This review will be long because D. Dunnett had drawn me to her outlandish stories until she had outdone it and stuffed her story with something I couldn't digest. I don't think I can force myself to finish the series, In fact I am not even sure if I can read her Lymond chronicles because maybe they are more like the book #4 and #5Let me start by stating - I cannot stand Katelijne. Prior to the introduction of a teenage girl Katelijne, I enjoyed the series. There was the larger than life character of Nicholas who took a while to stomach as the story grew but when equally improbable character like Katelijne was slammed into the story my teacup-sized capacity for tolerance was overfilled. It's clear that Katelijne will continue to play a major role. I don't understand how is it endearing when a 14 year old stalks a married man, enquirers about him EVERYWHERE, and talks and thinks about him AD NAUSEUM. It makes my stomach turn as bad as when mother Marian had sex with her surrogate son Nicholas. At least in that case Dunnett had the daughters hating their mother for it and she killed Marian pretty soon. This is not the case with Katelijne, everyone loves this chaotic 14 year old, especially Tobbie. Only cousin Jan dislikes Katelijne for the nosy busybody that she is but we are shown and told that Jan is a mediocre, simpleton, a disappointment even to his own father, while of course Kathi, this little child is THRICE her age on the inside, we are told. *retch*If this character is a real historical person there were many other, more organic, ways to introduce her to the story, and make her fit in naturally. I didn't need another God like character. Nicholas is plenty too much. At first I thought that sly Adorne brought this teenage girl with him to Scotland, to Africa (to wherever Nicholas was) so that she would spy on Nicholas but that would be stupid, everyone knew that she was his niece. There must have been some other reason then. You would think that Dunnett would explain somewhere in the book why did Adorne (a shrewd, wise man) let his teenage niece Katelijne tag along. I read the whole book searching for a solid explanation then at the end of the book I found Adorne wishing “that the child Kathi had not encumbered him, dear though she was.” WTF? So if Adorne had no reason what so ever (I am not going to recount the lame ones) and he even knew how she encumbered him, then this shrewd man was being suddenly stupid for the sake of the plot? Don't tell me that the powerful Adorne couldn't stop his niece from joining him. It's clear that Dunnett had fun creating a character like Katelijne and she slammed her into the story where every character is a wheel. She broke the clock thinking that a hammer strike would improve it. The story was already breaking in Africa and this finished it. Another disappointment emerged from Dunnett’s double standards that were blaring in the 4th book as the story slogged through Africa. 15th century Europe was portrayed realistically with all its harshness, its refinement and complicated politics, its rulers were self-serving, spoiled, greedy men just as today’s politicians – fair enough but she didn’t treat the muslim rulers and black Africans in the same critical way. I have noticed her singularly flattering view of Loppe whose only negative trait was hmmm NOTHING, but I put up with it. Sure the turks were bad but she brushed over their acts by briefly summing up some of their atrocities. She didn’t dissect them the way she dissected various European knightly orders and she never got too close to any of the muslim characters (except the muslim doctor who was martyred) because God forbid some negative trait may be revealed. By the end of the fifth book the double standards grew out of proportion. The Turk is grand, the white sheep (some mogol/turkic tribe) are admirable (especially that mother Katun), the sultan of Cairo magnificent, the blacks from Africa graceful and beautiful. Only mamluks were not depicted in flattering way but Dunnett was quick to remind us that they were not arabs but mongrels from all over – mostly slaves from Europe. She had Nicholas BEG the Africans to allow him to help them and made the rulers of Europe both secular and ecclesiastic cajole him to aid them against the spreading Turks (which he didn’t!). Why this hatred (white skin she compares to leper skin, or “[Tobbie] hated those masks which were white,” and let us not forget how much Nicholas favors the ways of Arabs and blacks, how at home he feels among them, how naturally he slips into their speech)? And of course there is also our alpha antagonist of the series: the vain womanizer, vengeful, conniving and stupid Simon who is of course blond with bright blue eyes, your typical arian precursor of everything that is wile. I have no apologies for what Europeans have done but weren’t Arabs trying to colonize the world, weren’t Mongols trying to do the same? Wouldn’t Africans below Sahara do it if they had the wits for it? I would like to read more about Henry and little Jordan but I would have to suffer Katelijne again.
I felt so sick and depressed after the ending of Scales of Gold that I started this one right away just to see how DD decided to pick up after those awful final scenes. Read this one in two days and I am happier with the ending although I find myself worried about Nicholas and his decision to disappear with Jordan. The last thing he needs is to get Gelis even more PO'd than she already is (justifiably or no). I am trying to avoid spoilers for the remaining books, but I have to say that if Nicholas winds up with Gelis in the end I am going to put the books into a pile and burn them. I detest her for using their child in this game she's playing with him. It makes her as bad or worse than any awful quality she ascribes to Nicholas. I had the same reaction to the divining, but like the prophecy element in the LC, I do feel that DD is deliberately working with and incorporating some of the beliefs and superstitions that would have been common for the period. We know perfectly well now that prophecy and divining and suchlike are disproved by science, but they would have felt much more real and probable to the characters in the books, so I love that she allows those contemporary superstitions some play in the books, to influence and direct the characters to a certain degree. I think I need to take a break before starting Lions. I am getting too wrapped up in these books and am not getting anything else done!
What do You think about The Unicorn Hunt (1999)?
A typically intricately plotted and dense offering from Dunnett; before I began this series, I would not have thought it possible to complicate one's life more than Lymond did, and yet Nicholas seems more than up to the task. This is the darkest of the 'Niccoló Rising' series so far—an echo of Pawn in Frankincense in the Lymond series, I think; there are certainly thematic and plot resonances, too—with Dunnett breaking Nicholas down as far as he can go before it's possible to make of him the kind of hero/protagonist we see in Lymond. There is one plot point that I intensely disliked, because it introduces an element which seems to jar with the incredibly realistic world which Dunnett has created, and is far too much of a deus ex machina. Everything else, however, rollicks along at a suitably fast pace, and ends on a typically Dunnettian (Dunnettish?) cliff-hanger. I'm glad I have the next book to hand.
—Siria
Intricate, rewarding and compelling that's what the series to date has been for this reader. As with the previous books in the Niccolo series the density and complexity of the novels, their scope and very fine characterisation astounds me.This book in the series is rich in atmosphere and historical detail and also a rewarding read in it's own right. Others have alluded to the "special" qualities of Niccolo in this book but nothing would surprise about Niccolo's abilities at this point.Story well told by a master storyteller.
—Cphe
In this book, set between October 1468 and February 1471, our hero Sir Nicholas De Fleury appears to have designs on the kingdom of Scotland under the reign of King James III. Friends, foes and business rivals alike have different plans for Nicholas. As does his wife Gelis: the one enemy he cannot face directly.Nicholas is as brilliant and dangerous as ever, but no longer as joyous. Driven by a range of motivations, he undertakes a series of journeys which range across Europe and the Levant. Along the way, he makes a number of discoveries, learns some painful truths and is forced to confront all manner of demons. This richly layered story is told against the backdrop of the complicated politics, religious issues and trade of the times. Underlying it all is the enigma that is Nicholas himself: a complex contradiction of strengths, weaknesses and at times suprahuman brilliance.This is the fifth in the eight book series: House of Niccolo. I would strongly recommend anyone reading these novels to read the series in order. The plot and character developments build progressively and are interrelated.
—Jennifer (JC-S)
