Customer Reviews

House Of Niccolo 05 The Unicorn Hunt

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In this book of the Niccolo Series, we are introduced to the race set by Gelis and Nicholas to outsmart eachother. It was started by Gelis, trying to avenge her sister's death, but Nicholas understands he must do this to try and win her heart for good. She claims she is carrying the son of his archrival, Simon de St. Pol. He decides to travel to Scotland to find the truth. At the same time, he finds Scotland a great market to increase his fortune.

Pursuing Gelis, Nicholas has to find out if the child is finally born and what sex it is. Once he finds out, Gelis hides once more from him. They travel to Cairo, the Sinai Desert and end up in Cyprus once more. The book closes on the Carnival in Venice and a new discovery for Nicholas.

In this book we are newly introduced to Dorothy Dunnett's best: Scotland. She can present the atmosphere and living customs of the time with incredible clarity and knowledge. The people, the rulers, the history, the places, everything is depicted with accuracy and made very interesting.

I have also enjoyed and learned a lot by this book. Be it about European history as well as middle eastern.

I am on my way to reading the sixth book...

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous - Scales of Gold. Maybe because Ms. Dunnett went back to her original form of storytelling which combines history, geography, romance and high drama. This is an "edge of your seat" type of book even though it is longer than the others previously in this series. We see Nicholas with a whole new talent to add to his arsenal - that of divining. Yes these books are a bit soap-operaish, but they are exciting nonetheless. In this particular segment we get to see a lot more of Dr. Tobias. He is a treasure, and a great foil for Nicholas' impulsiveness. His Love-Hate relationship with Nicholas continues, but also develops into a trust. I wondered why Nicholas didn't take this earthy doctor into his confidence sooner. Toby is a wonderful character! We also see a confrontation between Nicholas and his erstwhile father, but true to form, it is not resolved, so we know we have to read further. I wouldn't recommend this series to the faint of heart. It takes a lot of effort and emotion to get through it, but it is worth it in the end, if only for the history lesson.

Nicholas has a new talent to add to his already stunning arsenal. The confrontation between father and son finally is realized with both surviving the encounter, but they are forever changed. Ms. Dunnett lets fans have a taste of happiness for Nicholas in the end but don't count the happiness to last. Readers know it never does. True to her form, she mixes politics, commerce and romance with skill and in doing so, weaves a story so deep and complex fans are left begging for more.