365 pages
English language
Published Feb. 24, 1983 by Timescape Books, Distributed by Simon and Schuster.
The year is 1478 the dawn of the Renaissance. The Wars of the Roses have put Edward IV on the throne of England. Lorenzo the Magnificent's brilliant court blossoms on the wealth of the great Medici bank. Leonardo da Vinci is at work on his anatomical studies. But all is not quite as we know it. This is a changed world. In Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Vampire Duke, sure of his control over his dreadful new ally, marshals his forces at last for his long-awaited attack on Florence.
Im englischsprachigen Raum ein Kultroman, hier bei Goldmann Fantasy erschienen ... Packende Historienklamotte, in der echte Personen und Begebnisse in sehr originellem Rahmen neu gedeutet werden. Mit Drachen, Vampiren und allem, was das Herz begehrt!
The characterization in this book is great. The prose is also good. This is not a comedy by any means, but there are subtle puns and callbacks throughout. The Star Wars shoutout was a favorite for me (I won't spoil anything by saying where it was).
I've heard that some people don't like the way the story changes partway through the book. We spend several chapters meeting the characters and resolving some mysteries, and then it becomes all about who's going to become the next King of England. There are some aspects of this alternate history that could have been explored a lot more. I can understand these concerns, but they didn't bother me. I enjoyed the story and the way the pace picked up as it went along.
This is a complicated book. I know some people love it, some people don't. I can see why it is loved because of the historical references and it has become a classic. It's alternate history with vampires (written in the 80's), and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I was a little more knowledgeable about the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century. To be honest, I lost interest in the characters at about 60%. There were random scenes happening here and there that seemed to be out of place to me. It was hard to follow the passage of time on this book. The writing is very polished, and the author leaves a lot of action and descriptions to the reader's imagination. Some actions are hinted at, so it's a book that you gotta work it in your brain to get it, I guess.
