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356th out of 3,145 books
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13,794 voters
The Spring of the Ram (The House of Niccolò #2)
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...more
Paperback, 496 pages
Published
March 30th 1999
by Vintage
(first published 1988)
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This one's definitely picking up steam from the first one, which suffered a little from Dunnett's tendency to throw you in at the deep end and expect you to swim. With more familiarity with the major players, this book read much easier.
It's fascinating to me how some of the characters / scenes I initially thought were just pale retreads of ones from her other series, but the more fleshed out they become the more I see that they are entirely different people. Niccolo and Lymond are both incredib...more
It's fascinating to me how some of the characters / scenes I initially thought were just pale retreads of ones from her other series, but the more fleshed out they become the more I see that they are entirely different people. Niccolo and Lymond are both incredib...more
Niccolo/Nicholas, a brilliant young man rapidly rising on the European business stage, is invited to establish a trading station at Trebizond, the last remnant of the Byzantine empire. His rival is Pagano Doria, deliberate mischief-maker, who has seduced and carried off Niccolo's very young stepdaughter. Representing respectively Florence and Genoa, Niccolo and Pagano conduct an escalating business war with the advance of the Sultan's armies as a backdrop to high adventure.
In NICCOLO RISING, Nic...more
In NICCOLO RISING, Nic...more
I remember reading this book. I remember wanting to strangle Catherine (this did not change this time around). And apparently, I remember very little else because reading this book this time was very much the same as reading it for the first time.
Watching Niccolo come into his own is entertaining and engrossing. His interpersonal relationships are less one-sided than Lymond's. (It's so hard not to compare the two sets of books, though that's unfair. There can only ever be one Lymond, and I'm not...more
Watching Niccolo come into his own is entertaining and engrossing. His interpersonal relationships are less one-sided than Lymond's. (It's so hard not to compare the two sets of books, though that's unfair. There can only ever be one Lymond, and I'm not...more
I had a difficult time with this second book of The House of Niccolo, I think because I _feel_ too much for Nicholas vander Poele, the dyeworks apprentice making his way upwards in the world. Seems like he is to blame for everything, good or bad. Or so his men think. They trust him, they perhaps do not. They fear his brilliant but secretive mind may bring them to their end. They fear his youth and inexperience. They do not understand his genius. But they follow him, if sometimes somewhat relucta...more
I love Niccolo. And I love Dorothy Dunnett. History has always been a favorite area of study and I am learning (again, as I am re-reading this series) what life was like in 15th C. Europe and environs. Our study of culture in this book was mainly focused on Trebizond, a Byzantine holdout on the Black Sea. The court was extremely decadent and the Emperor was a power-mad, self-loving idiot. Fascinating stuff.
Again, Dunnett has researched this world so well, my mind's eye was able to imagine it in...more
Again, Dunnett has researched this world so well, my mind's eye was able to imagine it in...more
Read 11/10/07-2/3/08
The Spring of the Ram is the second book of The House of Niccolo. In this volume, Nicholas De Fleury sheds the last vestige of his dyer’s apprentice persona, Claes, to
become the leader of the Charetty trading company. And what a fascinating journey it is !
From Florence to Constantinople to the Black Sea and the dying empire of Trebizond, Nicholas and his company outwit devious friends and enemies, in a glorious, complicated
series of plots and mishaps and triumphs. Densely, b...more
The Spring of the Ram is the second book of The House of Niccolo. In this volume, Nicholas De Fleury sheds the last vestige of his dyer’s apprentice persona, Claes, to
become the leader of the Charetty trading company. And what a fascinating journey it is !
From Florence to Constantinople to the Black Sea and the dying empire of Trebizond, Nicholas and his company outwit devious friends and enemies, in a glorious, complicated
series of plots and mishaps and triumphs. Densely, b...more
As with most of Dunnett's books, the more involved details of the plot flew right over my head--I can tell you that there were political machinations involving the Emperor of Trebizond and the Turkish Sultan, but that's about it. Oh, and some rather amusing and engaging scenes involving the plague, bath houses, intimations of sodomy and camels (not all at once).
I think Dunnett is also somehow managing to tell this series much more from the point of view of her protagonist, while at the same tim...more
I think Dunnett is also somehow managing to tell this series much more from the point of view of her protagonist, while at the same tim...more
The only criticism I would add is that Dorothy Dunnet is excessively burdened by the aim of get the history moving. A lot, in fact.
Every time you settle on a situation she feels obliged two change it, sometimes introducing totally unpredictable characters or situations.
To me, the book would gain if she let the history breath, flow...
No doubt I'learning more about the XV century then on any other book I've read. Very good, cannot help but going on to the next. :)
Every time you settle on a situation she feels obliged two change it, sometimes introducing totally unpredictable characters or situations.
To me, the book would gain if she let the history breath, flow...
No doubt I'learning more about the XV century then on any other book I've read. Very good, cannot help but going on to the next. :)
Second of the House of Niccolo series (following Niccolo Rising). In which aspiring merchant prince sails on behalf of Florence to the Empire of Trebizond in 1461, just as the Turks start eyeing the place off. Intrigue and adventure ensue, with the occasional swordfight and cannon, 12 year old girls getting married, and androgynous bath boys. More contained than Niccolo Rising and therefore easier to follow. Rated M for some violence, nudity and adult themes. 4/5
Nicholas, a dye merchant's apprentice abruptly turned master of his company, feels his way around the schemes of rival merchants, princes, and emperors. He is brilliant but young, not entirely trusted by his advisors (for good reason), and ringed about by uncertain allies and merciless enemies.
His main rival in this volume is the insouciantly ruthless sea prince Pagano Doria, who manages to find a particularly diabolical way to undermine Nicholas's fragile authority. In the background, Dunnett...more
His main rival in this volume is the insouciantly ruthless sea prince Pagano Doria, who manages to find a particularly diabolical way to undermine Nicholas's fragile authority. In the background, Dunnett...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1976169.html[return][return]Niccolò, the Flemish apprentice-turned-magnate of the first book, is sent on a mission of cut-throat mercantile competition to Trebizond, the only surviving point of the Byzantine Empire; but the year is 1461, and Trebizond's time is also running out. There's some very skeevy (though not at all explicit) underage sex in this book, though our hero nobly stands aside from it; there's also a lot of appropriately byzantine political conspirac...more
I really don't know what to say about this series except that I don't like it, but find it strangely compelling and will continue reading. -__- Also, I didn't expect the ending of this one at all. Came out of nowhere!
It takes energy to keep up with Dunnett's clever and elaborately structured prose, but the familiar characters are endearing and the intricate plot line keeps you going and provides a history lesson as well.
Well, I love this book! It makes me want to visit the Black Sea. And yes, I'm reading it AGAIN, for the 3rd time(10.2011). It just keeps getting better. I love how this time I remember who is behind Doria trying to ruin Nicholas and the rest of the Charetty Company. I love how Dunnett writes from the perspective of the many different main characters. My favorite is seeing how they are all so worried of what Nicholas will do next and whether he is dangerous. The first book is a tough read but if...more
I enjoyed this one much more than the first. The intrigue with the Genoese "sea prince" who had abducted young Catherine de Charetty and took her to Trebizond, knowing that Nicholas and his little army of friends would also be headed there, was great. I still think the author was quite purposefully obscuring some stuff, and the characters' scheming - everyone was scheming, everyone was impenetrable, enigmatic, and equally calm in face of danger - tired me a bit, but I read on and I think it was...more
Loved this - another intriguing read that keeps you guessing right to the end. And then you need the next instalment...
The dialogue and plotting are to die for.
The dialogue and plotting are to die for.
Wonderful. I think one of the things I like best about Dorothy Dunnett is the way she shows connections between events in different countries and regions.
Jan 02, 2012
Hilary
added it
Niccolo is one of my favorite characters of all time. He starts to grow up in this novel. Dunnet brings his world into the seven senses. It's a feast.
Second in the series The House of Niccola......excellent novel with history, politics, religion, trade, romance, class......what more could one want in a book that leaves one ready for the next part of the story?
I've said it before and I'll say it again...no one writes historical fiction, and I mean no one, like my beloved Dorothy. Amen.
I liked the first book, Niccolo Rising, better, but this one is definitely worth the read and I will go on to book three.
Love the erudition of Dunnett's writing - descriptive vocabulary paints amazing pictures of the era.
Just writing these reviews is making me want to go back and re-read these yet again.
Married to a woman old enough to be his mother, who was formerly his boss, Niccolo retreats from Bruges and his past to create a fortune and a new persona. This gamble involves bringing soldiers and trade to Trebizond, last outpost of the Christian emperors since the fall of Constantinople to the Turk. Unfortunately he has a competitor with family alliance and experience on his side, as well as Niccolo's stolen jealous step-daughter in his bed. Niccolo does some crafty planning to come out of th...more
Fantastic book describing 15th century life ranging from modern day Netherlands clear over to the Black Sea. Niccolo - the principle character - provides the reader a storyline that at the same time illuminates empires long crumbled, and those being built. Islam, Christianity and Paganism are found throughout the multitude of city states, along with the depravities of the rich and powerful and the less widely seen acts of valor, virtue, and loyalty.
On to the next!
On to the next!
Blitzed through the last 300 pages in 24 hours and very little sleep.
Dunnett in fine form. This is historical fiction in all it's subtlety and richness.
Dunnett in fine form. This is historical fiction in all it's subtlety and richness.
Reading this again and I know it's a 5. For me, the best historical fiction novelist ever.
This book wasn't as good as the first. I felt like this one had a great exciting adventure for the main character, Niccolo by sending him to some far exotic place, but it took me forever to read because I got really bogged down in the names and the amount of different supporting characters. I would recommend this book, but it won't be one that I read over and over again.
So much fun! Dunnett's characters, plots, and writing style are all richly complex and thoroughly enjoyable. I will have to read it again as I know I've missed things in this book, but I do not mind one bit.
A great book in a great series but a bit murky and dark. This one almost made me stop reading the series the first time but I kept going and enjoyed it overall. Nicholas seems to grow as a leader here and his colleagues begin to accept him in his own right, though they still have doubts about how much they can trust him.
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Dorothy Dunnett OBE was a Scottish historical novelist. She is best known for her six-part series about Francis Crawford of Lymond, The Lymond Chronicles, which she followed with the eight-part prequel The House of Niccolò. She also wrote a novel about the real Macbeth called King Hereafter (1982), and a series of mystery novels centred around Johnson Johnson, a portrait painter/spy.
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“Your state has been seen, and will be reported on. Only it is necessary that you do not yawn. Or, of course, speak. Discretion in all things in all things is needed." She was reminding them, and she hoped they realised it, that they were not circumcised. The circumlocution expected of a high-born Syrian princess was sometimes a trial to Sara Khatun.”
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“Tobie. Unless I'm giving off steam, behave normally. I remember what to do. One foot in front of the other, but not both at the same time unless I'm a robin.”
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