Pasquale's Angel

It's 16th Century Florence, and the industrial revolution is underway, triggered by the ideas of "The Great Engineer" (presumably, Leonardo Da Vinci). Against this backdrop, Pasquale, an aspiring artist, teams up with a journalist (Machiavelli) to uncover the mystery behind the murder of one of Raphael's assistants. The backdrop of the story is interesting and well developed, and the characters are engaging. While a bit slow to get started, this book held my interest and had me caring about what happened to Pasquale and Machiavelli. If you're curious about how things might have been, this book is a unique take on alternate history that is well worth reading.

Any novelist always has the challenge of creating vivid and engaging characters but when you have the likes of DaVinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, etc to work with you're ahead of the game. Set in Renaissance Florence this story is just plain fun. As a mystery thriller it was not outstanding but good enough to keep my interest but as a tour de force of Renaissance shenanigans it's hard to beat. If you are looking for an intense literary thriller you may be better off with Umberto Eco but if you want a very enjoyable story, nicely told with all sorts of fascinating details (not the least to include the rivalry between Michelangelo and DaVinci, their many lovers, and that naughty boy Raphael) in which the artists take on the allure and fascination of contemporary rock stars this is very good choice. A few other period luminaries put in appearances, too.

I don't know enough about Italian history (which is probably sad, being that I'm Italian) to say definitely where history went wacky and we got this book but I can say that this is definitely a book that can be worth your time. McAuley has turned into one of the more versatile and consistent authors around, especially in SF. He may not be world shatteringly exceptional but he rarely repeats himself and his writing is clear and concise, not relying on complicated narrative structure or knotted sentences. Here he presents a gritty, almost industrial age Italy where Da Vinci didn't really go into art but instead made lots of engineering feats and kick started a whole lot of things before they should have been kicked into starting. Pasquale is a young artist who happens to be drawn into the murder of one of the assistents of the "immortal" (ignore the book jacket when it says that, he's as mortal as everyone else) Rapheal. He is joined by a reporter who used to be a noted political figure before his downfall (I won't even try spelling his name) and together they try to piece together what turns out to be a large conspiracy that is apparently everywhere. McAuley does a great job of churning out a first rate murder mystery, plots and suspects rebound with apparent ease and your head is spinning by both his great attention to period detail and almost left field plot twists. However, at some point the conspiracy gets so complicated that it stops making sense at all and towards the end you're probably going to start scratching your head and wondering what the heck is going on. Don't fret, buckle down and keep going and while everyone might not be explained to your satisifaction, McAuley manages to pull a resolution out that makes everyone mostly worthwhile. McAuley's an author that instead of stunning us with one far out book, has steadily and swiftly built up a solid record of varied and entertaining science-fiction/fantasy, and if this book is any indication, his track record should hold long into the future.

Pasquale's Angel is set in Florence, in 1518, but history has not gone quite as it did in our own world. Leonardo da Vinci became interested in mechanics and science, not art; the Medici are not returned to power in Florence, and indeed Savonarola is still alive; and Machiavelli (spelled Machiavegli here), instead of falling from favour when the Medici return, as happened in our world, is brought down from power by the suspicion that he is a Medici sympathizer.However, a reduced Machiavegli has opportunities he did not have in our world. Da Vinci's focus on science has brought Renaissance Florence technologies from the printing press to engines of war, and Machiavegli has become a journalist.The protagonist, Pasquale, is a young artist, and art is big business and major politics in this world. A major figure is murdered, and Pasquale and Machiavegli get on the tracks of a conspiracy. Pretty soon the conspiracy is on to them, and the book is a fairly straightforward thriller after that.The period detail is good, and the ways in which the new technologies have changed and yet not changed the world are well-imagined. The characters occasionally sound more like twentieth century actors wearing period costumes, but McAuley maintains the tone pretty well, and he's a clean, transparent writer, without clumsiness or affectation.On the plot level, there are a couple of implausibilities. When you finally find out how the locked room murder was committed, a couple of fairly serious problems with the explanation will doubtless occur to you as they did to me. The conspiracy does seem a little hydra-headed and all-seeing; in places the book starts to sound like Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", and not in a good way. But Pasquale is a good character, and the book is a satisfying though not exceptional read.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves historical mystery novels. The characters are interesting and detailed, and the setting (15th century Florence) is beautifully realized. It has a fascinating plot with some wonderful twists (wait until you figure our who the "Great Engineer" is). I am hoping for a follow-up.