Conclave

Four stars; for its interesting characters and brisk pacing. For a book marketed as a political thriller, it gives ample space in-between episodes of tension that are fit for contemplating the various issues brought up by the plot, or to take in the beauty of the Vatican City, and its marvellous works of art. There are stunningly appreciative passages, which may have found no place in a novel entirely devoted to papal ambition: While the cardinals voted, Lomeli passed his time in contemplation of the ceiling panels nearest to him. The prophet Jeremiah lost in misery. The anti-Semite Haman denounced and slain. The prophet Jonah about to be swallowed by a giant eel. The turmoil of it struck him for the first time; the violence; the force. He craned his neck to examine God separating light and darkness. The creation of the sun and planets. God dividing water from the earth. Without noticing, he allowed himself to become lost in the painting. And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in great perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the power of the heavens will be shaken... He felt a sudden intimation of disaster, so profound that he shuddered, and when he looked around he realised that an hour had passed and the scrutineers were preparing to count the ballots. Conclave is not merely about the thrill of a power vacuum, it's about the jostle of competing visions of the Catholic church, the intrusion of identity (cardinals from all over the globe) into politics, politics set against perceived religious duties, stasis vs change. The last star goes to the sudden multiple radical Islamist terrorist attacks, makes it so shockingly contemporary, and places it so firmly not in any other time but ours. It's not about the Catholic church modern times (i.e. the last century or half a century), it is the church in crisis, in our time. That and the final completely unexpected plot-twist, which will not be spoiled by this review.