May 1, 2024
Davico is the sole heir to the most important merchant family in Navola--the di Regulai, who are also the largest bank around. Davico is being trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a personable man with ruthlessness simmering right under the surface. When a wealthy family tries to cheat Davico's father, that family's towering home is razed, and their eldest daughter, Celia, is taken hostage as Davico's new "sister." Davico grows up under the watchful eye of his family, Celia, and a mysterious and sinisterly powerful relic--a fossilized dragon eye, deadly sharp and malevolent. Then, on his Assumption day, Davico is betrayed by those closest to him, changing the trajectory of Navola forever. Bacigalupi's (The Water Knife) new genre-bending fantasy is a coming-of-age tale set in a mob-like family, full of intrigue, betrayal, and the lust for power, status, and money. VERDICT For readers who enjoy fantasy full of political and family intrigue, such as A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, and for those who like coming-of-age stories focusing on a young man's battles, such as The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.--Jen Funk
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Starred review from May 6, 2024
Bacigalupi (The Tangled Lands) dazzles in this addictive account of the rivalries between powerful families in a brilliantly rendered fantastical world inspired by 15th-century Florence. Narrator Davico di Regulaif’s father, Devonaci, owns a rare dragon’s eye, still “burning with inner fire as if it retained life.” Davico’s obsession with the orb, which seems to trap a “flaming rage,” eventually has significant consequences. Father and son belong to one of the most influential banking families of Navola and Devonaci, who has many enemies and seeks every opportunity to “shape the politics of city to his will,” hopes that Davico will succeed him as the family’s head. Unfortunately, that aspiration is imperiled by a betrayal that forces Davico to undertake a desperate flight to survive. Davico hints early on that he is not being entirely truthful with the reader, which only enhances the suspense. Admirers of Game of Thrones and Dorothy Dunnett’s House of Niccolò series will be riveted.
Starred review from June 1, 2024
Bacigalupi leaves behind the dystopian sf of his previous novels and boldly ventures into a beautifully detailed but merciless historical fantasy world, highly reminiscent of Renaissance Italy and its merchant empires. Young Davico di Regulai de Navola relates the story, promising not to leave anything out, even when doubting his ability to follow the accepted Navolese way of treachery, scheming, and intrigue. He is simply not twisted enough, admitting to a strong affinity for animals and to being more interested in the intricacies of the natural world than in learning the complexities of the ruthlessly manipulative banking and trade syndicate into which he was born. But as the di Regulai heir, Davico does not want to disappoint his father, so he continues his schooling with the family's masters of finance, warfare, and spycraft. He feels drawn to the prized dragon's eye artifact on his father's desk, which, when touched unexpectedly, shows him images from the dead creature's millennial-long existence. Assuming it was a fanciful dream, Davico keeps the revelation to himself, unaware that it could be of vital importance someday. Politics, passion, poison, blood, and betrayal are melded into a masterful fantasy epic of nonstop action that is just begging for a sequel. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: All of the sf/f fan-favorite Bacigalupi hallmarks are here: deep character development and astounding worldbuilding, but this time with dragons.
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August 1, 2024
A kindhearted heir to a banking fortune in a fantasy analog of Venice receives several brutal lessons concerning how little such kindness will serve him. Intelligent, nature-loving Davico di Regulai dreams of becoming a doctor and marrying his foster sister, Celia. It is obvious to all that he doesn't have the ruthlessness and strategic ability of his ambitious, arrogant father, Devonaci, who, despite his lack of noble blood, not so secretly controls the city of Navola through his vast banking interests. But as the heir to the di Regulai estate, Davico has no choice but to ineffectively follow the path his father has laid out for him--which certainly does not include medicine or becoming Celia's husband. His struggle to live up to his family's considerable reputation is so acute it gives him ulcers. Meanwhile, Devonaci's plots have earned him many enemies, some lurking more closely than he knows; unfortunately, not all of them are as weak and foolish as he supposes, leaving Davico in a very vulnerable position. Is there anyone he can trust? Is there any use or value to his own unique talents in the treacherous society that he calls home? He will be forced to find out. The plunge of this political fantasy into grimdark might feel shocking, but it's not like the author doesn't provide plenty of warning. Throughout the narrative, the reader is shown that Davico's honesty and unwillingness to harm others put him at a great disadvantage in his society; infused with painful and realistic political maneuvering, this is not a classic epic fantasy in which the good must prevail. And yet, the novel's climax shares significant elements with a fantasy from that era: Roger Zelazny'sNine Princes in Amber (1970). Perhaps both authors drew from the same historical source; perhaps it's an homage. It's a bit jarring when so much of the story has a wonderful freshness to it. But regardless of the source, the book employs these plot elements extremely effectively. And it is clear that Bacigalupi has his own kind of epic in mind; despite the already hefty page count, this is only the start of a significant and painful journey and some considerable character development. Sharp enough to draw blood.
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