Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi

Book Review

Elloise Hopkins

While his friends play, Davico di Regulai works in the scrittorium, copying his great-grandfather’s words in triplicate, burdened with the weight of his family name. One of the archinomo of the great city, Davico will be expected to follow in his father’s footsteps.

They call his father the bull and Davico the young bull after him. Shrewd, ruthless, determined, his family rose from being merchant traders to warriors, and now they are keen negotiators and powerful bankers of sharp intelligence and high position. Like Navola, the di Regulai palazzo is a place of grand architecture, treasures and its assets most enviable.

But Davico knows those who can be envied can also be hated, and he must learn how to read, control and overcome enemies just as much as he learns to broker and trade as well as his father. His tutors keep a close eye on him, but like all young men, Davico has dreams and desires of his own. His father keeps a dragon’s eye in his study. It is said that if you swear on a dragon’s eye, it blinds you.

Davico dreams of a different life for himself. And so his story begins.

Navola is intriguing from the first line, instantly immersing the reader into this world of plots and intrigues of men and their drive for power over others. Davico is a narrator of surprising honesty. His story is told without guile, and all of the most embarrassing, heinous, and regretful moments are catalogued in full to give the reader an uncensored view of the young boy’s choices and challenges as he moves to adulthood. 

Bacigalupi gifts us with an exquisite narrative voice. Davico relates his tale as the di Regulai heir from childhood through to his all-significant name day and beyond. The prose is compelling, languidly drawing the reader into and along the highs and lows of our protagonist’s experiences, and the close of each chapter leaves us eager to find out what else Davico will discover of those around him and what will happen next.

There is an exceptional cast of supporting characters, including Davico’s tutors, protectors, sister, and some of the more colourful residents of Navola’s archinomo. The world-building is well handled, and the sense of threat is ever-present to keep the pages turning. This is one of the year’s most stunning releases, and we are hugely relieved to learn that this will not be the end of the young di Regulai’s story.