Navola

A Novel

De: Paolo Bacigalupi

Narrado por: Marc Vietor

"Vietor's narration illuminates an epic story of power and wealth in a dynamic world." --AudioFile (Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award)

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and The Water Knife comes a sweeping literary fantasy about the young scion from a ruling-class family who faces rebellion as he ascends to power.

"Steeped in poison, betrayal, and debauchery, reading Navola is like slipping into a luxurious bath full of blood." (Holly Black, number one New York Times best-selling author)

"You must be as sharp as a stilettotore’s dagger and as subtle as a fish beneath the waters. This is what it is to be Navolese, this is what it is to be di Regulai."

In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family—merchant bankers with a vast empire—has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese diplomacy: knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur—like the fossilized dragon eye in the family’s possession, a potent symbol of their raw power and a talisman that seems to be summoning Davico to act.

As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits. His fate depends on the eldritch dragon relic and on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister, Celia di Balcosi, whose own family was destroyed by Nalova’s twisted politics. With echoes of Renaissance Italy, The Godfather, and Game of Thrones, Navola is a stunning feat of world-building and a mesmerizing depiction of drive and will.

©2024 Paolo Bacigalupi (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

the lessons and perspectives

It was a little drawn out in the middle but overall a excellent book! This book makes me want to push my boys to be strong men.

A masterpiece. A modern-day Les Miserables, but better.

I have written and published 3 novels of my own.
I love reading and despair at finding something truly original and masterfully written.

This book is not for the casual reader, interested in a quick read with predictable plot and cadence. It is for the appreciator of fine art, someone interested in experiencing another world and another life in the finest of detail, with all of the unexpectedness, unfairness, and self-reflection that our own lives bring.

It is a tapestry of truths, woven so you feel them rather than read them, and I found myself pleasantly surprised to grow with the main character, learning the truth of his world at exactly the same speed he did. I guessed nothing, experienced everything, and felt a silk so nuanced and fine as I thought impossible to exist. As I have a masters degree in creative writing and thought I knew all the tricks of the trade, I was astounded to be surprised in the best way possible, “I should have seen that coming, but didn’t.”

If you find yourself 4 hours in and think maybe to give up on the story, DON’T. Every word is important, and together build a formidable experience in your mind that must not be cheated.

Needlessly brutal

Undeniably masterful world building fantasy constructed on the presumed framework of Renaissance Florence. The book is two thirds the recollections of the formative years of a powerful banker's unwilling hier. Wondering why he's telling his story at all provides most of the tension here. The final third of the book is simply endless torture to the point where it crosses from a grim reality of the world, to impossible sadistic absurdity. It's unclear if this is the start of a series, but if it is, it would have worked better to trim this considerably, and take the story much further. The reader is asked to endure a great deal with no actual pay off. The audio performance itself is excellent and the writing itself is wonderful as well.

The beginning of something beautiful

Revivals game of thrones or even the name of the wind a gripping book filled with the hard truth of human nature

Absolutely brilliant book!

Beautiful and filled with little twists. It builds into something I will never forget. I honestly expect that I will come back to this book many times for years to come.