Books 2014 - The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

England, 1560: A country divided, riven by religious strife and dynastic ambition. Elizabeth Tudor: the newly crowned queen. Twenty-six years old, superstitious and desperately vulnerable. Dr John Dee: the Queen's astrologer. Scholar, suspected sorcerer and now investigator, sent to Glastonbury to unearth the missing bones of King Arthur.

When I was first thinking about books for RIP, this was what grabbed my eye in the bookshop, because not only did it have a supernatural bent, but it was set near my new home (humph! since I'm having to move again). Fate! And it was by Phil Rickman, whose Merrily Watkins books I've enjoyed before now, so I know is a solid writer. And I did enjoy this one too. It's long - 534 lovely pages, and not only did I immediately have a feel for the main character, and feel myself in London (and later Tudor Glastonbury and Somerset) but I very shortly came across one of the main secondary characters of the book - Robert Dudley! I've been curious about him since seeing Elizabeth and finding out that he may have been her doomed love, and at the time I meant to go and find out more but didn't, so it was great to come across him here. I liked him as a character, seen through the eyes of John Dee, and again I find I want to know more about him.

And how much Peril did I feel (this is the Readers Imbibing Peril challenge, after all *g*)? Just the right amount for me - there was a hint of the supernatural in everything, because of course that was generally the way people saw the world then, and done by a good writer it colours the way that we see things too. John Dee was something of a scientist (albeit an occultist!) and rationalist for his time (in this book) so when he worried about things that went bump in the night, I worried even more... and of course the other thing that he worried about were people, who again turn out to be the most frightening things of all...

And bonus? It turns out there's a sequel, revolving around Robert Dudley! I must get me to another bookshop... *vbg*(Four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature.)
Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

For when you're feeling down...

...or if you need one of those Doctor Who moments about what people can be like...

Yeay people! Hopeful and competent and just brilliant. Even with ticket barriers! I mean - he had extra up - and down! *vbg*

(Oh, and it's in the Independent so it must be true... *g*)