don't normally write reviews until I have finished a novel, but I feel (midway through) that I have the measure of this writer and of this plot. I had expected further tales in the C.J.Sansom vein, but Parris writes quite differently. The characters are already developing nicely, and the prose-style is possibly superior to Sansom (whose books I very much enjoy). So I feel able to recommend "Heresy" already. As a Roman Catholic, I possibly have a different attitude to the subject-matter than some others might, but certainly from my perspective this is a well-written and compelling read, in no way offensive to my Faith. I hope nothing happens which causes me to reassess.

Bought this book because I had seen it compared to the Shardlake books - which I love - but I was very disappointed. The first chapter started promisingly enough, but then it was all downhill I'm afraid. The action (if you can call it 'action') skipped ahead 7 years and the book seemed to consist of plodding pages of description and boring theological debates .... Oh yes, and something about some book he was trying to find.I stuck with it until about the 12% mark on my Kindle but, as no semblance of plot seemed to be emerging and I was rapidly losing the will to live, I gave up.I have one Shardlake story (the last one) still to read and I am saving that for my holiday, so I hope C J Sansom gets a move on with producing the next one! If you want a good Tudor mystery try them, or books by Toby Clements instead.