Last week I read Pasquale’s Angel, Paul McAuley’s alternate history of a renaissance Florence in which Leonardo DaVinci poured his genius into engineering instead of art. A nice touch is Florence’s exploration of the New World, where they do not conquer as the Spanish would, but instead establish trade and diplomatic relations with the native population. The characterisation of Niccolo Machiavegli, who in this reality is not exiled from Florence but is instead a sort of journalist/sleuth, is marvelous. Paul McAuley is among the greatest of SF worldbuilders I’ve encountered. This is steam-powered alternate history at its best.