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An Instance of the Fingerpost is that rarest of all possible literary beasts--a mystery powered as much by ideas as by suspects, autopsies, and smoking guns. Hefty, intricately plotted, and intellectually ambitious, Fingerpost has drawn the inevitable comparisons to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and, for once, the comparison is apt.
The year is 1663, and the setting is Oxford, England, during the height of Restoration political intrigue. When Dr. Robert Grove is found dead in his Oxford room, hands clenched and face frozen in a rictus of pain, all the signs point to poison. Rashomon-like, the narrative circles around Grove's murder as four different characters give their version of events: Marco da Cola, a visiting Italian physician--or so he would like the reader to believe; Jack Prestcott, the son of a traitor who fled the country to avoid execution; Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician and cryptographer with a predilection for conspiracy theories; and Anthony Wood, a mild-mannered Oxford antiquarian whose tale proves to be the book's "instance of the fingerpost." (The quote comes from the philosopher Bacon, who, while asserting that all evidence is ultimately fallible, allows for "one instance of a fingerpost that points in one direction only, and allows of no other possibility.")
Like The Name of the Rose, this is one whodunit in which the principal mystery is the nature of truth itself. Along the way, Pears displays a keen eye for period details as diverse as the early days of medicine, the convoluted politics of the English Civil War, and the newfangled fashion for wigs. Yet Pears never loses sight of his characters, who manage to be both utterly authentic denizens of the 17th century and utterly authentic human beings. As a mystery, An Instance of the Fingerpost is entertainment of the most intelligent sort; as a novel of ideas, it proves equally satisfying.
Book Description
Now in trade, the New York Times bestseller that "may well be the best 'historical mystery' ever written." (The Sunday Boston Globe)
"It is 1663, and England is wracked with intrigue and civil strife. When an Oxford don is murdered, it seems at first that the incident can have nothing to do with great matters of church and state....Yet, little is as it seems in this gripping novel, which dramatizes the ways in which witnesses can see the same events yet remember them falsely. Each of four narrators-a Venetian medical student, a young man intent on proving his late father innocent of treason, a cryptographer, and an archivist-fingers a different culprit...an erudite and entertaining tour de force." -People
"Enthralling."-San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Ingenious."-The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Successful literary thrillers in the mold of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose are the stuff of a publisher's dreams, and in Pears' novel they may have found a near-perfect example of the genre...Pears, with a painstaking, almost forensic attention to detail, constructs his world like a master painter..."-New York Times
"Fascinating...quite extraordinary...elevates the murder mystery to the category of high art."-Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Brings not merely a huge cast of characters but a whole century vividly to life."-Newsweek
Customer Reviews:
A brilliant masterpiece of contemporary literature.......2007-09-22
This review is long overdue. I read this book back in January of this year, but I can never find the right words to describe a book of such elaborate complexity. The book is really four version of the same story told by as many witnesses.
The story takes place in Oxford University, when the dean is found dead (or murdered). The story also takes place during the Restoration, a volatile period of British History.
Four different characters present their unique point of view, with numerous references to famous contemporary scientists, from mathematicians, such as Fermat and Leibnitz, to physicians from the past (or spagyrist) like Paracelsus and even ancient Roman historians like Suetonius.
Ian Pears sparkles his story with so many contemporary theories and believes that instead than just recreating the physical aspects of the times, we understand their mentality. His intellectually stimulating style makes it difficult to put this book down.
Dazzling work, large in volume with lots of curious facts and details, and hours of guaranteed good entertaining reading.
Superb story-telling.......2007-07-31
AIotF is a terrific historical novel, expertly crafted from start to finish, both entertaining and erudite. Pears seemlessly blends real and fictional persons and historical events, masterfully evoking a bygone age in fascinating detail. The story that runs through this novel is exceptionally compelling. At 700+ pages, not a word of this novel is wasted. AIotF is, in a word, superb.
A deep historical mystery.......2007-07-29
A murder mystery that takes place in 17th century Oxford England and is told from four different points of view. The first 200 pages are narrated by a Venetian Physician. It illustrates the state of medical knowledge at the time and is truly fascinating. Overall you get an authentic feel for the politics, legal system, science and religion of the 17th century all wrapped in an intriguing murder mystery. The first and fourth narrators are five star material. The middle two lose some steam and a star for the novel but luckily are the shortest sections. The four distinct voices add surprising twists to an extraordinary story.
Verbose.......2007-06-26
This may be a great book, but the wordiness (not length of story, but torrent of unneccessary words) was too much, after even 50 pages. I don't enjoy the verbosity of the book and wish the writer could have been more succinct and precise in his writing.
Old world Whodunit with a unique twist..........2007-06-14
This book is not going to appeal to most casual readers. Its length alone makes it a formidable task for even the most energetic book lover. Couple that with a story based on the early sciences and that takes place in the 1600s, and you've got one difficult sell.
However, for lovers of good mysteries and detailed period pieces then this book has the potential to amaze.
The story is as old as the hills. Someone has died. There are plenty of people with the motivation to kill and that could benefit from the death. You must figure out who done it.
But what makes An Instance of the Fingerpost unique is the way the clues are revealed. You are provided with a myriad of details about the people and circumstances before, during and after the death from the perspective of several different people. But you must understand that each distict version of the facts comes without benefit of filtering the storyteller's own flawed observations, personal biases, truths and lies. With each new recounting you wonder how much of what you read earlier is fact, fabrication or embellishment. Fascinating.
If you're looking for an interesting whodunit with a unique perspective and contains lots of insights into the then "modern" sciences, then AIOTF should be on your nightstand.
Product Description
Set of 5 paperback mysteries by Iain Pears: The Immaculate Deception, The Titian Committee, The Raphael Affair, Giotto's Hand, & An Instance of the Fingerpost.
Average customer rating:
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An Instance Of The Fingerpost
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: Vintage / Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0099282089 |
Average customer rating:
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Instance of the Fingerpost
Manufacturer: G P Putnam's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0425007995 |
Average customer rating:
- A long ride, not always rewarding, but not a complet loss
- Riveting and memorable...definitely worth your time
- Terrific Darkover trilogy!
- More than a fantastic novel, a manifesto
- Better on rereading
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The Saga of the Renunciates (The Shattered Chain, Thendara House, City of Sorcery) (Darkover)
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Bradley, Marion Zimmer | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Paperback | Bradley, Marion Zimmer | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books | Brooks, Terry
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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The Forbidden Circle
ASIN: 0756400929
Release Date: 2002-08-06 |
Book Description
Long out of print, these three Darkover books tell the tale of two Free Amazon women whose lives are irrevocably entwined.
"Literate and exciting." (The New York Times Book Review)
Customer Reviews:
A long ride, not always rewarding, but not a complet loss.......2006-12-08
This Saga of the Renunciates, makes only any sense if read all togheter. Dismiss all those comments that say you can enter Darkover at any novel.
And this books are a proof of that. "Shattered" is a short novel, almost nothing realy important happens, is just an introduction for the characters. "Thendara" is long book about the lead roles, Lorne and Jael, and as all this saga, this is a story about two particular beings, and has no impact on big planetary scale, or in Darkover history. Altough very long, I found the books very adult oriented, and heartbroken, wich made me feel the troubles and sorrows of this two girls. I was amaze how Bradley managed to pull me inn with her view of the woman`s world. "Sorcery" on the other hand is an adventure driven story, and is very entertaining. (spoilers head) But the end is somehow dissapointing, more even so, considering that is the end of all the saga. It took some time to read them all, (one after the other, I might add) and I felt exausted at end, but somehow altough this is not best on Darkover, I end up missing those the girls.
Riveting and memorable...definitely worth your time.......2006-08-07
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book - I loved Mists of Avalon, but wasn't fond of the other Avalon books. I wanted to like Darkover, but the two other Darkover novels I read (Stormqueen and Hawkmistress) didn't appeal to me much.
And then I began The Shattered Chain.
It started off exactly as I'd feared it would - a band of Amazons (just...read the other reviews for technical details) walk into a town and are laughed and jeered at by the men and treated with greater hostility by the women. I thought at this point that the book would be full of "Woman Power" and show how strong these Independent Women had to be to exist on a world like Darkover.
But the novel quickly became something more than that. I felt that it greatly picked up when we were introduced to Magda, the Terran - because for the Terrans, men and women are pretty much equal. And this viewpoint GREATLY helped balance out the supressing Darkover views, and made them not just bearable, but interesting. The resulting main plotline between the Terrans and Darkover people, with the Amazons building the bridge between the two worlds...it was pretty awesome. And of course there's all the subplots, and the huge personal developments taking place within the two main characters: the Terran woman and the Amazon one.
This book has some good action scenes, but the major focus is definitely on the characters themselves, and their relationships to one another and the world. Normally I would stay away from something like that, but the Terran/Darkover worlds created here are so interesting that it's pretty much impossible to not be caught up in it.
It had great, memorable characters, a great plot, and scenes you'll remember for a long, long time. I'd say it's definitely worth a read for anybody who likes fantasy/sci-fi...and books in general.
Terrific Darkover trilogy!.......2005-10-16
I've read most of the Darkover series during the last five yrs. I started off with MZBs Avalon books & ended up hooked on the Darkover series.
In many the Darkover books the renunciates (free amazons) are mentioned, but usually not in much detail. It was wonderful to stumble upon a whole trilogy of books about them. They explain
how & why the group started, and how they worked out a way to marginally fit into the society by being of service to both Darkovans & Terrans. I thoroughly enjoyed this series & would highly recommend it to any MZB fan.
More than a fantastic novel, a manifesto.......2005-07-28
I am an avid MZB fan and have read most of her novels, but the Darkover series is the closest to my heart and The Saga of the Renunciates stands above all. This novel is more than just a story, deconstructing femininity is a central part of this trilogy: as a reader I found myself pondering the same questions that trouble the women on Darkover and thinking that eventhough they are only sci-fi characters, their insigth would change a lot of women.
The first novel is about a group of mercenary warrior women who hire themselves out to Lady Rohana to rescue her cousin from the Dry Towns, a country where married women are kept in chains. Rohana's cousin never makes it but she does bring back Jaelle, her 12 year old niece and a very unconfortable awareness of the invisible chains she has fashioned for herself.
In the 2nd part we meet Magda and Peter, two Darkover-born Terranan and the best spies the Empire has on Cottman 4. Altough Magda is the better agent, as a woman there is not much she can do outside HQ. When Peter goes missing on a mission and his superiors have no plans to rescue him Magda disguises herself as an Amazon and goes looking for him. All goes well until she meets some real Amazons whose leader is none other than a grown up Jaelle.
The final chapter in this story is about a journey to a mythical city in the enormous mountains of Darkover where an all-knowing sisterhood of wise women is supposed to be hidden from all but those by whom they wish to be seen. Jaelle leaves everything behind for even a chance to get there and Magda has no choice but to follow.
Better on rereading.......2005-01-01
I read these 3 novels in the late 70's-early 80's and loved them...recently found the 3 novel compendium and enjoyed it more the second time around. What a wonderfully imagined world!! How I wish we had something like the Guild here on Earth! As an old feminist in my 70's, I cannot recommend them more highly...READ!!
Customer Reviews:
a good selection of stories.......2000-11-09
A very readable anthology.All the stories deal with the "free amazons" but are not in any certain order, each story takes a different view. There were a couple that dealt with the begining of the order that were very well written.Hard to find but worth it.
Customer Reviews:
one of Darkover's best.......2004-01-13
Each Darkover novel can stand on its own as a complete story, but taken together, they weave a rich tapestry about a world different from our own. "The Shattered Chain" is set after the rediscovery period when the Terran Empire discovered the planet of Darkover and that the inhabitants are descendants of colonists on a "lost ship" from thousands of years ago. This story is about the Order of Free Amazons. Darkover society is very restrictive towards women and women have few rights; and in some cases no rights to speak of. The Free Amazons reject that attitude and by law, any member of the Free Amazons does not have to submit to the rule of men. Rather, they are held accountable by the Charter of the Free Amazons for their actions and to the Guild to which they belong. They represent another option for women who feel the oppression of Darkovan society (some do not feel the oppression).
The novel is broken out into three sections, each focusing on a different character, though the same cast of characters moves in and out of the stories being told in each section. The first section focuses on the lady Rohana Ardais. Before the novel begins, Lady Rohana is given information that a kinswoman who had been kidnapped more than a decade ago is still alive and that she wants to be rescued for the sake of her children. Rohana defies convention, hires out a team of Free Amazons, and sets out to rescue Melora from the Dry Towns. This rescue results in Melora's daughter, Jaelle, being fostered by the Free Amazons. There is a twelve year interval between section one and section two.
Section two focuses on a Terran named Magda Lorne, and again, there is someone who needs rescuing. This time it is her former husband, also a Terran. Both are Terran agents working out of the spaceport at Thendara. Since they were raised in a Darkovan city, they are able to work undercover, learning the languages and the changes in language and style and culture to better assist the Terrans to interact with the natives of Darkover. Magda's ex-husband, Peter, seems to look identical to a relative of Rohana's, and with Rohana's suggestion, Magda disguises herself as a Free Amazon to negotiate the release of Peter.
Section three features a grown Jaelle. Jaelle met up with Magda during section two, and is a leader of a small band of Free Amazons. But she is still young, and has not yet known love and does have the experience to know if she will regret her decision to become a Free Amazon. This becomes the central conflict of the third section, after the action of section two.
Ultimately, this is a novel that looks at the gender roles in Darkovan society and how there is one segment of society that works outside the typical roles of women. The Free Amazons will also be a very important society in the relations between Darkover and the Terran Empire.
This is one of the better Darkover novels. With the three section structure, Bradley was able to pack the detail and story and emotion into a tighter form, and the novel is stronger because of that. Each of the three women (Rohana, Magda, and Jaelle) are characters that I want to know more about, they are well written and interesting, and this is an excellent chapter in the world of Darkover.
Get chained to reading it!.......2001-09-15
The Darkover series is an excellent blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Plus, Bradley describes action scenes with a flair that even men could appreciate, while never sacrificing the sensitivity and feeling that marks female writing. You get a good buy with this one.
Fascinating world where contradictions abound.......2000-09-12
This is the first Darkover novel I read, and it made me hungry for more. Darkover and the Terran Empire in their diplomatic maneuverings. Free Amazons--a guild of women who renounce men's domination over women, the Comyn--the noble caste with psi powers, an intricate society with traces of the supernatural and feudal systems in place.
The novel starts with a daring rescue of a kidnapped, enchained, and very pregnant Comyn Lady from the barbaric Dry Towns chief who has kept her his prisoner/wife for over a decade. We meet the Free Amazons, the women who are hired as mercenaries to handle the rescue, as well as the Comyn Lady who hired them to rescue her imprisoned cousin and her young daughter.
The story returns to the Free Amazons and the Comyn Lady years later when a Terran woman needs their help to save one of her own. Their stories are linked in a series of adventures that establish Darkover as an irresistable world.
Introducing Free Amazons from Darkover.......2000-07-20
This book tells us about a society guided by women who do not accept the social rules in Darkover. This is the story about Jaelle and how she leave the dry town (where womwn are property of theirs husband and use chains around her arms)and became a renunciant. It's also the story of Magdalen Lorne and how, pretending been a renunciant she has became one in fact - Margali 'n Ysabeth. This two women cross each other life and after that theirs lives would be different forever. This book introduce us to these two caracthers that would re-appeared in Thendara House and City of Sorcery.
Advise about the chronological order of the Darkover Series.......2000-07-03
"The Renunciates" series is a must read if you love MZB and the World of Darkover. The female reader will be especially inspired! (as usual) However, a word of advise...If you like to discover a new world in chronological order, as I do, then I suggest you jump ahead and read "Rediscovery", "The Spell Sword" and "The Forbidden Tower," at least, before you dive into the thought-prevoking, and thrilling side story of "The Renunciates" trilogy.
This series is not just for the Sci-Fi/fantasy reader. It is probably the most "real" look at humanity, our gender struggles, and our mental potential that I've read in any genre. A truly intelligent rendering of the human landscape!
Average customer rating:
- Must Read Cannot Put Down saga
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The Saga of the Renunciates
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Series | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0739456121 |
Product Description
Omnibus edition with THE SHATTERED CHAIN, THENDARA HOUSE, and CITY OF SORCERY.
Customer Reviews:
Must Read Cannot Put Down saga.......2006-07-12
I have been a Marion Zimmer Bradley since the beginning. I am 70 years old and have really enjoyed her book. The Saga of the Renunciates is spellbinding and you cannot wait to see what happens next. I recommend this saga to anyone and all ages.
Customer Reviews:
an excellent adventure "holy grail" style quest.......2004-06-08
A Terran Mapping and Exploration aircraft crashed on the other side of the mountain range that circles the planet. It was presumed there were no survivors and the plane lost. It was presumed so until Alexis Anders walked back into Thendara unscathed, but without her memory. Cholayna, the Head of Terran Intelligence on Darkover, called in Magda Lorne to help her figure out what happened. Magda Lorne, a legend in the Intelligence field, is not simply an intelligence agent, but rather someone who was raised on Darkover from childhood and possesses the "laran" psi power that would allow Magda to see into Anders' mind and find out what happened to Anders. Magda is more than an intelligence agent, she is a woman who has "gone native" and is a member of the Order of Renunciates, an organization that gives women another choice of what they can be in this incredibly patriarchal society.
What Lorne finds in the mind of Alexis Anders shouldn't be possible. By all accounts, there is nothing on the other side of that mountain range. Nothing. Satellite photos show nothing, and it is common knowledge on Darkover that nothing can survive over there. Yet, the mind of Alexis Anders reveals the existence of a hidden city deep in the mountains, a city where there are women of power who are wearing robes. This may not seem too exceptional (except for a city existing where one shouldn't exist), but from the previous novels which feature Magda Lorne, we know that in a couple of instances using her "laran" Magda has encountered strange women wearing robes on the spiritual plane who have called themselves the "Dark Sisterhood". She originally dismissed this because there was no confirmation that what she thought she saw was real, but with this additional confirmation from Anders, Magda believes there truly is a Dark Sisterhood.
When Alexis finally regains her memory, she secretly commissions a guide to find this hidden city. Magda figures out what is happening and that Alexis is attempting something that she does not truly understand, Magda, along with her freemate Jaelle (another character we are familiar with by this point), and a couple of other women (including Cholayna and Camilla) try to track Alexis before she can find the city (or die trying to find the city).
"City of Sorcery", at its heart, is an adventure story, or perhaps a kind of "holy grail" story. The women are all chasing this mythical story, and there are Darkovan legends about this city, but nobody truly believed it could be real. It becomes something of a holy quest against impossible odds. This wasn't a story I expected to be that good (my expectation was that this would be one of the weaker Darkover novels), but it was. This is some excellent storytelling by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and just when she gets to the part of the quest where the story begins to drag, she changes direction and brings it on home and it is fresh and exciting again. This novel was a surprise for me, but a pleasant one. The Renunciate trilogy ("The Shattered Chain", "Thendara House") are some of the strongest of the Darkover novels that I have read, and I can only hope that Magda Lorne and the consequences of this quest will appear in the later Darkover novels (or short stories).
-Joe Sherry
Really gripping!.......2000-10-16
This is the third in the mini-series focusing on the Renunciates, within the larger Darkover series. It features the characters that have developed within the previous two novels, Jaelle, Magda, Camilla, and the Terran Cholayna. This novel is much more action packed than the previous two had been, with a fraught and perilous journey across mountains, facing dangers both natural and supernatural, in search of a mythic city mentioned in obscure legends--the city of sorcery.
This novel takes place seven years after 'Thendara House', and Jaelle and Magda are full-members now of the Forbidden Tower. They've both been fully trained in the use of their Laran, and their abilities have grown considerably.
If you've enjoyed the other two books in this series-within-a-series, 'Shattered Chain' and 'Thendara House,' you will love this one--it's definitely the best, and it truly delivers on the potential of the other two. If you've missed the first two, you'll still enjoy this one on its own--Bradley makes sure to provide recaps of relevant past events and relationships, allowing a new reader to dive straight into this story. But, there's no question, if you already know and love these characters from their previous adventures, you'll be even more deeply engaged in this great story.
A incredible sequence to adventures from Magdalen Lorne.......2000-07-19
This story is the sequence of adventures of Magda Lorne/ Margali n Ysabet. A terran who join the renunciants group (you can read why and how in Shattered Chain), need to adapt herself to this new ewality, discover who she really is (read about it in Thendara house) and finally goes to search for the city of sorcery, a mistic city, where " crows" cry and dark woman help humanity trhough centuries... she has to face many fears and one dark society... discover who trust and who not trust...This book is plenty of surprises and has links to many others. Im sure you will enjoy reading it!
Good Book, but the least good of the trilogy.......2000-06-12
Having read the entire series, I find that this book is enjoyable, but not as good as the previous two books in the trilogy.
Still, it is worth the purchase and it is good to find out what happened to the main characters.
MZB rarely disappoints.
Almost a Grail quest story for women ..........2000-05-12
I know some people consider this finale to the Renunciate trilogy a disappointment. I don't.
If you've already come to love Magda, Jaelle, Camilla and Cholayna, you'll of course want to know more about what happened to them. And Vanessa makes a valuable addition to the group.
I've always enjoyed books about the making of a fantasy-world legend, and this finale to Magdalen Lorne's story is no exception. The reader gets to see her as a very human and somewhat flawed person, as well as the powerful "Lorne Legend."
If you're new to Darkover, I think you should read The Shattered Chain and Thendara House before reading this book (for spoiler reasons), but this one is definitely worth picking up.
Despite being a sword-and-sorcery quest in a sci-fi/fantasy setting, this is in some ways one of the most realistic books I've read. The characters, their motivations, and the interactions between character and society are vivid and ring true for me.
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- Blood Hunt: A Novel
- Blue Screen
- Bone Island Mambo: An Alex Rutledge Mystery (Alex Rutledge Mysteries)
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