About the Author:
Jon Courtenay Grimwood was born in Malta and christened in the upturned bell of a ship. He grew up in the Far East, Britain and Scandinavia. Apart from writing novels he works for magazines and newspapers. For five years he wrote a monthly review column for The Guardian.
JCG's novels Felaheen and End of the World Blues, won the BSFA Award for Best Novel. He has been shortlisted twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award, the August Derleth Award (UK), John W Campbell Memorial Award (US), among other awards.
He is married to the journalist and novelist Sam Baker, currently editor-in-chief of Red. They divide their time between London and Winchester.
From Booklist:
Aside from Grimwood’s penchant for borrowing motifs from other genres, the author’s previous novels, including his acclaimed End of the World Blues (2007), mostly bear the imprint of sf. Yet here Grimwood confidently steps into fantasy territory in this first volume of an ambitious trilogy featuring an alternate renaissance Venice populated by corrupt monarchs, a secret army of assassins, and a bewitching side cast of werewolves and vampires. This version of early-fifteenth-century Venice is ruled by the descendants of Marco Polo, specifically Alonzo, the uncle of the bona fide but incapacitated Duke, who rules with Machiavellian intrigue in the face of his Byzantine and Ottoman enemies. After Alonzo’s scheme to marry off the Duke’s cousin Giulietta leads to her kidnapping, Alonzo sends his lead assassin, Atilo, on her trail. When Atilo fortuitously crosses paths with a young vampire, Tycho, he quickly recruits the boy as a very difficult but useful apprentice. Grimwood’s well-seasoned skill with storytelling and dialogue makes this opening installment of the series both delightfully colorful and compellingly readable. --Carl Hays
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