What do You think about A Sundial In A Grave: 1610 (2006)?
A ver, es mas 1,5 estrellas que 1, porque aunque el libro es pesado como pocos, esta trufado de buenas ideas que en otras manos habrían dado para mucho. El libro tiene un planteamiento interesante con la pretensión de ser la historia real sobre la que se novelo un trasunto de los tres mosqueteros que ha dado lugar a numerosas películas. El protagonista no es otro que Rochefort, el malo de la novela de Dumas y la historia comienza con interés cuando se ve implicado en el asesinato de Enrique IV y tiene que huir acompañado de un joven duelista al que desprecia pero por el que se siente atraido. Un comienzo prometedor que rápidamente se desinfla y se convierte en páginas y páginas de angustiosa espera mientras ideas muy interesantes como el matemático capaz de predecir el futuro y la doncella que finje ser un can¡ballero se estrellan en el insoportable tedio de la neurosis de Rochefort. Pufos como el Samurai viajero o la obra de teatro a lo Hamlet no hacen mas que acrecentar el sabor a refrito del asunto. No lo releeré
—Jota Houses
The cover of this book promised a historical novel in the vein of "The Three Musketeers" or the two epic sagas of the under appreciated Dorothy Dunnett. However this is not a historical novel -- it is actually a work of "alternative history" mixed with fantasy.Nothing wrong with that, I guess, if you are the type of reader who can accept preposterous plot devices. To enjoy this book allegedly set in the England of James I, you have to believe that two characters have the ability, through some kind of astrology and mathematics, to foresee the future in minute detail. They can predict where a specific person will be on a specific day at a specific hour -- and also what will happen 20, 50, and 500 years into the future.Next we have to accept that two French duelists will link up with a Japanese samurai (don't ask how) to save the throne of James I from a plot hatched by his oldest son. The assassination attempt will be carried out during a masque in a cave in Somerset.These major problems might be overcome were it not for the biggest problem with this overlong book -- the two main characters. (PLOT SPOILER AHEAD). We have to believe a 15-year-old girl can pass as a boy (possible) and then win duels against an experienced 40-year-old man who is the foremost swordsman of his age. We discover that this hero, Valentin Rochefort, is a masochist who gets off on being humiliated in public and beaten in private. His opponent, Mme Dariolet, is a sadist who likes to satisfy those urges. Obviously they are made for each other, although it takes them 672 long, wearying pages to get there.My copy of "The Three Musketeers" is less than half as long including a scholarly introduction - yet with what economy and taut writing does Dumas tell his story.The cover of this book includes a blurb saying that Gentle's "command of the sensuous and martial detail of the Renaissance ... completes an immersion in a past epoch ... but it is the novel's erotic element that constitutes its greatest achievement."I found the "erotic element" yucky and the historical detail fake.
—Alan
1610: A SUNDIAL IN A GRAVE is a book I knew nothing about when I sat down to read it. To be fair, I didn't enjoy it at first. There are scenes of explicit sex which don't really fit within the historical-adventure template and I almost gave up. But I perservered, and after a few more plot twists, I actually started enjoying it. This was around the 'beach' set piece, where the author hits her stride. Apparently this was the scene around which the rest of the novel was based and it shows.From then on in, things get REALLY interesting. There are all the usual court machinations, assassination attempts, bonding and swordplay we expect from our historical novels, but there's also a slight sci-fi element as certain characters are able to predict the future thanks to some mathematical equations. I LOVED the way the author handled what it would be like to have your every movement worked out in advance.The book has a globetrotting feel to it, taking in the highs and lows of Europe as well as the Japans. Gentle is big on description, so much so that you get an overall feel of the places and characters. Characterisation isn't skimped upon, and much of the book's success lies in the surprisingly touching relationship between the two protagonists. My favourite character, though, is Tanaka Saburo, a Japanese samurai far from home. He's riveting.Gentle is a real-life mistress of the sword so her action scenes ring true. However, I wish there had been more of them, as they're few and far between. It's also true that the plot is sometimes over-elaborate and there's some padding in places; this book could have probably lost a hundred pages or so to no great loss. It's nevertheless a great read, and one I frequently couldn't put down.
—Graham
