Pasquale's Angel
Florence in the year 1518 is riven by scientific and sociological change caused b the wonderful devices of the Great Engineer, Leonardo da Vinci. Now he is old and lives as a recluse working behind the walls of his castle. The Raphaelites, artists and anti-technologists led by Raphael of Urbino, call for his excommunication.
Pasquale di Cione fiesole, an apprentice painter witnesses an assassination attempt on Raphael at a Cathedral service. The weapon falls into his hands, and he is soon on the run from engineers and artists, desperate to prove his innocence.
Paul McAuley
Paul J. McAuley (born 1955) is a British botanist, award-winning author, and self-described science junkie. By training a biologist, he writes mostly hard science fiction, dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternate history/alternate reality, and space travel.