Book Review
Dec. 1st, 2005 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariRace of Scorpions
by Dorothy Dunnett
This is the third book in Dunnett's eight-book House of Niccolo series, which is about Europe and the Mediterranean in the late 15th century. I read the first two volumes years ago, but moving to Boston, going to grad school, and all sorts of other stuff kept me from picking the series back up. I decided that, since I was in the mood for a long historical epic anyway, I should read the remaining books before I forgot everything about the first two.
The Niccolo of the title is Nicholas vander Poele, a charming, clever, and very smart young man who has risen from a dyeworks apprentice to the head of his own merchant and banking house. In Race of Scorpions, Nicholas, along with various new and old friends and associates, gets drawn into the conflict between Carlotta and James Lusignan, half-siblings competing for the throne of Cyprus. Nicholas sides with James, and Nicholas and his bank's mercenary company get involved in both the military and political machinations necessary to secure James' throne while advancing Nicholas' business and personal ambitions.
This book was a truly enjoyable read. The plot is fairly intricate and allows for plenty of action and political intrigue. The characters are complex and interesting. The pacing is overall excellent - there are very few slow bits and no dull spots. I particularly liked the fact that the plot covered locations and events that seem to be less often addressed in historical fiction, especially since I knew next to nothing about Cyprus before reading the book.
by Dorothy Dunnett
This is the third book in Dunnett's eight-book House of Niccolo series, which is about Europe and the Mediterranean in the late 15th century. I read the first two volumes years ago, but moving to Boston, going to grad school, and all sorts of other stuff kept me from picking the series back up. I decided that, since I was in the mood for a long historical epic anyway, I should read the remaining books before I forgot everything about the first two.
The Niccolo of the title is Nicholas vander Poele, a charming, clever, and very smart young man who has risen from a dyeworks apprentice to the head of his own merchant and banking house. In Race of Scorpions, Nicholas, along with various new and old friends and associates, gets drawn into the conflict between Carlotta and James Lusignan, half-siblings competing for the throne of Cyprus. Nicholas sides with James, and Nicholas and his bank's mercenary company get involved in both the military and political machinations necessary to secure James' throne while advancing Nicholas' business and personal ambitions.
This book was a truly enjoyable read. The plot is fairly intricate and allows for plenty of action and political intrigue. The characters are complex and interesting. The pacing is overall excellent - there are very few slow bits and no dull spots. I particularly liked the fact that the plot covered locations and events that seem to be less often addressed in historical fiction, especially since I knew next to nothing about Cyprus before reading the book.
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Dorothy Dunnett
Date: 2005-12-01 07:32 pm (UTC)