Review Summaries

• Readers tend to remember the force of the subject and the distinctive structure. The work rewards attention to character choices and lingering scenes more than to simple background exposition.

Reviews

• Lots of fun for art lovers...

  Any novelist always has the challenge of creating vivid and engaging characters but when you have the likes of DaVinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, etc to work with you're ahead of the game. Set in Renaissance Florence this story is just plain fun. As a mystery thriller it was not outstanding but good enough to keep my interest but as a tour de force of Renaissance shenanigans it's hard to beat. If you are looking for an intense literary thriller you may be better off with Umberto Eco but if you want a very enjoyable story, nicely told with all sorts of fascinating details (not the least to include the rivalry between Michelangelo and DaVinci, their many lovers, and that naughty boy Raphael) in which the artists take on the allure and fascination of contemporary rock stars this is very good choice. A few other period luminaries put in appearances, too.

• Fabulous fun, literate and imaginative, with a wonderful set of characters!

  Fabulous fun, literate and imaginative, with a wonderful set of characters, many famous yet altered by the genius of DaVinci as engineer rather than painter. Florence brought alive as a steampunk industrial powerhouse. An unlikely and vastly likeable hero strides through upheaval and a central mystery wonderfully woven by Master McAuley. I enjoyed every page, and the more familiar you are with the history of science and the Renaissance, the more delightful this alternate history is! Pacing fabulous, prose wonderful, action and thought superb. I just can't say enough about this terrific work. Perhaps we will see more of Pasquale n the future, perhaps in another land. I surely hope so!

• Interesting take on an early industrial revolution

  It's 16th Century Florence, and the industrial revolution is underway, triggered by the ideas of "The Great Engineer" (presumably, Leonardo Da Vinci). Against this backdrop, Pasquale, an aspiring artist, teams up with a journalist (Machiavelli) to uncover the mystery behind the murder of one of Raphael's assistants. The backdrop of the story is interesting and well developed, and the characters are engaging. While a bit slow to get started, this book held my interest and had me caring about what happened to Pasquale and Machiavelli. If you're curious about how things might have been, this book is a unique take on alternate history that is well worth reading.

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