Thursday, April 15, 2010

Niccolo Rising dress

If books were dresses...

(a weekly post where I create fashionable wear with book cover art)

Niccolò Rising
book 1 of a series
by Dorothy Dunnett

Description from wikipedia:
The House of Niccolò -- eight historical novels by Dorothy Dunnett -- is set in the mid-fifteenth century European Renaissance.

The protagonist of the series is Nicholas de Fleury (Niccolò, Nicholas van der Poele, or Claes), a boy of uncertain birth who rises to the heights of European merchant banking and international political intrigue.

The series shares many of locations with Dunnett's earlier six-volume series, the Lymond Chronicles: Scotland, England, France, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.

The House of Niccolò extends much further geographically to take in the important urban centers of Bruges, Venice, Florence, Geneva, and the Hanseatic League; Burgundy, Flanders, and Poland; Iceland; the Iberian Peninsula and Madeira; the Black Sea cities of Trebizond and Caffa; Persia; the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Rhodes; Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula; and West Africa and the city of Timbuktu.

The House of Niccolò:
Niccolò Rising (1986)
Spring of the Ram (1987)
Race of Scorpions' (1989)
Scales of Gold (1991)
The Unicorn Hunt (1993)
To Lie with Lions (1995)
Caprice and Rondo (1997)
Gemini (2000)

btw: The eight volumes of the The House of Niccolò are part of what Dunnett viewed as a larger fourteen-volume work, which includes the six novels of the Lymond Chronicles series.

The Lymond Chronicles was written prior to The House of Niccolò but is set chronologically later, telling the story of descendants of characters in The House of Niccolò in the following century.

The House of Niccolò includes occasional foreshadowing of events in the Lymond Chronicles.

Dunnett recommends readers read the books in the order they were written, beginning with the Lymond Chronicles and then reading The House of Niccolò.

Guess I should start with book one of the Lymond Chronicles which I happen to already have in my vast tbr library ;-D

Lymond Chronicles:
The Game of Kings (1961)
Queens' Play (1964)
The Disorderly Knights (1966)
Pawn in Frankincense (1969)
The Ringed Castle (1971)
Checkmate (1975)

~*~

Why do I dare begin reading this historical series of 14 books?

Well, because of Niccolo...


He is featured in the backstory of the upcoming...

Masked Ball
hosted by the Charmed Circle
May 1, 2010
8pm - 10pm
get your invite here

And, he may make an appearance as well! squeeee!

When described by Prue at Mesmered's, I was hooked. Somehow, someway, I going to sneak this series into my reading schedule.

I would love to hear if any of you have read either the Lymond or Niccolo series.

~*~

* image of Niccolo

* on my want list ;-D

* if you would like to learn how to make your own Book Fashion silhouette, let me know in comments with your email

* source for silhouette

* part of Masked Ball event

 
Imagination Designs
Images from: Lovelytocu