Traitor Angels

I have just finished Traitor Angels. This historical fiction is set in 1666 in England which was a time of political intrigue. England had just undergone a civil war, a removal of the monarchy, then a restoration of the monarchy and all its attendant problems.

This book is told through the eyes of a fictitious daughter of the political writer and poet John Milton. As I said in my previous post, Milton was blind and dictated his work to his daughters who then transcribed it for him. In this book, Milton is taken by King Charles for writing about something in his great work Paradise Lost. This epic poem talks about the rebellion of Satan against God and the fall of man.

Anyhow, this book was sort of nerdy fun because it uses Paradise Lost as a source of clues, sort of like the Da Vinci code with less Bible and more Paradise Lost. Elizabeth, the fictitious daughter, teams up with the apprentice of an apprentice of Galileo and Robert, an illegitimate son of King Charles, in order to solve the mystery of what her father hid is in his poem. Since the poem provides the clues, this is sort of a love letter to close reading. It's exciting but not exactly a fun romp.

My next book is A Gathering of Shadows which should provide more fun romp as it's the story with pirates and magic! Sounds a bit like Princess Bride to me.