The Armor of Light Paperback – October 1, 1988

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.

I have long been a fan of Melissa Scott's original take on SF&F, and this was one of her first forays into the historical fantasy genre and a complete success: a very original story both engaging, full of great historical references for the history lover and a highly recommended page-turner even for people like me who know next to nothing about the Elizabethan period!Indeed, all her collaborations with Lisa A. Barnett (see also the on-going Astreiant series) are excellent, but this one book may very well be my favorite, populated with lots of interesting and realistically depicted historical figures in a slightly alternate universe, and I just realized that it is finally available as an ebook! It even has a new, nice cover which is both reminiscent of the original paperback cover but of better quality overall and manages to be quite appropriate to the storyline, which is always a plus.I was so happy to see it in digital format that I snatched it right away so I can now re-read it on my Kindle whenever I want: it is very encouraging to see some older, more (unfairly) obscure works being digitalized, not just the latest shallow bestsellers!Hopefully, we'll see A Choice of Destinies in digital format next? Hint, hint...

I first read this book when it originally came out twenty five years ago and I loved it. I still do. Not many books stand up to rereading twenty five years later, but The Armor of Light is still wonderful. This is historical fantasy at its best! It's rich, nuanced, and the plot is intriguing. And this is the best Christopher Marlowe I've read in fiction, hands down!

Excellent and interesting spin on an alternate Elizabethan world. Loved it. The writing is top-notch, and I have always been fascinated by Elizabeth's reign. This brings the actual personages to life. Who and what they might have really been makes fascinating reading.

Wonderful Elizabethan fantasy.

Ordinarily, I love Melissa Scott's work, but I don't love this one. It seems that she and Lisa Barnett rammed in all of their research on Tudor times (obviously used in the Pointsman books) into one final book together (sadly) ... and hang the plot. A lot of characters are introduced that seem to do absolutely nothing in terms of moving the story forward. Everything moves at a glacial pace.The action - such as it is - takes place in Scotland. The main characters don't even start heading TOWARDS Scotland until nearly halfway through the book. Which is not a short one. The actual plot action is disappointing - even when things start happening, it takes forever and much internal musing, for not very much in terms of result.Disappointing.

Armor of Light, The This nifty little novel assumes that magic in Elizabethan times worked exactly like Elizabethans thought it did, that devils are real and spells efficacious (and some folks thought witches weren't necessarily in league with them).Oh, and in this novel Sir Philip Sidney and Christopher Marlowe aren't dead (well, yet). Sir Philip survived his wounds in the Netherlands and was therefore alive to save Marlowe from that knife in the tavern (a foiled assassination attempt).The authors, Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett, have a pretty good understanding of Elizabethan history and culture, and it shows. You can smell danger just where you should (non-magical danger, that is; I have no experience with magic, so I couldn't say), courtiers are trying to get influence (or laid), Catholics are out of favor in a dangerous way and life is pretty miserable all around. In this uncertain time, Elizabeth's horoscopist predicts the beheading of her successor, touching off Sir Philip's trip to Scotland to see James safe from magical threats.Complicated? You bet. Detailed? Yup. Fun for Elizabethan geeks? Absolutely.Did I mention Marlowe is a spy?The Armor of Light by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett is published by NESFA Press, who bring you people like Terry Pratchett.

What if Phillip Sidney and Kit Marlowe not only survivef their historical deaths, but were wizards? great court intrigues and magic doings in this ahistorical history.