The Armor of Light

by Lisa A. Barnett and Melissa Scott

Book Overview

This is the first hardcover edition of the alternate history novel by Scott and Barnett. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0915368293
• ISBN13: 9780915368297
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: New England Science Fiction Association
• Length: 393 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Not Quite What I Expected, But Very Enjoyable

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what I expected when I checked this out from the library, but it sounded interesting, so I thought I'd take a look. The story was fairly slow-going at first. In fact, I would say that it wasn't until about 1/2-way through the book that the plot actually got 'moving' so-to-speak. That's not to say that it wasn't interesting, it just seemed like there was lots of information that wasn't really connected to the plot. There were also times where I felt that certain scenes were written just to display the authors' historical knowledge, which isn't something I find particularly appealing in novels. Also, although touted as a historical fantasy, this book is probably about 80% historical, 15% fantasy and 5% alternate reality. Honestly, if I had known nothing about Elizabethan England when I read this I would have been completely lost and, while reading, I still felt out of the loop occasionally. There were a lot of historical names and places, and it was difficult keeping them straight in my head, especially at the beginning. I can't really recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have at least a little previous knowledge of this time period, but I can say that it would be worth it to do some research for the sole purpose or reading it. If you don't want to read about the time period, take a look at these two movies: Elizabeth w/ Cate Blanchett and Shakespeare in Love w/ Gwyneth Paltrow. They will give you a historical basis to work off of and both will give you most, if not all, of the names you need to know.

Like fantasy? Like Elizabethan England? This is for you!

This is a very well-structured, well-written book set in an alternate version of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. The settings are finely drawn, the characters are engaging, and the plot is gripping. I reread this book about once a year just for the pleasure of it, and I snapped up this hardcover when it came out. If you like alternate history and fantasy, and don't mind them mixed together, read this book. If you just want to read about people living in Elizabethan England, read this book. And if you just have to have any book with Shakespeare as a character... you, too, have some reading ahead of you.

I still like it!

I'm the cover illustrator, and I don't always like everything I read. Often, even if I liked a story the first time, I don't like it when I have to read it about the fifth time to check on the color of someone's shirt. Or I start noticing the lapses in historical detail or logic or characterization.This book I still read for pleasure, even after I finished the cover. I read a lot of alternate history, and this surely ranks among the best.

Historical fantasy as it should be!

This is the best work of historical fantasy, and one of the best works of historical fiction, which I have ever read. Although the universe (an alternate history Elizabethan England where magic works and where Sydney and Marlow survived the events which killed them in our time line) is fantasy, the approach is basic science fiction "what if", extrapolated on a magical rather than physcial technology. Rather than overlaying modern concepts of magic onto their characters and history, the authors present magic as it was understood by the various classes of Tudor England, and in so doing create a world that feels like reality and avoid the one-dimensionality common to much contemporary fantasy. All this, and a great read, too.