Excellent mystery page turner during one of my favorite time periods.

I really enjoyed the first John Gower book, [b:A Burnable Book|18090082|A Burnable Book (John Gower, #1)|Bruce Holsinger|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378328811s/18090082.jpg|25404531] - though I found the plot and ending overly complicated, especially with the political intrigue. Alas, The Invention of Fire is a similarly convoluted tale, but without some of the charm of the first book.

The story has an interesting premise: 16 unknown people found discarded in a privy (ewwww), shot to death with handgonnes. As this is the 14th century, handgonnes are a new and deadly technology, known to only a few. Unfortunately, the plot quickly devolves into this duke versus that duke, etc etc. As most of the high-level people mentioned as the connivers are barely in the book, I found it really hard to keep them all straight, or understand their motivations (though I guess the main motivation is just "power").

Spoiler

William Snell is telegraphed as the villain when you first meet him. I was hoping for a twist where he wasn't involved in a plot, but no such luck.

In addition to just how complicated the book was, there were a few other flaws that bugged me. The mystery is pretty easy to figure out - the clues being really obvious and unsubtle. I felt Holsinger could have done a better job hiding the clues. Also, I just don't find Gower to be a terribly interesting main character. All of his sections focus on the mystery at hand. He doesn't interact with anyone who isn't involved with the mystery somehow. A few scenes showing his personal life would have been helpful to make him a more relatable character.

But there are some good points to the book. Holsinger is very talented at writing stories from a woman's perspective, and developing strong female characters. Hawisia's story took a few surprising twists, and Margery's sections were my favorite (as Eleanor's were in "A Burnable Book").

Spoiler

But I was surprised - and a little disappointed - that Margery and Robert never met up with Gower. If their story had been cut from the book, it wouldn't have really changed anything at all - the ending would have been exactly the same. I also wanted more closure on their story. I'm not sure why Holsinger chose to end it with Gower's and Chaucer's possible perspectives - an innovative idea, true, but not what I wanted.

As "A Burnable Book" was really complicated, and since I read it over a year ago, I had forgotten many of the characters, or what had happened. It's probably better to read Holsinger's books in succession, so you can keep track of the characters who appear in both books.

I will probably read the next Gower book, but I hope Holsinger changes up his formula next time. Less political intrigue, more personal stuff on Gower, please! And keep the strong women characters coming!

4.5 stars. Another great historical mystery by Bruce Holsinger. As with the first John Gower novel, the period details were wonderful, the pacing was excellent, the various plot strands were woven together well, and there were several strong, realistic female characters holding their own in a world often dominated by men. Gower is a sympathetic protagonist, perhaps all the more so because of his flaws. What impressed me most, though, about the novel (which should be the case in every good historical novel) is how characters and situations very much of their time period resonate with issues in our modern world. Although the handgonnes of 1386 - new & dangerous in their time - are now antique, their inclusion in this story lead me, as a reader & student of history, to think about how new technology is always being used to make war more efficient, though never obsolete. In that way, The Invention of Fire transcends the average historical mystery.

Good read, entertaining story. Some parts pretty disturbing.

This is a hard to classify. It is a historical police procedural. Set in one of my favorite historical periods, end of the 13th Century and the fight of the sons of Edward III over the throne. It also focuses on the development of Fire Arms which is very interesting. Highly Recommend.

Holsinger's command of the details of daily life in 14th century London is astonishing and his style readable and vivid, but this densely-populated mystery lacks the character development of his first outing, [b:A Burnable Book|18090082|A Burnable Book (John Gower, #1)|Bruce Holsinger|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378328811s/18090082.jpg|25404531], and its plot turns are telegraphed very early in the novel. I loved the gritty reality of his setting, but there were a few too many street-by-street descriptions of Gower's rambles. If I knew as much as Holsinger does about the layout of medieval London, I'd be tempted to show it off, too, but the slow pace, with its twists and turns through alleys, gets a little tedious at times. The two subplots are more compelling, but the fragmented nature of the narrative works against Holsinger's admirable attempt to reveal the early roots of our modern culture's bizarre fascination with the destructive power of gunpowder.

The depth of research in Holsinger's books is astounding. The language is dense and sometimes obscure (which enhances the strength of the research), but the plot is well paced and enjoyable to read. Some passages were so dense that I had to go over them twice, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the book. It is one of those books that feels somewhere between a novel and non-fiction, and it is in some places in danger of getting bogged down in the historical detail, but I would definitely read a third book in this series if there was one.