Gemini: The Eighth Book of The House of Niccolo

“Dunnett has brought her House of Niccol˜ series to a triumphant end.”– The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer “Well endowed with shocking revelations.... Words like ‘sprawling,’ ‘intrigue,’ ‘panoramic’ and ‘colorful’... seem like pale understatements when applied to Dunnett.”– Newsday From the Trade Paperback edition. “Dunnett has brought her House of Niccol˜ series to a triumphant end.”– The Seattle TimesPost Intelligencer “Well endowed with shocking revelations.... Words like ‘sprawling,’ ‘intrigue,’ ‘panoramic’ and ‘colorful’... seem like pale understatements when applied to Dunnett.”– Newsday --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap Scotland, 1477: Nicholas de Fleury, former banker and merchant, has re-appeared in the land that, four years earlier, he had brought very close to ruin in the course of an intense commercial and personal war with secret enemies--and, indeed, with his clever wife Gelis.Now the opportunity for redemption is at hand, but Nicholas soon finds himself pursuing his objectives amid a complex, corrosive power struggle centering on the Scottish royal family but closely involving the powerful merchants of Edinburgh, the gentry, the clergy, the English (ever seeking an excuse to pounce on their neighbor to the north), the French, the Burgundians. His presence soon draws Gelis and their son Jodi to Scotland, as well as Nicholas's companions and subordinates in many a past endeavor--Dr. Tobias and his wife Clémence, Mick Crackbene, John le Grant, and Andro Wodman among them. Here, too, Nicholas meets again with others who have had an influence, for good or evil, in his life: King James III of Scotland and his rebellious siblings; the St. Pols: Jordan, Simon, and young Henry; Mistress Bel of Cuthilgurdy and David de Salmeton; Anselm Adorne and Kathi his niece. Caught up in, and sometimes molding, the course of great events, Nicholas exhibits by turns the fierce silence with which he masks his secrets, and the explosive, willful gaiety that binds men, women, and children to him. And as the secrets of his birth and heritage come to light, Nicholas has to decide whether he desires to establish a future in Scotland for himself and his family, and a home for his descendants. Gemini brings to a dazzling conclusion Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series (synopsized in this volume), in which this peerless novelist has vividly re-created the dramatic, flamboyant world of the early Renaissance in historical writing of scrupulous authenticity and in the entrancing portrait of her visionary hero. Now, in a book infused with wit and poetry, emotion and humor, action and mystery, she brings Nicholas de Fleury at last to choose his heart's home, where he can exercise all his skills as an advisor to kings and statesmen, as a husband, a father, and a leader of men--and where, perhaps, we will discern a connection between him and that other remarkable personality, Francis Crawford, whose exploits Lady Dunnett recorded so memorably in The Lymond Chronicles. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. From Venice to Caffa, from Antwerp to the Gold Coast of Africa, merchants anchored their ships and unloaded their cannon and flipped open their ledgers as if in twenty years nothing had changed, and nothing was about to change now. As if old men did not die, or younger ones grow up, eventually. There was no fool in Europe, these days, who treated trade as a joke. All that sort were long sobered, or dead. Or were temporarily unavailable like Nicholas de Fleury, who had removed himself to the kingdom of Scotland, far to thenorth of the real world of pretty women, and international intrigue, and the benefits of social and financial success.xa0xa0xa0xa0 North of the real world, it was noticed quite soon that Nicholas the Burgundian was back. The first to suffer was the bailie of Berwick, who had a house of three floors and good eyesight, so that he personally observed this big Flemish ship plunging up from the south and bucking round into the mouth of the river. He held his breath until the manoeuvre was finished, for the Karel of Veere was the first merchantman to reach Scotland this season, and he had serious need of its news. When the harbour-bell clanged through the gale, Thomas Yare closed his shutters and sent a clerk pelting down to the wharf with an invitation to the Karel's seamaster. Then he had a word with his wife, and strode down through the garden to the red-painted warehouse, where his business room was.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Thomas Yare, an active Scot of burnished acuity, wished to entertain Mick Crackbene of the Karel before anyone else. Thomas Yare was bailie and chamberlain of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and the River Tweed was the frontier with England, which meant that one did not bellow sensitive news, even now, in times of miraculous peace. Tom Yare was a native of these parts but, until recently, had earned most of his living in Edinburgh. That was because, until recently, the English owned Berwick. Berwick had switched sides between England and Scotland thirteen times since it was founded. Half its footloose population were spies, and the other half smugglers.xa0xa0xa0xa0 So Yare wanted the big Scandinavian's news for himself. He would get it. They had an understanding. Trade news was worth money. At whatever port they arrived, no matter how high the bribe, Crackbene's men never talked. Unless, of course, first primed by Crackbene. Crackbene or one of the merchants he carried. You never knew who that might be.xa0xa0xa0xa0 There were two with Crackbene today. Pouring ale in his office, Tom Yare heard the footsteps and doubled the number of tankards. When the door thundered back on its hinges and the red-faced master marched in, Yare winced, waved the pitcher in welcome, and then set it down to go forward, hand outstretched.xa0xa0Behind Crackbene was another robust figure of door-cracking capacity: Andro Wodman, the Scots-Flemish consul with his blue jowl and fighting-man's shoulders and twice-broken nose, all of which Yare duly greeted. And behind Wodman approached another of the same breed, heaven help us: so big his furzy brown head and soaked hat barely got past the lintel.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Tom Yare dropped his welcoming hand and also released, very slightly, his business gentleman's smooth-polished jaw as he set eyes on a man he hadn't seen for four years.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Nicholas de Fleury of Bruges. Ser Nicholas, do you mind: former banker, former dyemaster, former owner of armies, stepping over nice as a hen and unpeeling a soaked sailing-cloak to stand gazing down (Tom Yare straightened) with that bloody disarming smile and two dimples. They knew one another. The Burgundian had once made the bailie a very fine profit in cod.xa0xa0xa0xa0 The first emotion felt by Tom Yare, and most others, upon meeting Nicol de Fleury, was an urge to be friendly. The next, based on experience, was a heady mixture of horror and glee.xa0xa0xa0xa0 De Fleury said, 'Are you going to be sick?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Tom Yare, his face warming, recovered. 'Damn you. Why didn't you warn me?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'I wish I had,' said de Fleury. 'You might have managed something better than ale. Ale? Business bad, Tom? Wish you had firm news from somewhere?' It brought back immediately all that fascinated Yare about Nicol de Fleury, and all that he distrusted as well.xa0xa0xa0xa0 'Mick prefers ale,' the Conservator observed, shaking wet from his bonnet.xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 'Nobody knew you were coming, Nicholas, with your luxurious Persian tastes. How are you, Tom?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'Dumbfoun'ered,' said Yare with unusual honesty. He opened the door, called an order, and shut it swiftly again. 'Have ye spoken to anyone yet?'Crackbene's evil smile broadened. The consul, Wodman, said, 'What about?'De Fleury sat down on a coffer, which groaned. 'Can't you guess? He wants to know if the siege of Nancy is over. It is.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'That's old news,' Wodman said cheerfully. 'He's bound to know that.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Tom Yare didn't waste time being exasperated. He said, 'There hasn't been a ship from the south since Epiphany. You're the first.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'It's a good ship, the Karel,' said the Scandinavian shipmaster proudly. It was purgatory.xa0xa0xa0xa0 'But you must have had dispatches by road,' Wodman said. 'Wardens' runners. Envoys. Lawyers on business. Wenches with well-informed clients. After all, that's England, over the river.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'I remember,' said Yare. Men behaved like this, safely landed from sea. Nicol de Fleury behaved like this far too often. Tom Yare was a solid, fit man, but lodged between de Fleury and Crackbene he felt small and thumbed, like a rosary bead. He continued in his soft, deliberate voice, defying the burr in his speech that Margaret always said she found sweet. 'The roads [rhodes] have been closed, and the place is jumping with rumours. Wheat prices are surging already. The word [wuhd] is that there was a disaster at Nancy, and the richest prince in the West is a corpse, with an unmarried lass as his heiress. True [tehoo] or not?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Someone tapped on the door. Wine came in, and was poured. No one spoke. When the door closed: 'The Duke of Burgundy is officially dead,' de Fleury said, saluting the ceiling and drinking. 'I was there. That isn't a bad little Osey.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'Tell me,' said Tom Yare. Then he listened to what he was given: the unemotional account of a disaster.xa0xa0xa0xa0 The Grand Prince of the West had been discovered dumped dead in a ditch after a mindless battle with Swiss and Lorrainers. The news had taken a long time to spread. Before de Fleury left Flanders, he had had an audience with the widowed Dowager Duchess, and discussed the future with men of commitment like Gruuthuse, Hugonet and Adorne. For, of course, France would try to reclaim her borders, and the heiress would marry someone who might not suit Flanders at all. So there were implications.xa0xa0xa0xa0 They discussed them. Wodman contributed: he had once been a soldier in France. By the end, Yare had grasped that de Fleury had actually taken part in the fight and been wounded. Most of his companions were dead. Some were captives about to be ransomed, among them two Scots: the gunner John, and that decent young merchant, Robin of Berecrofts, who had also been injured.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Yare said, 'Was Robin hurt bad?' It was the business-man in him that spoke. The noble Anselm Adorne of Bruges bought and sold through his kindred in Scotland, and Robin had wed Adorne's niece. A trading empire was involved.xa0xa0xa0xa0 De Fleury said, 'I don't know. He was shot. It looked serious enough at the time.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Yare said, 'You'll want to tell his eme and his father in Edinburgh. What else have ye in mind while you're there?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 He was entitled to know. Four years ago, without explanation, the Burgundian had closed all his ventures in Scotland and gone, abandoning the stripling Court which had befriended him. Now he was back, with a trading-ship which belonged to his wife. All the years de Fleury was absent, his wife Gelis had successfully run a good business, as you would expect of a van Borselen of Veere. She had an eight-year-old son by her husband. Tom Yare's own sharp-witted wife admired her acumen, but not what she had heard of her casual marriage. Yare thought de Fleury (in this respect only) a fool. Yare also admired Gelis van Borselen, who was still at home in Bruges and, it seemed, abandoned again. He had met other husbands like this. Men who could sail, but not navigate.xa0xa0xa0xa0 De Fleury hadn't mentioned his wife, except in the context of business. Nor did he now. He said, 'I thought I'd see what was happening. I suppose I'd better report what I've told you. Then I'll probably pick up a cargo and leave.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Yare said, 'They'll want you to stay.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'They?' said de Fleury.xa0xa0xa0xa0 'The King. The Council. The merchants. It depends whom you plan to see first.' He let a pause develop unhindered.xa0xa0xa0xa0 De Fleury said, 'Perhaps I should ask your advice about that. As you said, it is sensitive news, and incautious handling could cause damage.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Yare said, 'What have you heard?'xa0xa0xa0xa0 Wodman glanced at his fellow passenger, but said nothing. De Fleury said, 'Only what reached Bruges before the end of the year. The King's brothers and sisters are young, and occasionally wilful. Sometimes merchants and even envoys find it better to speak first to the older men of the Council, who can then choose the right time to debate the issue with King James or his brothers. But I may have heard wrongly.'xa0xa0xa0xa0 'No,' said Yare. He was aware that he had been spa... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Kirkus Reviews The eighth and concluding volume in Dunnett's House of Niccolò series (Caprice and Rondo, 1998, etc.), tracing the fortunes of the bright, troubled, ferociously resourceful (and uncannily lucky) merchant Nicholas de Fleury in 15th-century Europe, demonstrates once more the qualities that have made Dunnett's long labor so distinctive. Nicholas, driven by a variety of furies only gradually revealed, is a believably complex and winning character, not without a lethal Machiavellian side but also possessed of a profound humanity and an unflagging sense of loyalty to those he loves. His friends and enemies have always been rendered with equal care and complexity. And the broad tapestry of courts and cities in this turbulent era has been captured with a vigorous, convincing sense of specifics. Nicholas has repeatedly, throughout his long rise to prominence as an international banker, been the intended victim of a variety of plots. This last installment features one more particularly nasty attempt to destroy him, which he manages to defeat--at a great cost. For those who have made the long journey with de Fleury, Dunnett provides a satisfying roundup of answers to persistent mysteries, and a climax that is both fitting and very moving.An ambitious, deeply informed, and consistently gripping series, likely to be cited for some time to come as one of the most accomplished and imaginative modern works of historical fiction. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Library Journal Dunnett's eighth and final installment of the "House of Niccol " series has as its backdrop the late 15th-century rift between King James III of Scotland and his brothers. Nicholas de Fleury has decided to return to Scotland to face two enemies: his family, the St. Pols, who still refuse to recognize him, and David Simpson, who stole the African gold in an earlier adventure. Nicholas immediately gets swept up in the fraternal strife of the royal family, leading to the increasingly dangerous role of envoy for the brothers. As his two sworn enemies further endanger his task, Nicholas perseveres in establishing himself, his family, and his supporters in Scotland. For those who have not read the seven earlier books, there is a summation of the plots, but Dunnett skillfully gives enough background when introducing characters that one can read this book without having read the earlier ones. For those familiar with the series, this is essential reading; for others, it's a good introduction to Dunnett's ability to weave history, characters, and adventure into a suspenseful and entertaining work. Highly recommended.DJoshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. Syst., Poughkeepsie, NY Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. A marvel of storytelling and historical imagination, Gemini just may be Dorothy Dunnett's pièce de résistance. This culminating installment of the House of Niccolò series is set in Scotland in 1477--and more specifically, in the world of international trade and commerce, which can deal fatal blows to those unfamiliar with its intricacies. When Nicholas de Fleury returns to Edinburgh after a four-year absence, speculation runs rampant about why he closed all his ventures in Scotland and deserted his friends. Struggling to fend off various assassination attempts, Nicholas rejoins the fledgling court of young King James III. Yet he soon discovers that the squabbles between the monarch and his double-dealing siblings are no less dangerous than the intrigues he has left behind. Dunnett recounts the whole story with typically ornate and pungent prose, and delineates her massive cast of characters with a Holbein-like attention to physical detail. Nicholas in particular is a splendidly rounded creation. And by placing him at the center of her sprawling narrative, Dunnett helps us to navigate the many convolutions of the plot. Her female characters, too, are distinctive. However, it is the sheer breadth of Dunnett's ambitions that takes the breath away, along with her exhilarating set pieces: The sword point bit into his cloak and grated across the cuirass underneath, bringing the swordsman close for a moment, his face blank with surprise. Nicholas kicked him under the chin, so that he blundered back and hit someone else, while Nicholas dragged out his own sword. The horse wasn't his, but it was a powerful beast and alarmed enough to be ready to rear. Nicholas wrapped the reins around one wrist and hauled, using the bit to drag the horse threshing onto its haunches, and then allowing it to plunge forward again. En garde, Dunnett fans! Those who have made the long trek with our sword-brandishing hero will find this a perfectly orchestrated finale. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Publishers Weekly Few literary projects these days rival in scope Dunnett's dazzling House of Niccol , a series of well-researched historical novels (each running over 500 pages) that propels its 15th-century hero across Turkey, Poland, Italy, France, Flanders, the Sahara desert and Scotland in search of gold, legitimacy, glory and family. This eighth and final installment finds the former banker Nicholas de Fleury back in Edinburgh, grappling with a whirlwind of royal machinations, business deals, family vendettas and empire-building challenges. Despite an absence of four years, the charming, shrewd Nicholas quickly insinuates himself back into the court of King James Stewart III, striking up a friendship with James's rebellious brother Sandy and spying for the king's coterie of advisors. Meanwhile, Nicholas must keep watchful eye on the wealthy St. Pol family, which has long hated him for claiming to be Simon de St. Pol's son. (The family insists he's the bastard child of Simon's promiscuous ex-wife.) Will the tempestuous adolescent Henry de St. Pol discover that he is Nicholas's child, not Simon's? Will France help Sandy topple the weak King James? Will the nefarious David de Salmeton, a religious procurator, be able to assassinate Nicholas? Can Nicholas and his wife, Gelis, maintain their hard-won happiness? These are just a few of the questions that underlie this intrigue-ridden epic. Considering the vast cast of characters (a list of them runs 13 tightly spaced pages), it's remarkably easy for the neophyte to enter Dunnett's adventurous world, for the author does an outstanding job of keeping each personality distinct and each of the innumerable subplots coherent. But despite the bounty of suspenseful sword fights, feasts, battles and closed-door negotiations, the real pleasure here lies in the reams of artful repartee, which can rival Jane Austen's for wit and subtlety. Despite a few minor flaws (the wives are too good, the peasant girls too compliant, a few historical distortions), Dunnett's work sits triumphantly at the top of a crowded field: it is a sensational, emotionally resonant epic. Introduction by Judith Wilt. (July) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Dorothy Dunnett, who lives in Edinburgh, is the author of many novels. In 1992, Queen Elizabeth appointed her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist This is the eighth, longest, and last volume in Dunnett's enthralling House of Niccolo series, set in the fifteenth century. Resourceful merchant Nicholas de Fleury, whom we first met as a dyeworks apprentice in Bruges, is back in Dunnett's native Scotland, reunited at last with his wife and son. He is now a more mature and settled individual, but there's still plenty for him to do. The Scottish royal family is rife with unstable malcontents, England and Scotland are on the verge of war, and Nicholas' old enemies, the St. Pols, are still on the prowl. At this stage in his adventures, our hero is not as intent on seeking adventure or building a financial empire as he is on maintaining stability so that his family and friends might be secure, even as Dunnett adds a few more twists to his tangled relationships. If there seems to be more talk and less action here than in previous installments, and if even experienced Dunnett readers will find themselves flipping to the formidable list of characters in an effort to keep everyone straight, never mind. Among the many pleasures of falling under Dunnett's spell is tracing a densely detailed narrative through several volumes, and fans will be reluctant to let go. The author has said that she considers this series and her Lymond Chronicles (written earlier but set a few generations later) to be a single entity of 14 books, so bereft readers might follow her own suggestion to read the Lymond series first, followed by House of Niccolo, followed by a rereading of Lymond, "to pick up all the hidden links." Mary Ellen Quinn Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Publisher "Dazzling. . . . Dunnett's work sits triumphantly at the top of a crowded field: It is a sensational, emotionally resonant epic."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Enthralling. . . . Fans will be reluctant to let go."-- Booklist " [Gemini] demonstrates once more the qualities that have made [Dorothy] Dunnett's long labor so distinctive... [The House of Niccoló is] an ambitious, deeply informed, and consistently gripping series, likely to be cited for some time to come as one of the most accomplished and imaginative modern works of historical fiction."-- Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more