Navola
#5473.90 adjusted 3.92 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2024 Reading commitment Low Paolo Bacigalupi Last reviewed 2026-10-25
Overview
Paolo Bacigalupi's Navola is a literary historical fantasy set in a world inspired by fifteenth-century Florence. It follows Davico di Regulai, sole heir to a merchant-banking family whose wealth buys cities and topples kingdoms, as plots, armies and assassins test him and an ancient fossil dragon eye on his father's desk calls to him. Published by Knopf in 2024, it drew starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Navola Paolo Bacigalupi
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Navola | 2024 | 1 | core | 3.90 (2,928 ratings) |
Paolo Bacigalupi's standalone.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Navola? Navola's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Navola finished? Complete (2024).
- How much reading does Navola take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Navola ranked? #547 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,928 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #547?
Ranked #547 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.90 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (2,928 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #546, The Braided Path (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 3k ratings · Ranks #547 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what Navola and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- The Sandsea Trilogy Epic fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.97
- The Holy Mountain Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.95
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.90 across 2,928 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: Navola (Bacigalupi), The Land of Laughs (Carroll), The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) accepted 2026-10-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Harvard Book Store: Navola (publisher description, review excerpts) Tier 2
- Chattanooga Public Library catalogue: Navola (Knopf, 2024, first edition) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25
Rule: Core Canon = Navola (2024), a standalone novel.