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| Original Title: | Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolo, #4) |
| ISBN: | 0375704809 (ISBN13: 9780375704802) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The House of Niccolò #4 |
Dorothy Dunnett
Paperback | Pages: 544 pages Rating: 4.46 | 2060 Users | 90 Reviews
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With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire.The year 1464 finds Nicholas back in Venice. Plagued by enemies bent on dissolving his assets and smearing his character, he sets sail for Africa, legendary location of the Fountain of Youth, home to a descendant of Sheba and Solomon, and the source of gold in such abundance that men prefer to barter in shells. He will learn firsthand the brutality and grandeur of the Dark Continent, from the horror of the slave trade to the austere nobility of Islamic Timbuktu. He will discover, too, the charms of the beautiful Gelis van Borselen--a woman whose passion for Nicholas is rivaled only by her desire to punish him for his role in her sister s death. Erotic and lush with detail, Scales of Gold embraces the complexity of the Renaissance, where mercantile adventure couples with more personal quests behind the silken curtains of the Age of Discovery.
List Out Of Books Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolò #4)
| Title | : | Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolò #4) |
| Author | : | Dorothy Dunnett |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 544 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 1999 by Vintage (first published 1991) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Adventure. Cultural. Africa. Literature. Romance |
Rating Out Of Books Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolò #4)
Ratings: 4.46 From 2060 Users | 90 ReviewsCrit Out Of Books Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolò #4)
I was briefly on the fence about this re-read - 8 dense books while I have another 30 items on the To Read shelf... but then the novel unfolded and I once again got swept up. The development of Gelis and partner or opponent, the stretching of the scene to Africa and Nicholas' finding of wisdom... I now desperately want to remember what happens next.The writing remains fabulous (even though it takes a little longer to read) and the moving of the scene to Africa adds real breadth - theOk, Dunnett needs to stop it with the cliffhanger endings so I can read something else. My predictions for the series as it goes on are as follows (these are so speculative they don't even count as spoilers): Jordan de Riberac is Nicholas' real father, and Julius stole the gold.To actually review the volume at hand, I feel that Dunnett did the narrative a real disservice by never really giving an account of what happened on the trip from Timbuktu to Ethiopia. I'm sure it would have been rough,
Second time through, it's a 5. It's only a 5, though, if you read it slow enough to pick up the dozen nuances on each page that let you know what is really going on. Fascinating how Dunnett conveys character motives and feelings.
What a diabolical mind had the author, Dorothy Dunnett. All I can say about the ending of this book. Is YIKES!And once again our hero, the cat with nine lives, has lost life number four in this book four of the series. Four more books to go and five lives.Truly amazing how Dunnett was able to capture 15th Century Africa and a trek from south to north across the Sahara Desert, among other things.
Nicholas leads a band of allies and enemies into Africa hoping to find an easier way into the rich interior. He also hopes to avoid all the enemies he has accumulated in Europe, to return the many favors of a friend, and as usual has other reasons no one knows about. This story begins among the many complications of Venice and smooths out into the simplicity of the desert - but Nicholas is a magnet for emotional complexities.I had great difficulty getting through the African jungle section,
Painful, beautiful, exciting, intimate and easily my favourite book in the 'House of Niccolò' series so far. The thing to keep in mind with Dunnett novels, is that though her beautiful prose disguises it well, they are ridiculous. Gloriously, unabashedly ridiculous. They are James Bond style action and glamour, they are melodrama, they are Dumas-style adventure and wit, and they are absoultely addictive. Do not start reading Scales of Gold unless you have Unicorn Hunt at hand, because you're
This is the fourth book in the House of Niccolo. Having left Cyprus, Nicholas embarks on an expedition to Africa, his two aims being trade and exploration. In the late 15th century, this journey is arduous and risky. Nicholas and his companions (on odd mix of people from his present and his past,a s well as some new faces) endure extreme hardships and experience exotic wonders. Their trip culminates in their arrival at Timbuktu, a great Muslim center of trade and learning. The story finishes
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