Race of Scorpions, Dorothy Dunnett
Race of Scorpions, Dorothy Dunnett
List: $34.99 | Sale: $24.50
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Race of Scorpions

Author: Dorothy Dunnett

Narrator: John Banks

Unabridged: 26 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/23/2023

Synopsis

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett presents the House of Niccolò series. The time is the fifteenth century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire.

In 1462, Nicholas is a wealthy twenty-one-year-old. His beloved wife has died. His stepchildren have locked him out of the family business. He and his private army are the target of multiple conspiracies. And both contenders for the throne of Cyprus, the brilliant Queen Carlotta and her charismatic, sexually ambivalent brother James, are demanding his support. Walking a tightrope of intrigue, Dunnett's hero juggles adversaries and allies, from the delectable courtesan Primaflora to the Mameluke commander Tzani-Bey al Ablak, a man of undiluted evil. Masterfully paced, alive with sensual delights, Race of Scorpions confirms Dorothy Dunnett as the grande dame of the genre.

About Dorothy Dunnett

Dorothy Dunnett was born in 1923 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Her time at Gillespie's High School for Girls overlapped with that of the novelist Muriel Spark. From 1940-1955, she worked for the Civil Service as a press officer. In 1946, she married Alastair Dunnett, later editor of The Scotsman.

Dunnett started writing in the late 1950s. Her first novel, The Game of Kings, was published in the United States in 1961, and in the United Kingdom the year after. She published twenty-two books in total, including the six-part Lymond Chronicles and the eight-part Niccolo Series, and coauthored another volume with her husband. Also an accomplished professional portrait painter, Dunnett exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy on many occasions and had portraits commissioned by a number of prominent public figures in Scotland.

She also led a busy life in public service, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland, a trustee of the Scottish National War Memorial, and director of the Edinburgh Book Festival. She served on numerous cultural committees, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1992 she was awarded the Office of the British Empire for services to literature. She died on November 9, 2001, at the age of seventy-eight.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melindam on March 02, 2025

3,5 stars rounded up After listening to and loving The Spring of the Ram, I had high hopes for Race of Scorpions, so I guess this was bound to happen. I liked this the least among the 3 books I've read so far from The House of Niccolò series. However, don't let my previoys words mislead you. Dorothy......more

Goodreads review by Rosina on January 17, 2010

People who are devoted Dorothy Dunnett readers generally fall into two camps: the Lymond Lovers (her first series) and the Niccolo folk. I'm in the second camp. I like Lymond, but I love the House of Niccolo series. The thing is, I can't pick up any of the Niccolo books without wanting to read the wh......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on July 12, 2015

Oh Dorothy...why am I so attracted to your novels when all they do is confuse me? I kid (mostly), but if the plotting of any book deserves to be called "byzantine", this is certainly it. Even with the semi-explanation given at the end, this could definitely do with a reread (or two, or three) to try......more

Goodreads review by jrendocrine at least reading is good on April 14, 2024

4th read maybe? (I've been re-reading this series for decades now.) This is not at all my favorite of this astounding 8-book saga, but is still a resounding 5-star read. Niccolo is spirited off to Cyprus to fight/finagle for James (II, the Usurper) against his sister, Carlotta. Niccolo leads us thro......more

Goodreads review by Brittany on March 12, 2013

I remember the first time through reading the Lymond Chronicles, I occasionally had to take a break from Lymond. I couldn't read them back-to-back. I think that may be what's happening here. I have read these books before, but I don't remember them well. And about three-quarters of the way through t......more

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