Voltaire's Calligrapher: A Novel
De Santis has fashioned an appropriately sinister—if slim—steampunk mystery set in the age of Voltaire. Although Enlightenment reasoning is inspiring forward-thinking writers, philosophers, and scientists, the forces of ignorance, represented primarily by organized religion, are fighting to retain their viselike grip on the hearts and the souls of the general population. When Voltaire dispatches Dalessius, a talented young calligrapher with a flair for conjuring up all manner of inky deceits, to investigate a plague of questionable miracles sparked by the prosecution and conviction of an innocent man accused of murdering his own son, Dalessius becomes ensnared in a deeper mystery involving the production and distribution of automatons. Richly imagined and vividly textured, this darkly humorous romp through a convoluted age of reason will appeal to fans of offbeat historicals. --Margaret Flanagan