Shortlisted for Book of the Month
AMAZON UK £3.93
AMAZON US$5.32
AMAZON CA $7.02
Fictional Saga /
Nautical
1600s
Various
I had met
Ludovico de Portovenere (Ludo from now on) before in the first volume The
Chosen Man of Ms Harlond's trilogy.
This sequel follows on a little
while after Ludo's mission to destroy the Dutch economy with tulips. For
various reasons (recapped in this latest story), a lot of people want Ludo out
of the way, and others want him to carry out their dirty work for them. Thus
Ludo is running messages between royalty in England and Spain, whilst evading
and colluding with his enemies and still inventing new trade schemes to make
himself rich. For Ludo, amongst other things, is 'an honest trader'; a merchant.
A case of
mistaken identity leads Ludo into this adventure full of dangers and political
intrigue taking him from Goa, to Spain, to England and many other places. And
with him most of the time is his friend Marcus, the aspiring merchant, and
Alina, the beautiful if self-promoting Spanish noble-born woman who is now a
trusted lady’s maid to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England.
I like Ludo
very much. No: I love him. As a fictional character he is vibrant and full of
life throughout. For me, he appears to have walked straight out of a Franz Hals painting. Yes, he is an honest
trader with an eye for the main chance, but there is more than a touch of the
pirate about him. He has a wife now, yet he yearns for Alina – herself a wife
and mother. But his one true love is the sea and his ship the Tulip – a
positive result of his previous adventure and also a bone of contention between
him and his enemies. In this volume we learn a lot more about the man – his
past, his hopes and his dreams.
As with all
series, it is always advantageous to start at the beginning to receive the best
experience, though this episode is none-the-less a thoroughly good read as a
stand alone book. The author has an impressive knowledge of not only the
politics of the time but also of trade and trade goods.
As before, some
interesting little cameos: I loved that Diego Valezquez is cited as brilliant
with faces but not so good with horses!
The conclusion
leaves some loose ends, but the author assures us that these will be tied-up in
the final book of the series. I just hope that we do not have to wait too long
for it!
A propos of nothing, two sentences in
particular left me wondering whether the author has a wicked and subtle sense
of humour or whether I have an irreverent one… Marcus adopting an assumed name
had me singing Tainted Love and she managed to work Snakes and Ladders and
Ludo into the same sentence. Clever.
An excellent
book and very highly recommended
© Richard
Tearle
Liked and shared, and a huge thank you to Richard Tearle.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Jane - I enjoyed it immensely
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