This is the story of Claes AKA Nicholas AKA Niccolo van der Poele and his meteoric, often painful rise from a dyer’s apprentice to one of the premier businessmen in sixteenth-century Europe. Nicholas is brilliant, hilarious, and possessed of the sort of intellect and drive that are simultaneously intoxicating and very dangerous. He is a dyer, a toymaker, a natural mathematician, a fighter, a shameless cheat, a man of complex and often alarming motivations. He forms the backbone of these books, along with his friends and lovers and enemies, and the stories sprawl out around him to take in Bruges and Turkey and Cyprus and Africa, politics and business and high social drama, hilarity and romance and terrible tragedy.The books are simply brilliant, in the way of writing that grabs you by the throat and the brainstem equally. Dunnett’s command of history is engrossing, her prose tense and precise, her characters crackling. Her writing is impressive because it looks easy – there’s something so perfectly balanced and poised about these books, as if every word is in the right place, and there to do some work. And they certainly do work – I laughed, I gasped, I squealed, I sniffled, I groaned. I also paid extraordinary amounts of attention, because not a conversation goes by that doesn’t have at least two layers tucked slyly beneath, horrifying or funny or just illuminating. These books are quite honestly the most intellectually invigorating things I’ve read in years.I have quibbles (hi, I’m Light, and I quibble with books). Dunnett seems to really enjoy a helping of dramatic irony, both in portraying characters who spend a great deal of time wondering and thrashing about disasters the reader already knows about, and in ducking into the heads of people who spectacularly fail to comprehend Nicholas and the tides that move around him. It’s frankly annoying, though I should also clarify this is predictably my least favorite literary device. I was also a bit . . . overwhelmed, by the end of Scales of Gold. Dunnett has a way of punching you in the kidneys in the last four pages, and perhaps it’s that these books are the only fiction I’ve been reading for nearly two months, but by the end the twist of family and revenge and counter-revenge had been amped up to a pitch I found a bit ear-splitting. Baroque is perhaps the word I’m looking for. I couldn’t put these books down, but now I desperately need to read anything else for a long time before I go on. Which is also the sign of incredibly . . . operant literature, come to think of it.Quite the best things I’ve read in years, no exaggeration or caveats.
This is my favorite historical novel, bar none.I have re-read this novel and the rest of the series many times, but some things never change, no matter how many times I pick them up.First, I have to read Niccolo very, very slowly. Dunnett has absolutely no patience with lazy readers. The plot is very complex and she doesn't coddle: you read closely, or you will be lost. It's amazing, really, (and heartening) that these stories are so popular and widely read in a day and age where people seem to lean toward the easier options available to them.Second, I don't mind being a little confused and having to read slowly or even to re-read, because there are riches here to be enjoyed. She writes like a Brueghel painting: there's so much going on, you have to dedicate all your attention but when you do, you'll be amazed and rewarded.This is, of course, historical fiction. The Niccolo series starts out in fifteenth century Bruges, which was the capital city of Flanders and today is widely considered to be the best preserved medieval city in Belgium. The main character, Claes, is introduced as an awkward, good natured, good looking eighteen year old with a penchant for getting himself and others into trouble, for romancing housemaids, and mostly for surviving the beatings everybody seems to heap on him. But that's just the early impression. Claes (who undergoes a transformation and will be known, eventually, as Niccolo) is about as complex and interesting a character I have ever run into in print.I adore this novel. I would love to set up a wiki and take it apart, sentence by sentence, image by image, historical facts one by one.
What do You think about Niccolò Rising (1999)?
Welcome to the world of Dorothy Dunnett! I can't remember how I learned about this book, but I started with this series. I started, and didn't stop reading until I read all day and night for months finishing this series, delved right into The Lymond Chronicles, immediately reread this, followed by a second read of Lymond. Ahhhh. Dunnett is an intellectual writer - these books are not to skim thru, they are dense with information about characters, plot and history. The first read through don't expect to know everything that's going on - you are not meant to, it's a puzzle that comes together at the end in brilliant resolution. I also spend alot of time googling history, which was fascinating, Dunnett has done her research meticulously and I learned a ton. What can I say? I was obsessed with her books, have since purchased all of them, and am just waiting to give some time before I reread. Again.
—Lori (Hellian)
Thoroughly enjoy this book despite a rather slow beginning. Perhaps slow only because I just finished the last of the Lymond Chronicles, and I'm "still living in the world of the last book" which was not the least bit slow! Here we find our hero, Claes, appears to be a clumsy, slow-witted dyer's apprentice who is constantly in trouble, not always of his own making. He has been with the Widow de Charetty's family since he was 10, as servant to her son, Felix. We learn Claes is actually exceptionally gifted in mathematics and organizational skills and with the widow's approval makes changes that benefit the company financially. A war is fought. New contracts are let. A marriage occurs. A heritage is learned. An heir is lost. Claes uses his full name, Nicholas. His dealings with Italy he becomes known as Niccolo. A devastating fire causes havoc. Someone wants Nicholas dead.This is an exciting read. Instead of flying over rooftops in Blois like Lymond, this hero flies the trade and banking routes around Europe on behalf of his company. Travel with him, on one escapade after another. You can't wait for the next installment!
—Jean Gobel
This is the second series written by Dorothy Dunnett, and is placed in Antwerp in the 16th century. Although it is about many things, the main focus is on the rise of the textile industry and trade and much of the book involves the search for alum, which was used to bind color. There are six books and they take place all over, ranging from Antwerp to Morocco, Egypt, Cyprus and more. As in the Lymond Chronicles, the books are meticulously researched, but also have a wonderful story woven throughout in which Niccolo searches for his real family. They can be read over and over for the richness of the detail and characters.
—Diane
