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    A Burnable Book
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    A Burnable Book
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    A Burnable Book
    Ebook535 pages9 hours

    A Burnable Book

    By Bruce Holsinger

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A stunning debut historical thriller set in the turbulent 14th Century for fans of CJ Sansom, The Name of the Rose and An Instance of the Fingerpost.

    London, 1385. A city of shadows and fear, in a kingdom ruled by the headstrong young King Richard II, haunted by the spectre of revolt. A place of poetry and prophecy, where power is bought by blood.

    For John Gower, part-time poet and full-time trader in information, secrets are his currency. When close confidant, fellow poet Geoffrey Chaucer, calls in an old debt, Gower cannot refuse.

    The request is simple: track down a missing book. It should be easy for a man of Gower’s talents, who knows the back-alleys of Southwark as intimately as the courts and palaces of Westminster.

    But what Gower does not know is that this book has already caused one murder, and that its contents could destroy his life.

    Because its words are behind the highest treason – a conspiracy to kill the king and reduce his reign to ashes…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJan 30, 2014
    ISBN9780007493319
    Unavailable
    A Burnable Book
    Author

    Bruce Holsinger

    Bruce Holsinger is a professor of English Language and literature whose books on medieval culture have won major prizes from the Modern Language Association and the Medieval Academy of America. Bruce is also a Guggenheim fellow and the recipient of many prestigious research fellowships. He lives in Virginia with his wife and sons. His debut novel, A Burnable Book,was published to critical acclaim in 2014 and is the first to feature John Gower. The Invention of Fire is his second novel.

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    Reviews for A Burnable Book

    3.5/5

    176 ratings50 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this - can't wait to queue up volume 2!
    • 4/5
      This book was really well done. Holsinger incorporates a lot of historical events and people that makes the fictional storyline come to life. Any book about books will have bookworms coming out of the woodwork, and this was a wonderful tale about a book and the people whose lives are directly impacted by it and its prophetic words. The story takes many twists and turns, and the reader finds themselves wondering how all the pieces are related and when they'll all come together (as they do, towards the end).
    • 4/5
      This book was both everything I love and everything I loathe about historical fiction. Everything I love includes characters pulled straight out of history: Chaucer, Gower, Richard the II, Hawkswood, and plots that involve books and codes and secret symbols. Everything I loathe is, ironically, everything that makes this a more or less accurate work of historical fiction. Told from different points of view throughout the book, two of the perspectives are those of prostitutes and there's no sugar coating the language or the profession. It's raw and graphic and just not what I enjoy reading no matter the setting or the time period. There are also POVs from mercenaries and the acts they threaten to carry out and ultimately do carry out are disgustingly graphic and inhumane. Verisimilitude can go too far for my tastes and does so here. But, by far, the things I loved kept me glued to this book, even when the things I loathed would have me DNF it. It was so well written, I wanted to know what was going to happen to John Gower, and Simon, and Millicent. And of course, I wanted to know more about the Burnable Book. So, if your tastes are more tolerant than mine, I highly recommend this book. I'm not at all sorry I read it - it was a great story, I couldn't put down - even when it offended my delicate sensibilities.
    • 4/5
      The author really made medieval London come alive from the page. He clearly has a good understanding of the times and the historical setting. It did take me a couple of tries to finish this, but I'm so glad I finally did!

      On my first try, I gave up when the plot started really getting into the politics of the day, something I really didn't know anything about, which meant I quickly got lost. However, this is a book I could never quite get out of my head. Eventually, when I picked it back up, I took some time going thru the character list and reading a little bit about them on Wikipedia, and made note of all the names they went by (i.e., James Gaunt=Duke of Lancaster=Lancaster). I do recommend if you aren't familiar with the major players of the day to make a copy of the Cast of Characters and maybe even the family tree that the author has at the beginning of the book so you can easily refer to it.

      Loved the detailed Author's Notes at the end too! I do have a little pet peeve of mine, when author's use phrases in a foreign language and don't translate them, which this author did at times. But that's my only real complaint about the book.
    • 3/5
      I looked forward to reading this. It had all the right ingredients - great reviews, historical, England, a protagonist named Gower, a book...but.The reviews all more or less hinted that the book was off to a slow start but you had to hang in. I just couldn't. Perhaps if I knew that period of English history better, but I had to keep referring to the list of characters. I finally gave it up.
    • 5/5
      Puzzles, enigmas, lies, spies, schemes and riddles - what a juicy story. This terrific book is about the search for a missing tome that contains a treasonous prophesy about the murder of King Richard II and is thus a "burnable book". Geoffrey Chaucer is one of many people searching for this book and he has enlisted the aid of his friend, a lawyer/poet/fixer named John Gower. Gower is a trader in secret information that he buys or obtains through blackmail or as payment for previous favors. It seems that everyone in London is in his debt. Gower is proud of his ability to control situations but the intrigues surrounding the burnable book are beyond his control. He is also unable to control his estranged son Simon who has been banished.This is the first work of fiction by the author, a medieval scholar, and the book is full of vivid period details. They lend atmosphere to the plot but do not overwhelm it. I never got the feeling that the author was forcing his research notes into the story. I am not an English history buff, so I appreciated the inclusion of a cast of characters, both real and fictional, in the beginning of the book. Sections of the book are separated by pages of a letter from a mysterious correspondent to an unknown lover. This letter gradually reveals the history if the burnable book. The burnable book is stolen several times during the course of this story. It's seekers have complex political, theological and personal motives for wanting the book or wanting to keep it from being found, including old grudges and new affronts.This book has a complex plot and a large group of characters including royalty and clergy in England, a group of mercenaries in Italy, and the prostitutes, butchers and merchants in the impoverished parts of London. Ultimately it is the powerless people who show their nobility by trying to do the right thing to protect the King and each other and who lose the most in doing so. Not everyone survives the search for the burnable book. The mystery surrounding the missing book (who wrote it, what does it mean, why does everyone want it, how did it get to England) is fascinating. This was a really good story, excitingly told and well written. I'll be happy to read the author's next book.I received a free copy of the advance reader's edition of this book from the publisher.
    • 4/5
      Although I'm not usually a reader of mysteries, historical or otherwise, I was intrigued by the appearance of poet John Gower as the main character and his friend, Geoffrey Chaucer, as a secondary character. Holsinger creates a detailed and fascinating portrait at medieval London (or, as he would have it, three cities: London, Westminster, and Southwark), from the court of Richard II to the stews of Gropecunt Lane. The first chapter is designed to draw the reader in, and that it did. A young woman, Agnes Fonteyn, is hiding in the bushes, watching a horrific scene. Another young woman, this one dressed in rich attire, has just shoved a book into Agnes's hands as her pursuer approaches. Viciously beating the stranger, he keeps asking a question that Agnes does not understand--"Doovray libroo?"--before brutally killing her with a hammer. And thus the mystery begins.Gower, a lawyer as well as a part-time poet, hears rumors of a mysterious book full of cryptic prophecies that describe the deaths of thirteen kings of England, the last being the current young king, Richard II. The book, and cloth that covers it, point towards the king's uncle, John of Gaunt, as the mastermind of the assassination plot. Gower's search for the book and his efforts to unravel its secrets take him from the Inns of Court to the remote libraries of Oxford, from the royal court to the brothels of Southwark. And he is not the only one interested in the book. His friend Chaucer has asked him to find it, and Agnes, her sister Millicent, and their friend, a transvestite prostitute named Edgar/Elinor, at first ponder its mysteries but then decide to seek a buyer. And there are many interested in this burnable book.Along the way, Holsinger provides plenty of subplots. There's Gower's relationship with his estranged son Simon; Elinor's attempts to save her butcher's apprentice brother Gerald from his brutal master; the power and pull of Kathryn Swynford, Gaunt's mistress; Simon's service to an English mercenary in Italy; and the sad story of the murdered young woman. So with all this going on, why did my interest start to wain about 2/3 through the book? I can only attribute it to my lack of interest in the mystery genre. Regular readers of historical mysteries will undoubtedly find it more appealing. The book is very well written and the world it creates fully fleshed out; the characters are each, in their own ways, fascinating and sympathetic; and the books structure, a series of short chapters moving amongst the various characters, works well. But I'm just not a fan of the genre and will likely pass on the sequel.
    • 4/5
      This one takes a while to get into, but is worth the effort. Setting his story in 1385, during the reign of Richard II of England (son of "The Black Prince" Edward), Holsinger provides us with a huge cast of characters (44 are listed in the front matter) spanning all classes from royals and aristocrats to poets and bureaucrats to prostitutes and apprentices. In this sprawling mystery, a dangerous book prophesying the death of the king is circulating in London. People high and low are looking for it--for their own political and profitable reasons--and the bodies are piling up. Holsinger cycles through points of view (POV), providing more clues and building his story layer by layer, keeping the reader guessing. I particularly liked the recurring interludes that tell a continuing story in a bardic voice, that--at first--seem to have nothing to do with the book. Because they are printed on grayscale background (and easy to find by flipping through the book), I was tempted to read this story-within-a-story first. I'm glad I resisted the temptation. That thread gets woven into Holsinger's complicated tapestry and is particularly satisfying. I appreciated the obvious research that establishes this story firmly in its time and place. Holsinger (a professor of Medieval Literature) does his homework and provides meticulous details about food, clothing, architecture, court manners, religious ritual, and societal attitudes which enrich the story. I found the dialects and slang of the lower classes a bit rough going at first, but it was obvious from the context what the characters were saying and my reader's ear soon caught up. The weakest of the writing trilogy (character, plot and setting), in this book, is character. Because Holsinger has such a wide cast, it is difficult to go too deep. His supporting characters are expertly differentiated with a few interesting details. Of his POV characters, the most vivid and admirable is a transvestite prostitute Edgar/Eleanor. His only first person POV character is the historical figure John Gower, poet and life-long friend of Chaucer. I found him opaque. He is supposed to be amoral, a spider with a web of coerced informants; but he seemed to be the hapless dupe, manipulated by his friends and son, and constantly in the dark. It's only at the end, he pulls all the threads together, which made him feel more like a plot device (and stand-in for the reader) than a fully-fleshed character.Altogether, I enjoyed this read, both the craft and the story. I received this book, through an Early Reader program, from the publisher. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
    • 4/5
      Book was an ARC copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Received through GoodReads. Thanks for the book!The book was a little hard for me to get into at first. Told from multiple points of view, there's a lot of world building and story foundation being laid in the first, I'd say, fourth of the book. And while I did become engaged with the characters and their struggles (I mean, the book starts with a murder so yeah, excitement is present!), I found myself more than once with my attention wondering. But once the mystery really hit its stride, it was a break neck ride to the end.The story in this novel is something else. Extremely complex and vivid, the narrative transports the reader into a maelstrom of intrigue, mystery, prophecies, and regicide. I found myself surprised more than once at where the story went. Twists and turns presented themselves throughout the entire work, right up until the very end. The reader can tell that the writer is a medieval scholar; every street, bishop's palace, hovel, aristocrat, and prostitute comes to vivid life. The reader can literally hear the roar of the London masses, see the glitter of royal processions, smell the ink used by the poets and scribes of the era, and experience the hardship of a prostitute's life right with the girls themselves.Despite a somewhat rocky start, this novel is a stand out for historical fiction. Once the action really starts flowing, the reader is kept on the edge of their seat and guessing about where the story is really going to go. A historical setting that literally breathes with life doesn't hurt either. If you enjoy historical fiction and mystery, definitely check this one out.
    • 3/5
      In 1385 to even think the King dead is treason a book appears which has predicted the precise death of the first 13 Kings of England, the last is Richard II, his life is now in mortal danger.
      Geoffrey Chaucer persuades a fellow poet - John Gower - to find the manuscript and therefore prevent the death of the King.
      An interesting story, but I felt at times there was too much description which slowed the pace of the tale
    • 1/5
      I made 200 pages. I may go back or I may not. I ultimately just didn't care about the characters or the story. Oh no the king will be killed... and? A large cast of characters but 200 pages in so thinly drawn they all seemed more stereotypes than people. I was hoping for more Chaucer and got one or two scenes without any real punch. I am sure that they're plenty of people who could love and appreciate this book, I am not among those people. Well written but ultimately boring.
    • 2/5
      I really wanted to love A Burnable Book. I've really enjoyed C.J. Sansom's work, which is in some ways similar, and I like taking historical figures like Chaucer and Gower and playing with them in fiction. What's more, I was in Bruce Holsinger's MOOC last year just because the book was released, which was fascinating. I really enjoyed his take on historical fiction and the work he put into the MOOC; I liked his style of lecturing, and kinda wished I could do a whole course with him. So I was preeetty excited when he sent me a copy to review.

      Unfortunately, the book itself didn't work for me. It's not the historical basis -- I trust Holsinger on that! -- but something less easy to put my finger on. I guess I just didn't like the way he expressed the characters, the way the story spun out. I liked the choice of characters, the down-to-earth-ness of it all; this isn't some romanticised past. But sadly... it just couldn't keep my attention, and I struggled with it.

      >Still, if you like your historical fiction to be accurate and well researched, you can definitely trust Holsinger for that. I don't agree with the really negative reviews about the author showing off or whatever, I just didn't get on with it personally.
    • 4/5
      I found this to be a thoroughly entertaining, well researched medieval mystery set in the 14th c. London, Westminster and Southwark of Chaucer and his literary friend John Gower. Holsinger is a medieval literary scholar and has obviously delighted himself by delving into the intersecting milieus of court intrigue, legalistic bureaucracies, foreign intrigue and the stews of Southwark's underbelly. The characters are memorable, and the mystery is a bit of a wild wide. Highly recommended for those who enjoy this genre.
    • 5/5
      I have great admiration for Bruce Holsinger's work as a professor and he didn't disappoint with the detailed research or lyrical writing in A Burnable Book.
    • 4/5
      Summary - A Burnable BookAuthor - Bruce HolsingerSummary - England of 1385 and the young King Richard is busy trying to unite his island country with enemies surrounding him as well as from within his own court. The back biting and intrigue in his court leaves the young King with few to trust. His uncle and trusted advisor, John of Gaunt, is one of his few trusted allies.But another threat has come about. A book. A book of prophecies that details the deaths of the last dozen rulers of England. A book of prophecy that details in verse, the death of young King Richard. Across the country songs are sung of the verses from this book and it falls to poet John Gower to find and take hold of this book, Liber De Mortibus Regum Anglorum. The Book of the Deaths of English Kings.The book itself, Gower learns, is considered to be sacrilege and have a copy in your possession is punishable by death. Gower must find the book, decipher the final verses that detail the death of King Richard and save the life of the King. In doing so, find a way to say the life of his estranged son.Review - The Burnable Book is an excellent read. Impeccably researched and paced, the novel rolls along with a steady wave of relentlessness that is difficult to achieve in historical novels that are not embroiled in erotica. Though John Gower is the primary protagonist, the novel is filled with actual historical figures and they are more to the novel than pop in and pop out characters. One of the things that Holsinger does so well also is develop the backstories to minor characters as the women of Gropecunt Lane, you can guess what business they are in.The Burnable Book is a real good read, strong in story and powerful in characters.
    • 4/5
      This is an interesting piece of historical fiction/mystery set in 14th century England. Among its characters are actual historical figures Geoffrey Chaucer, John of Gaunt, John de Vere and King Richard II. The story line centers upon a mysterious book that purports to be a prophesy of the death of the 13 English Kings since William the Conqueror, including the current, living King.Possession of such a book would be deemed treason and several different factions battle for ownership of the work, for various reasons. Court intrigue is the order of the day, as the book finds itself in the possession of a group of prostitutes. Parts of the story are intriguing, and there are several different threads, some of which are certainly more entertaining and even educational then others. All in all, it is a pretty average effort in the mystery genre, moved up slightly by its setting in medieval England.
    • 2/5
      Glad it is finished.

      It could have been that this is not the correct book for an audio book, regardless I didn't enjoy it.
    • 3/5
      Let me preface this review by saying that I am either the best or worst type of reviewer for this book. I went to graduate school for medieval history, and wrote my dissertation about prophecies in late medieval Britain, so I know a lot about the period and subject matter of this novel. I generally don't like historical fiction: I find that very few authors actually do a good job of portraying the mindset and habits of thought of medieval characters, for the very good reason that even historians often find the actions of medieval people to be inexplicable, and it often takes entire academic books to describe small details of medieval behavior. I also wish more academics would write historical fiction, because I think historical fiction often does a disservice to its readers by misrepresenting the period, and as someone who has taught college-level medieval history, I found myself spending a lot of class time helping students unlearn the things they think they know about the middle ages from reading historical fiction and watching movies. I don't like the fact that modern culture puts a huge rift between academic history and popular history, and I think academics should be reaching out to the general public more. I would not have read this book if it had not been written by someone with an academic background.So with that manifesto out of the way, I can tell you what I thought of the book.Meh.It was okay. The story was suspenseful, I suppose, but for the first half of the book there were too many different storylines, and it was absolutely impossible to understand how they fit together, so that made things confusing and decreased the suspense. The characters weren't terribly interesting - they were all pretty one-dimensional. I found it jarring that Gower's storyline was in the first person, while the other storylines were in the third person. There didn't seem to be any good reason to do it that way.I was really annoyed that almost all of the female characters were prostitutes (or mistresses, which amounts to the same thing). Late medieval London was actually a really interesting time and place for women, and there are so many more vivid and surprising occupations that Holsinger could have chosen (young girls from the country moved to London to work as household servants to raise money for marriage; women worked as brewsters and hucksters; a single woman could have a lot of independence). I suppose it is nice that women played a big role in the story - and even influenced history - but Holsinger really missed a great opportunity to dispel some myths about medieval women.I also think Holsinger goes too far with ideas of encryption, spying, and trained assassins. Those are all very modern concepts, and although there were some analogues in medieval society, Holsinger's portrayal of them in this book is way too modern, and felt like a bit of a cop-out at the end - it feels like he wrote himself into a hole, and couldn't find a good medieval way to get himself out of it.Finally, the prophecies... this is my area of expertise, and I thought it was really fun that the ludicrously obscure subject of my dissertation should play such a major role in a novel. But Holsinger doesn't represent medieval prophecies very well. The prophecy that plays such a major role in this book makes way too much sense. Late medieval prophecies in Britain were utter, incomprehensible doggerel. They were intentionally written to be as obscure, vague, and open to interpretation as possible. The prophecy in A Burnable Book doesn't really resemble the prophecies that were actually being written at the time. Another aspect of prophecies that Holsinger didn't use in the novel is that they were usually written by, and read by, the lower classes. Class warfare definitely plays a part in the novel, but all of the classes seem equally concerned with this prophecy. Holsinger doesn't devote much attention to the power structures at work with prophecies: they were a way for lower classes to express their opinions about politics, and although the upper classes took them seriously, they weren't concerned with specifics as much as they were concerned with the dissemination of prophecies. I'm definitely nit-picking here.So all in all.... the book was fine, I don't regret reading it, but I was disappointed with it as a means of merging academic and popular culture, and didn't find the story itself to be all that great.I listened to the audiobook, and Simon Vance is as impeccable as ever.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book a lot, mostly for the way Holsinger built the story on the fascinating history of the time.
    • 5/5
      This was a well written, fun romp through the Medieval London following a book as it travels to England from Italy and becomes the potential downfall of the monarchy. It is rich in characters, from Chaucer to Eleanor/Edgar Rykener (read the book to find out about THAT character--no spoiler alerts here!). This is historical fiction at its best. I can't wait to read "The Invention of Fire."
    • 2/5
      Actually 2.5. This started out as a 3 or 3.5, but as it progressed I became impatient with it. The premise of a treasonous [or 'burnable'] book, analogous to the prophecies of a Nostradamus, was interesting; gnomic verses are open to multiple interpretations. Each of thirteen prophecies tells of the death of one of England's kings, from William the Conqueror until the present Richard II. Richard II's regicide is predicted in the thirteenth prophecy. The others have already occurred. The novel is told partially from the perspective of John Gower, a poet, "trader in information", and friend of fellow poet and author Geoffrey Chaucer. Gower wishes to obtain the book, as do others, including a group of prostitutes. The women want to sell it to the man paying the most for it. Everyone wants to find out the identity of the assassin and prevent the king's death on St. Dunstan's Day. The book is wrapped in an embroidered cloth. To what extent is that connected with the book? The story spans England to Italy. After much deceit, political intrigue, treachery, more dead bodies, St. Dunstan's Day dawns, with the procession of the king and his court to hear mass. Will the assassination be prevented? For awhile, the first death, the search for the book, discovering the prophecies were written in a coded form, and the meanings were fascinating, but then explanations got tiresome and too arcane for my taste. I was irritated at the switching back and forth from Italian plot to that set in England. I absolutely did not like any of the business with the prostitutes; some of the descriptions were much too earthy for my taste. The characters were all very flat. I thought the story was poorly paced; good beginning, long, boring stretches, then a too rushed conclusion.
    • 4/5
      By its end I enjoyed it quite a bit. It took me a bit of time to get into it and understand the meaning of the letter interspersed within the book. I did like the Gower character.
    • 4/5
      The author, Bruce Holsinger, is a professor of English literature at UVA, and his academic work focuses on Medieval poetry, liturgical texts, law, homoeroticism, and animal studies. It is pretty surprising that he has also managed to write an eminently readable literary murder mystery. He uses his background in Medieval literature to flesh out the everyday details of life in Medieval London, but he doesn't let those details overwhelm his story. This is an excellent novel, smart, well-written, and fun to read.
    • 4/5
      The Burnable Book of the title, of this debut novel by Bruce Holsinger, is a collection of prophecies,one of which foretells the death of the king,a crime in the Medieval days of England. John Gower is tasked by fellow poet Geoffrey Chaucer to retrieve the stolen manuscript before it falls into the wrong hands and the desperate woman who has come across it by chance has handed the book over to her even more desperate sister Millicent,who sees it as a way to settle her mountain of debts and restore her to the rung of lower middle class comfort she has grown used to.However,the book proves to be far beyond what either party imagined it would be in terms of trouble. An engaging read and promising start for the author.
    • 4/5
      I was very excited to read this book because of the time period and that Chaucer was included. It was a pleasant book. It is a great light read. I enjoyed the character development and the plot and while it was engaging it was not engrossing. I would recommend it as a nice light read for fans of medieval mysteries.
    • 4/5
      A Burnable Book, a historical mystery with Chaucer's friend and fellow poet John Gower as protagonist, is an enjoyable but not mesmerizing look into the turmoil of late 14th century London. Briefly, a maudlin of Gropecunt Lane witnesses a murder and takes possession of a little book, the same book that Chaucer has asked Gower to find for him, a book that purports to prophesy the death of kings including Richard II. The plot twists and turns upon itself, but by the end all the threads are tied up nicely, all questions answered.Bruce Holsinger is a Professor of medieval literature at UVa, and has done a massive amount of research to produce a picture of London that also reeks of the stews and sounds like the varied populace of the times. So far, so good. I was excited to receive this book from Early Reviewers, and I can't quite pin down why I didn't love it. Nothing is really wrong - I noticed only one modern turn of phrase, for example, but I could always put it down easily, and I was never particularly excited to get back to it. On the other hand, A Burnable Book provides a painless short-cut into Chaucer's world. If I couldn't find his use of "maudlin" to mean "prostitute" in the OED, Holsinger notes in an afterward that he always tells his students to use the Middle English Dictionary instead. I guardedly recommend the book.
    • 3/5
      Starting the book was a bit rough but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. The book starts to make more sense when all of the characters become entwined. It was a new and interesting subject.
    • 4/5
      *I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*A fun, well-researched mystery set in medieval London. The poet John Glower is tasked by his friend Geoffrey Chaucer with finding a dangerous book that just may predict the demise of England's King Richard II. The story is complicated by the return of Glower's estranged son from a mercenary army in Italy and the fragile attempt to reconcile is threatened by the son's apparent involvement in a royal assignation. Overall, a rich, enjoyable tale with the potential to be the first in a series (I hope!).
    • 4/5
      The author, a professor of medieval literature, has created a fascinating novel using John Gower, a friend and fellow poet with Geoffrey Chaucer, as protagonist. Set in 1385 London, the story revolves around a book thought to be prophetic of King Richard's death. Initially simple enough, the plot increases in complexity and ends in a page turning finale as pieces of the puzzle are revealed. Including women of the streets, the narrative at times becomes a bit bawdy as one would expect from Chaucer and his fellow poets, and the text is sprinkled with terms and terminology from medieval English history. We will be seeing this on book store shelves soon.This was an Early Reviewer copy received in exchange for an honest review.
    • 2/5
      I almost quit after 20 characters paraded through the first couple of chapters without so much as any kind of introduction. Because there isn't any background, it takes over 100 pages before you can keep track of who is doing what exactly. Once I got to the point where I could associate names with details, the miniscule plot was moving so slowly that I was bored halfway through. "Thrills" are mostly limited to arguments. The author does a fine job with describing life in the 14th century but that's nowhere near enough to enliven the proceedings.