Niccolò Rising

This is my favorite historical novel, bar none.I have re-read this novel and the rest of the series many times, but some things never change, no matter how many times I pick them up.First, I have to read Niccolo very, very slowly. Dunnett has absolutely no patience with lazy readers. The plot is very complex and she doesn't coddle: you read closely, or you will be lost. It's amazing, really, (and heartening) that these stories are so popular and widely read in a day and age where people seem to [...]

This is the story of Claes AKA Nicholas AKA Niccolo van der Poele and his meteoric, often painful rise from a dyer’s apprentice to one of the premier businessmen in sixteenth-century Europe. Nicholas is brilliant, hilarious, and possessed of the sort of intellect and drive that are simultaneously intoxicating and very dangerous. He is a dyer, a toymaker, a natural mathematician, a fighter, a shameless cheat, a man of complex and often alarming motivations. He forms the backbone of these books, [...]

‘Niccolo Rising’ is a work of narrative genius. If you enjoy that sort of thing, and historical fiction, and a taut dense construction, you will put this book down after finishing with a feeling of amazement and admiration for the author. Dorothy Dunnett, the author, has the kind of intelligence and in-depth education many Ph.D. researchers of European history possess, along with the creativity and awareness of respected MFA Writer’s Workshops’ graduates. (As a grumpy sideways comment, I [...]

It's been a long, long while since I've had to compel myself to read a book till the end, and I don't think it's been one of those times when perseverance is rewarded.The thing with this book is that, whilst it's the trademark Dunnett style of snail-paced buildup that explodes on the very last track of the race course before the finish line, neither the plot nor the characters are worth trudging on for so long (this isn't a small book) unless you like this setting, the theme of merchants, and ha [...]

ETA: No, I cannot do it. I cannot give a book two stars if it is so bad I cannot finish it! *********************************I tried to read this book once before, and I gave up. Now several friends are reading this and so I thought it might be worth another try. I failed again. This time I read through 12 chapters. What is wrong? What didn’t I like? There are so many people; I have difficulty keeping them all straight. Sure I get the main gist of what is happening, but the details are too com [...]

This will do for the whole series! Far be it from me to feed anyone's book addiction but have you met Dorothy Dunnett and her Nicolo series? They are historical novels set in late middle age/early renaissance Europe. They centre on the live of group of people in the great trading city of Brugge, then part of the independent duchy of Burgundy. The main character is one Nicholas van der Poele, who rises from the dyeing vats to head a trading house, a bank, a mercenary unit and has adventures all [...]

While expanding my knowledge of Medici Italy in MAGNIFICO, I was reminded over and over of peripheral characters in The House of Niccolo, the Renaissance series by the magnificent Dorothy Dunnett. With Unger as background, I decided, I could revisit this series with a better understanding of Niccolo's world. Was I ever right. :-)And there's Niccolo. Apprentice develops into continental financier: Niccolo, whose many pranks with Felix, heir to the Charetty company, are constantly getting him into [...]

I approached this book, the first in the series with a good deal of trepidation. I had finished The Lymond Chronicles earlier in the year and didn't think that this book, or main character would be able to match the level of fascination that I had viewed Francis Lymond.So I was relieved, very relieved to have another worthy character to be involved with. Niccolo vander Poele is quite mesmerising and the plot in this story is as riveting and convoluted as only Dorothy Dunnett can deliver.To my mi [...]

The Great Niccolò Re-read of 2014, or This Time I Will Actually Pay Attention and Understand Things, Dammit.Dorothy Dunnett's plots are like a Rube Goldberg machine. Niccolò Rising is both a Rube Goldberg machine in itself and the beginning of the even bigger and more elaborate Rube Goldberg machine that is the House of Niccolò series. On first read, it's confusing, but the bright side is that every re-read is more and more enjoyable as you come to fully understand the intricacies of Dunnett' [...]

If Dunnett's Lymond saga was too difficult for you, you should try the Niccolo series Same great writing but a little more transparent plots and much fewer foreign language quotes. This series is a must for historical fiction fans!June 2015 rereadI was surprised on this reread by how much of the plot of the entire series is laid out in this first book. I don't mean that there is a lot of hidden foreshadowing but almost all the main characters were introduced and the stage was set. I enjoyed seei [...]

I am kind of in love with this book. And Nicholas.After many enthusiastic recs, I read the first book of Dorothy Dunnett's Chronicles of Lymond series last year, and though I found it a rather difficult read at first, it was a rewarding one. An exhausting one too, so I didn't immediately go on to read the rest of the series. While browsing at Bookman though, I saw they had Dunnett's Niccolo Rising, the first book in her "prequel" series to Lymond, following Claes, later Nicholas, Vander Poele in [...]

The House of Niccolo starts in 1460 in Bruges then moves to the city state of Venice and ends up in Trebizond at the end of the Byzantine Empire. Breathtaking in scope. Thru the 7 books (500 + pages each) you go to all the same places as Lymond does in the Lymond Chronicles but add in Iceland and Mali (as the first white man to make it that deep into the African continent). It follows the title character and his female love interest which is sometimes actual love but mostly revenge trading off b [...]

Moderately interesting so far. A lot of - sometimes too much - detail threaten to suffocate the story at times. Decent characters which appear to be way too savvy about the current political occurrences, as if they had access to newspapers twice a day. Author apparently in love with her style. But I kinda like the main character and I'll see what happens.All right, I've finished it. I'm confused. I'm glad to have read it, but I can't say it gave me enough pleasure. I persevered, and was given so [...]

This review is for the entire 8 book series. There will be no spoilers. I am also going to add a review under "Gemini" which will have spoilers.I am not a literary critic, nor a book editor. I am not an art critic, or expert. But sometimes, when I look at a painting; when I read a book (or in this case a series of books), I am drawn into, and made breathless, and in awe by what I am seeing or reading. And it's hard for me to express, sometimes in words why. It just speaks to me - literally speak [...]

Thoroughly enjoy this book despite a rather slow beginning. Perhaps slow only because I just finished the last of the Lymond Chronicles, and I'm "still living in the world of the last book" which was not the least bit slow! Here we find our hero, Claes, appears to be a clumsy, slow-witted dyer's apprentice who is constantly in trouble, not always of his own making. He has been with the Widow de Charetty's family since he was 10, as servant to her son, Felix. We learn Claes is actually exceptiona [...]

Alas DNF after about third of the book, a number of elements led me to put it aside. To me, the humour in the first chapters was overdone to the point of resembling a farce. I found myself confused by the myriad of characters and frustrated in trying to keep them straight in my mind. I had to pause several times and go back to check where I encountered that character and how it was related to the other main characters in the story (there is a scary long character list at the beginning of the boo [...]

Welcome to the world of Dorothy Dunnett! I can't remember how I learned about this book, but I started with this series. I started, and didn't stop reading until I read all day and night for months finishing this series, delved right into The Lymond Chronicles, immediately reread this, followed by a second read of Lymond. Ahhhh. Dunnett is an intellectual writer - these books are not to skim thru, they are dense with information about characters, plot and history. The first read through don't ex [...]

Love, love love Ms. Dunnett's writing. This is historical fiction written by a master story teller. She gives us a main character so surprising and complex in a world so richly drawn -- an amazing tour de force. Niccolo is a dense, complex read and you have to keep track of a lot. A lot of characters and plot twists. If this isn't your thing then this may not be the book for you. But if you love intrigue, mystery, adventure and romance delivered by a fantastic writer you must give this book a tr [...]

I read this for the first time in September of 2008. Then I liked it, though I knew I should like it more than I did. So I'm rereading it. And this time, I'm not going to be angry at Niccolo for not being Lymond or at pretty much all of the women for not being Philippa. I'm going to enjoy the story for itself.You ought not be allowed to plow into these directly after reading the Lymond Chronicles.Apparently, I forgot quite a lot of this book. The first time I read it, I remember being disgruntle [...]

Why I have never read a Dunnett book before is beyond me. Set in one of my favorite eras, with stellar writing and political intrigue, it's really my perfect book. And hopefully series.The story is set amoung the cloth merchants, bankers and mercenaries of 15th century Bruges. With characters from very poor to very rich, enemies and friends are forged and fortunes are there to be made. It took me a few chapters to understand what was going on and who the main characters were, the story and writi [...]

This is the second series written by Dorothy Dunnett, and is placed in Antwerp in the 16th century. Although it is about many things, the main focus is on the rise of the textile industry and trade and much of the book involves the search for alum, which was used to bind color. There are six books and they take place all over, ranging from Antwerp to Morocco, Egypt, Cyprus and more. As in the Lymond Chronicles, the books are meticulously researched, but also have a wonderful story woven througho [...]

L'apprendista delle Fiandre, in originale "Niccolò Rising", è un romanzo della scrittrice scozzese Dorothy Dunnett, edito nel 1986. E' il primo romanzo della serie di Niccolò, che consta di otto libri.La Serie di Niccolò è una serie di otto romanzi storici di Dorothy Dunnett ambientati a metà del XV secolo, in pieno Rinascimento europeo. Il protagonista della serie è Nicholas de Fleury (Niccolò, Nicholas van der Poele, o Claes), un ragazzo di nascita povera ed incerta, che arriverà alla [...]

Niccolo RisingGoing on my second read of "The House of Niccolo". I am enjoying the story even more this time around. I read the Lymond Chronicals twice before I picked up this series. Thinking nothing could be better than the story of Lymond, I was amazed how the "House of Niccolo" series is just as surprising with characters that are insanely intelligent, funny and secretive.When we meet Niccolo his name is Claes (short for Nicholas), an apprentice dyer. From the very beginning like a chess gam [...]

Much slower to start than the Lymond Chronicles, I think; and unlike the end of the first Lymond book, where at least I had something of a grasp of all the various machinations by the time the book ended, I finished The House of Niccolo still thinking "Wait but he did that? Really? And who?" Which is not to say that Dunnett didn't lay out her plot well, but that she did so in a manner so labyrinthine and Byzantine that I think it surpassed the Lymond Chronicles at points. Though to be honest, wi [...]

(A millioneth time reread.) The 1st in the 8-book Niccolo series which while published later is a prequel of sorts to the 6-book Francis Crawford of Lymond series. I read the Francis books first, then the Niccolo (they were still being written/published at the time). I thought I'd read through the series in opposite order of publication, but linear chronology, this time around.There was a point in the 90s where I was completely obsessed with Dorothy Dunnett. King Hereafter is still one of my ver [...]

Three young men floating down a canal inside a bathtub being delivered to a Duke in Bruges. Action and hilarity ensue but this chapter is key--don't read it lightly. I read it twice in a row. The chapter has layers and kicks off the events not only in this book but in the entire series. This is my second time through this series--it was a delight the first time when I had the pleasure of reading it through with several co-workers--we had a lot of fun at lunchtime discussing the antics of Nichola [...]

Niccolo Rising - Dorothy Dunnet (9/10)Historical fiction; book 1 of The House of Niccolo.I loved Dunnett's Lymond books and had tried to read this one in the past, but didn't get far. At the end of August I found an online group that was doing a slow read of the Niccolo books together and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I had to catch up with this first book to be where they were and I found it a surprisingly easy thing to do. As always, Dunnett has so many layers and details in this [...]

My Favorite Author! I love historical fiction & Dorothy Dunnett is the absolute best in the genre. Her books are amazing. So incredibly intelligent and well researched. Sometimes I felt like I should take notes just to be able to follow all the characters, historical figures, & political plots. I love that she doesn't translate alot of the quotes in her novels - either figure it out yourself, or just forget it. And Niccolo is the most intriguing character I have ever read. Until the very [...]

This is the beginning of a wonderful series, but the narrative really does span across the entire series. I read this series before reading any other Dunnett and, as a result I missed a great deal of what was going on. I recommending reading at least the first of the Lymond saga (which stands alone fairly well) to get a sense of how she crafts her plots and characters before delving in to this series.

I don't think this book lends itself well to be an audiobook. Too complicated a listen and I couldn't get into it. Perhaps I'll try again later, but not as an audiobook.