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8th out of 13 books
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Death and the Devil
In the year 1260, under the supervision of the architect Gerhard Morart, the most ambitious ecclesiastical building in all of Christendom is rising above the merchant city of Cologne: the great cathedral. Far below the soaring spires and flying buttresses, a bitter struggle is underway between the archbishop of Cologne and the ruling merchant families to control the enorm
...moreHardcover, 391 pages
Published
September 1st 2007
by William Morrow & Company
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I finally got around to reading “Death and the Devil” after having it on my book shelf for a few years. While the plot was interesting, the writing and dialogue was a bit awkward and really isn’t what I look for in an historical novel. The story takes place in Cologne in 1260 and is all about what happens when one man witnesses the murder of another. This is a fast paced book with the points of view of different characters all melding together to give the reader a clear insight into what is happ...more
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Duller than the dullest ditchwater after it's been run through a Dull-O-Matic. Literally took me a year to read (iRead once prompted me to remove it, on the grounds it had been sitting untouched in my Reading pile so long), and I would have gleefully chucked it at the wall and given up if I hadn't paid for the stupid hardcover. A huge disappointment after the layered treat that was Schatzing's Swarm. I'd like to say that the dashes of history added to the narrative help redeem it, but since the...more
PROTAGONIST: Jacob the Fox, beggar
SETTING: 13th century Cologne
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 2.75
The Cologne Cathedral is renowned as a monument of Christianity and Gothic architecture. The cathedral is one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark. The church's architect was Gerhard Morart, who fell from its roof in 1260. It took over six hundred years for the construction to be completed after his death.
I...more
SETTING: 13th century Cologne
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 2.75
The Cologne Cathedral is renowned as a monument of Christianity and Gothic architecture. The cathedral is one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark. The church's architect was Gerhard Morart, who fell from its roof in 1260. It took over six hundred years for the construction to be completed after his death.
I...more
DEATH AND THE DEVIL BY FRANK SCHATZING: With the runaway success of The Swarm originally in Europe and now in the United States, Death and the Devil, Shatzing’s first novel, has been translated and published. It’s a medieval thriller; a murder mystery set with the back drop of thirteenth century Cologne. This is a completely different genre and story line for Schatzing after the sci-fi/horror of The Swarm, nevertheless he delivers his unique storytelling style in Death and the Devil.
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I very much enjoyed this mystery novel, the historical background given through dialogue was very well handled and never got to the point of tedium, the dialogue did include some slightly anachronistic phrasing but I'd put this down to the translation and didn't really cause too many problems to the flow. The story itself was well thought out and the characters on the whole were well written, with perhaps the exception of Richmodis, I would have liked to hear from her at the end rather than only...more
Un po' lento poi appassiona
Un libro interessante la cui unica pecca è una certa lentezza iniziale, ma la trama è avvincente e dopo un po' il libro parte ed è difficile frenare la voglia di leggere ancora un'altra pagina.
Un tuffo nel medioevo, in una Germania selvaggia, fra poveri e ricchissimi, fra Chiesa e nobiltà. Un thriller medioevale come pochi in circolazione non per niente vincitore del premio Bancarella.
Un libro interessante la cui unica pecca è una certa lentezza iniziale, ma la trama è avvincente e dopo un po' il libro parte ed è difficile frenare la voglia di leggere ancora un'altra pagina.
Un tuffo nel medioevo, in una Germania selvaggia, fra poveri e ricchissimi, fra Chiesa e nobiltà. Un thriller medioevale come pochi in circolazione non per niente vincitore del premio Bancarella.
Sage Streck
added it
I didn't dislike this book, but it was a little awkward to read and sometimes very dense. Such a long time was spent building up to the ending, that it almost felt anti-climactic by the time I finally got there. I did enjoy the medieval history, but there were times when I felt the author got a little lost in all the historical minutia.
Nach der Hälfte des Buches habe ich aufgegeben. Eigentlich fand ich das Thema ziemlich interessant. Aber der Autor befasst sich so sehr mit den (in meinen Augen meist unwichtigen) Details, dass mir einfach irgendwann der Überblick abhanden gekommen ist. Das Lesen macht keinen Spaß, wenn man immer wieder mehrere Kapitel zurück blättern muss, damit man den Zusammenhang versteht.
Normalerweise tue ich mich mit historischen Romanen eher schwer, aber diesen hier habe ich regelrecht verschlungen.
Zum Teil liegt dies sicherlich daran, dass es - wie der Titel des Buches schon erahnen lässt - um Mord geht. Um Mord und um Jacob, der wegen seiner roten Haare auch Fuchs genannt wird, einen jungen Burschen, der den Mord zufällig beobachtet hat und von nun an um sein Leben und das seiner Freunde fürchten muss.
Eine rasante Hetzjadt durch das historische Köln nimmt ihren Lau...more
Zum Teil liegt dies sicherlich daran, dass es - wie der Titel des Buches schon erahnen lässt - um Mord geht. Um Mord und um Jacob, der wegen seiner roten Haare auch Fuchs genannt wird, einen jungen Burschen, der den Mord zufällig beobachtet hat und von nun an um sein Leben und das seiner Freunde fürchten muss.
Eine rasante Hetzjadt durch das historische Köln nimmt ihren Lau...more
I really enjoyed this historical novel, since the writer is able to use some of the people involved to tell you about the real facts happened during the period when the novel is located (Cologne 1260). As well the storyline is pretty interesting.
In Nederlandse vertaling gelezen en dat met veel plezier gedaan. Het grootste deel van het boek heb ik (in de beslotenheid van de keuken) luidop gelezen en ook dat gebeurde met veel plezier. De kat heeft er ook van genoten.
I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed this. It was one of those library books where I figured I would begin to read and see if I was engaged by the plot.
Well I was. Before I knew it I was a hundred pages in and found the story of the conspiracy and the central death. I don't have much background in medieval German history and I did appreciate the sections of exposition, even though these did somewhat challenge some of the pacing. I also felt in a few places the translatio...more
Very good story. I visited the Koln cathedral during my trip to Germany. It was awesome to hear some history about the city and life in the early days of the 800 years it took to finish this cathedral.
Arrivato a meno della metà ho capito che stavo perdendo tempo, storia potenzialmente intrigante ma che si perde in dettagliatissime descrizioni storiche e dialoghi spesso fuori luogo.
Ho messo una vita a leggere questo libro, perchè era la mia lettura da treno, quella che mi intratteneva nei viaggi verso l'università.
Interessante, ma niente di speciale.
Interessante, ma niente di speciale.
Libro pessimo. Personaggi abbozzati, storia noiosa. Si salva un poco e dico solo un poco, l'ambientazione.
I libri storici e soprattutto ambientati nel medioevo sono altri.
I libri storici e soprattutto ambientati nel medioevo sono altri.
i like this book.. bcoz its very suspense and you cant predict what will happen next.. and really like the setting.. and its very classic..
also ganz ehrlich : das audio book ist sooo grandios; das lesen haette ich mir 'sparen' koennen.
Fictionalized account of the death of Gerhard Morart--the architect of the Cologne Cathedral. Didn't really get into it - the language was always a bit murky and the characters stayed quite flat.
awesome, one of the best historical novels.
Set around the building of Cologne cathedral
Set around the building of Cologne cathedral
Fun, fast and fairly mindless with a few interesting tidbits of information.
Really enjoyed it, reminded me of Ken Follett
Great book. An interesting plot plus history lesson with a philosophic note. The psychological description of characters is well build and brings deep thoughts about human nature.
In vergelijking met 'De zwerm' van dezelfde auteur vond ik dit boek een heel stuk minder 'pakkend'. Normaal lees ik graag romans met een historische inslag maar in dit boek waren de geschiedenislessen in de geschiedenis een beetje teveel van het goede.
Het boek leest voor de rest wel als een trein maar het kon mij niet altijd boeien. De spanningen tussen de kerkelijke en wereldlijke macht, tussen ambachtslieden en patriciërs in de middeleeuwen was wel interessant beschreven.
Het boek leest voor de rest wel als een trein maar het kon mij niet altijd boeien. De spanningen tussen de kerkelijke en wereldlijke macht, tussen ambachtslieden en patriciërs in de middeleeuwen was wel interessant beschreven.
Not usually my type of book but I've gotta say Death and The Devil was one damn good book lol. The history part wasn't at all boring and I admired all the characters.
to be honest, i didn't get very far with this one. i loved schatzing's other book, the swarm ( all 1000 pages of it), but i couldn't get into this one at all. there is nothing similar about the two books - one current day and one set in the 1200's . i just felt really bored, and there are too many books on my list to stick with one that bores me. i had high hopes and will continue to look for any new releases that he puts out, but i'm movin' on.
I'm sure the history is well researched and it is quite interesting in fact ... however, it tends to get in the way of a gripping story.
I wasn't aware until I got partway into the book that it was a translation. That explains a lot. This is an awkwardly-written book, so much so that I was about to give up, but knowing it's a translation will, I think, allow me to approach it from a different angle.
Edited to add: Terrible translation. I can't go on!
Edited to add: Terrible translation. I can't go on!
This was an extremely entretaining one. I think middle ages novels (when properly written) are my favorite.
A great historical mystery that takes place in Schätzing's beloved city of Köln, during the construction of its famous cathedral. He brings 13th century Köln to life, while weaving in his exquisite talent for suspense and intrigue. Not quite as engaging as Der Schwarm, but still a thrilling read.
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