Litsy

Dark Fire: A Shardlake Novel | C. J. Sansom

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Lawyer Shardlake is tasked by Thomas Cromwell, Chief Secretary to Henry VIII, with a dangerous & secret mission to find “dark fire”, a method of mass destruction. An atmosphere of evil & violence colors this #2 in the series.Shardlake also has a sensationalized case involving a young girl charged with murder.What he unearths is a tale of nefarious,depraved evil.His friend & healer Guy returns & a new character,the loyal,abrasive, protector Barak.

Andrew65, TheSpineView, dabbe

kspenmoll #serieslove2025 2d

TheSpineView Well done! 2d

dabbe Excellent review! Barak is my favorite “arse!“ 🤩🤣🤗 2d

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kspenmoll

Dark Fire: A Shardlake Novel | C. J. Sansom

Reading the Alchemist with 9th grade. Meanwhile I am reading Dark Fire at home. Both books linked by alchemy. #heroesjourney #alchemist #liquidgold

dabbe Interesting tie-in! 🤩❣️🤩 4d

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AnneCecilie

Revelation: A Shardlake Novel 4 | C. J. Sansom

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A friend and colleague of Shardlake is found murdered and Shardlake promises the widow that he will find the killer. This leads to the discovery of more related murders as someone is killing according to one of the stories in the Book of Revelation.

At the same time Shardlake gets appointed the lawyer to Adam Kite. A young man who won‘t do anything besides praying who for his own protection has been sent to the asylum. This give Sansom to explore

AnneCecilie the treatment of mental health during the Tudor and shows the conditions in which they lived in. I loved each new Shardlake crime more than the last since we get to know the characters more. I‘m so happy that #ShardlakeBR has me rereading this amazing crime series. @dabbe 1w

dabbe Excellent review! So glad we're reading these together! 🤩🤗🤩 1w

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LitsyEvents

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

Repost for @dabbe

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR

Fascinating discussion today Shardlakians!

Next up: HEARTSTONE

dabbe Thank you! 🤗 1w

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dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR @LItsyEvents

Fascinating discussion today, Shardlakians!

Next up: HEARTSTONE. The events of this novel take place in the summer of 1545. Shardlake and Barak travel to Portsmouth on a legal case given to them by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. The book also concerns preparations for the Battle of the Solent and the King's warship, the MARY ROSE. Elizabeth I makes an appearance or two, too! 🤩

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dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#anotheronedone!

#ChunksterChallenge2025
#AllergicToChunksters
@Amiable @julieclair

Amiable Yay! 1w

dabbe @Amiable 💚🩶💚 1w

julieclair Woo hoo!!! 🎉 1w

dabbe @julieclair 💚🩶💚 7d

54 likes4 comments

dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR

Thoughts, Shardlakians?

Daisey, Cuilin, Amiable, PurpleyPumpkin, Texreader, AnneCecilie, Gissy, Centique, OutsmartYourShelf, jenniferw88, Deblovestoread, Librarybelle, batsy, Chrissyreadit, kwmg40, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, dabbe, Fr3NcHtOaSt, RaeLovesToRead, bthegood, lil1inblue, PageShifter, LiseWorks, The_Book_Ninja, Karisimo, Cheryl_Russell_BookNotes, BookWrym

OutsmartYourShelf Back then, people in England had the 'comfort' of thinking that hardships were part of God's plan & that the afterlife would make up for any suffering on earth. I have a hard time reconciling in my mind a God that loves humankind but would allow His worshippers to suffer excruciating deaths in His name. The death for treason was horrific whilst being burned at the stake would be bad enough. 1w

OutsmartYourShelf “they confuse their own needs, for certainty or power, with God's voice speaking to them.“ We know that Henry VIII was one of these.

Also how many others over the centuries (even talking 20th century with the cult leaders) have claimed to have had the truth revealed to them by God, & somehow it involves them being in charge, getting rich, &/or having many lovers. Really odd that🤔 /s 1w

LiseWorks The greatest wars were about religion. I remember a priest telling me that members of the Congregation should not read the Bible because they can't understand it. I have read my Bible since I was given one in grade 5 ( when they used to give Bibles in school). I was so shocked. This was in 1981. How ignorant of that man telling me a woman that I could not read a book or understand it. No wonder ordinary people were kept in the dark. 1w

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dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf Excellent thoughts. The more I see the horrors unleashed in this world, the harder it is for me to believe. And just saying “God works in mysterious ways“ is NOT an answer to the amount of suffering that goes on. If God gets credit for all the good that happens (I see a person praising God for winning a game), he also gets the blame for the bad. Otherwise, we're living in chaos, which is what I do believe to be true. 1w

dabbe @LiseWorks Beyond ignorant. Aggrandizingly arrogant IMHO. 1w

lil1inblue This was a wonderful quote. It was a confusing, uncertain era, where things changed based on who was whispering in the king's ear that day. Those in power used religion as a way to maintain control or to gain power. They manipulated "god's word" to fit their ends. Meanwhile, the general population was left confused and afraid. And fear and confusion are often the seeds for extreme behavior. 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue You're more easily led, too, if you're afraid and think you have nowhere to turn to. 1w

lil1inblue @dabbe 🎯🎯🎯 1w

AnneCecilie The Tudor time along with many others just proves to me all the wrongs that have been done in the name of religion and that extremism in any form is never a good thing. (edited) 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie Too many wrongs to name. And whose religion is the right one? Why do we have to persecute in the name of our religion? These thoughts have led me to become an agnostic. 1w

AnneCecilie @dabbe I‘m not sure what I am, but I love in a very secular society so it doesn‘t really matter. I have enough distance to it to see that religion isn‘t all good. 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie Did I ever ask where you're from? I wish things were more secular here. 1w

AnneCecilie @dabbe I‘m from Norway. Religion isn‘t a big thing here. There‘s a very low percentage that visits the church during the year. I hade to google and it says that each Norwegian on average visits the church 0,59 times during a year. I would think that most of these visits are during Christmas and Easter. 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie You live in the most beautiful of countries! I was lucky enough to visit there back in 1990. My 1st husband's submarine was stationed there after breaking through the ice at the Arctic Circle. We spent most of our time in Bergen, and it's one of my five favorite places on this planet! The people were the friendliest folks, too. Where do you live? ❣️🇳🇴❣️ 1w

kwmg40 I love what this quotation says about humility. It seems that, so many centuries later, the mix of politics, religion, power and economics can still cause a lot of upheaval in the world. 7d

dabbe @kwmg40 Agree 💯. Imagine where we'd be if more leaders were more humble. 7d

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dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR

Thoughts, Shardlakians?

OutsmartYourShelf It must have been a very confusing & dangerous time to live in. Henry VIII 'reforms' the Church, ripping away what has been a constant for centuries, & then as he gets older he starts walking it back in some ways.

The constant changing of those in power or favour - one minute you are high in the King's favour, the next your head is on a block. For the masses, there is the spectre of torture & execution for doing/saying the wrong thing. 1w

LiseWorks Being in London for a lot of people was in poverty. I would have lived in the country. The king was mad at the end. Being sick was not helping. His drs didn't know how to treat his leg. Can you imagine how much pain he was in? 1w

dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf I can't even imagine living in such uncertain times. Everyone had to be walking around constantly looking behind them. Who could like like that? 1w

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dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf I'd probably want to live far enough away, too, to avoid getting caught doing anything wrong. But who knew what that was since it changed on a daily basis? 1w

lil1inblue The religious extremism and fanaticism really struck me, perhaps because there are echoes of those themes in our current times. Sansom seems to show that much of the extremism is the result of fear and uncertainty, which I can't help but compare to today, as well. 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue Agree 💯. And unfortunately, too many politicians and people in power know just how to stoke your fears and make you worry. At least we don't have to worry about getting our heads stuck on a pike, though, so there's that. 👊🏻 1w

AnneCecilie This most have been a hard time to live in. Especially for the common person where religious beliefs changes constantly and you can‘t expect to get justice if someone thinks you‘re doing anything wrong. It highlights know your friends because you must always be careful of who you say what to. 1w

Daisey @lil1inblue I also was more struck by the aspects of religious extremism when I read it this second time compared to several years ago because of how I see more of it in our current world now as well. 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie IKR? One day they're Catholic, the next Protestant, the next who the heck knows? All on the king's whim, God's supposed representative on earth. What a representative! 😱 1w

dabbe @Daisey 🎯🎯🎯! 1w

kwmg40 It does come across as a very chaotic time. I found interesting the way politics mixed with religion and how ordinary people's lives were changed as different religious factions gained and regained power. 7d

dabbe @kwmg40 And it could change in a heartbeat! Today we're Catholic; oh, no we're not. Yikes! 7d

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dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR

Thoughts, Shardlakians?

OutsmartYourShelf I think a serial killer is classified as someone who kills more than 3 victims in separate killings. If someone killed several people at once, in one 'hit' as it were, I wouldn't consider them a serial killer.

The popular image is of a clever, fiendish killer who plans out their kills. The jury is still out on whether Jack the Ripper was clever or insane & remarkably lucky to get away with the murders. 1w

LiseWorks Bedlam reminded me that the medical community did not have a clue about mental health. When a lot of people are killed by one person at the same time, it's called a mass killing. Jack the Ripper was a serial killer. Something happened to him because those killings stopped, and that's why he was never caught. 1w

dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf Agree 💯. If a person kills a bunch of people at once, I'd probably consider them a mass murderer but not necessarily a serial killer. RE: Jack the Ripper, it's hard to say. I guess I'd call him clever in his choosing of marginalized women that no one cared about. 1w

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dabbe @LiseWorks One of the greatest serial killer mysteries of all time! 1w

lil1inblue What makes a person insane is such a great question. Adam Kite was trying to deal with something he didn't understand Ellen is agoraphobic, but is utterly competent when she's inside. 1w

lil1inblue It seems as though many of these people just had differences people didn't know how to deal with, so they locked them away. 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue 🎯! Who gets to decide? The doctors? The families who can't deal with you? Guy knew that Adam just needed love and the right touch. I can't believe the horrors that have been unleashed in this world all in the name of someone's so-called religion. #ranttime 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue I just wrote that before reading this! So true! 🎯 1w

AnneCecilie Insanity seems to be when someone behaves differently than what society excepts/ wants. At this time, I would guess it was enough if the man of the family said someone was insane, to get them locked up. A serial killer is someone who kills on numerous occasions. I‘m going to assume that they have “always” existed, but in times before fingerprints, DNA and other technologies it was easier to get away. (edited) 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie Excellent reminder about the fingerprints. And yes, serial killers have probably been around as long as we humans have. 1w

kwmg40 I found Sansom's exploration of mental illness and his investigation into the motivations of the serial killer really interesting. I've read many novels that had scenes in or references to Bedlam, but this novel has made me want to learn more about its history. 7d

dabbe @kwmg40 Me, too, though I'm afraid it would depress the hell out of me. What an intense time period to live in--especially if you're in an asylum! 7d

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dabbe

Revelation. C.J. Sansom | C J Sansom

#ShardlakeSeriesBR #ShardlakeBR

Thoughts, Shardlakians?

OutsmartYourShelf I liked Ellen, & having taken a peek at the synopsis for the next book it seems we may learn more about her story.

I think Barak & Tamasin will get back together by the end of the next book. 1w

LiseWorks I think the loss of a baby really affects the marriage of Barack and tamarin. But Barack is really being an ass. 1w

dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf I really cared for Ellen and want to learn her backstory and hopefully see her completely free. Agree 💯 re: Barak and Tamasin. 🤞🏻 1w

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dabbe @LiseWorks Or as he would say it: ARSE!!! 🤣 Takes one to know one, Barak! 1w

Mollyanna I agree with everyone. I like Ellen and would like to see more of her in the future. I hope Barak and Tamasin reunite, but I appreciated Tamasin for standing up for herself. I feel bad about Dolores, Shardlake sure can‘t catch a break in the love department. 1w

lil1inblue @OutsmartYourShelf Totally agree on both points. I'm intrigued by Ellen's character. I'm a little annoyed with Barak, but I want him to shape up for Tamasin. 1w

lil1inblue Guy's storyline in this one was both interesting and a bit heartbreaking. I'm curious to see how he fares in the next book. 1w

dabbe @Mollyanna I hope we see more of Ellen, too. I think Dorothy is gone, so I hope there's love for Shardlake somewhere in the future. 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue That boy needs to man up! 🤣 1w

dabbe @lil1inblue He's a fave of mine. Just heartbreaking to see what happened to him and to witness how lonely he is. 😔 1w

AnneCecilie That Dorothy went to stay close to her son wasn‘t a huge surprise. I felt sad for Ellen after learning parts of her story. I‘m glad Adam overcome his religious insanity, but did this really happen? I wouldn‘t be surprised if it did considering the times. I feel sorry for Barak and Tamasin for the loss of their baby. This shows that everyone deals with grief in different ways & some are more destructive that others. I hope they get back together 1w

Daisey I pretty much agree with all the previous comments. I did think the potential love of Shardlake & Dorothy was better and still incredibly realistic than his interests in previous books. I also really enjoyed Ellen‘s story. 1w

dabbe @AnneCecilie Barak just needs to stop being such an arse! 🤣 1w

dabbe @Daisey I thought so, too. I would have loved to see them get together. I love the character of Ellen, too. 1w

kwmg40 I find myself getting more invested in the lives of Barak, Tamasin and Guy, and it seems that we may see more of Ellen as well. I also find Catherine Parr an interesting character and wonder how accurately Sansom's depiction matches what we know of her in real life. 7d

dabbe @kwmg40 Parr is my favorite of the SIX. I do remember that we'll be seeing more of her in the next book(s). 🤩 7d

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