Fire Below Explained

Fire Below
Author:	Dornford Yates
Series:	Chandos books
Genre:	Novel
Publisher:	Hodder and Stoughton^[1]
Release Date:	1930
Media Type:	Print
Pages:	320
Preceded By:	Blood Royal
Followed By:	She Fell Among Thieves

Fire Below is a 1930 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), the fourth in his Chandos thriller series and a sequel to Blood Royal. The book was published in the US under the title By Royal Command.^[2]

Plot

Chandos and Hanbury are lured back to the fictional Principality of Riechtenburg by a forged telegram.

Background

In this novel, the author continued to mine ideas from Anthony Hope, specifically Rupert of Hentzau. Commenting in 1958 through his character Boy Pleydell, Mercer acknowledged resemblances between his work and that of Hope, particularly mentioning Fire Below and Blood Royal.^[3]

Critical reception

The Chandos series had made the name of Dornford Yates widely known, and Fire Below was as received as eagerly when it appeared in June 1930 as his earlier Chandos books had been.

The original dustjacket included the following quotes -

• Frank Swinnerton in the Evening News - "It is tremendously competent, exciting and quick moving."
• John o' London's Weekly - "Mr. Dornford Yates adds another volume to the astounding adventures of Richard Chandos. The book is packed with rapid incident. Mr. Yates' invention is amazing- there is no other word for it...here Mr. Yates is at his very best."
• Queen - "Amazingly good."
• Yorkshire Post - Mr. Dornford Yates takes my breath away."

Bibliography

• Book: Smithers, AJ . Dornford Yates . . 1982 . London . 0-340-27547-2.

Notes and References

1. Web site: British Library Item details . primocat.bl.uk . 11 May 2020.
2. Book: Macdonald, Kate . Novelists Against Social Change . Palgrave Macmillan . 2015 . 978-1137457714 . 226 .
3. Book: Yates, Dornford . B-Berry and I Look Back . . 1958 . London . 148.