TITLE: Immortal
AUTHOR: Traci Slatton
CATEGORY: Historical Fiction
AGE GROUP: Adult
NO. OF PAGES: 513
COVER PRICE: $14.00
PUBLISHER: Bantam Dell
PURCHASED FROM: Borders
OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR: none
I FOUND THIS BOOK BY: Browsing the literature section
I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO: Anyone who likes historical fiction or who has an interest in Renaissance Italy
OVERALL RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★
Summary: In the majestic heart of Florence, a beautiful golden-haired boy is abandoned and subjected to cruelty beyond words. But Luca Bastardo is anything but an ordinary boy. Across two centuries of passion and intrigue, Luca will discover an astonishing gift–one that will lead him to embrace the ancient mysteries of alchemy and healing and to becoming a trusted confidant to the powerful Medicis… even as he faces persecution from a sadistic cabal determined to wrest his secrets for themselves.
But as the Black Death and the Inquisition wreak havoc on his beloved city, Luca’s survival lies in the quest to solve two riddles. One is the enigma of his parents and his ageless beauty. The other is a choice between immortality and the only chance to find his one true love. As Luca journeys through the heights of the Renaissance, befriends Giotto and Leonardo da Vinci–140 years apart–and pursues the most closely guarded secrets of religious faith and science for the answers to his own burning questions, his remarkable search will not only change him… but will change the course of history.
I started reading this in the store because I had already picked out what I was going to buy and had an hour to burn. I ended up buying this instead. It had a very engaging beginning and I absolutely loved Luca. He’s a really well developed character, even though by the end of the book, I was a little annoyed with his constant whining. It inspired me to go out and research a little more about the specific historical figures mentioned in the book.
With a lot of novels that take place solely in a foreign country, authors have the tendency of falling into the trap of using more of that language than most readers can comprehend. Ms. Slatton melded the Italian with English flawlessly, and even though I have only a very basic grasp of the language, I had no problem understanding the foreign words she used. They were appropriately placed, and appropriately explained.
I’ve always had a fascination with the Renaissance and with Italy, as well as having a slight interest in alchemy, so I found those elements attractive.
Unfortunately I found my interest beginning to waver near the end of the book, mostly because Luca stopped being the lovable boy he was in the beginning, and started expecting things to be handed to him instead of his having to work for them. A central theme through the novel is his quest to find his parents, and at the beginning I understood that, as a little boy, he couldn’t do much to find them. After reaching adulthood, though, his threats and foot-stamping when he didn’t get his way wasn’t quite as endearing.
