The Tournament (Audible Audio Edition) Matthew Reilly Lucy Gaskell Orion Publishing Group Limited Books
Download As PDF : The Tournament (Audible Audio Edition) Matthew Reilly Lucy Gaskell Orion Publishing Group Limited Books
From global superstar Matthew Reilly comes a gripping historical thriller - a tale of murder, passion and intrigue set in the majestic city of Constantinople.
England, 1546. A young Princess Elizabeth is in a dangerous position as her older siblings jostle for the throne. Roger Ascham, Elizabeth's teacher and mentor, is determined to keep her safe. So when he receives an unusual invitation from the Sultan in Constantinople, asking him to take part in the greatest chess tournament the world has ever seen, he resolves to take the princess with him.
But death stalks the streets of the glittering Ottoman capital - a cardinal has been found mutilated. Ascham is asked to investigate, but as he and Elizabeth delve deeper, they uncover a secret that marks the young Princess for life...and a darkness that defines the queen she will become.
The Tournament (Audible Audio Edition) Matthew Reilly Lucy Gaskell Orion Publishing Group Limited Books
Matthew Reilly rocks. All of his books have been some of the most rollicking, fun reads I've had the pleasure of discovering. This new novel is something different and still very darn good. Love the main character and the time period it all takes place. Logical mystery solving and keen observation to details helps our "tutor" unravel some very nasty goings-on at the chess tournament of the ages, in 1546. In a foreign, possibly hostile land. England's Representative for the tournament is joined, by request of the King, by his young daughter Elizabeths' tutor to observe and more importantly deliver an answer to the Sultans' unspoken challenge to the Empire. For you see, the tutor has some very special talents and they fit very nicely with this situation. Great read. Give us more of Roger Ascham please.Product details
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The Tournament (Audible Audio Edition) Matthew Reilly Lucy Gaskell Orion Publishing Group Limited Books Reviews
I'm a fan of Matthew Reilly and have enjoyed all his books. When I came on this site, I was looking for books to read that I could get from the library. This book popped up. I decided I'd give it a go and got the book from the library. When I started reading it, I simply couldn't put it down! It's one of the best books he's ever written and the most unusual, in a good way. It starts off in 1603 immediately following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, her closest friend/childhood playmate mourning her death. Her friend Gwinny tells us how just a week before her death, the Queen or Bess, as she was called as a child, recounts a tale that she has never told anyone. She knows she is dying so she tells Gwinny the tale and requests that if it pleases her, she may write about it for her. We jump back to the autumn of 1546. King Henry VIII is still alive, his children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, are 30, 13 and 9. One day, an invitation as well as a note from the King is given to Roger Ascham, Bess' primary tutor and mentor. On this invitation is a request from Suleiman the Magnificent, issuing an invite to each European head of state He is holding a great chess tournament in Constantinople to see who has the world's best player. Each power is asked to send their best player to the ancient capital to participate in the tournament. The King's note for Ascham is a demand to seek out Mr. Gilbert Giles, who is the best chess player in England and send him immediately to the King. It so happens that Mr. Giles is a good friend of Ascham's. Mr. Giles proves that he still is the best and accepts the invitation. At this time, another bout of the plague breaks out. Ascham decides that it would be best if Bess goes with them, more to protect her from political enemies than the plague but also it would be a lesson in culture, religion and chess. She is allowed to take a friend with her. Bess chooses 17 year old Elsie to come along and not Gwinny. They set off, along the way encountering different people and danger. This doesn't compare to the danger that awaits them in Constantinople. Two days after they arrive, all hell breaks loose a cardinal is brutally murdered during a banquet and Sultan Suleiman asks Ascham to investigate. Bess is drawn into the investigation not only because she needs to stay with her tutor at all times so he can protect her, but also she is the one who stumbles onto the body, but no one knows other than her tutor. What plays out is a story of violence, deception, political intrigue, sexual depravity, and the darkness that lives inside us all. It shows humanity at its worst but also at its best. The best is shown in the genuine love and affection Roger Ascham has for Bess and hers for him. It's also shown in the friendship and camaraderie between Giles, Ashcam, and Bess. This isn't for the faint of heart or those with a weak stomach. If you have one or both, I'd recommend skipping this book. Some of the situations are rough and descriptions of certain scenes are graphic. As for the rest, this is a fascinating story and well worth reading, especially if you like historical mysteries, intrigue and murder mixed with sex with real life figures participating in the story. We see everything first hand in the eyes of the precocious, intelligent Bess, her narration at times making you angry, cringe, sad, laugh, and root for the future queen as well as the intelligent yet formidable Roger Ascham. I loved it so much that I bought it! Great book!
When I bough this book I really had no idea what it was about, I got it because of the author. I was not disappointed. Although this novel was completely different from Matthew's usual story it was still a thriller. The Tournament was actually a chess tournament which took place when Queen Elizabeth the First was merely 13 years old. The venue was the Sultan's palace in Turkey.
There is murder and mayhem whilst the sultan manipulates the game to ensure that his chess champion wins. There is an insight into the harem with Bess's promiscuous traveling companion attending parties every night with all sorts of men, she describes their prowess as lovers to the inexperienced Bess which made me think that Elizabeth remained a virgin because of her maid's exploits. Bess was also traveling with Robert Ascham her teacher and it was these 2 who solved all the murders and exposed the sultan's cheating. A good read.
When I first started reading Matthew Reilly's, The Tournament, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, despite the fact it ticked so many interesting fiction boxes. First, it was historical fiction, which I adore. Second, it was set during the reign of Henry VIII - another positive. Third, it featured a young Elizabeth and her famous tutor, Roger Ascham, so was set on the margins of a period I've been researching in depth for over a year now. Lastly, a great deal of the action takes place in Constantinople – modern day Istanbul, a city I loved when I was lucky enough to visit it two years ago. All this was in the novel's favour. What initially worked against it for me was the extraordinarily modern language of the characters (Henry VIII's and other characters' use of the “f” word and other familiar contemporary expletives for example), the fact that though it's documented that Elizabeth, during her life and reign never went more than 100 miles from London, here she travels to Turkey. I also struggled with the way she was portrayed and her relationship with her father, never mind other characters in the story, which is very much at odds with the character historians and documented records portray. The historical leniency Reilly deployed, or rather, literary license he employed, in terms of clothing and places as well as modes of transport and inter-relationships, all really grated. I am not a purist by any means, but some of the scenes and characters - their dialogue, ideas that just didn't exist at the time or attitudes that were expressed that were so remote from the era almost had me putting the book down... except I didn't. Not only did I really like the very original idea of this fictitious chess tournament run by a proud sultan with an axe or scimitar to grind with his foreign royal peers, and putting young Bess in its midst, but Reilly is such a great storyteller, even when I was grinding my teeth and reminding myself that this was a novel first and foremost and forget the history (which is, arguably, a work of fiction anyhow), I was turning the pages and wanting to know what happened. What a craftsman, I kept thinking, what a damn fine lexical craftsman. I forgot my peeves and peevishness and simply enjoyed.
Reilly's fabulation - that 13-year-old Elizabeth Tudor and her sex-crazed companion (Elise?) accompany Roger Ascham and an English chess champion to Constantinople to compete in a "world" tournament, along with two prudish chaperones - is a coming of age story for the future monarch (and in his Author's Note, Reilly explains that a great deal of what unfolds is meant to provide psychological context to make sense of decisions Elizabeth makes when she becomes queen - eg, remaining a virgin), as well as a murder mystery.
Travelling to Constantinople poses its own dangers for the English group as they pass through villages, mountains and travel along unfamiliar roads, encountering friendship, hostility and a serious attempt to curtail their journey, but once in the city, the tension between rival religious and ethnic groups makes their trip to Constantinople seem like a walk in the bazaar. When bodies start appearing within the Topkapi Palace, Ascham is asked by the sultan to investigate and so, young Bess is exposed to a slice or slices (excuse the pun, which will become evident once you read the book) of life and a range of people that, with her privileged station, she might never have met.
Smart, assured, and usually one step ahead of the culprit, Ascham not only exposes a corrupt and decadent city and ruler, but finds himself in a race against time to find the killer before he or she claims more victims, including the one person he really cares about.
Fast-paced, able to balance action with more measured scenes and make chess fascinating even for non-players, Reilly has crafted an inventive and fun take on Tudor history. Far from putting it down, I was forever picking it up and ended up really enjoying this rollicking tale, even if it didn't always satisfy my non-purist historical fiction desires. I give it 3.5 stars. But sheesh, I give Reilly 4.5 for his fictive chutzpah. Wish I had it!
Matthew Reilly rocks. All of his books have been some of the most rollicking, fun reads I've had the pleasure of discovering. This new novel is something different and still very darn good. Love the main character and the time period it all takes place. Logical mystery solving and keen observation to details helps our "tutor" unravel some very nasty goings-on at the chess tournament of the ages, in 1546. In a foreign, possibly hostile land. England's Representative for the tournament is joined, by request of the King, by his young daughter Elizabeths' tutor to observe and more importantly deliver an answer to the Sultans' unspoken challenge to the Empire. For you see, the tutor has some very special talents and they fit very nicely with this situation. Great read. Give us more of Roger Ascham please.
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