1610: A Sundial In A Grave (Gollancz S.F.)

1610: A Sundial In A Grave (Gollancz S.F.)

by Mary Gentle (Author)

Synopsis

Valentin Rochefort, professional duellist and down-at-heels aristocrat, arranges the assassination of Henri IV, King of France. Fleeing from the consequences, he makes for England, on the way picking up two companions - a young boy, Dariole, and a ship-wrecked 'demon'. Dariole is discovered first to be a girl, and then to be Rochefort's sister; the 'demon' is Tanaka Saburo, a Japanese samurai on ambassadorial mission to England from the Shogun; and Rochefort is found by a pack of Hermetic mages and conspirators, who want him to arrange the same thing for King James I/VI of England as he did for Henri of France. Rochefort is blackmailed into arranging the death of King James at the performance of a Hermetic magic play. Meanwhile, Dariole is busy making forays into Shakespeare's theatre as England's first (and worst) female actor ...1610 really isn't Rochefort's year - And as the play's performance and the assassination approach, Rochefort's dreams of the future that may spring from this crucial year grow increasingly stranger and more contradictory. He realises he must act - but, how? What is the right choice? And how much of the future will depend on what he does?

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 720
Edition: New Ed
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 25 Nov 2004

ISBN 10: 057507552X
ISBN 13: 9780575075528
Book Overview: ASH has put Mary Gentle back at the forefront of British fantasy novelists In the tradition of Gentle's ground-breaking ASH comes another alternative history set in the seventeenth century, a rollicking tale of mystery, derring-do, hidden identities and bloodshed Magical storytelling and an authentic historical background ASH won the BSFA and Sidewise Awards, and was shortlisted for the Clarke Award and the WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award ASH received outstanding reviews and secured Mary Gentle's place at the forefront of British fantasy: '[ASH is an] outstanding achievement' INTERZONE 'Excellent ... a history of early renaissance Europe as it didn't happen' Jon Courtney Grimwood in the GUARDIAN 'The kind of book you can lose yourself in for days. Quite simply, it's stunning' STARBURST 'Her subtlety in depicting the supernatural events of her world is well nigh miraculous' WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

Author Bio
Mary Gentle published her first novel, a children's fantasy, at the age of 17, and has since established herself as one of Britain's most original and accomplished imaginative writers