Navola

Paulo hits another home run! Bacigalupi is without a doubt a master storyteller and probably the greatest living sci-fi and fantasy author today. His novels draw you into fantastic strange worlds that are completely believable and engrossing. Navola is no exception, and I have to force myself to go to bed and not stay up all night binge-reading.Wonderfully crafted story written by a master.

This isn’t exactly an action packed book — not until the last quarter, anyway. For the large part, this is a slice of life story of Davico, son of the most powerful man in Navola, grandson and great grandson of powerful merchant bankers who have defended and shaped and ruled the city quietly, efficiently, ruthlessly. Davico is raised not only by his father but his father’s mistress, a slave woman; powerful soldiers, cunning assassins, brilliant men who show him the beauty and power of the world he is to inherit ..

It’s four hundred pages of a young man watching and listening, occasionally learning as he sits in a garden and learns about bees; goes to parties, faces down assassination attempts and just, in general, lives his life in a protected bubble. And it’s a beautiful bubble. There’s a reason the book is named after the city of Navola and not Davico or his family. Navola is beautiful, intricate, decadent and debauched. And yet, at the same time, widows and orphans are fed, artists abound, and life — on the surface — is good.

The story is a bit … drifty and thoughtful because Davico, a spoiled young man who is taught to be brilliant but never ambitious, is drifty and thoughtful. He’d like to be a doctor, gathering herbs in the woods and enjoying a life of peace and quiet — because he’s never seen the darker side of life, the one of hard work, pain and suffering. He loves his adopted sister, sees her as a glorious figure — while ignoring how she was brought to his house, on a night of fire and fear, ripped from her father and mother and held hostage by Davico’s father.

The final quarter is fast, but not rushed, as things happen to Davico — because Davico has never had to make things happen in his life — and the leisurely building of characters and politics snaps into place. And yet, Davico is still sympathetic as his kindness and genial obliviousness are turned to anger and hatred, as he is finally able to use his true talents, the ones his father never taught him.

Oh, and there’s a dragon, so that’s neat.

The dragon is a promise, a brief glimpse of something at the beginning and then a promise made at the end that should make the next book very, very interesting. It’s a long book, but worth the read, well plotted and I enjoyed every single part of it. Some people may find it slow, but that slowness is to a point, to build up both the city and Davico before they’re both burnt down to ashes.

I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for granting me access to an advanced reader copy

Paulo hits another home run! Bacigalupi is without a doubt a master storyteller and probably the greatest living sci-fi and fantasy author today. His novels draw you into fantastic strange worlds that are completely believable and engrossing. Navola is no exception, and I have to force myself to go to bed and not stay up all night binge-reading.Wonderfully crafted story written by a master.

This isn’t exactly an action packed book — not until the last quarter, anyway. For the large part, this is a slice of life story of Davico, son of the most powerful man in Navola, grandson and great grandson of powerful merchant bankers who have defended and shaped and ruled the city quietly, efficiently, ruthlessly. Davico is raised not only by his father but his father’s mistress, a slave woman; powerful soldiers, cunning assassins, brilliant men who show him the beauty and power of the world he is to inherit ..

It’s four hundred pages of a young man watching and listening, occasionally learning as he sits in a garden and learns about bees; goes to parties, faces down assassination attempts and just, in general, lives his life in a protected bubble. And it’s a beautiful bubble. There’s a reason the book is named after the city of Navola and not Davico or his family. Navola is beautiful, intricate, decadent and debauched. And yet, at the same time, widows and orphans are fed, artists abound, and life — on the surface — is good.

The story is a bit … drifty and thoughtful because Davico, a spoiled young man who is taught to be brilliant but never ambitious, is drifty and thoughtful. He’d like to be a doctor, gathering herbs in the woods and enjoying a life of peace and quiet — because he’s never seen the darker side of life, the one of hard work, pain and suffering. He loves his adopted sister, sees her as a glorious figure — while ignoring how she was brought to his house, on a night of fire and fear, ripped from her father and mother and held hostage by Davico’s father.

The final quarter is fast, but not rushed, as things happen to Davico — because Davico has never had to make things happen in his life — and the leisurely building of characters and politics snaps into place. And yet, Davico is still sympathetic as his kindness and genial obliviousness are turned to anger and hatred, as he is finally able to use his true talents, the ones his father never taught him.

Oh, and there’s a dragon, so that’s neat.

The dragon is a promise, a brief glimpse of something at the beginning and then a promise made at the end that should make the next book very, very interesting. It’s a long book, but worth the read, well plotted and I enjoyed every single part of it. Some people may find it slow, but that slowness is to a point, to build up both the city and Davico before they’re both burnt down to ashes.

I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for granting me access to an advanced reader copy

Navola is for readers who like fantasies about political maneuvering and intrigue. Navola follows a young scion from a ruling-class family and the challenges he faces as he ascends to power and the training he faces to get there. The world building gave me historical Renaissance and Medici vibes. That made this feel a bit like a historical fiction with fantasy elements sprinkled in when it comes to the dragon's eye that the family has. This is a long, slow moving story that takes its time building and exploring the characters and politics and puts a lot of emphasis on world building. Overall, it's very character driven rather than plot driven and felt more like alternate historical political intrigue than fantasy. It also takes a while to really get going.

Navola is for readers who like fantasies about political maneuvering and intrigue. Navola follows a young scion from a ruling-class family and the challenges he faces as he ascends to power and the training he faces to get there. The world building gave me historical Renaissance and Medici vibes. That made this feel a bit like a historical fiction with fantasy elements sprinkled in when it comes to the dragon's eye that the family has. This is a long, slow moving story that takes its time building and exploring the characters and politics and puts a lot of emphasis on world building. Overall, it's very character driven rather than plot driven and felt more like alternate historical political intrigue than fantasy. It also takes a while to really get going.

Rating: 4/5

This was my first Paolo Bacigalupi book, I didn’t know what to expect from it. I just read the synopsis and requested it, and I am happy that I did because this will not be my last book of Bacigalupi.

In this book you will hear the story of Davico, told by him about what happened in his life to bring him where he is today. Now some of you might say that it's not really a fantasy but I can see how it is, but most definitely is more of historical fiction in it. It does start out a little slow and you won’t find any action until you hit the 50% mark in the book, Davico’s Name Day celebration. Then you will see non-stop action, a lot more of the plot coming together and more questions getting answered but you will still have a few that aren’t answered, and the ending will leave you feeling like there will be an open door for more adventures. I thought the author had a beautiful way of writing, you will be able to flow through the book and know/see what is going on. I thought he handled the politics of noble families in the Italian Renaissance era. I found Bacigalupi writing about what went on and the workings to be easy to read and even though the plot was slower at the times it does help to make an understanding of why this is happening to Davico.

The characters in this book were great, they were developed throughout the book. I thought Davico did a lot of growth, sadly due to the circumstances that led him to the life that he must live now. You will see endless bloodshed, murder, rape and a lot of revenge. I would say more but I would spoil parts of the book and I don’t want to do that.

I am really hoping that we will get another book to see more adventures from Davico and to get more answers from him as well.

I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to review this book.

To be honest, this book has its ups and downs with some beautiful writing, some horrifying violence, and some deadly dull spots. The first half of the book is all about building this fantasy world that seems drawn from the days of the Italian Renaissance. Navola is a city state ruled by money, greed and political maneuvering. To succeed, one needs to be skilled at the art of 'faccioscuro'--to see behind a pleasant face to see hidden thoughts and intentions.

The story is told through the eyes of the Davico, the only child of Devonaci di Regula da Navola, a wealthy merchant banker who currently controls the city. The action finally begins at about the 50% mark at Davico's Name Day celebration, sort of his 'coming out' party. Now Davico is considered to be a man with responsibilities but even though he's been well-trained in all the arts, he remains naive, inexperienced and rather clueless, without the innate skills needed to be a powerful man's heir. Perhaps this is the excuse needed for schemers to make their move...

You may be wondering if this is actually historical fiction, loosely based on medieval times. But the touch of fantasy comes through with Davico's unique connection to the dragon's eye that his father keeps on his desk. It plays an important role at certain key moments. Very interesting conclusion which leaves the door open to further adventures.

Warnings for the story: Violence and some explicit sex.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Ahoy there me mateys!  Whether people like this fantasy is going to be determined by several things:

• Length - 576 pages
• Genre Tropes - coming-of-age, political machinations, violence, sexual content, slavery, very light fantasy
• Inspiration - Renaissance Italy city-states
• Slow Buildup - first 50% is world building, politics, and coming-of-age story
• Start to a Series - ?

I don't know what I was really expecting when beginning this novel but I have loved a lot of the author's work in the past.  This is not his typical novel in any way other than his writing skill.  This novel is extremely dark and very brutal.  I enjoyed it.

While the Florentine Medici family seems to have been one of the author's inspirations, the novel is not set in our world.  There is Italian and Latin inspired language and place-names.  This Italianesque, style took some getting used to. The fantasy element (a dragon eye) appears very little through most of the book.

A major issue is how horrible the families of the novel treat each other.  Torture and violence abound.  Sexual jokes and innuendo run rampant.  This is NOT a nice feel-good book.  Having read a lot of Medici history, it wasn't unexpected.  That doesn't make it easy to stomach.

So why read this?  For me the world building and politics were fascinating and I had to know what would happen to the main character, Davico.  Davico is out of his league.  He comes from a long line of a Navolese banking family, the di Regulai, and is set to become the heir.  Davico is good hearted, pampered. and doesn't really feel he is ready to follow in his father's footsteps.  He is extremely short-sighted and not very good at subtleties.  Not unexpectedly, things don't turn out well.  What was unexpected is the twists in how things go wrong.

The characters were also another highlight because they were so interesting and (mostly) awful.  They are not always shown in as much detail as I wanted but that is because the story is told from Davico's point of view.  I loved reading about his family's hostage Celia, the stilettotore Cazetta, poor Alessana, and female slaver Sia Furia.

While this book can be read as a standalone, it does seem more likely that it is the start to the series.  If so, I shall be reading the next.  Arrrr!

Rating: 4/5

This was my first Paolo Bacigalupi book, I didn’t know what to expect from it. I just read the synopsis and requested it, and I am happy that I did because this will not be my last book of Bacigalupi.

In this book you will hear the story of Davico, told by him about what happened in his life to bring him where he is today. Now some of you might say that it's not really a fantasy but I can see how it is, but most definitely is more of historical fiction in it. It does start out a little slow and you won’t find any action until you hit the 50% mark in the book, Davico’s Name Day celebration. Then you will see non-stop action, a lot more of the plot coming together and more questions getting answered but you will still have a few that aren’t answered, and the ending will leave you feeling like there will be an open door for more adventures. I thought the author had a beautiful way of writing, you will be able to flow through the book and know/see what is going on. I thought he handled the politics of noble families in the Italian Renaissance era. I found Bacigalupi writing about what went on and the workings to be easy to read and even though the plot was slower at the times it does help to make an understanding of why this is happening to Davico.

The characters in this book were great, they were developed throughout the book. I thought Davico did a lot of growth, sadly due to the circumstances that led him to the life that he must live now. You will see endless bloodshed, murder, rape and a lot of revenge. I would say more but I would spoil parts of the book and I don’t want to do that.

I am really hoping that we will get another book to see more adventures from Davico and to get more answers from him as well.

I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to review this book.

Ahoy there me mateys!  Whether people like this fantasy is going to be determined by several things:

• Length - 576 pages
• Genre Tropes - coming-of-age, political machinations, violence, sexual content, slavery, very light fantasy
• Inspiration - Renaissance Italy city-states
• Slow Buildup - first 50% is world building, politics, and coming-of-age story
• Start to a Series - ?

I don't know what I was really expecting when beginning this novel but I have loved a lot of the author's work in the past.  This is not his typical novel in any way other than his writing skill.  This novel is extremely dark and very brutal.  I enjoyed it.

While the Florentine Medici family seems to have been one of the author's inspirations, the novel is not set in our world.  There is Italian and Latin inspired language and place-names.  This Italianesque, style took some getting used to. The fantasy element (a dragon eye) appears very little through most of the book.

A major issue is how horrible the families of the novel treat each other.  Torture and violence abound.  Sexual jokes and innuendo run rampant.  This is NOT a nice feel-good book.  Having read a lot of Medici history, it wasn't unexpected.  That doesn't make it easy to stomach.

So why read this?  For me the world building and politics were fascinating and I had to know what would happen to the main character, Davico.  Davico is out of his league.  He comes from a long line of a Navolese banking family, the di Regulai, and is set to become the heir.  Davico is good hearted, pampered. and doesn't really feel he is ready to follow in his father's footsteps.  He is extremely short-sighted and not very good at subtleties.  Not unexpectedly, things don't turn out well.  What was unexpected is the twists in how things go wrong.

The characters were also another highlight because they were so interesting and (mostly) awful.  They are not always shown in as much detail as I wanted but that is because the story is told from Davico's point of view.  I loved reading about his family's hostage Celia, the stilettotore Cazetta, poor Alessana, and female slaver Sia Furia.

While this book can be read as a standalone, it does seem more likely that it is the start to the series.  If so, I shall be reading the next.  Arrrr!

To be honest, this book has its ups and downs with some beautiful writing, some horrifying violence, and some deadly dull spots. The first half of the book is all about building this fantasy world that seems drawn from the days of the Italian Renaissance. Navola is a city state ruled by money, greed and political maneuvering. To succeed, one needs to be skilled at the art of 'faccioscuro'--to see behind a pleasant face to see hidden thoughts and intentions.

The story is told through the eyes of the Davico, the only child of Devonaci di Regula da Navola, a wealthy merchant banker who currently controls the city. The action finally begins at about the 50% mark at Davico's Name Day celebration, sort of his 'coming out' party. Now Davico is considered to be a man with responsibilities but even though he's been well-trained in all the arts, he remains naive, inexperienced and rather clueless, without the innate skills needed to be a powerful man's heir. Perhaps this is the excuse needed for schemers to make their move...

You may be wondering if this is actually historical fiction, loosely based on medieval times. But the touch of fantasy comes through with Davico's unique connection to the dragon's eye that his father keeps on his desk. It plays an important role at certain key moments. Very interesting conclusion which leaves the door open to further adventures.

Warnings for the story: Violence and some explicit sex.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Knopf for providing a copy of Navola via NetGalley. My review, however, is based on my experience listening to the audiobook and contains my honest thoughts and feelings.

I was so excited to read Navola. Unfortunately, so many things about the book just did not work for me. I lost count of the number of times I fell asleep while listening to the audiobook. The first half of the book was so boring. I considered DNFing it multiple times because I just did not care about the characters or what was happening to them. The second half of the story did pick up and held my interest a bit more. However, many of the problems I had with the first parts remained. I did enjoy the style of the writing, though, which is one of the main things that kept me going.

One of my biggest gripes about Navola was the lack of world-building. I was looking forward to learning about a world inspired by Renaissance Italy. There just wasn't much depth to the world-building. I never got a good sense of what the city of Navola was like or how it differed from the other cities. I was also so excited to learn about the dragon's eye. Frustratingly, it ended up being nothing more than a glorified paperweight for most of the story. In general, I just didn't find the world very interesting, which was a big disappointment.

Navola also promised lots of political scheming with the comparisons to Game of Thrones. It managed to disappoint on that front, too. There was plenty of scheming in the story. The reader just didn't get to see any of it take place. There was only one POV in this entire novel, and he was nothing but a pawn of the real major players. So, we ended up seeing the results of all the political maneuvering without getting to experience any of it firsthand. It left me very frustrated with the story at times, and I often wished there had been at least one other POV.

It didn't help that I felt absolutely nothing for Davico other than mild annoyance. The story focused so intensely on his coming-of-age and the mundanities of his life, especially in the first half. I found him to be spoiled, naïve, and extremely ungrateful for his privileges. I wish I could say my opinion of him changed by the end, especially given how dramatically his entire life fell apart. However, I still could not make myself root for him. I did love his dog, though.

Overall, Navola was just a miss for me. There were two major problems that kept this book from meeting my expectations: the lack of depth to the world-building and the singular POV being outside the political action. It didn't help that the main character was just not someone I cared about. All of those factors coalesced into an extremely slow, and often boring, tragedy that I had no stake in. Therefore, I rate Navola 3 out of 5 stars, which is frankly me being generous.

Thank you to Knopf for providing a copy of Navola via NetGalley. My review, however, is based on my experience listening to the audiobook and contains my honest thoughts and feelings.

I was so excited to read Navola. Unfortunately, so many things about the book just did not work for me. I lost count of the number of times I fell asleep while listening to the audiobook. The first half of the book was so boring. I considered DNFing it multiple times because I just did not care about the characters or what was happening to them. The second half of the story did pick up and held my interest a bit more. However, many of the problems I had with the first parts remained. I did enjoy the style of the writing, though, which is one of the main things that kept me going.

One of my biggest gripes about Navola was the lack of world-building. I was looking forward to learning about a world inspired by Renaissance Italy. There just wasn't much depth to the world-building. I never got a good sense of what the city of Navola was like or how it differed from the other cities. I was also so excited to learn about the dragon's eye. Frustratingly, it ended up being nothing more than a glorified paperweight for most of the story. In general, I just didn't find the world very interesting, which was a big disappointment.

Navola also promised lots of political scheming with the comparisons to Game of Thrones. It managed to disappoint on that front, too. There was plenty of scheming in the story. The reader just didn't get to see any of it take place. There was only one POV in this entire novel, and he was nothing but a pawn of the real major players. So, we ended up seeing the results of all the political maneuvering without getting to experience any of it firsthand. It left me very frustrated with the story at times, and I often wished there had been at least one other POV.

It didn't help that I felt absolutely nothing for Davico other than mild annoyance. The story focused so intensely on his coming-of-age and the mundanities of his life, especially in the first half. I found him to be spoiled, naïve, and extremely ungrateful for his privileges. I wish I could say my opinion of him changed by the end, especially given how dramatically his entire life fell apart. However, I still could not make myself root for him. I did love his dog, though.

Overall, Navola was just a miss for me. There were two major problems that kept this book from meeting my expectations: the lack of depth to the world-building and the singular POV being outside the political action. It didn't help that the main character was just not someone I cared about. All of those factors coalesced into an extremely slow, and often boring, tragedy that I had no stake in. Therefore, I rate Navola 3 out of 5 stars, which is frankly me being generous.

Navola is a purported “literary” fantasy set in a city-state dominated by powerful merchant families. The story follows Davico di Regulai, a young member of one such powerful family, as he navigates the political struggles of Navola, and as he prepares to take over his family's [accounting] empire. Davico faces rebellion and intrigue, with his fate apparently intertwined with both a dragon relic and his adopted sister, Celia.

The opening is weighed down by all the world-specific terms and names, based heavily on an Italian-Latin root system. It’s a lot to take in at once and hard to keep track of them all. It doesn’t NOT feel like when someone in a comedy is speaking nonsense pseudo-Spanish by amending each and every English word with -o. It’s unfortunate that it’s so liberally applied, because it gives an easy springboard into the desire to skim-read.

The narrative style is also somewhat unusual, though I feel like we’re seeing this more and more often, as of late, as the author directly addresses the reader with “you.” This choice might work in certain contexts, but here it adds to the overall confusion without providing much clarity or immersion.

Despite being set in a fantasy world with an Italian city-state foundation, Navola doesn't deliver a compelling plot or strong character development. Davico is the typical empty vessel that many main characters of this kind of fantasy novel with a historical bent seem to favor. But I think Bacigalupi takes it too far and Davico really needed some proper fleshing out and purpose. Without an anchor of some kind of conflict — at least for the first half of this nearly 600 pager, the story seems aimless, neither driven by events nor by deep character arcs, as if uncertain of its own direction and intention.

That dragon's eye, prominently featured on the cover and in the book's opening, turns out to be a minor element in the narrative. It is briefly mentioned as a relic or a fossil, and some bits of lore are bandied about here and there, but it’s basically a glorified paperweight for the majority of the book. Such a missed opportunity to develop a more intriguing fantasy element, instead clearly setting up the rest of the books more than allowing this book to stand on its own. Overall, a challenging, cumbersome read that doesn’t quite achieve its potential.

Navola is a purported “literary” fantasy set in a city-state dominated by powerful merchant families. The story follows Davico di Regulai, a young member of one such powerful family, as he navigates the political struggles of Navola, and as he prepares to take over his family's [accounting] empire. Davico faces rebellion and intrigue, with his fate apparently intertwined with both a dragon relic and his adopted sister, Celia.

The opening is weighed down by all the world-specific terms and names, based heavily on an Italian-Latin root system. It’s a lot to take in at once and hard to keep track of them all. It doesn’t NOT feel like when someone in a comedy is speaking nonsense pseudo-Spanish by amending each and every English word with -o. It’s unfortunate that it’s so liberally applied, because it gives an easy springboard into the desire to skim-read.

The narrative style is also somewhat unusual, though I feel like we’re seeing this more and more often, as of late, as the author directly addresses the reader with “you.” This choice might work in certain contexts, but here it adds to the overall confusion without providing much clarity or immersion.

Despite being set in a fantasy world with an Italian city-state foundation, Navola doesn't deliver a compelling plot or strong character development. Davico is the typical empty vessel that many main characters of this kind of fantasy novel with a historical bent seem to favor. But I think Bacigalupi takes it too far and Davico really needed some proper fleshing out and purpose. Without an anchor of some kind of conflict — at least for the first half of this nearly 600 pager, the story seems aimless, neither driven by events nor by deep character arcs, as if uncertain of its own direction and intention.

That dragon's eye, prominently featured on the cover and in the book's opening, turns out to be a minor element in the narrative. It is briefly mentioned as a relic or a fossil, and some bits of lore are bandied about here and there, but it’s basically a glorified paperweight for the majority of the book. Such a missed opportunity to develop a more intriguing fantasy element, instead clearly setting up the rest of the books more than allowing this book to stand on its own. Overall, a challenging, cumbersome read that doesn’t quite achieve its potential.