I don’t know whether the title is a universal or niche sentiment, truly. All I know is that it captures an all-consuming wish I had as a closeted 15-year-old watching Miguel and Tulio act like a married couple in all but name. Is it even subtext if, rumor has it, early versions of the script may have portrayed them as a couple?
But that’s not the point of this review. The point is that if you’re craving the humor and adventure of The Road to El Dorado (with queer characters!), you need to read Nicked.
The setting here is 11th-century Italy, where a monk named Brother Nicephorus receives a startling vision from St. Nicholas. Or at least, that’s how the higher-ranking members of his order interpret his dream. They believe the saint has called Brother Nicephorus to retrieve a holy relic with the help of a cynical treasure hunter named Tyun.
Never mind that Brother Nicephorus’ life has been mostly cloistered and he has no talent for travel (…or burglary). According to those who must know better, it’s the only way to stop the plague ravaging is city. He agrees to this quest, despite his misgivings and the confusing pull he feels toward Tyun. In doing so, he is irreversibly changed.
Nicked brought together two of my favorite things in fiction. The first is people torn between identities — in this case, Brother Nicephorus’s religious duty and the thrills his quest brings him — who must either merge them or make peace with the conflict. The second is when two characters are dragged into a conflict much larger and frankly more convoluted than themselves who must find their own meaning together.
It executed both flawlessly. Think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, with its dry wit and profound existential themes, all centered around two characters trying to grasp something ineffable and grabbing hold of only each other.
On a personal note, it moved me more than expected as someone who is a Christian despite many spiritual questions I suspect, like the ones Brother Nicephorus grapples with, may not be answerable in this life. Without spoiling anything, the last few pages will be living in my head for a long, long time.
I’ll leave you with an excerpt from Nicked to intrigue you until you’re able to pick it up from your nearest library or bookstore.
“‘We all want to sin. It is the only way we have of knowing the full measure of creation.
God wants you to sin,’ Tyun argued. ‘It will make his evenings livelier.“
