What should I read next?

No? Bum. A while since I read them all--misremembered some of the protagonists as writers, etc. Ah well.

You are probably right James. Can't recall rn.

I’d like to read some historical fiction or ripping-yarn-type history about renaissance Italian statesmen and popes engaging in skulduggery, or else a highly recommended low-magic fantasy pastiche of same. What am I looking for?

Just got a Daedalus Books catalog which incl. In The Name of the Family---A Novel of Machiavelli and the Borgias: "In this sequel to Blood and Beauty, Silver Dagger Award winner Sarah Dunant explores the House of Borgia's final years. It is 1502, and Rodrigo Borgia, a womanizer and master of political corruption, sits on the papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter and longtime pawn Lucrezia---three times married by the age of 22---is discovering she too has power. But his son Cesare has become increasingly unstable, and too close to Florentine diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli, who puts what he sees into The Prince. While the pope rails against old age and his son's erratic behavior, Lucrezia navigates the treacherous court of Urbino and another challenging marriage to create her own place in history."

Didn't mean to type all that, but, though I haven't read Dunant's books, did watch all of The Borgias cable series, starring Jeremy Irons, and this description pulled me back in.

Promising!!