The Succession: A Novel of Elizabeth and James

The first of these three highly praised volumes is a fictionalized look at the courageous and gallant life of Sir Walter Raleigh, who awaits execution. According to PW , ``The whole panorama of Elizabethan and early Stuart England comes to life before our eyes.'' The Succession , an ``acutely intelligent, faithfully rendered historical novel,'' concerns the political rivalries and mercurial personalities rampant in turn-of-the-17th-century British society, as Queen Elizabeth I's reign draws to a close and James VI of Scotland prepares to step in. Completing the trilogy is a tale set in 1597 of two rival Londoners investigating poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe's death. ``Like an impressionist painting, vivid in its small, shimmering details, the novel conveys a picture of Renaissance society, offers richly nuanced character portraits and sparkles with bawdy humor and robust sexuality,'' said PW . (Sept.)