Stephen Randall (Stephen)

I am enjoying this book and I think it might be for me the best of the trilogy. I can see why Mantell might have spent so long writing it: every single sentence has been thought about and, every single word placed. The amount of research is very clear to the reader and yet it is handled lightly and is not turgid or dull. The visualisation of the scenes and the conversations are brilliant. I found more humour in conversations and the thoughts of Cromwell this book compared to the others, as if it were better to express it now than before. It’s difficult to imagine how the dialogue could possibly be contrived, and yet it has, and Mantell has done it superbly. I have half a book to go and don’t want it to end. Bravo.