House of Niccolo 6

Niccolo 6

We are now deeper into the fifteenth century. The year is 1471 and Nicholas de Fluery is insistent on climbing to the top of the mercantile empire but as usual he has competition with the other "lions" of industry and he has bigger and more personal problems closer to home.
Niccolo kidnaps the child he believes is his flesh and blood away from his estranged wife, Gelis. This becomes a 15th century "war of the roses" when Nicholas and Gelis spar back and forth for control over their son. They have been at odds since their wedding night so both are skilled at harming each other and take great pleasure in it.
The title of the book comes from Nicholas's skillful ability to play both sides of the game. For a while he literally serves two different kings at the same time. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2832586.html

Sixth of the House of Niccolò novels by Dorothy Dunnett, and very much a sequel to the fifth, The Unicorn Hunt, which I somewhat bounced off when I read it last summer. However, To Lie With Lions actually clarifies a lot of what happened in The Unicorn Hunt and indeed Scales of Gold and Race of Scorpions as well, making me feel encouraged about following the series through to the end.

The settings are Scotland, Iceland, Flanders, and France; the plot concerns Niccolò's manipulation of the market in Icelandic stockfish (ie cod) and his continuing battle of wits with his wife Gelis, in which their son is becoming a collateral victim. The three high points, more or less evenly spaced through the book, are the staging of a massive Nativity play by Niccolò in Edinburgh; a volcanic eruption on Iceland; and the final dénouement between Niccolò and Gelis.

The Icelandic eruption chapters are absolutely superb, as vivid as any of Dunnett's descriptive passages (and there are many good ones) and practically justify the book on its own. I don't think I could recommend it as a starting point for readers unfamiliar with the series though. ( )

The Iceland one, although on re-reading I was surprised that Iceland made up ~20% of the book. Here, Nicholas picks up his Scottish plans after his two years promised hands off period is over. He seems to be building a home for his family, making a nativity play for King James, and fencing with Gelis, whom he has graciously allowed to join him ad their son Jodi. King James and Burgundy and France are all playing politics, and in the middle, Nicholas sails to Iceland to load up on stockfish, there's a rivalry with a ship of the Vatachino, but mostly because he wanted to go there. He gets more than he bargained for when Katla explodes. We are supposed to believe this experience changes Nicholas, but there's not a lot of evidence for it.
At the denouement, Gelis believes she has one over Nicholas, and announces she has been working for the Vatachino firm all along. Nicholas is willing to let her believe she is the victor, and therefore a good match for him; but Jordan de Riberac takes pleasure in pointing out that Nicholas deliberately misled her as he knew this already. The marriage seems to be completely over.

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