Product Description

It's 1593 and London is a city on edge. Under threat from plague and war it's a desperate place where strangers are unwelcome and severed heads grin from spikes on Tower Bridge.

Poet, playwright and spy, Christopher Marlowe has three days to live. Three days in which he confronts dangerous government factions, double agents, necromancy, betrayal and revenge in his search for the murderous Tamburlaine, a killer who has escaped from between the pages of Marlowe's most violent play . . .

Tamburlaine Must Die is a swashbuckling adventure story of a man who dares to defy both God and state and discovers that there are worse fates than damnation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81647 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-30
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

The Financial Times
a tale of vivid homosexual passion, murderous treachery and strutting intellectual pride . . . a sparky addition to the Marlowe myth.

Synopsis
It is 1593 and London is a city on edge. Under threat from plague and war, strangers are unwelcome and severed heads grin from spikes on Tower Bridge. Playwright, poet and spy, Christopher Marlowe has three days to live. Three days in which to find the murderous Tamburlaine, a killer who has ascaped from between the pages of his most violent play...Tamburlaine Must Die is a swashbuckling adventure story of a man who dares to defy both God and state - and discovers that there are worse fates than damnation.

About the Author
For many years Louise Welsh made her living as a dealer in out-of-print and second hand books. Her first novel, The Cutting Room (Canongate Books) is being translated into eighteen languages. It was awarded the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger, the Corine International first book prize and shared The Saltire First Book Award. It was also nominated for the Orange Prize and has been included in the Stonewall Honor Book in the US. The Guardian chose Louise as one of Britain's Best First Novelists of 2002 and `a woman to watch' in 2003. Louise was granted a Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award in 2003 and a Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 2004. She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories and contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die a novelette written around the final three days of Christopher Marlowe's life, was published to critical acclaim in August 2004. Louise lives in Glasgow.

Customer Reviews

Airfix Kit
The story lacks interest, the writing has awkward pace; there is precious little flair on these pages. It feels as though Welsh has rushed this novella, throwing things into the pot that don't really go. The language is one of the major problems, it being rather less than authentic. If one is going to write Marlowe, one must at least relish in it. Here we get too much of the modern with an occasional, gestural flourish. It's a bit like watching Robin Hood on TV - cheap sets, earnest costume, anachronistic haircuts and dialogue.

In other hands, or on a better day, the story may have been told much better, as there's plenty of material worth exploring, but the book is too short to take it further. Short books are fine but this feels like either a short story that has been stretched, or a full novel that has been skimmed.

A missed opportunity, really. Disappointing.

Superb noir thriller
That rare thing - a period novel which is utterly modern in approach. Lean and mean like a classic film noir, this is a sexy, labyrinthine thriller in the Chandler tradition with a vividly drawn anti hero you cannot help but care about despite his many faults. Some vivid sex (gay and straight) which might put off the easily offended.

perfect!
I had to write to disagree with the previous reviewer - I thought this book was stunning. Beautifully written, gripping, and atmospheric, my only regret is that it was a novella. I was left wanting much more when I finished the story, although perhaps it would not have translated as well into an actual novel...