Kemp, Peter (27 April 2008). "A review of 'Revelation' ". The Sunday Times. UK. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. The Shardlake series is a series of historical mystery novels by C. J. Sansom, set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

Following on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third gripping historical novel in C. J. Sansom's number one bestselling Shardlake series, for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory. What is to follow is an astounding historical mystery, in which Shardlake and Barak will have to do their utmost to keep York free from insurrection and unravel the mysteries that is surrounding the King and keeping them safe, and in the end this insurrection of the North will be repelled by the King Henry VIII in a most ruthless, mischievous and deadly fashion. A new character was introduced that I assume will become a regular in the series. I’m not sure I like her. This is a series that just seems to get better and better. In this third book in the Shardlake series, lawyer Matthew Shardlake is now working for Archbishop Cranmer, with Lord Cromwell now executed. Shardlake and his manservant Barak are sent north to York, where they are to assist with petitions to King Henry VIII on his great Progress to visit northern cities. In addition to this Shardlake is to oversee the welfare of a political prisoner who must be returned safely to London Tower for professional interrogation. Autumn, 1541: King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York.At the other extreme is the cable series on Show Time, "The Tudors," which is beautiful to watch but sometimes a bit confusing in its detail on how the Reformation came to be and was carried out. After the second attempt upon his life, Shardlake is convinced that the stolen papers - with their allegations against the King - hold the key to the whole mystery. Q. Sovereign dramatizes the intense hostility between the ruling south and subjugated north. Does this historical period still influence relations between the two regions today or has all been forgiven and forgotten? Replace Watson with a street-wise, well connected tough guy while deleting all hints of “bromantic tension” between the two; He has also written Winter in Madrid, a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

A. Sadly I think all religions go through periods of expansionist, fundamentalist brutality and this age is one when currents of dangerous fundamentalism seem to be expanding in all religions—Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and not least Christianity. In Tudor times the conflict was between religious factions. Today it is between those who believe in an absolutist interpretation of the scriptures of the various religions and those who do not. It was foolish, I that had once had Thomas Cromwell for a friend and confronted Richard Rich and the Duke of Norfolk, reduced to such a jelly. Yet this was not an official or nobleman I was approaching now. This was God’s anointed on earth, Head of His Church, guardian of the souls of three million subjects, more than human in his glory. In those few seconds I believed it all. Even if heart-pounding suspense and stomach-tightening tension were all Sansom's writing brought to the table, few would feel short-changed. Added to these gifts is a superb approximation of the crucible of fear, treachery and mistrust that was Tudor England, and a memorably blood-swollen portrait of the ogreish Henry's inhumane kingship. A parchment-turner, and a regal one at that. * Sunday Times *Shortlisted at The British Book Awards 2019 for Fiction Book of the Year and Marketing Strategy of the Year [12] Walter Scott historical fiction shortlist announced". BBC News. 1 April 2011 . Retrieved 12 June 2011. Another aspect of life in 1540 that the author captures so well is what a Big Deal it was to even catch a glimpse of the King. As I write this, President Obama is on a media blitz so its not easy to imagine a life in which "The King" for someone like me would be a mythic figure set by God to oversee my soul. Sansom makes the brief encounter between Henry and Shardlake very real.