Review: Prague Nights

" ... most things in life are learned too late, and wisdom, if it comes at all, comes tardily ...."

This sums up the situation of Christian Stern, a young illegitimate son of the Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, who on his first day in Prague, stumbles upon the corpse of the mistress of Emperor Rudolf II. And so begins a bizarre series of events as Christian is arrested, accused, released, favoured, engaged, and ultimately played.

Benjamin Black's Prague Nights is narrated in the first person by Christian, and we know from comments that he is reflecting upon past events and how they have led to his current predicament - which from the overall tone, is not happily ever-after.

Christian is an innocent at the court of Rudolf II, and whilst gaining the Emperor's favour, he is immediately at odds with the two most powerful men in the Kingdom - the Royal Chamberlain, Philipp Lang, and the Lord Steward, Felix Werzel. Thrown into this hotbed of vice, conspiracies, intrigues, plots (religious, political, fraternal) and magic, Christian stumbles about attempting (if that is the right word) to solve a murder - a murder no-one is in any great hurry to solve. 

"... everyone did everything ... in so much stealth and secrecy that they seemed to live their lives engaged in a vast, compulsory and endless conspiracy ..."

His rise at court is swift - and the phrase the further the rise, the longer the fall is most apt. One wonders how one so new to the city and so apparently naive could have gained so much so quickly ..... is he being played by the parties concerned, and if so by whom; is he being misdirected from his mission by the lusty former imperial mistress, and if so, why .... "is there anyone who is not owned by someone .." Christian laments.

It is a captivating story that keeps the reader hooked .... Christian is definitely not a player in any sense of the word, but one who is being played ..... the "wolf on a string" .... though at times one wonders who is actually pulling the strings as there are so many protagonists to chose from! In fact Christian himself should have the last word .... "there are matters afoot at court too densely tangled for me to penetrate them.."

Read reviews here:

@ Kirkus Review: "Patient readers in no hurry will savor Black’s dark, vivid mural of Prague at the turn of the 16th century."

@ There's Always Time For Crime: "I’d say there were winks as well as nods to his devoted readers, but that the story is blighted by cliché piled upon ossuary."

@ The New York Times Book Review: "The ornate style of Christian’s narrative suits both this rich historical period and the courtly language of Prague, this “city of masks and make-believe.”