I was immediately drawn in by the synopsis of this book. The birth of the British secret service! SPIES! Kick a$$ women fighting for the crown! ? These topics are right up my ally.

The concept is clever and I always love reading about the relationship between Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots. For me, this didn't hit the right balance of history and fiction and the continuity and flow didn't seem to find each other. Some of this may be because I've studied and read about this time period in depth (I legitimately dressed up as Mary Queen of Scots for Halloween as a kid!) so things felt surface level to me without enough excitement to balance it out.

It often takes a book or two to get a series in momentum. I will definitely keep my eye on this series & the author for future reads.

Thank you to S&S Canada, Atria and Netgalley for the gifted eARC to read and review.

Pub: October 2020

While I appreciate the effort of this novel, I just couldn't connect to it. The history was a bit dull and slow, and it felt like a huge mess of different genres. There were entertaining bits, but not enough to really pique my interest. I did not finish this book.

This book had promise but failed to live up to it.
The Elizabethan era is one of my favourite time periods. The book dealt quite well with the violence and turbulence of the first part of the reign of Elizabeth I. The characters of John Dee and Francis Walsingham were well drawn, though the crush of John Dee on his Queen and his predictive dreams were overdone. However, it is definitely helpful to have some background in history, including the religious conflict and political machinations in England and on the Continent. The characters of Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scotts, were poorly and peculiarly drawn (possibly because the writer is a male). One would never know that Elizabeth I was highly educated, fluent in several languages and more than capable of governing England. While her cousin Mary spent much time plotting to take the English throne, I question not only the historical basis for suggesting she might have had her female attendants masterbate her, but also the stress on those activities and their relevance. And, while I enjoyed the shifting perspectives, the writing was choppy and descriptive, like a roving camera observing from the outside. I will not be reading the next in this series or anything else by this writer.

Mini-Review

This one was kind of interesting but didn't really wow me.  I used to be hugely into historical fiction and I've fallen off it in the last few years, so The Eyes of the Queen: A Novel by Oliver Clements was a good way to immerse myself back into the genre.  I was intrigued by the premise that the main character is essentially the first MI6 agent.  It was an interesting thought, but the execution was lacking.  The being in love with Queen Elizabeth I part is very predictable and vastly overdone.  Some of the plots and the way Jack foils them are very McGuyveresque so that really lost some points for me.  While it was supposed to be historical fiction, it had too many modern elements to it that just didn't work.

This historical thriller is set in the early years of Elizabeth the First's reign when she began using spies.
Clements writes it with all the ingredients of a James Bond book — action, blood and gore, intrigue, and calamities.
It is the story of John Dee, a scholar, alchemist, and soldier.
Recommended for all who enjoy spy stories and historical fiction.

Inspired by a historical figure that will become on of the first MI6 agents, this book was full of action and intrigue. It takes place during the Elizabethan period in England, which is one of my favourite time periods in history. There is a lot going on in the book, including the Huguenot massacre in France, the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots, and the search for the Northwest Passage. I loved all the action and adventure in the book, and how we are always kept on our toes.
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The historical figures were portrayed in an interesting way in this book. I liked the portrayal of Francis Walsingham, who was daring and serious in his devotion to Queen Elizabeth. He was willing to do whatever necessary to save the Queen. Queen Mary, however, was portrayed very strangely and evil, which fit with the plot of the book, but as someone who studied this time period, I found her depiction a bit odd. Overall though, I enjoyed the secretive nature of this book and recommend if you enjoy historical fiction taking place during this time period.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the advanced copy of The eyes of the Queen by Oliver Clements. This is a first book in the Agents of the Crown series and I was intrigued by the description " the original MI6 agent protects England and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I from Spain’s nefarious plan to crush the Age of the Enlightenment.". One of my favourite movies in Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, and I was interested to see whether this book would make just as much as impression as the movie. While I found the novel interesting, I did struggle with reading it, putting it down several times and picking up other books. Maybe if I had listened to it the flow might have been better. This is definitely not suited for a younger audience.

I received this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was really well done in it's descriptions of Elizabethan England and Europe. I found it very interesting in the way that the beginnings of the M16 were explored, and the mysterious John Dee. I didn't know about him before this book but upon doing some research on the side, the book isn't exactly 100% true to history, but it does make for a rollicking good story. There is a lot of mystery, alternate POVs and timelines, and red herrings that move the story along at a good pace.

The speech and dialect were definitely from the modern era, and so that shook me out of novel every so often. However, it did make it easier to understand. Some of the conversations were a little over-dramatic but it really did fit the story and the bizarre, intricate, byzantine plotlines. It was a good mix of suspense (a plot to sink Queen Elizabeth's reign and replace her with her half-sister Queen Mary), and humour (Queen Mary's doctor's orders).

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series by the author!

I enjoyed this book and was intrigued from the beginning. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next! I will recommend this book to others and look forward to reading others in the series!

1572 - What a dangerous time to be alive! Clements's first novel in the Spymasters Series, set in Tudor England, is a historical fiction/mystery novel about beginnings of Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the original MI6 agent, John Dee. The novel opens with an overly descriptive telling of the St. Bartholemew’s Day Massacre, an extremely bloody and violent attack started by the Catholics against the Protestants in France. If readers can make it through this, they are introduced to Queen Elizabeth I’s chief spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham. He has lost a very important document about how to find the Northwest Passage and recruits Doctor John Dee, Royal Astrologer and spymaster to retrieve it. You see, Queen Elizabeth I was an ambitious monarch who was intent on increasing England’s influence. In order to surpass Spain, England had to take control of the seas from the Spanish. Finding a northwest passage was vital. Readers are then introduced to Mary, Queen of Scots as she is in exile. This is where having prior knowledge of religious history is important; this time in history the Catholics and Protestants are vying for power and control. The Spanish need to put Mary back on the throne because they need a Catholic back in power. As you can imagine, the novel follows these two queens and England’s quest for dominance.

The premise of this novel was intriguing and I was hoping to get lost in a great read; unfortunately, it wasn’t my style. I’m not sure if it was the R-rated language, the very descriptive violent scenes, or a male author attempting to write about two strong women, but once he painted Mary, Queen of Scots as a nymphomanic, he lost me. Clements is an author and screenwriter and it shows in his work. Readers become viewers, not simply readers, of history as he writes like a roving camera, capturing events as they happen in very descriptive detail. I’m fully aware that this is the first novel of a series and that a wide view is necessary in order for the author to set the scene for further events. However, I felt Clements focussed too much on some details and not enough on others. I was not convinced enough to read his second instalment of the series.

I found this book difficult to read in spite of my interest in this historical period. The pacing was well done in some scenes, leaving the reader anticipating the next move but horrible slow in other sections.
It was loaded with info about the Queen(s), the religious turmoil, and the politics of the era but still fell to capture my interest and enjoyment.

The Eyes of the Queen wasn't quite as fast-paced as I expected from a spy thriller. It wasn't until the last 20% or s that things picked up and made me want to keep reading. Some of that could be that it's the first book in a series with a lot of character introductions, but there were also some plot points that didn't quite feel necessary, meaning others weren't quite as fleshed out as they could be.

The female characters weren't as developed as they could have been, either. Sexual exploits are fine, but they need to have a point in a novel like this. Mary, Queen of Scots was a disappointment for someone who loves reading everything about this unfortunate queen. Elizabeth I was't quite as strong around others as she would have been, especially men who would have judged her for being a queen in her own right.

That being said, the male characters were excellently developed and it's clear a lot of research into the facts was undertaken.

Am I the only one who didn't know that John Dee, yup that John Dee, was the original 007?! There you have it ladies and gents, reading teaches you new things!

Anyhoots, onto my real review. I greatly enjoyed this, it was really well-paced, a quick read, and I didn't feel bogged down by a huge cast of historical figures I had to keep track of. If you like your historical novels with a little bit of oomph, I'd recommend this.

My only issue with this is how Mary Queen of Scots is portrayed as some weirdo nymphomaniac... It sort of contributes to the plot, but I found it stretching the boundaries of credibility (if there is boundless evidence that Mary was really into being masturbated by her attendants, please feel free to correct me).

I see that this is being marketed as the first in a series, so I look forward to the next volume. I'd love to read more about how Dr. John Dee Royal Astrologer and Spymaster gets into more shenanigans and saves the country.

This... this is a challenging one to review, I think in part because it was very clearly written by a man, and when 2 of the key characters are incredibly strong women (Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots), yet are written so 'softly' it detracts from the overall story.

I liked the premise, that this was when Her Majesty's Secret Service was first conceived, that a network of spies was looking to both kill and protect the Queens. It was a good story, with intrigue and action.

John Dee was written beautifully. I loved how his charisma and wit come through. He turns the strongmen come to take him to pay a debt into friends and has them unknowingly provide him with food and travel back home, a journey that he was unable to pay for own his own. Dee is delightful, if his dreams/visions are a bit far fetched.

Overall, decent. Entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book. I love historical novels but this one fell a bit short. The basis of the story was great but there were too many side stories that weren’t needed and parts that should have been expanded on were left cut short without answers. I was not expecting the Queen Mary sexual exploits and I thought that could have been handled differently as it didn’t add to the story or help explain anything. I was indifferent towards the characters except for Dr Dee as he had some humour and realistic traits. Historical novels have a lot of death but some deaths would have been better avoided and could have added that character to the exploits. I did a report on Queen Elizabeth I in school and I loved that it was centred around her era as Queen. To be honest I read this book in the entirety hoping that it would redeem itself. I will admit that the very end of the book gave me a chance to smile and have a little laugh. That is what saved this book but sadly wasn’t enough to make it a great novel.

Review of The Eyes of the Queen
This is an interesting and well written novel. You are drawn in immediately from the first page. It is full of suspense, twists and turns as well as murder, betrayal, torture, violence and sex.
It is generally accurate and I learned a great deal about the history of the times and the people who were alive then. The author details the massacre of the protestants in France and the majesty and horrors of St. Michael’s Mont. The story is convoluted at times and a good knowledge of the history surrounding Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth would have been useful.
Nevertheless I liked the book and I learned a great deal but am glad not to have lived in those times.