Checking into The Tournament

Just finished Matthew Reilly’s ‘The Tournament’. Gee it’s good to have him back writing.

This is a departure from his trademark action thrillers –

The year is 1546. Suleiman the Magnificent, the powerful and feared Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, issues an invitation to every king in Europe:

You are invited to send your finest player to compete in a chess tournament to determine the champion of the known world.

The English delegation - led by esteemed scholar Roger Ascham - journeys to the glittering city of Constantinople. Accompanying Ascham is his pupil, Bess, who is about to bear witness to events she never thought possible. For on the first night of the tournament, a powerful guest of the Sultan is murdered, and Ascham is tasked with finding the killer.

Barbaric deaths, unimaginable depravity and diplomatic treachery unfold before Bess' eyes, indelibly shaping her character and determining how she will perform in her future role ... as Queen Elizabeth I.

I agree it is reminiscent of Eco’s ‘The name of the rose’ medieval murder mystery - the perceptive detective with a young apprentice, peopled with clergy and an increasingly gruesome body count.

I did not discern the ‘To kill a mockingbird’ inspiration until alerted to it, but now I get it, as well as the circular narrative technique of starting the story with the final scene then going back to explain its context.

‘The Tournament’ features Queen Elizabeth, shortly before her death, recalling the events leading up the climax, which occurred when she was 13 years old. Princess Elizabeth is the naïve narrator, and we see Constantinople from her perspective.

It comes with a warning ‘This novel also contains subject matter of an adult nature. The author recommends that it be read by mature readers’ about the sex scenes. Not gratuitous sex scenes, they inform the story and are pivotal to the characters reactions and later life.

Not being a chess master, I could still follow the gist of the games, and found Boris Ivanov’s introductions to the sections informative to chess and to the story.

...Even a pawn can become a queen.