A Sundial in a Grave: 1610

I want to echo what Alan Naftalin says -- if this edition is only 688 pages long, the type has to be too small. The British edition is nearly 1200 pages long, and the type is a decent size, so go for that if your eyes don't want the strain. As for Gentle's other epic, Ash, I found the type in the one-volume British edition too small for comfort: in this case, one had to go for the American edition, which is available in four separate volumes. Worth getting the edition you can most comfortably read, because Gentle is a fascinating writer and once you've started a book of hers you won't want to put it down, even if your eyes are hurting!

I also picked up the book because the jacket referred to Dunnett - but I liked it more than the reader before me who gave it 1 star. The history is quite good, taking place in the time after Henri IV's assasination in France. A trio of interesting characters fleeing repercussions of the assasination travels to the England of James I (shortly after Queen Elizabeth's reign). They get involved in plots by the mathematical wizard Dr. Robert Fludd who hopes to save the world from a comet that he's predicted will destroy the world 500 years in the future. Fludd's calculations of how current events will influence the future is quite well done - there are lots of veiled references to historical events that we are quite familiar with, like dropping atomic bombs on Japan. The time covered by the novel covered is only 2 years, and the author uses broad brush strokes, so the historical time and events are very easy to follow. The story is quite simple - mostly a love story between the narrator Rochefort the spy and Dariole the duellist. The only other substantial character is a Japanese samurai who provides a great foil, entertainment and an outsider's view on the smelly European gaijin. What makes the novel most interesting and different is the complex characterization of Rochefort - although his life has not been above reproach, he is loyal and wise, and capable of great love and sacrifice. It's a nice touch, and well handled, and he's a great character. That being said, the elements of the story are simple enough that they are repeated again and again in the nearly 700 pages. Maybe it could have been a great book if it were half the size. And then, I suppose some of us are always looking for the next Dunnett, hoping to plunge for months into complex histories and gargantuan casts of fully realized characters - Mary Gentle's not in the same league, but she's very good.

Spy, duelist, and killer Valentin Rochefort has no intention of betraying his king and his mentor. But when the Queen blackmails him, he resolves to conduct the most botched assassination in history. But chance can play an ugly hand. Not only does Rochefort's assassination succeed, he's caught by an angry duelist as he tries to flee Paris. Together with the duelist Dariole, along with shipwrecked samurai Saburo, Rochefort finally escapes to England. But there are men in England who can put men capable of assassinating a king to use. And James I is not exactly strong on his throne. In England, a group of rogue mathmetitians have calculated that a comet will strike the earth and destroy it--within five hundred years. Only by taking action, by bringing about a new future can Earth be prepared to ward off this future destruction. Rochefort is to become a catspaw in this game of empires as the scientists attempt to manipulate the future. Author Mary Gentle combines a detailed view of a vital period in history with a touch of romance to deliver an exciting story. The evolving relationship between Rochefort and Dariole drives the story at least as much as do the mathmagics of the occult calculators. The Japanese influence adds intriguing and historically plausible possibilities in a world where Japan was poised between joining commerce and Imperialism and cutting itself off and living for two centuries in isolation. Conspiracy buffs will get a kick out of Mary Gentle's ultimate resolution to the problem of knowing the future and the ethical dilemmas of having to kill innocent people to save others. Fans of swashbuckling adventure will enjoy Rochefort's duels--and more adult readers will get a kick out of the strange relationship that develops between Rochefort and Dariole.

Mary Gentle is widely known for what I like to call "historical fantasy." 1610: A Sundial in a Grave barely meets the definition of fantasy or science fiction, with the only fantastic element being the fact that mathematical precognition is a reality. She's also known as a meticulous researcher, and she shows that again in this book. 1610 is a wonderful book that just starts a little too slow. 1610 is a year of change. Edward Fludd has perfected the mathematics of telling the future. However, he doesn't like what he sees, so he determines to change it. This is the year where that change becomes possible. Valentin Rochefort, a duellist and down on his luck aristocrat, as well as servant to the French spymaster Sully, is having his own problems. He is supposed to set up the assassination of his monarch, Henry IV, but it's designed to be a fake. Too bad for him that it happens to succeed. Disgraced and forced to run, he encounters his nemesis, Dariole, who revels in humiliating him, especially by being 16 years old and able to beat him at swordplay. Dariole ends up running with him, and they both find themselves trapped in Fludd's web. Fludd intends to use Rochefort in an assassination of his own, one that will change the future the way he wants it to be. With the addition of a shipwrecked Japanese samurai, agendas clash, different honor systems conflict, and secrets are revealed. The story goes all over the world, from France to England to Portugal and then to Japan before returning for an intriguing finish. There's even time for a little romance as well. 1610 is written as if it were a computer-generated reconstructed translation of a fire-damaged manuscript written by Rochefort. This allows the "translator" to include other documents as well, so each part (the book is separated into five) begins with something other than his memoirs. Sometimes it's a translator's note or a partially reconstructed entry from Saburo to his Japanese liege-lord. These give us a little bit more background information that Rochefort wouldn't necessarily be privy to, enabling the reader to have a more well-rounded story. It's an effective way to write, and Rochefort makes a wonderful narrator. He's witty and he's not afraid to admit his own mistakes (and there are many). The only thing that's not completely realistic about this is that there is no white-washing whatsoever. There's no effort to make Rochefort look good, which is what would probably happen with anybody else's memoirs. Rochefort's honesty is refreshing, however. With the book being told in first person, it would have been very easy to make the other characters wooden. Thankfully, Gentle avoids this, with both Dariole and Saburo being superb. The relationship between Dariole and Rochefort is riveting, especially when Dariole's secret is revealed and Rochefort has to adjust. Saburo is fascinating because Japan is an unknown entity at this point, with just a few western explorers having been there. The cul

In 1610 England, astrological mathematician Robert Fludd concludes that if current trends continue, a comet will crash into the earth in five centuries killing every living organism. Robert knows he must alter the calculations by changing the near future so that the planet can begin preparing to prevent the disaster. He concludes the most effective altering of what is to be would be to kill King James before his reign influences the paths mankind travels if he lived to complete his destiny. In 1610 Paris Queen Marie de Medici blackmails Valentin Rochefort into assassinating King Henri IV forcing him to flee cross the Channel. He is joined by swordsman Dariole, who humiliated him with pastry, penis and two duels, but is actually a disguised female, and a samurai Tanaka Saburo. In England Fludd meets Rochefort and realizes he has the means of success. However, as valid as his calculations may be, Fludd failed to consider the effect on the intended output of the King's death or the outcome of saving the future because his foolish tool has two companions causing deviations to the scheme. In 2005, readers will realize how excellent Mary Gentle is with this terrific tale that is similar to her delightful novel ASH. The story line is loaded with difficult issues that are not easily resolved; for instance does the end justify the mean if it saves lives. The characters seem genuine and the feel for the age is so real that the audience will know they are there watching history change or does it for us armchair philosophers will ponder which is the true path. Harriet Klausner