Treason: The Gripping Gunpowder Plot Thriller
1.0
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'Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November...' For fans of Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell, this...
Poets, Players, and Preachers: Remembering the Gunpowder Plot in Seventeenth-Century England
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On the night of November 4th 1605, the English authorities uncovered an alleged plot by a group of...
Speaking Like Magpies
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But I can hear them speaking like magpies, And they mean to thieve his life, The Lord's anointed...
Fawkes
9.5
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Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s...
young-adult fantasy magic
The Drowned City
9.0
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Gunpowder and treason changed England forever. But the tides are turning and revenge runs deep in...
Historical fiction Jacobean England Gunpowder Plot
ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Drowned City in Books
Apr 15, 2021
Jacobean England, where a year to the day after the failed Gunpowder Plot, a huge wave destroys much of Bristol, killing hundreds of people and destroying homes and businesses. This is a superstitious time, where the blame is put on witches and demons. And Catholics.
Daniel Pursglove is freed from Newgate jail where he has been imprisoned, suspected of witchcraft, by one of King James’ closest advisors, Charles FitzAlan. He is given the task of tracking down Spero Pettingar - the man who got away during the arrests of the Gunpowder Plot. He is suspected of going to Bristol to recruit supporters - namely Jesuits.
The descriptions of Newgate Prison are horrific - as are those of a destroyed Bristol. This is a really atmospheric book with some great descriptions. Not that you’d really want to be, but you can imagine yourself there, amidst the mud, filth and decay.
I really liked how the chapters flashed between Daniel and London, where we would see the King or Robert Cecil (a man who fascinates me!).
Daniel doesn’t seem to me to be the most accomplished investigator. Most of what he discovers he does by accident, but he does get results. Just not the ones he was necessarily asked to get.
I’m really looking forward to reading the next in this series, it really has piqued my interest!
There are some good performances here from some great actors. I feel sorry for Kit Harington in this though, as although he does well, i dont feel he'll ever get away from being Jon Snow.
The main problem with this is that it is over dramatized. It's a very interesting story and a lot of this I don't recall ever being taught. I've heard that parts of it are fairly faithful to history, but sadly it's very obvious that it has been over dramatized, as there's no way of knowing that all of this actually happened. It's a shame really, I just wish people wouldn't meddle with history!