The Alchemist's Code

January 28, 2008
Slightly overbalanced by dense, lush descriptions, Duncan's elaborate sequel to 2007's The Alchemist's Apprentice
finds footing in intricate plots and conspiracies. Able swordsman Alfeo Zeno, a brash young noble serving as Nostradamus's apprentice, provides a firsthand account of murder and romance in an alternate 16th-century Venice. This time the mystery centers around coded messages from an enemy agent, with Nostradamus and Zeno aiming first to crack the code and then to find the spy through a combination of magic and Holmesian investigation and deduction. Zeno's chatty narration breathes life into the city as he describes its political and social structure. The level of detail occasionally stifles the flow of Duncan's prose, an effect offset by the energy of the twisting plot. The only snag is the somewhat superfluous element of the fantastic, which adds little to this tale of interpersonal intrigue.

March 15, 2008
The prophet and clairvoyant Nostradamus occasionally accepts commissions to use his psychic talents to find runaway daughters and other tragedies of the nobles. When Venice's Council of Ten hires him to find a spy, however, he must call upon the skills of Alfeo Zeno, his noble-born apprentice and master swordsman, little knowing that he is sending Zeno to almost certain death. This sequel to "The Alchemist's Apprentice" 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.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2008
The even more intriguing sequel to The Alchemists Apprentice (2007) is a mystery solved by the clairvoyant and sage Nostradamus and his apprentice, Alfeo Zeno. An ordinary case of a missing girl turns deadly serious when Venices Council of Ten asks Nostradamus to unmask a spy. The only clues lie in intercepted messages in a cipher that hasnt been decoded. Duncans alternate late Renaissance Venice is wonderfully drawn and quite believable. The characters are a bit archetypal at first, which is plausible at a time and place in which public behavior was highly restricted. Duncan uses action to show what lies beneath public deportment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)