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The Alchemist's Code
Sample Chapter
Ace March 2008
by Dave Duncan
The even more intriguing sequel to The Alchemist's Apprentice is a mystery solved by the clairvoyant and sage Nostradamus and his apprentice, Alfeo Zeno. . . Duncan's alternate late Renaissance Venice is wonderfully drawn and quite believable.
...continues Duncan's fantasy "biography" of the legendary prophet, focusing as well on his young apprentice, who represents the liveliness and richness of the Italian Renaissance. This should appeal to fans of historical fantasy, and belongs in most libraries. The plot thickens into a dangerous stew of politics, ambition, forbidden romance, treachery and murder, leavened by Alfeo's wit and his accounts of amorous adventures with a courtesan lover, glorious meals, great artwork (his other passion), and occasional swordplay. Oh, and magic too. Here Duncan is at his cleverest, for some of the Renaissance alchemy, pyromancy and sessions of tarot reading genuinely work and some don't. Though Alfeo himself is developing new occult powers, he remains confused about his master's doings--until Nostradamus finally explains all, in a masterful exercise of Holmesian logic.
Booklist
Library Journal
Locus
Dave Duncan's return to the Venice of alchemist, physician, and clairvoyant Maestro Nostradamus and his engaging apprentice Alfeo is as fun and exciting as the first book, The Alchemist's Apprentice . . . Duncan is an unfairly under-appreciated writer who deserves a wider readership. In this mixture of fantasy and murder mystery, Alfeo proves to be witty, insouciant and sometimes slow on the uptake, but Nostradamus is always ahead of the game as he works out how to catch the spy's courier without coming under the less than tender mercies of the Three, the state inquisitors. How he does so, and how Alfeo does the dirty legwork, makes for a fast paced and delightful narrative.
SF Revu
Edmonton Journal