Customer Reviews

Gemini (The House of Niccolo, 8)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Gemini" is the long-awaited finale to Dorothy Dunnett's blockbuster series, The House of Niccolo. Nicholas de Fleury - banker, world traveler, former owner of a small private army - returns to Scotland to make reparations for the economic damage he did in the course of his revenge on the St. Pol family. With a wrench, he leaves his wife, Gelis, and son, Jordan, behind in Bruges in safety because he fears that Jordan St. Pol, his presumed grandfather, and David de Salmeton, an adversary in trade, may take revenge on him through attacks on his family.

Nicholas returns to Scotland as the agent of his wife, Gelis, but finds himself working to shore up an unstable Stuart monarchy, threatened from without by England and from within by cadet members of the royal family.

As with all Dunnett books, "Gemini" is packed with marvelous set pieces, lush descriptions, lucid explications of the politics of the day, heart-wrenching deaths, and moments of joyous triumph. Questions raised in earlier books are answered - mostly - we readers need a few things left to argue about, don't we?

Judith Wilt has provided an excellent introduction that synopsizes the seven earlier books ably, but reading them in order is still preferable.

One reason for the delay in reviews from this reader is that I have been engrossed in the latest - and last - of the House of Niccolo novels. To do this absolutely unparalled historical series justice, one must be in a quiet place --read a bit --go away to ruminate on what has been read --and then return for another helping. Exhausting and exhaustive. Dame Dunnett is a walking encyclopedia of every aspect of 15th century life. Our hero (whose name changes throughout the course of the series, and whose unknown parentage is the force that drives him to be what he is) has been everywhere throughout the world in the course of these seven novels, and we have been there with him - from Bruges to France to Germany to Byzantium to Africa to Iceland to Scotland --and places in between. He is the darling - or the scourge - of almost all of the royal houses of Europe. It is necessary every once in awhile to refer back to earlier novels to keep all of the characters and incidences straight, and Dame Dunnett's way with commas doesn't make for easy reading, either. But many readers - myself among them - will be entranced with with the numerous memorable characters along the way. The history, although confusing, is fine - but we read on to discover what will finally happen to Nicholas and those who love him. Hard reading, but worth it. One only hopes that she doesn't really mean to end the series here - there are still questions unanswered, and people whose fate we want to discover. I know that the Lymond Chronicles are supposed to carry us on with the adventures of Nicholas's descendants, but I first need a long rest!

I have loved both the Lymond and the Niccolo series, but must say that I think the Niccolo series began unravelling slowly from the 5th volume on. The 7th felt downright incoherent, with N. shooting off to various corners of the 15th cent. world for no very good reasons. People actually stay put in this volume, which fits well with Niccolo's own change of emphasis from adventurer merchant to family man and friend. This change of emphasis unfortunately also led to a book that maintained neither pace nor excitement, and was way too long for the amount of action. If there had been character development left to work out, Dunnett might have held my interest. But Niccolo achieved his maturity by the end of #7, and we all know before opening Gemini that Gelis is a really good guy as well. Henry is the exception, and in the several scenes between him and his unknown father Dunnett did have me eagerly reading. Can the brat be redeemed?

The timespan of this book is twice that of any of the others, which would be fine except that so little in fact happens. Niccolo spends some time being real nice to his friends and trying to tame Henry, but his only real project other than this personal business is chasing after an obnoxious young Scottish prince to try to keep him from causing Scotland trouble. Is this a job for a grown man? Much less our hero of boundless energy and unlimited capacities. There are a couple of token mentions of economic plans in the works, something to do with "coal" and "salmon", and his buddies all gape with astonished admiration at the fabulous scope of his ideas, but Dunnett does nothing with this, although in theory his reason for returning to Scotland was to make reparations for the economic damage he'd done.

If Niccolo does very little, Fat Father Jordan *really* does very little. His conversation is as delightful as ever, but where are this vindictive and clever man's plots and strategems? Surely we had a grand confrontation owing between these two, after 7 volumes? Instead, Niccolo's grand confrontation ends up being, really, with the unlikeliest villian of all!

I got the feeling that Dunnett was more interested in presenting the reader with a detailed tapestry of the Scottish rich and powerful of the period than with giving her story a satisfying finale.

I am stunned after completing this eighth book in the Niccolo series, but I'm also very, very sad. I have now finished all fourteen books in Ms. Dunnett's saga and it saddens me to know that there is no new installment where I can lose myself in this quite remarkable family. In this book we finally get a lot of answers as to why Niccolo acted as he did in all the previous books. We see who is real enemy has been over the years and it is a surprise to all of his friends even though Niccolo has known all along. He has tried to minimize the damage and tried to control this serpent in his midst, but finds that it can't be done and it comes to a sad, sad conclusion. Niccolo faces great losses in this book, but he comes out a stronger man for them. Ms. Dunnett is truly a master storyteller and I recommend that everyone read her series the way she suggests. She suggests that you read the six Lymond chronicles in the right order and then these eight in the Niccolo series, and then go back and re-read the Lymond chronicles. All will be much clearer and her prose is so complex that a first reading of all the books is not nearly enough to get all the complexities and double-dealings that occur as standard fare. I am exhilerated after completing the series, but as I mentioned, very sad. I don't think I'll find an author or a series to compare. I would give the entire series of fourteen books ten stars if I could.

Gemini, the final book in Dorothy Dunnett's Niccolo series, is a satisfying conclusion to this series and a good link to her earlier series of novels about Francis Crawford.

Gemini is not always light reading. There is a considerable amount of fifteenth century history contained in it and a very large number of characters, most of whom are historical.

But the story is exciting, sometimes very funny, and always deeply moving. Her principal characters are complex creations. History and fiction are so well blended that it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Dunnett deserves to be much better known in the United States. Her books should be best sellers. Dunnett's work is superior to much of the so-called serious fiction of today.

allow me to add my bit to the proponderance of opinion that thinks this is rather a wheezy end to a series that started with such...i can't think of a better word than gusto. of course those of us who have read the whole series must read it, and of course only those who've read the whole series are going to read it, so in the end, all of our carping aside, by all means read it; those of us who haven't raved are simply disappointed. the niccolo of the early books i wanted to be; the niccolo of the middle books i wanted to follow; the niccolo of 'gemini', like a boozy, once-interesting guest at a dinner party, i wished would just get to the point. (incidentally, i would have to agree that henry was positively fascinating, a worthy son to his early-books father)

Sorry Dorothy, but I was disappointed by the end to a brilliant series. The first 3 volumes of this Niccolo series were in my opinion blisteringly good. However after this the storyline became increasingly weak and muddled. Gemini was the worst of all. Lots of boring detail about the Scottish monarchy and very little about Nicholas and his relationships with his family and company. The ends of David Salmeton,and Simon and Henry were unbelievably underplayed leaving a huge sense of anticlimax.

Disappointment doesn't cover it. This final volume of the "House of Nicolo" series is a satire, not a summation, of the seven previous volumes (or if you will, the six volumes of the "Lyman" series AND the eight volumes of Nicolo!). Ultimately, nothing is cleared up. All the red herrings Dame Dunnett un-trailed lead no where and we're to assume Nicco's stoicism (doesn't matter whether his mother was his mother, or his father was the impotent Simon or the monster homophobe Jordan, or someone else? Hey, what ever happened to resolution?), or stand dumbstruck at his decision to live a normal life. Huh?

The Dame can write, but she can't edit. At almost 700 pages, the story rambles at a dropsy pace. These are tableaus of the 15th century's least interesting political intrigues, albeit Scotish intrigues--a sub-genre beloved by Scotish Dames--in front of which Dame Dunnett poses her familiar cast, here with a sword, there with a whistle, drinking, singing, joking, ha, ha! Action pops up every three chapters like an unwanted uncle, but adventure there is none.

Finishing this book was a maddening effort. After enjoying the series, mostly the earlier volumes, I pushed myself to get this one done hoping that the denoument would validate the effort. Uh-uh! It felt to me that Dunnett had tired of this effort some three volumes ago, and this one, unlike the last of the Lyman books, just dribbled to a close.

So long to go, so quick to fade.

The eighth and final instalment of the House of Niccolo series opens in Scotland in 1477. After four years, Nicholas de Fleury, former banker, traveller and merchant has returned to the land he almost ruined during his private war with his secret enemies and his wife Gelis. His friends hope that he has come to make amends for the past while his enemies simply want him dead.

The history, the intrigue and the politics during the reign of King James III provides a colourful and intricate setting for Nicholas de Fleury to uncover the truth about the past. Scotland's own internal political instability is compounded by events in Burgundy, England and France adding layers of complexity to the story. While fact and fiction can be easily distinguished, if you try, the world of `Gemini' is dominated by Nicholas de Fleury as the story moves inexorably towards its conclusion.

This is the second time I've read this book since it was published in 2000. Like so many other fans of the series, I eagerly awaited this instalment and then devoured it in days. Like others, I have mixed feelings about the ending: after seven books we each have our own preferences for the eighth instalment. If you enjoy historical fiction set in 15th century Europe and you are not familiar with this series, be warned. It is complex and at times convoluted and confusing. The characters have lives of their own, and the story can become both addictive and infuriating. But above all, it can bring great pleasure while bringing aspects of the 15th century to life and introducing one of the most engaging heroes ever to spring from the pen onto the page. Enter the world of Nicholas de Fleury - but whatever you do, start at the beginning.

`Looking backwards makes for poor steering.'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

In this book, the eighth book in the Niccolo Series, Nicholas is a changed man and he tries to right all that he has done wrong in the past. He is again faced with many obstacles, and his enemies as still out "to get him". He finds peace in the end but it also comes at a high price.

I have given one less star for this book, because I think the author spends too much time in this book detailing Scottish history when it is not the main subject. It is certainly interesting but, she could have done what she did for all the other countries, where she only gave us a brief summary that enabled us to comprehend the complexities of "foreign policies" during that period.

I still have rarely enjoyed reading a hostorical novel so much. I was raised in Europe, and always felt very familiar with the places, names and people. Every scene was detailed and very entertaining and always the plot has been very well thought-out and very intelligent.