Heresy / S.J. Parris

 

Title / Heresy

Author / S. J. Parris

Series / Giordano Bruno (book 1)

Published / 2010

Page no. / 474

Overall Rating / ★★★★

This is the first book in the Giordano Bruno series, which is currently six books long. It is a historical thriller set in Elizabethan England, specifically the year 1583, and follows Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher. It is recommended to those that have enjoyed the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom. Unknown to me at the time of reading this, I subsequently found out that Giordano Bruno is actually a historical figure and lived from 1548 to 1600. 

 

Heresy was a good introduction to this series, although the pacing was a little off at times. It didn’t really bother me too much, but there are sections that are quite slow and I think some may find that it starts to drag a bit. I thought the crime/mystery elements were done pretty well and the story remained engaging throughout. I think its marketed as a thriller, which I’m not sure is totally accurate – it seems too slow paced for a thriller, but it is a great historical murder mystery story. 

 

Bruno was a great protagonist, although I got a little frustrated with his pining over a female character. The characters are all well written though and Bruno has an interesting back story. Parris writes well and I found it easy to settle into the flow of the writing. Now I am not very knowledgeable about this time period, but the setting felt realistic and I really enjoyed the tense atmosphere at the university. 

 

Overall I enjoyed this book and I am planning to check out the next book in this series, Prophecy. Have you guys started this series? I’d love to know what you thought. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

 

Pippa