''The Bones of Avalon'' is a novel in first-person narrative mode by

Phil Rickman Phil Rickman (also known under the pen names of Thom Madley and Will Kingdom) is a British author of supernatural and mystery novels. Biography Rickman was born in Lancashire in northern England and worked as a journalist for BBC World Service ...

. It is about John Dee, who investigates undercover on Her Majesty's Service. It was followed by ''The Heresy of Dr Dee''.

Plot

Part 1

John Dee gets visited by

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many cen ...

. She implies she wants to do some research on "our royal ancestor" King Arthur. Subsequently, her Secretary of State Sir William Cecil assigns him to seize King Arthur's bones. This would finally refute the still popular myth of

King Arthur's messianic return King Arthur's messianic return is a mythological motif in the legend of King Arthur, which claims that he will one day return in the role of a messiah to save his people. It is an example of the king asleep in mountain motif. King Arthur was a ...

. Sir William Cecil wants to have Arthur's bones "formally presented" to the Queen by Dee, who

HRH Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

considers "her Merlin".

Part 2

John Dee arrives in

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

, where according to

Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

some centuries ago a successful excavation of King Arthur's remains has taken place. When Dee's supporter Robert Dudley gets seriously sick, the local healer Eleanor Borrow is supposed to cure him. She goes fetching

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...

from the Chalice Well because she thinks it increases the impact of her herbal medicine. Later, when the mutilated corpse of Dudley's servant is found, Eleanor Borrow is suspected to have murdered him as a satanic ritual.

Part 3

John Dee learns that Queen Elizabeth is haunted by nightmares because it is unclear what happened to Arthur's bones. Still his search remains futile. He meets secretly with Eleanor Borrow. She informs him that her late mother worked with John Leland. Craving for visions he talks her into giving him some of her mother's most dangerous

elixir ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...

. When he awakes after his trip, she has disappeared.

Part 4

John Dee continues his search and even excavates Eleanor Borrow's mother. In her coffin he finds a map she made together with the famous antiquarian John Leland. This reveals to him what Richard Whiting wouldn't disclose even under the most severe torture. But Eleanor has been arrested and sentenced to death.

Part 5

John detects the lost books of the destroyed

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It w ...

. Hereby he also encounters Michel de Nostredame who discloses to him how the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

attempt to replace the Protestantic Queen Elizabeth by Mary Stuart.

Characters

* John Dee is so famous counterfeit pamphlets are sold under his name, this making him an early victim of

brand piracy Brand piracy is the act of naming a product in a manner which can result in confusion with other better known brands. According to author Robert Tönnis ''The term brand piracy is unauthorized usage of protected brand names, labels, designs or descr ...

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

is the Queen's

spymaster A spymaster is the person that leads a spy ring, or a secret service (such as an intelligence agency). Historical spymasters See also *List of American spies *List of British spies * List of German spies *List of fictional spymasters This ...

* Blanche Parry is

's lady-in-waiting and also John Dee's cousin *

Sir William Cecil William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

has already served Lady Jane Grey and Mary I of England *

Edmund Bonner Edmund Bonner (also Boner; c. 15005 September 1569) was Bishop of London from 1539 to 1549 and again from 1553 to 1559. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonised by the Protestant reforms intro ...

is an English

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

who warns that French Catholics take the current English Queen for a witch. *

Peter Carew Sir Peter Carew (1514? – 27 November 1575) of Mohuns Ottery, Luppitt, Devon, was an English adventurer, who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and took part in the Tudor conquest of Ireland. His biography was written by ...

is an adventurer who leads John Dee to Glastonbury * Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester pretends to be a member of the Queen's Commission on Antiquities *Sir Edmund Fyche is a local authority who once hanged Eleanor's mother for alleged

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future even ...

and accuses Eleanor too *Joan Tyrre is a woman who cherishes folklore and believes in it

Historical inaccuracies

Phil Rickman admits in the book's ''Notes and Credits'' that according to contemporary records Joan Tyrre lived in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Reception

The novel received mixed reviews. Jennifer Monahan Winberry considered Rickman's tale enjoyable for connoisseurs of the Arthurian legend but also for aficionados of the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

. Margaret Donsbach wrote the plot progressed "slow-moving at times" but a readership "interested in the Renaissance approach to science and the occult" would appreciate the novel as "an authentic, insightful portrayal of the period". Amanda Gillies praised Rickman for his diligent research and recommended his novel strongly for readers who relish historical crime stories. Kirkus Reviews published a similar opinion and judged Rickman had described historical persons "with admirable scholarship and verve".

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

reviewer on the other hand complained Rickman's novel wouldn't "do justice to the intriguing Dee" and pointed out that Dee also was a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bones of Avalon 2010 British novels Novels set in the Middle Ages Fiction about alchemy Modern Arthurian fiction Novels set in Tudor England Novels set in the 16th century Atlantic Books books