Generally speaking, Doctor John Dee has not been remembered fondly by posterity. Born in 1527, John Dee was one of the greatest minds of his generation. Famous during his lifetime as a mathematician, astrologer, astronomer, navigator and occultist, Dee was also a tutor and trusted advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. In fact, the date for her coronation was chosen based on horoscopes cast by Dee. An extremely learned man, Dee straddled the disciplines of magic and science at the time they were finally becoming distinguishable. Although his academic and political achievements were formidable, it is for his belief in spirits and the occult for which Dee is best remembered. Dee believed that he was able to communicate with angels through a scryer (or medium) named Edward Kelley and he produced several books which he claimed had been dictated to him by these angels. Although such a belief in spirits was not particularly outlandish at the time, colleagues and critics of Dee used his occult activities to discredit him and cast doubt on his scientific prowess. Even those who genuinely believed that Dee was communicating with spirits felt that he was being duped by demons rather than conversing with angels.

In popular culture terms, John Dee has cropped up as a character in a huge range of books, films and even songs. As far as his literary appearances go, Dee has appeared as a baddie in Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, has translated the Necronomicon into English in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, and has acted as a guide in Alan Moore’s Promethea series. These are just a few examples of the myriad of interpretations of John Dee that have occurred in literature. Although the stories in which he has featured are vastly different, the great majority of instances in which John Dee has been woven into a story concentrate on Dee’s occult practices and supernatural investigations. They concentrate on Dee as a caricature of himself rather than on the real man. With The Bones of Avalon, Phil Rickman has taken a different approach and has created a John Dee character that stays true to the real Dee’s mild, bookish nature. Rickman’s John Dee is a regular, if highly intelligent, man of his times who uses his learning as well as his beliefs to aid Queen and country.

The Bones of Avalon begins in 1560; Queen Elizabeth I has been on the throne for just over a year while a young Doctor John Dee is already famous throughout Europe for his knowledge of mathematics and the hidden arts. However, neither Elizabeth nor Dee are particularly secure in their positions. The Queen’s religious reforms are proving highly unpopular and there are still many supports of her sister Mary at court, supporters who wish for a Catholic to rule England once again. For his part, John Dee is regarded with suspicion in his home country where many confuse his scientific advances with sorcery. Fearful of the influence he might exert on the Queen, there are many at Court who would like to see Dee toppled from his position.

Against this backdrop of strife and intrigue, John Dee is summoned by the Queen’s Chief Minister and instructed to travel to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey to find the missing bones of King Arthur, whose legacy was always so important to the Tudor line. Aided by his risk-taking friend and former student, Robert Dudley, Dee finds Glastonbury to be a town still reeling from the dissolution of the monasteries and the execution of its abbot, Richard Whiting. Attempting to find out exactly why Whiting was killed and to discover the truth guarded by the monks since the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea, Dee encounters unexpected violence, spiritual darkness and the cold heart of a complex plot against Queen Elizabeth herself.

The Bones of Avalon is Phil Rickman’s first foray into the historical mystery genre and an excellent beginning it is too. Rickman skilfully evokes the Elizabethan period with authentic [yet accessible] dialogue and accurate descriptions of people and places. The characters are wonderfully rendered with John Dee himself being the most sympathetic and appealing. He’s certainly no black hearted practitioner of the dark arts here. The portrait that Rickman has crafted of Robert Dudley is also contrary to how Dudley is most regularly portrayed and offers an interesting and rehabilitating interpretation of yet another character tarnished by history. During the early days of Elizabeth’s reign it was hard to know who could be trusted and this atmosphere of suspicion and distrust is captured brilliantly as Rickman details Dee’s investigations in Glastonbury. The Bones of Avalon is an intriguing yet believable historical mystery with unexpected twists, fast-paced action and a cast of compelling characters.

Bookmark to