This intellectual, historical thriller starts with lots of adrenaline and a touch of Elizabethan potty humor. The opening scene involves a forbidden book, a privy, some very determined priests, and one frightened but principled young monk.

Giordano Bruno is the monk, shortly on the run from the Inquisition and excommunicated by the Pope for his intellectual curiosity and theories about astronomy.  Bruno (a real figure in history) makes his way out of Italy, through the French King Henri's court, to Oxford University.  As a foreign scholar raised in the Catholic church, he is an object of interest and suspicion to many in Elizabeth's Protestant England, still reeling after Bloody Mary's reign. But Bruno isn't just at Oxford to debate Copernicus-- he is also on a mission from Elizabeth's Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham: Bruno is to seek out and inform on Catholics in the academic community who might be planning the Queen's downfall.

I loved the intrigue, the discussions about faith and dogma, the quirky scholars, and the plot twists.  Bruno shows intellectual daring as he tries to solve murders, follow clues about the Queens enemies, and make his mark in England.  The debates about astronomy and theology are fascinating from a historical perspective but also gripping as insight into Bruno's personality.

The late 1500s were a tough time for free-thinking mavericks, and this novel clearly depicts the dangers of individualism in that era.  But the fear and fundamentalism, and the perceived links between terrorism and religion, resonate in today's world.  As a character, Bruno is bold, open-minded, tolerant, and reasonable, but also swashbuckling-- a hero for the ages.  Bravo, Bruno! ~ Tegan