Good enjoyable lightweight read

Enjoyed it as a normal run of the mill historical who done it. Bit like an Elizabethan Morse! Characters a bit shallow & stereotypical but an enjoyable yarn. Nowhere near the brilliance of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series but entertaining none the less.

19 people found this helpful

Not as strong a story as I'd hoped.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Possibly. If you haven't read other books set in this period I'm sure you will love it but in my opinion I've read better.
I have loved other books set in the Tudor period (e.g. The Shardlake series) but this book for me was weak compared to others.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I think I missed the point of why the main character is who he is. If that makes sense.
The 'point' as to why this person must narrate the story and be a part of this world didn't seem legitimate. Although he was interesting in ways, the reason why he was part of the story wasn't apparent enough for me. Other than him being a heratic, and many people in the in the story were, he seemed just be a foreigner.

Have you listened to any of Laurence Kennedy’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I haven't, but I certainly would as he was a good performer. Especially considering the majority of the book has to be spoken in a Spanish accent which could, but doesn't, get irritating.

Do you think Heresy needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It certain could but when the book ended I didn't really care about the characters enough to want to know more about them.

Any additional comments?

This could be a fantastic book if you have not read any others in this genre or time period. I have and found others to be stronger and more compelling stories.

11 people found this helpful

The start of a tudor series

Not a Shardlake (CJ Sansom), but why should this be compared to another author? It's different accept it, introducing a new series is hard, but we have a basic background to Bruno, giving hope of a good run of books (4 to date). The twist at the end was welcome and the overall standard of the book's storyline means i'll read more. The narrator was excellent, with his Italian accent.

11 people found this helpful

Disappointing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Slow start, good ending but overall I found it difficult to engage or empathise with the characters. The story highlights the problems of being a Papist in Elizabeth's England well and for that, it was interesting.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

With the exception of a couple of minor characters( eg the porter), there's a lack of depth to the main players. They're well sketched, but I couldn't take to Bruno in any way. Comparison to CJ Sansom? Parrish falls short by a mile.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The final scenes where the plot intricacies are drawn together worked fairly well.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

Disappointed. Hoped for a great new series. This is OK, but not good enough to make me want more.

7 people found this helpful

Not just another Tudor tale.

What did you like most about Heresy?

I read, or have books read to me, for entertainment as I go about my solitary work; I am no scholar of history. These stories are very entertaining. Beneath the doings of the great and the, perhaps, not so good, of the Tudor era, there are other layers of life and ordinary beings. The author brings to her writing a strong whiff of the streets and stews, ordinary households and ordinary folk of the period , while also remaining intimately involved with the life of Court and politics. As well as locating us in the times, meeting Walsingham, Sydney and Dr Dee decorates the narrative with the larger than life, exotic characters that normally populate Tudor historical fiction - and fact. She fashions a bridge between the great and the grit and grunge of life then. Actually, quite a short space, as it turns out. One can feel the discomfort of a sopping wet travelling cloak and set it against a cup of warm, spiced wine before a decent fire in a candle-lit chamber: fetid hovels and marble halls, raddled doxies and fine ladies. And then there's the intrigue and action.

What other book might you compare Heresy to, and why?

PF Chisolm's Sir Robert Carey series. Featuring a Courtier and an ordinary man - with a regional accent - solving mysteries in Tudor England. Similar but different. And, of course, CJ Sansom's Shardlake chronicles, featuring a lawyer and an ordinary man - with a regional accent - who solves mysteries in Tudor England. Different but similar.

Have you listened to any of Laurence Kennedy’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, this is the first series I've heard. The narrator's performance is not good. No, it's MASTERFUL. This is among the best I have encountered. Laurence Kennedy has a gift: he can move seamlessly between Bruno's Italian lilt and Drake's officer-class crisp authority with a dexterity and surefootedness that would be difficult to equal. Subtleties of regional speech are pitch-perfect. And all delivered with a finely judged feel for the drama. The only minute quibble - if there has to be one - is his tendency to render the word as " mischievious". I said it was a small quibble...

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Adventures of a Tudor Poirot.

Any additional comments?

I love it - did you get that?

6 people found this helpful

Hersey

A most interesting book,well researched and packed with information of the way of life in this period of history.Well read .

6 people found this helpful

Great Story

What made the experience of listening to Heresy the most enjoyable?

Imagining living of the times, the narrator was really good, with accent to relive the character

What did you like best about this story?

The Plot, but the old flame turning up did not do the book any favours, hope the next book drops her altogether.

What does Laurence Kennedy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Brings to life of the times and tribulations, bought the character to life

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Same title as book

Any additional comments?

Well worth listening too, especially when eyes get tired.

6 people found this helpful

Fun enough but pedestrian

Any additional comments?

This story's themes of Elizabethan England, missing books and reformation brutality are common enough, and the writing is not strong enough nor the plot different enough for it to be a real stand out. That said, it rattles along at a good pace and the reading is great, lots of clearly distinguished and appropriate accents.

9 people found this helpful

Another tudor tale

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I liked the twist that here was a heretic investigating heretics and the character has been well-established for further stories. However, there seems to be a "template" for this sort of book if you dig under the surface and compare to C J Sansom or earlier Ellis Peters

An enjoyable listen for the holidays

Would you be willing to try another book from S. J. Parris? Why or why not?

Probably, to see what how the character develops -

14 people found this helpful

Medieval Morse...

What did you like most about Heresy?

I read this book after I'd read CJ Sansom's Shardlake series. I like to read books where you get the feel of a time and place in history. Heresy as this in spades. It really gets across the fear of ordinary people living in Elizabethan times. A time that saw England run as a police state. As Elizabeth and her advisers were battling enemies from within the country as well as those outside.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Giordano Bruno the protaganist is a brilliant work of fiction...I was gobsmacked to find out that he was a real person. In fact Parris has woven a great deal of fact into this novel.

Which character – as performed by Laurence Kennedy – was your favourite?

Giordano Bruno was read really well. Kennedy gets across the uncertainty of this Italian ex Catholic stumbling from one incident to another in medieval Oxford.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book and will definitely listen to Parris's other Bruno novels.

11 people found this helpful