Niccolo/Nicholas, a brilliant young man rapidly rising on the European business stage, is invited to establish a trading station at Trebizond, the last remnant of the Byzantine empire. His rival is Pagano Doria, deliberate mischief-maker, who has seduced and carried off Niccolo's very young stepdaughter. Representing respectively Florence and Genoa, Niccolo and Pagano conduct an escalating business war with the advance of the Sultan's armies as a backdrop to high adventure.In NICCOLO RISING, Nicholas's team realized that the misfortunes that had befallen Nicholas's evil uncle were deliberately triggered by Nicholas, and they took it into their heads that everything that befell anyone who opposed Nicholas was his planned revenge. As readers, we knew then and we know in THE SPRING OF THE RAM that the team are misinterpreting him - part of the time. I found sections of this book extremely aggravating because I resented how quick they were to think badly of him. It reaches a crescendo here before the team realizes at least part of their error. These intelligent men knew Nicholas was a genius but refused to understand him because of their preconceptions.Again, the depth of characterization gives this series its star quality. Additionally there is the brilliance of the Renaissance setting, and the cleverness of the rivalry. When after this book I moved on to the next one, I found Dorothy Dunnett was a hard act to follow.
Written in an entirely different "voice" and manner, this second book in the series is MUCH easier to read, the scenes more clear (and therefore more fun) to watch, the characters similar.It begins with a Chorus/Storyteller to explain where things stand with our Nicholas/Niccolo, and then the story begins with his youngest step-daughter, Catherine, 11, headstrong and maker of his own destiny (as she sees it) thinking herself into an adventure! One her mother would not care for, if she (when) she finds out.Nicholas, (in his 19th and 20th years), is planning on going as far as Constantiople, to find and build trade. On his way, he discovers Catherine, his youngest step-daughter, has truly gone awry, though she believes all is at it should be, in her young, romantic, mind… [WARNING: a young girl is seduced. Sex is vague though clear.]Nicholas now has TWO tasks -- save a girl who doesn't want to be saved, and save his new wife's business.[Another WARNING: There is also a brief scene of men and boys in a bathhouse. Events are only hinted at but again, clear in intent. The scene does show meaning, is not gratuitous.]The culture represented in Constantinople is interesting. I'd always wondered how the Greek Orthodox Church was different than "regular" Cathollics; this story sheds some light on that, though it is NOT heavily religious.
What do You think about The Spring Of The Ram (1999)?
The second in the Niccolo series and just as compelling as the Lymond series in it's own right. I love the way the author allows the reader to become so invested in the characters. All of the characters from the central ones right down to the peripheral characters, all make their presence felt.There is far more to the young Claes, dye apprentice turned world worldy adventurer then was first apparent and I'm enjoying seeing more and more of the machinations of Claes being revealed. A word of warning though, whilst the series appears to be a rollicking good yarn there are some very dark and uncomfortable undertones present in this series. The stories themselves are quite addictive reading.
—Cphe
Read 11/10/07-2/3/08The Spring of the Ram is the second book of The House of Niccolo. In this volume, Nicholas De Fleury sheds the last vestige of his dyer’s apprentice persona, Claes, tobecome the leader of the Charetty trading company. And what a fascinating journey it is ! From Florence to Constantinople to the Black Sea and the dying empire of Trebizond, Nicholas and his company outwit devious friends and enemies, in a glorious, complicatedseries of plots and mishaps and triumphs. Densely, beautifully detailed descriptions ofthe Renaissance world of trade and politics and exotic places combined with a vivid, complex cast of characters meld to produce historical fiction at it’s finest. And in Nicholas De Fleury, Dunnett breathed into life another one of her brilliant, complicated, break your heart heroes. This is my second read through this novel and if anything I appreciated it more this time – highly, highly recommended. Number : 8Publication : 1987Genre : Historical FictionRating : 10Where From : my shelvesReason : DDANZ group read
—Beth (moonivy)
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1976169.html[return][return]Niccolò, the Flemish apprentice-turned-magnate of the first book, is sent on a mission of cut-throat mercantile competition to Trebizond, the only surviving point of the Byzantine Empire; but the year is 1461, and Trebizond's time is also running out. There's some very skeevy (though not at all explicit) underage sex in this book, though our hero nobly stands aside from it; there's also a lot of appropriately byzantine political conspiracy, with tendrils reaching from Georgia to Scotland in a beautifully drawn pattern of entanglement. It's all very lush and convincing, and just as I was wondering if Niccolò would ever actually lose any of the conflicts he gets involved with, I was blindsided by one of the several twists at the end. Good stuff.
—Nicholas Whyte
