Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more.
Florence in the year 1518 is riven by scientific and sociological change caused b the wonderful devices of the Great Engineer, Leonardo da Vinci. Now he is old and lives as a recluse working behind the walls of his castle. The Raphaelites, artists and anti-technologists led by Raphael of Urbino, call for his excommunication.
Pasquale di Cione fiesole, an apprentice painter witnesses an assassination attempt on Raphael at a Cathedral service. The weapon falls into his hands, and he is soon on the run from engineers and artists, desperate to prove his innocence.
{"itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":7.33,"ASIN":"0575086599","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":5.99,"ASIN":"0575082232","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":7.99,"ASIN":"0575086602","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"0575086599::1jXbhjsTePA5VvnAiBOKpr2aX1BXXEpqvE%2FHFE37F1fjXyI7QA%2BFTo9xmrsEgToadfjlbFuk76blwvKCfl4r3Wbmk%2BwXQww9,0575082232::Qf4aYyKILKF6SQknHCG6L7NAxCKtTkYvd0Ih1EglH9xJueg%2BGwyGPdh3oy89wtgJrN2AOzZXYO4FtcIeGkBIa1OhlAJccEU%2B,0575086602::Cmz4YR5HTuEFeqoGEw%2B%2BE7lDeL2mQ2IZg0IOzbB%2Bm504Zb2Oi1FGPVSBims4sgTNVuvLKXtUNPfQ6z0P%2B%2F85HheX8q3lKZCp","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"currenyCode":"GBP","shippingDetails":{"xz":"availability","yz":"same","xy":"availability","xyz":"availability"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"showDetails":"Show details","differentAvailabilityAll":"Some of these items are dispatched sooner than the others.","addToWishlist":[null,null,null],"shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","differentAvailability":"One of these items is dispatched sooner than the other.","preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"],"addToCart":["Add to Basket","Add both to Basket","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and delivery details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price For Both:","Price For All Three:"],"hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and delivery details","hideDetails":"Hide details"}}
'Already Paul J. McAuley is a better novelist than most of the established giants in the field' TIME OUT
About the Author
Paul McAuley's first novel won the PHILIP K. DICK AWARD and he has gone on to win almost all of the major awards in the field. For many years a research biologist, he now writes full-time. He lives in London. You can find his blog at: http://www.unlikelyworlds.blogspot.com.
This was the first of McAuley's novels I read, coming at it as fan of counterfactuals. It's a bit different from many of that genre and set in a period many of us don't know well, but a gripping and intriguing read nevertheless. The basic premise is that Leonardo Da Vinci's futeristic drawings such as helicopters actually work, elevating his city state into industrial revolution and also enhancing the martial aspect. I guess it won't appeal to many, and like his other works demands some concentration, but I really enjoyed it and it has made me a fan of the author.
