THE ASTRONOMER

Name: THE ASTRONOMER
Author: Lawrence Goldstone
ISBN: 978-0-8027-1986-7

by Lawrence Goldstone ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010

Goldstone keeps his 16th-century themes—murder, religious fanaticism, espionage and court intrigue—moving at a 21st-century...

bookshelf

The “astronomer” of the title refers to Copernicus, and this novel of intrigue centers on the controversy about his heliocentric theory, especially as that controversy spills over into violent conflict between Catholics and Lutherans.

At the center of the story is Amaury de Faverges, the exquisitely educated but illegitimate son of the Duke of Savoy. Amaury is an expert on modern science—16th-century modern science that is, for the novel takes place in 1534. Dressed as a Franciscan, a classmate of Amaury’s is murdered on the streets of Paris for a packet of letters he was carrying, and the perpetrators turn out to be radical Lutherans who want to upset the Catholic status quo in France. Ory, aka The Inquisitor, promises that Amaury will achieve legitimacy if he agrees to help the Inquisition, and so begins an undercover assignment to the politically liberal court of Marguerite of Navarre, the older sister of France’s ruling monarch, François I. At Marguerite’s court Amaury gets a bit more than he bargained for, including a passionate dalliance with his former lover Hélène, one of the most beautiful women in France. Amaury begins to question both his mission and his religious upbringing when he realizes, perhaps naively, that his quest—to uncover documents that support Copernicus’s theory—might in fact lead science to “couple with love of God and lead the way to a new world. This discovery will save Christianity, not destroy it.” Amaury abhors the fanaticism of the Inquisition and is an enlightened man of the age. In creating his 16th-century tapestry, Goldstone (The Friar and the Cipher, 2005, etc.) weaves in actual historical figures, not just French royalty but also Rabelais (as earthy and witty as one would expect), John Calvin (severe) and, eventually, Copernicus, whose life is endangered as a result of his “heretical” theories.

Goldstone keeps his 16th-century themes—murder, religious fanaticism, espionage and court intrigue—moving at a 21st-century pace.

Pub Date: May 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-8027-1986-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2010

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DAYS OF INFAMY
by Lawrence Goldstone

- BOOK REVIEW
SEPARATE NO MORE
by Lawrence Goldstone

- BOOK REVIEW
ON ACCOUNT OF RACE
by Lawrence Goldstone

bookshelf

CARRIE

by Stephen King ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 8, 1974

King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these...

bookshelf

Figuratively and literally shattering moments of hoRRRRRipilication in Chamberlain, Maine where stones fly from the sky rather than from the hands of the villagers (as they did in "The Lottery," although the latter are equal to other forms of persecution).

All beginning when Carrie White discovers a gift with telekinetic powers (later established as a genetic fact), after she menstruates in full ignorance of the process and thinks she is bleeding to death while the other monsters in the high school locker room bait and bully her mercilessly. Carrie is the only child of a fundamentalist freak mother who has brought her up with a concept of sin which no blood of the Lamb can wash clean. In addition to a sympathetic principal and gym teacher, there's one girl who wishes to atone and turns her date for the spring ball over to Carrie who for the first time is happy, beautiful and acknowledged as such. But there will be hell to pay for this success—not only her mother but two youngsters who douse her in buckets of fresh-killed pig blood so that Carrie once again uses her "wild talent," flexes her mind and a complete catastrophe (explosion and an uncontrolled fire) virtually destroys the town.

King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these youngsters who once ate peanut butter now scrawl "Carrie White eats shit." But as they still say around here, "Sit a spell and collect yourself."

Pub Date: April 8, 1974

ISBN: 0385086954

Page Count: 216

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
OTHER WORLDS THAN THESE
by Stephen King & Peter Straub

- BOOK REVIEW
NEVER FLINCH
by Stephen King

- BOOK REVIEW
YOU LIKE IT DARKER
by Stephen King

- PERSPECTIVES
Appreciations: Carrie Turns 40

- SEEN & HEARD
Stephen King Used ‘Carrie’ Advance To Support Mom

- BOOK TO SCREEN
New ‘Carrie’ Series in the Works at Amazon

bookshelf

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

bookshelf

A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.