City of Magic

In Italy, 1492, King Clau­dio sends Man­gus the Magi­cian and his faith­ful ser­vant boy, Fab­rizio, to Venice to steal a man­u­script that explains a rev­o­lu­tion­ary way of accounting—double-entry book­keep­ing. The man­u­script is writ­ten by the most famous math­e­mati­cian in the world, the Fran­cis­can Fri­ar, Luca Paci­oli. And gain­ing knowl­edge of this book­keep­ing method could secure one great profits.

But Venice is a dan­ger­ous place, full of inform­ers, pris­ons, and harsh pun­ish­ments for those who steal its secrets. When Man­gus is snatched away into prison, it is up to Fabrizio—and his mys­te­ri­ous new friend, Bianca—to nav­i­gate the count­less islands and fog­gy canals to find Fri­ar Paci­oli before their ene­mies do, and to save Man­gus from being executed.