The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett

[Misfit]

Francis Crawford of Lymond, 16C's James Bond?. What fun! Its 1547, Henry VIII is dead and his young son Edward VII sits on the throne, as does a very young Mary sit on the throne of Scotland. Negotiations were made and broken to betroth young Mary to Edward and cement the two countries - or will the Scots marry her off to the dauphin of France instead? Francis Crawford of Lymond, a disgraced nobleman accused of treason sneaks back into Scotland and thus the game begins (to clear his name? is he working for the English as a spy? to murder his brother so that Lymond can inherit the Culter estates?).

Francis and his band of "merry men" immediately begin to wreak havoc, including setting fire to his brother's estate after stealing the silver and holding the ladies (including his mother) at knife point for their jewelry. Throughout, Francis' brilliant wit, sarcasm and heroism keep the reader enthralled and at times laughing out loud. Lymond's escapades take him up and down the breadth of Scotland as Dunnett slowly peels back the layers of her story and keeps the reader guessing until the very end, finishing in a trial of ups and downs, twists and turns ala Perry Mason.

This is not an easy tale to get into, especially if you have no passing knowledge of the Tudor/Stuart courts and noblemen during the 16C. Dunnett also liberally sprinkles her text with quotes from Latin, French and Olde English, you can purchase her companion book if you must know every word and nuance but I did just fine without it -- just skip the Latin you won't miss it. However, it's well worth the effort to stick with it until you "get it" as you will be well rewarded with a jolly good yarn, with as much action, excitement and swashbuckling good sword play as you would find in any Dumas novel -- for me that is the highest compliment I can give any author. A solid five stars, and I am now starting book two in the series, Queens' Play.

[EC2]

Wasn't that sword fight towards the closing stages of the novel electrifying? It's one of those Dunnett set pieces to hang in the hall of fame!
Great review!

[Misfit]

EC, Dunnett can just knock my socks off with her scenes. That one, or the steeple chase race or the chess game. Decisions. I'll eventually post reviews on the entire series but we're so inundated with new reviews I thought I'd wait awhile.

[MLE]

After GoK, I read through the whole set, but I must confess it took me a looong time to get into this first one, with many stops and starts. Truth is, if I hadn't had an ulterior motive, I think I might have given up entirely!

I like the way DD works animals into her plot twists. She started with a drinken pig, and Lymond's ruse with the wild stallions was especially clever. The sheep wearing helmets in book 3, the elephants, lions, and the rest of the menagerie in book 2, the eagle in book 5, loved all those parts.

(Although in the first Niccolo book, her ostrich was about half again as big as any real ostrich ever gets.)

[Misfit]

I have to confess that if I wasn't a huge fan of Dumas I would have had a difficult time getting into this as well. Their styles are very similar so by the time he was robbing his mother and their friends I was well into the story.

[Ludmilla]

I remember thinking, did what I think happened, just happen, during the first half of this book. Then, slowly, the 2nd half starts revealing what's really going on and it was so wonderfully exciting. Ah, and that sword fight... one of the best I've ever read, I think. So much dramatic tension went into that duel.

[tsjmom]

I'm only on pg 40 and having a supremely difficult time getting into this book. I'm finding the varied, somewhat choppy sentence structure (compared to today's) hard to follow and understand what's happening. The only reason I'm chugging along is due to the overwhelming great reviews by hundreds of people.

I'm planning on giving it to pg 100 - is that going to be enough? When Misfit compares her style to Dumas, whom I also don't "enjoy' reading even though I love all the French topics, I wonder if it's worth it.

[Misfit]

I'm only on pg 40 and having a supremely difficult time getting into this book. I'm finding the varied, somewhat choppy sentence structure (compared to today's) hard to follow and understand what's happening. The only reason I'm chugging along is due to the overwhelming great reviews by hundreds of people.

I'm planning on giving it to pg 100 - is that going to be enough? When Misfit compares her style to Dumas, whom I also don't "enjoy' reading even though I love all the French topics, I wonder if it's worth it.

If it doesn't work for you, don't force it. Dunnett isn't going to work for every reader (nor would any given author), so if you're not enjoying yourself I recommend moving on. Life's too short.

[Michy]

I'm only on pg 40 and having a supremely difficult time getting into this book. I'm finding the varied, somewhat choppy sentence structure (compared to today's) hard to follow and understand what's happening. The only reason I'm chugging along is due to the overwhelming great reviews by hundreds of people.

I'm planning on giving it to pg 100 - is that going to be enough? When Misfit compares her style to Dumas, whom I also don't "enjoy' reading even though I love all the French topics, I wonder if it's worth it. I am currently reading this book -- am about 60 pages from the end -- and I can tell you that the first 100 pages or so are the most difficult. It eases up a bit after that. In places, I was actually able to catch Dunnett's subtle, sardonic wit (although I'm sure much more went over my head!).

I think everyone -- even those who love Dunnett -- will agree that her writing can be difficult; the attitudes and dialogue among the many characters is opaque, even cryptic at times. However, there are scenes where her writing sparkles. Unfortunately, for me it hasn't been enough and this will probably be my last Dunnett. Although, Ludmilla did mention that King Hereafter is a good book to start on Dunnett with, since her writing seems to be clearer. I should have picked that one. :o Maybe I will give it a try....

Coincidentally, just yesterday there was some dialogue about this book over under the "What are you reading now January 2011" thread. However, it was mostly those of us who don't care for Dunnett, so reading it might not inspire you to continue the book.

[tsjmom]

I decided to give up on this one. One of my NY's resolutions around books is to get my ratio of really good vs so-so reads higher. So if I'm not loving it I'm not reading it LOL!