Halfway between the fast-paced Ken follett and the retailer louis clog (to cite a close and good reference for a historical novel), the German Daniel Wolf cultivates a historical novel rich in detail but presented with the art of synthesis. Always in favor of a plot that acquires, with that accurate descriptive sieve, an epic tone even in the mere survival of the characters located in the remote anteroom of today's civilization.
Known in Spain for a Fleury family series that landed on the right foot from the first installment (how could it be otherwise due to that narrative gift put into practice from the most novelistic pragmatism), Wolf aims to become a first sword of European historical fiction.
Top 3 recommended novels by Daniel Wolf
The salt of the earth
“Light of the world, salt of the Earth,” Matthew indicated in the sacred readings. The importance of salt in the future of humanity is not a minor matter. Hence we understand that this title with which the Fleury saga begins points to a story that aims to excavate the foundations of an ancient world, dedicated to salt for subsistence.
Duchy of Upper Lorraine, 1187. After the death of his father, the young salt merchant Michel de Fleury takes over the family business. These are difficult times for the merchants, since the greed of the clergy and the despotism of the nobility impose abusive taxes on the merchants and put the people in misery.
It is then that the charismatic Michel decides to challenge the powerful to change the oppressive laws of commerce and champion the desire for freedom of a people. His measures, revolutionary for the time, involve him in a petty power struggle. So, when he proposes to build an alternative bridge to avoid the fees of the feudal lords, his enemies will do everything possible to defeat him, to the point that he will see his life and that of the woman he loves in danger ...
The plague of heaven
Daniel Wolf knew how to start the series and he knew even better how to end it. And it's not that the second or third part are minor. But when a plot is concluded with its mastery, there is no choice but to recognize it. Even more so because of the timing of the unexpected symmetries with our days...
Duchy of Lorraine, 1346. Adrien Fleury always dreamed of being a doctor, but not in his worst nightmares could he anticipate that, when he succeeded, he would have to fight the deadliest plague the region had ever known. His courageous defense of science and his ardent love for Léa, an intelligent young Jewish woman, will earn him the eternal hatred of the powerful and uncompromising, who are always looking for a scapegoat to hide their own miseries.
With his immense narrative talent, the author takes us back to a century that was beginning to leave medieval obscurantism behind and gives us a fascinating story where the love of science and the defense of truth shine.
The light of the earth
The second part, and following Matthew's approach in the Bible about light and salt. A novel perhaps slightly inferior to a perfectly carried out beginning of the series to conform as that beginning and presentation of everything. And it will not be because this replica has no action. Because everything happens here ...
Duchy of Haute-Lorraine, 1218. After his fight against the clergy and nobility, the merchant Michel de Fleury has become mayor of Varennes Saint-Jacques. Their objectives remain the same: to achieve justice and honesty and to rebel against the powerful who have been oppressing the people for years. For his part, Rémy, Michel's son, dreams of founding a school where everyone can learn to read and write, an endeavor that directly confronts him with the abbot, who sees the power he has always held shake.
But when Varennes is about to become a prosperous city and an example of commerce and education, the enemies of the Fleury weave a petty web of conspiracies that will plunge the city into an abyss of poverty from which it will only emerge when the people are dare to face their oppressors and when the light of freedom shines on earth.
