The Game of Kings
   Dorothy Dunnett
  Vintage Books
   ISBN: 0679777431


This is the first book in Dorothy Dunnett's classic Chronicles of Lymond series. The best thing about The Game of Kings is its protagonist, Francis Crawford of Lymond, a sixteenth-century Scottish nobleman who is more of an anti-hero than a hero. As the story opens, Lymond has just returned to Scotland after five years in exile. He is suspected of committing treason by aiding England.

We learn immediately that Lymond is blond and beautiful, witty, ruthless, intelligent and desperate - in short, irresistible. Because he cannot return to his family or his estate, he gathers a band of outlaws around him and makes his living selling political secrets, robbing, kidnapping and doing whatever other unscrupulous thing will get him money.

In the course of the book Lymond sets fire to his mother's home, tries to kill his brother, subverts the beloved son of a noble family and commits acts of treason. Or does he? Is he really guilty or has he been set up? His brother believes him guilty and vows to kill him, but Lymond has a plan to prove his own innocence. Can he do so before he is captured and hung?

Dunnett is an excellent writer. She creates fascinating characters and presents a vivid picture of the political struggles between Scotland and England. She doesn't present the everyday lives of ordinary peasants, but that is not her purpose.

My only quibble with her book is that she includes numerous quotes, most of which go unattributed and many of which are in a foreign language (French, Latin, Spanish) and are not translated. But these do not really detract from the spellbinding story she tells. This is one of the best historical novels I have read.

Reviewer's Bio:
I have a Master of Fine Arts from Michigan State University and live in the Midwest with a beautiful husband and a beautiful cat. Since I'm not a 9-to-5 kind of person I have had lots of freelance and temp jobs, including creative writing instructor, job coach, ESL tutor, crisis counselor, proofreader and editor. I read just about anything.

RebeccasReads.com Associate Reviewer
(06/25/00)

Rebecca Swain