About:
Sicilian Avengers: Book One by Luigi Natoli is a historical fiction about the Beati Paoli, a secret society of masked avengers in the Kingdom of Sicily. These books are considered to be Italian classics.
- 480 pages
- Publisher : Radius Book Group
- Language: English
- ISBN-10 : 1635769272
My rating for Sicilian Avengers: Book One – 5
Buy Sicilian Avengers: Book One or Books One & Two (eBook) from Amazon.com*
More books by Luigi Natoli *
More books translated by Stephen Riggio*
Thoughts:
When I started reading this book, it reminded me of Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling adventures. Like Dumas’ novels, this book has been serialized before publication, with each chapter ending in a place to make the reader come back next week.
I greatly enjoyed the humor, storytelling, and wit due to the excellent translation by Stephen Riggio who put in a lot of effort to capture the feel of the book and give us clueless readers valuable context in the footnotes.
Sicilian Avengers: Book One by Luigi Natoli is packed with adventure and suspense mixing history and fiction seamlessly. The historical detail and vibrant descriptions make the allies and streets come alive as if they were characters in the novel.
The themes of betrayal, friendship, intrigue, and justice start slowly but are brought more and more to the foreground as the hero’s journey of Blasco de Castiglione, the protagonist, advances. As a fan of The Three Musketeers, I have to say that Blasco reminded me a lot, maybe even too much, of D’Artagnan. I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not, but one has to be blind not to see it.
The rigorous research into this book shows. I understand that Mr. Natoli scoured historical sources, reports, and descriptions of celebrations and ceremonies.
The book captures the essence of an era that was brutal but made Sicily what it is today. I can see why this book is considered a masterpiece in its native land.
Synopsis:
The book tells of the conflict between the greedy and ambitious 18th-century Sicilian aristocrat Don Raimondo Albamonte, also known as the Duke Of Motta, and the secretive sect of Beatii Paoli. The Beati Paoli is a violent organization committed to championing the people and punishing the crimes of aristocrats.
Buy Sicilian Avengers: Book One or Books One & Two (eBook) from Amazon.com*
More books by Luigi Natoli *
More books translated by Stephen Riggio*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
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