It was the paperback edition crossing the counter when I was working in a bookshop in 1995 that caught my eye and brought my attention to the Niccolo series, prompting me to order the other books in the series and the Lymond books, which were in the process of being reprinted. Through a series of amazing set-pieces - football with royalty on a castle roof, a Nativity play, a volcanic explosion in Iceland and the dazzling excess of a conference between the Duke of Burgundy and the Holy Roman Emperor, Niccolo brings the plans initiated and then delayed in The Unicorn Hunt to their final fruition as part of his contest with his wife and his feud with his family and as part of the exercise of his own brilliance unfettered by morality or ethics. The intricacy of story, the wide-ranging historic settings and incidents, the small army of supporting and antagonising characters, the razor-sharp wit of the writing turns what could be a daunting read into an exhilarating thrill-ride, cumlinating in a showdown that strips all illusions from the main characters, his friends, family and entranced readers alike.