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The Puppet Master
Istanbul, 1622. Considered hotbeds of sedition, the city's coffee houses are in constant danger of being shut down by imperial command. Haluk, who runs a cafe in an old caravanserai, is more concerned with brewing the perfect cup of coffee than inciting rebellion. While storms in coffee cups rage around him, Haluk tends his clientele and waits for the right moment to tell his friend and lodger Aydin how he really feels about him.
Aydin has been entertaining the people of the Old City for three years, but still he doesn't fit in. He hides his courtly manners and graceful charms behind the boisterous satire of the shadow puppet plays that have made him popular. A former imperial page, Aydin escaped from the palace after his jealous rivals planted the forbidden spice sumac in his clothes. Now he fears his past is catching up with him, bringing danger to Haluk, the man he loves...
Aydin has been entertaining the people of the Old City for three years, but still he doesn't fit in. He hides his courtly manners and graceful charms behind the boisterous satire of the shadow puppet plays that have made him popular. A former imperial page, Aydin escaped from the palace after his jealous rivals planted the forbidden spice sumac in his clothes. Now he fears his past is catching up with him, bringing danger to Haluk, the man he loves...
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2011
26 people want to read
About the author
Kate Cotoner
20 books20 followersKate Cotoner lives in the north of England with her OH and a demanding bonsai named Mr M. She has a fondness for Asian men tempered with a love of hunky Germanic and Mediterranean types, and manages to combine love for all three types whilst watching Formula One motorsport. She loves history, needlepoint, reading, watching brainless blockbusters and meaningful foreign films, staring at US crime shows, and baking French-style bread. She likes strong, plot-driven stories and charismatic characters set against a sweeping, romantic backdrop of history, suspense, international locations and whatever else happens to take her fancy at the time.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 9, 2011
I was a little confused over the rating of this book; Torquere has it in their “Spice It Up” line, which I assumed was an imprint handling the more spicy and erotic books in their already spicy and erotic stable, but this book has absolutely no sex in it, so don’t buy it thinking you are going to get a one-handed read. It seems however, that the line is all based around one particular spice and in this case it’s sumac.
Cotoner is a master of atmosphere, and in this book she doesn’t disappoint on that score. Even though the era, the history, the politics, the location were pretty much muddy waters for me, she writes so deftly and so immersively that it doesn’t matter. The book opens with a man working in his coffee house, and stopping a fight between two janissaries. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know what a janissary is, because it’s made clear in context, and there aren’t that many writers in the genre who can do that well with no info dumping at all.
The book is told mainly from Haluk’s point of view–the coffee shop owner–with forays into Aydin’s–and I particularly like how Cotoner doesn’t make the mistake of many books of this length, to dwell entirely on the charms of the love-interest, Aydin, and why Haluk loves him. No, in fact she whets my appetite with the way that coffee shops are considered to be hotbeds of sedition, and that coffee is thought to inflame the senses–and this simple drink is causing political unrest. True facts of course, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this very thorough researcher.
The wonderful detail grounds you entirely in time and place. I really felt as if I had been dropped into a time that I didn’t know exactly when it was, but I was standing there watching the customers, and seeing the bright colours, the copper trays, the smell of the coffee and the spices of the suk. The setting is play-like, as it mostly takes place in one or two rooms in the same location but this works well, and for the shortness of the story, helps the totally immersive feel.
The plot revolves around one simple point, but it’s well done, and had me wondering who Aydin really was. (In fact, I’ve taken the fact out of the blurb which spoils the little spot of suspense in the book)
The only problem I had was that I would have liked a little more of it, but that’s my problem, not a problem with the structure of the book. I have no recourse but to give this short novel a well-deserved five stars.
Cotoner is a master of atmosphere, and in this book she doesn’t disappoint on that score. Even though the era, the history, the politics, the location were pretty much muddy waters for me, she writes so deftly and so immersively that it doesn’t matter. The book opens with a man working in his coffee house, and stopping a fight between two janissaries. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know what a janissary is, because it’s made clear in context, and there aren’t that many writers in the genre who can do that well with no info dumping at all.
The book is told mainly from Haluk’s point of view–the coffee shop owner–with forays into Aydin’s–and I particularly like how Cotoner doesn’t make the mistake of many books of this length, to dwell entirely on the charms of the love-interest, Aydin, and why Haluk loves him. No, in fact she whets my appetite with the way that coffee shops are considered to be hotbeds of sedition, and that coffee is thought to inflame the senses–and this simple drink is causing political unrest. True facts of course, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this very thorough researcher.
The wonderful detail grounds you entirely in time and place. I really felt as if I had been dropped into a time that I didn’t know exactly when it was, but I was standing there watching the customers, and seeing the bright colours, the copper trays, the smell of the coffee and the spices of the suk. The setting is play-like, as it mostly takes place in one or two rooms in the same location but this works well, and for the shortness of the story, helps the totally immersive feel.
The plot revolves around one simple point, but it’s well done, and had me wondering who Aydin really was. (In fact, I’ve taken the fact out of the blurb which spoils the little spot of suspense in the book)
The only problem I had was that I would have liked a little more of it, but that’s my problem, not a problem with the structure of the book. I have no recourse but to give this short novel a well-deserved five stars.
January 20, 2012
Kate Cotoner is an amazing story teller and anywhere she goes she takes you with her ... This story is as sweet as Turkish coffee !
June 28, 2012
This was an interesting story for the time period and setting alone. A rather unusual one. Haluk runs a coffee shop (which is technically illegal) and has had a boarder for the last five months Aydin. Aydin puts on puppet shows, sort of morality plays. Things are going well until an elderly man asks about Aydin who you then realize is on the run but he refuses to tell Haluk from who or why and even after they spend the night together, he runs rather than involve Haluk. However when the security forces come looking for Aydin, they murder Haluk’s shop assistant, leading to Haluk accidentally killing the guard. Eventually it comes to light who Aydin is and he’s released from his duties, with basically a warning to get out of town and since the Sultain is going to clamp down on coffee houses, it seems like a good plan.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the puppets and the coffee house and the characters who hang out there, although some of the details of the political hierarchy and court life kind of left me a bit lost as I’m not familiar with that era in history. Still, while I’m not overly a fan of historical stories, I quite enjoy it when they are set in a bit older time or at a time I’m unfamiliar with because it adds more interest like in this case even if I didn’t understand every detail.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the puppets and the coffee house and the characters who hang out there, although some of the details of the political hierarchy and court life kind of left me a bit lost as I’m not familiar with that era in history. Still, while I’m not overly a fan of historical stories, I quite enjoy it when they are set in a bit older time or at a time I’m unfamiliar with because it adds more interest like in this case even if I didn’t understand every detail.
December 5, 2011
Short and sweet. Not much sex, just the right amount, if you ask me. A bit of mystery attached that is solved by the end of the book. Very nice read, would have been great to have a couple more stories about Haluk and Aydin.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews