Mappamundi

Author: Christopher Harris

Cover design: Marie Lane   Cover illustration: Hieronymus Bosch  

Reviews

In the Italian city of Ancona in 1564, Pope Pius 11 dies. His most loyal English servant Thomas Deerham uses this opportunity to abscond, stealing a valuable book and a possibly even more valuable new map of the world. Thomas sets off home for England, but along the way, in Paris, he prevents a friar from committing suicide. The friar is not what he seems; indeed, he is the louche poet Francois Villon. The pair travel to England together. When they are closed to death from freezing and starvation, they are rescued by the mysterious Christian Rosenkreutz, who has pursued them for the map.
With the map and another stolen book, an undecipherable 'Tome' known today as the Voynich Manuscript, they charter a ship for a voyage of exploration across the Atlantic.
This novel is a sequel to False Ambassador, which I have not read, but I didn't find that an impediment to understanding Mappamundi. I do believe readers would have benefited from an Author's Note describing the Voynich Manuscript, which is a real document, because the reason for bringing it in is not clear to those who haven't heard of it. Christopher Harris appears to be committing an irritsting tease over the Tome, and although the novel contains vivid descriptions of the unlovely Europe and England of 1464, it never seems to come to a point. It's rather like expecting a sneeze that fails to arrive. Worth buying, though.

Alan Fisk in the Historical Novels Review