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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Dunnett,
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This review is from: Niccolo Rising: The House of Niccolo (Paperback)
Having read and adored all of the Lymond books and fallen in love with Francis Crawford I was expecting the Niccolo books to be a bit of a let down. On the contrary this first in the series is completely and awe inspiringly wonderful. Set in 15th C Bruges and all over Europe eventually, it tells the story of Claes/Nicholas/Niccolo and his progression from lowly dyers apprentice to respected merchant. His character and talents are unveiled in the course of the book and the adventures and countries he travels through are brilliantly brought to life. You get a real taste of what it must have been like to live in medieval times and its all set very accurately in its historical context. Can't recommend it highly enough - a thoroughly satisfying and exciting read.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant 'prequel' to the Lymond series,
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This review is from: Niccolo Rising: The House of Niccolo (Paperback)
Having finished the magnificent Lymond series of novel, Dunnett made a brave decision to go back in time rather tha writing a sequel and so here starts her sequence of 8 novels telling of the ancestors of the Crawfords.Being Dunnett there are no easy parallels, and the forbears of Francis Crawford are a far cry from what we might expect. Set in the C15th in Flanders this tale is set amongst the merchants and traders of Flanders, and the Italian states rather than kings and queens (at least in this first novel). Niccolo, the apprentice Claes, is seemingly young, innocent and accepting but at the novel progresses a very different mind emerges: one more subtle, opaque and dangerous than anyone might have imagined. This is a brillaint start to Dunnett's second major sequence, less intellctual with none of the fabulous linguistic word-play of the Lymond series, but just as fascinating and perhaps more accessible. A far cry from the 'historical' novels of the likes of Gregory and Chadwick, this is robust, solid and tangible, with a teasing wit that draws you deeper and deeper into what becomes a very complex story. The rest of the series in order is Spring of the Ram, Race of Scorpions, Scales of Gold, The Unicorn Hunt, To Lie with Lions, Caprice and Rondo, Gemini.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Revelation,
This review is from: Niccolo Rising: The House of Niccolo (Paperback)
A funny, wonderful, challenging journey into Renaissance Europe is brought to life by the author's impressive scholarship and obvious love of historical detail.For Dunnett the past is more than just a convenient source of drama, costume and turn of phrase. Drama there is plenty of - there are great battle scenes and moments of passion, hand to hand combat with sword, dagger and staff. But the real concern is always the characters - powerful men and strong women move through a time of great potential and vibrancy. Many of the characters are historical figures - de Medici bankers, flanders merchants, nobility. And of course there is Claes, at the start seeming like no more than a simple clownish apprentice youth, the depths of his personality and talents are slowly exposed piece by piece through the book. And yet at the end more questions have been raised than answered about his motivations, his actions. And this is a trait of the whole book. Expect to be baffled. Much of the tension rests on ambiguity and missing pieces. Some of the developments and motivations make little sense without knowledge of the political and economic situation of late fifteenth centuary europe. And this information is not always fully given - the author often only barely sketches the intricate background and leaves the reader to work out the the motivations behind the calculations and actions of the players. Expect to be challenged. Anyone who has ever tried to picture the immediate reality of daily life in a far away time and place will find a lot of joy here. All through the intricate plot developments and intensity of dialogue she brings from years of research into history, trade and industry a very real awareness of how people lived - the smells, the sights, the sounds of a medieval city, of a dyehouse, a castle. More than just the wealth of detail there is a sense of how individuals fitted into the bigger picture of kings and battles. The fall of Constantinople to the Turks a few years before the events of the book is the cause of many of the shifts of power and intrigue. The same goes for the war of the roses, the conflict between the French King and his son, the Dauphin. At times the book seems to be recounting many games of chess, all on the same board, sharing many pieces. And one game in particular. Excellent.
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