David Weaver character

[warrenpeace]

Stumbled upon an inspirational swashbuckling character, David Weaver, "Lion of Judah," in the books by David Liss.  These include (1) A Conspiracy of Paper, set in 1719, about stock trading, (2) A Spectacle of Corruption, set in 1722, about the English election system, and (3) The Devil's Company, which starts in 1722, about the famous East India Company.

David Weaver is a sort of renegade Jew who, as a teenager, ran away from his stock trading father and his merchant family of ex-patriate Portuguese Jews who had settled in London and Amsterdam (there is a sort of prequel titled The Coffee Trader set in Amsterdam in 1659 about commodities trading). David takes an English name and becomes a famous pugilist in London in his late teens and early 20's, until an injury ends his boxing career.  After drifting about in some illegal lines of work, he finally sets himself up as a "thieftaker," and general problem solver, a sort of early private detective.

Weaver is OK with a sword or pistol, but he excels at using his fists and quick wits. He's not such a brilliant long range planner, but he has his merchant uncle and his surgeon friend to consult with when he gets into things that are a bit too heavy for him.  These books have plenty of action and violence, but the plots and mysteries are intricate, and they have great period and locational flavor.

Plying his trade normally involves mucking about among the dregs of London society, among the thieves and whores and impoverished workers.  However, when he starts to get mixed up in matters of a more expensive nature, he gets in over his head.  The second and third books have a sort of noir character to them, as the honorable tough guy becomes a pawn in very large schemes.

Anyway, here is a NY Time review of the first book:

http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/20/reviews/000220.20polk5t.html

[Poiter50]

Oh, good, my local libray has a couple of those.

[warrenpeace]

Finished the third book, "The Devil's Company."  After reading all three, I can now say I'm very satisfied with this series as a whole.  I hope the author adds to this series.

For gaming, I think the encounters in this David Weaver series could fit very well into the mechanics of either Gloire/Under the Black Flag or Savage Worlds.  Many encounters described in the book are resolved with different skills: verbal wit, lying, disguise, sword play, pistol shooting, fist fighting, etc.