The Scar-Crow Men (Swords of Albion)
The next volume in Chadbourn�s Swords of Albion series continues the adventures of Will Swyfte, spy and swordsman, this time in the middle of the plague of 1593. The Unseelie court continues its assault on the court of Queen Elizabeth, and the agents of Sir Robert Cecil and the Earl of Essex prefer to fight each other rather than the enemies of England. On the day of the first performance of Marlowe�s Dr. Faustus, the playwright disappears, and Swyfte must fight both human and supernatural enemies to find and possibly avenge his friend. Chadbourn is a highly visual writer, and his setting of the late sixteenth century is most vivid. The plot has action to spare�indeed, Swyfte has been compared to James Bond�but the dialogue is a bit studied and the pacing somewhat uneven. While not the perfect reads, the books in this series are likely to please historical- and fantasy-action readers. --Frieda Murray