Interesting historical fantasy
- Book: Prague Nights
- Location: Prague
- Author: Benjamin Black
Christian Stern, a young scholar, arrives in Prague in 1599 hoping to make his fortune. His unhappy upbringing has forced him to develop sharp elbows but there’s vulnerability and loneliness in his character too.
No sooner has he arrived in Prague then he stumbles across the body of a young woman, Magdalena Kroll, who turns out to have been Emperor Rudolph’s mistress. She has been brutally murdered. Stern is arrested but fortunately for him, the eccentric Rudolph, who is obsessed with the occult and arcane learning, believes him to be a messenger sent by the spirit world. Christian is freed and given the Imperial favour he craves. Rudolph is however very reclusive, spending most of the time shut up with his male and female lovers, his pictures and his mysterious artefacts, terrified of the threat from his brother Matthias, who would like to seize power. Christian seems to have little contact with him as he negotiates the shark-infested waters of the court and the wiles of Caterina Sardo, the Emperor’s chief mistress.
He is given the task of finding out who murdered Magdalena and also becomes involved in the search for a stolen box of coded documents. This takes him away from Prague to the town of Most where an English spy, Kelley, who is an associate of the alchemist John Dee, is imprisoned.
I found it hard to categorise this novel. From the publicity packaging, I expected something more like S J Parris’ Giordano Bruno series or Sansom’s Shardlake. There is mystery in the plot but it takes a long time to get going as there’s a great deal of description. All of this is extremely well done. Black (aka Booker prize winner John Banville) really knows how to write, but to me the pace was usually too slow for a compelling read although the end is quite exciting. Stern’s efforts at amateur detection are hampered by the secrecy of the court and his own lack of experience.
In his note, the author describes the book as a historical fantasy. He confirms that many of the characters really existed and I had the impression that he had spent a lot of time looking at contemporary paintings for his descriptions.
I recommend the book for its evocation of Renaissance Prague and interesting historical background but if you want something fast moving, it may not be for you.
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