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Race of Scorpions: The House of Noccolo v. 3 (The House of Niccolo)
 
 

Race of Scorpions: The House of Noccolo v. 3 (The House of Niccolo) (Paperback)

by Dorothy Dunnett (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 560 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (27 Jan 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140112650
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140112658
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 43,714 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description
This is the third book in the "House of Niccolo" series. Set in 15th-century Cyprus, this novel continues the saga of Nicholas van der Poel, international mercenary who started out as a dyer's apprentice, as he plays for the highest stakes with the greatest super-powers in Europe.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A feast, 11 Oct 2007
By Didier (Ghent, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is the third volume in the Niccolo-series, and Niccolo is by now an accomplished merchant with his own private army. In "Race of Scorpions" we find him in Cyprus, caught between the ambitions of Queen Carlotta and her brother James, both of whom want to rule Cyprus. A deadly game of plot and counter-plot develops...

This is, once again, that most rare of things: an intelligent historical novel, with an intricate plot, impeccable research and fully-developed characters. One to read and re-read!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intricate, beguiling and complex, 10 Aug 2008
By Roman Clodia (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is the 3rd in the House of Niccolo series (the first two being Niccolo Rising and Spring of the Ram), and Nicholas/Claes is now both an adult and yet also tempted back into the irresponsibility of his miss-spent youth. Free of his company and previous emotional entanglements, he tries to join his mercenary army fighting for control of Naples but instead finds himself being enticed, seduced and enforced to take sides in the deadly struggle between the Lusignan siblings for control of Cyprus. But everytime he thinks he has left his past behind, it rears back up to trap him, even in Cyprus; and even emotional closures, however incomplete, cannot leave him at peace.

If you haven't read Dunnett before then you really do need to start at the beginning of the series, but this is a far stretch from the average `historical' (Chadwick, Gregory etc.). The plot is compelling, intricate and twisted and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Nicholas is both a charismatic hero and yet also an enigmatic one, and the over-arching plot arc of the series is as much about exploring the depths of one man as it is about his world. And that world is a fully-realised C15th one, where empires are being built as well as industries (banking, commodities trading), and where people eschew the sentimentality and politically-correct C21st mores of so much `historical' fiction and instead live the harsh, violent reality of a Europe (in this book) emerging out of its medieval roots and into what will later be known as the renaissance.

This isn't an easy read but, as with all Dunnett's work, is a completely engrossing one. Very highly recommended.
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