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Title: The Alchemist's Code |
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Review of The Alchemist's Code
- The legendary Maestro Nostradamus may be able to glimpse the ever- changing future, but even he cannot see the danger that is about to envelop him and his daring apprentice Alfeo when Nostradamus is hired to find a foreign spy by Venice's ruling Council of Ten. The only clues they can offer him are the spy's intercepted messages, encoded in a seemingly unbreakable cipher.
But Nostradamus soon detects evil influences working against him, and realizes the spy can only be caught by occult means. He turns to his able apprentice, the young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, whose unique talents may prove essential to unraveling the truth.
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Comments for The Alchemist's Code
- Posted on 2008-04-12
Another exciting mystery set in Renaissance Venice
I enjoy historical mysteries as well as fantasies, so this richly detailed portrayal of late Renaissance Venice, with its ancient palazzos, labyrinthine politics and committees, old noble families and a soupçon of magic, very much as the first book in this enjoyable series, is a great read for me.
Nostradamus's resourceful, witty apprentice with attitude, Alfeo Zeno is once again involved in a mystery that is intellectually and physically challenging. As his master's amanuensis, he braves kidnappers and spies and swordsmen and plots and set-ups that may lead to prosperity and renown or to prison and torture. It begins with an old and powerful family with a missing daughter who may be kidnapped or more likely has eloped, who request Nostradamus to find her. Woven into this is a mysterious spy that the Committee of Ten want found. Nostradamus and his apprentice work through ordinary means but with a dab of the supernatural--always careful not to slip into witchcraft and sorcery which could end up with burning at the stake. The supernatural elements are in accordance with the period and not high fantasy stuff, and it's more the little grey cells that are used to solve the mysteries, which are intriguing and involved. And Zeno's personality is fun, fresh and lively.
I hope this series continues, and that fantasy fans and fans of historical mysteries will find these books and enjoy them as much as I.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-03-24
A very good combination of fantasy, mystery, and history: Nero Wolfe fans take note
I like fantasy, I like mysteries, and I like historical novels. The series of which this is the second but not, I hope, the last, manages to combine all three genres and do it very well.
While nobody else seems to have noticed it, both books in the series have an unacknowledged co-author--the ghost of Rex Stout. Nostradamus and his apprentice are their own characters. But they are also Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin transformed to a very different setting. The author has fun slipping in bits from that world along with passing hints at other sources ranging from _The Princess Bride_ to "My Last Duchess." A lot of fun, and some of the best entertainment fiction I have read of late.
I'm not an expert on 16th century Italy, but the historical elements felt right, including a convincing picture of renaissance magical beliefs. I am giving the book four stars not because there is anything wrong with it--so far as I can tell there isn't--but only because I prefer to reserve five stars for books that are not only very good but extraordinary.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-03-13
Duncan is truly an entertaining read.
I love fantasies, historical novels, and humor and this book has it all. Duncan also excels at cleverly drawn characters and the ability to keep the story moving. No extraneous detail here (sorry, the huge fantasy volume I read just before this book could have used some editing so I really appreciated the flow of this story) Reading it brought me back to my childhood, reading my father's Rafael Sabatini collection - books that took place in the Italian states. If you enjoyed the first of this series or Duncan's King's Blades series, you should enjoy this one too!
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-03-10
The wait is always worth it.
Everything Dave Duncan writes is wonderful. The only problem, is that once you've caught up with ALL his books, you have to wait for months and months to get a new one. This year we get two, though!
The Alchemist's Code is great. I spent the first two nights I had it doing nothing but reading. One line (with no spoilers) was so good I had to call my husband on a business trip to share it with him.
Alfeo narrates the Alchemist books, and sometimes he talks directly to his readers, which adds a wonderful reflexivity to parts of the book.
Read the books. Duncan can say more in a sentence than I can in a page.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-03-06
superb historical fantasy
Maestro Nostradamus is many things; he is physician to the Venetian doge, a clairvoyant, an astrologist, and a spell weaver. His reputation is so great that he and his apprentice Alfeo Zeno live in grandeur on the top floor of the Mansion of Alvise Barbolano.
Zuanbattista Sanudo and his wife Eva Morosini come to Nostradamus to ask him to use his clairvoyance skills to locate their missing daughter Graziaa. The Maestro has a vision in his crystal ball; he tells Alfeo to go to a certain place at a certain time in order to find Grazia. He not only finds her, he sees her new husband Danese Dolfin, a gigolo who has done many unsavory things. The Council of Ten including the Doge summons Nostradamus to their meeting place. They direct him to uncover the identity of a spy who is selling secrets to a foreign government. The operative Algol has written letters that were intercepted but are in a code that no one has broken. The Maestro tries to decipher the code, but he realizes he is under magical attack which leads Alfeo to the home of Sanudo; he finds the abode under the spell of a curse. Alfeo tries to lift the curse using magic only to catch the eye of the Chief Inquisitioner whose aide accuses the maestro's apprentice of murder and practicing the black arts.
When one thinks of Dave Duncan, normally fans would think of an entertaining superior fantasist. However, his Alchemist saga (see THE ALCHEMIST'S APPRENTICE) shares the same quality of excellence, but is different with a fantasy flavoring to a historical saga. Readers join the Maestro and his apprentice in trying to figure out who the spy is, why someone the hero knew was murdered, and what object caused the curse. Told by Alfeo, the audience sees through his awed eyes how his master is a Machiavellian wizard who pulls people into his way of thinking.
Harriet Klausner
Score: 5