The Memory Cathedral: A Secret History of Leonardo Da Vinci

by Jack Dann

Book Overview

In a historical novel blending fact and fiction, Leonardo builds the flying machine he long dreamt of and journeys from the Renaissance West to the mythical East, where he is captured by Persians and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553378570
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 508 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Dark and Enthralling Vision of Da Vinci

Jack Dann weaves a compelling vision of Da Vinci as strategist and swashbuckler that makes for a fascinating read. The work itself is dark and not for the faint-hearted, or those inclined to only those stories with no blood and sedate happy endings, but that's what makes this work so riveting, as it doesn't shy away from the viciousness of life in the 16th century. The overall tone of the story is akin to that of the narrative of a schizophrenic. At times there is a disconnect in the plot that can be jarring, which is consistent with the nature of the mnemonic plot device that the author uses as an undercurrent throughout the book. A reader may have to give pause at certain moments to re-ascertain what just transpired in the plot; the way Jack Dann writes it, this is understandable and not at all vexing. The hardcover is lovely; the paper and typeset are good to the eyes, the quotes are fitting, the illustrations are well chosen. My first copy of this book was a gift, and it became a gift to someone else. This book is treasured on my shelves, and I much recommend it to anyone with the inclination for it.

Glorious and disturbing--squeamish steer clear!

"The Memory Cathedral" joins the small but distinguished company of "Lord of the Flies" and Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love" as one of those books I could neither put down nor bear to read any further. I must concur with the previous reviewer, this is a truly brilliant novel, but the squeamish and sensitive would be best advised to steer clear. If you are more inured to sex, violence and general darkness than we more delicate souls, give this book a try. It is a glorious and disturbing masterpiece, all the more powerful for the author's obviously painstaking research into the people and environment of Leonardo's Italy and the Middle East, not to mention the life and works of the protagonist himself.

Well-researched historical fantasy, including military SF.

Jack Dann's latest book blends historic figures with well-researched fiction to detail the loves, inventions, coups and many `flights' of Leonardo da Vinci in Renaissance Italy and beyond. Set during a "lost" period of the historical da Vinci diaries, "The Memory Cathedral" is a daring `what if...'. Drawing on the possibility of actually building many of the devices of warfare found in Leonardo's sketches, Dann comes up with a plausible person to implement them, and reasonable political expediency for doing so. Dann admits a few historical `nudges' in his afterword, but these don't detract from the novel, and indeed make it more entertaining. Developing interesting interactions between famous characters who never met in actuality is always fun. Enjoy spotting the famous names, and applaud how Dann handles them. Although the work drags in places, particularly in the first half, there's enough action by the end of it to keep readers of military SF happy, and enough background details to satisfy epic fantasy fans. Like his protagonist da Vinci, Dann seems to have demonstrated mastery of many areas of the SF/fantasy spectrum in this single work.